(20 Feb 2015, 7:43 pm)aureolin I'm the same. I always seem to head straight over to Newcastle nowadays, even if I plan to go to Sunderland, Shields, or somewhere else.

At least you're not rooted into the pavement between Eldon Square and Haymarket though!

(20 Feb 2015, 7:47 pm)Dan I decided today that I wanted a trip to Whitby. I mainly wanted to have a go of the X93 under Volvo B9TL allocation, but also wanted to try out a Sapphire Streetlite to compare them to Durham's examples on the 23 and Go North East's examples on the 60. I decided that this would be a great opportunity to head to Redcar - somewhere I'd not been previously. Scott wanted to come too - this was great for me, as I had a tour guide who had a better knowledge of the location than me, allowing me to extend the trip beyond what I had originally planned.

The details of my journeys are below:
0714 #9: Newcastle Road to Park Lane - Go North East 5159
0726 #X7: Sunderland to Middlesbrough - Go North East 5335
0920 #X93: Middlesbrough to Whitby - Arriva North East 7401
1110 #94: Whitby to Eksdale Road - Arriva North East 2827
1150 #94: Helredale Road to Whitby - Arriva North East 1101
1232 #4: Whitby to Loftus - Arriva North East 1567
1320 #5: Loftus to Brotton - Arriva North East 1552
1345 #5A: Brotton to Guisborough - Arriva North East 1556
1430 #81A: Guisborough to Marske - Arriva North East 4512
1532 #X3: Marske to Redcar - Arriva North East 1571
1555 #63: Redcar to Eston Square - Arriva North East 4701
1634 #63: Eston Square to Ormesby - Arriva North East 4715
1654 #5A: Ormesby to Middlesbrough - Arriva North East 1551
1720 #X7: Middlesbrough to Sunderland - Go North East 5336
1859 #20: Park Lane to Newcastle Road - Go North East 4991

Scott joined and left the X7 at Stockton, getting 22018 on the 59 to Stockton this morning and 22202 back this evening.

I'd never used the Whitby town services before, and I hadn't been on one of Arriva's ex-London mini-ALX200s either, so this combo was great. The ALX200 was in marvellous condition and it was incredibly quick off the mark - sadly I can't provide as great a review for 2827, but what can I say, it's a Solo! There was a smell of burning plastic on 1567, but I must say it performed very well and I was surprised to say the least. They've been set up great and manage hills quite well indeed. The gear changes are far smoother than they are on Durham's examples, so hopefully they'll get round to doing those at some point too. I wasn't a fan of Percy Main's dual door Volvo B10BLE this morning but I was reminded that it certainly isn't the worst Volvo B10BLE in the North East after I had 4512 for more than ten minutes! Of course, the journey was made worse by the passengers on-board, and you can read more about that in the "What's annyoing you today?" thread! I'd never been on a Temsa Avenue before, and as they have quite a bad reputation, Scott thought it would be a good idea for me to ride one so I can form my own judgement on them! Whilst the seating was far from ideal, I loved the amount of power they had. Glad it was just a fairly short journey though, as my arse was a bit numb by the end... Heating was spot on on 5336 - standard of a Merc. Decided to get 4991 home instead of 4912, adding a bit more variety.

(20 Feb 2015, 7:52 pm)Jimmi I'm not so much, I have a few choices of directions to head off to: Bishop Auckland, Darlington, Durham, Peterlee, Spennymoor and Sunderland although I usually get the 5/5A to Darlington, the 7 to Durham and if I fancy a trip to Sunderland the 21/X21.

Yeah they were all hanging around Eldon Square Bus Station when I went past on Wednesday.

(20 Feb 2015, 7:52 pm)MarcTheA4 Oh! I see! Anti-B10BLE now, are we? No respect for the elders!!

Nice read though Dan, looks like you had a good day!

(20 Feb 2015, 7:57 pm)aureolin No sign of anyone there when I passed on Thursday morning, but it was before 0930! 

(20 Feb 2015, 7:47 pm)Dan I'd never used the Whitby town services before, and I hadn't been on one of Arriva's ex-London mini-ALX200s either, so this combo was great. The ALX200 was in marvellous condition and it was incredibly quick off the mark - sadly I can't provide as great a review for 2827, but what can I say, it's a Solo! There was a smell of burning plastic on 1567, but I must say it performed very well and I was surprised to say the least. They've been set up great and manage hills quite well indeed. The gear changes are far smoother than they are on Durham's examples, so hopefully they'll get round to doing those at some point too. I wasn't a fan of Percy Main's dual door Volvo B10BLE this morning but I was reminded that it certainly isn't the worst Volvo B10BLE in the North East after I had 4512 for more than ten minutes! Of course, the journey was made worse by the passengers on-board, and you can read more about that in the "What's annyoing you today?" thread! I'd never been on a Temsa Avenue before, and as they have quite a bad reputation, Scott thought it would be a good idea for me to ride one so I can form my own judgement on them! Whilst the seating was far from ideal, I loved the amount of power they had. Glad it was just a fairly short journey though, as my arse was a bit numb by the end... Heating was spot on on 5336 - standard of a Merc. Decided to get 4991 home instead of 4912, adding a bit more variety.  

(20 Feb 2015, 8:07 pm)Jimmi I actually think the Tesmas are alright buses, it's just the seats that let them down and they have performed well when I've had them on the X93 and other routes in the Redcar area.

At least apart from bad bus passengers you both seemed to have a good day.

Hoping to venture round more of Teesside in the summer, tomorrow I've decided I can't face the thought of going all the way up to Newcastle again especially with roadworks on the 7 route so instead I'm doing a Teesside trip where I plan to take in Darlington, Stockton, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Saltburn and Guisborough, hopefully it will be a decent day out.

(20 Feb 2015, 8:23 pm)tyresmoke I'm surprised 1101 gets such a good write up, I thought it was distinctly average for a Dart and certainly not the best of the batch... I think 1104 is the quickest, which we saw go out on the Sainsbury's run for a couple of trips. I enjoyed the ride on 4701 once we got out of Lakes Estate and got some meaningful mileage covered, with a few kickdowns on the A174 (but it wasn't the best ride I've had on one of those).

Quite impressed with 7401 and the B9s on the X93, they should turn out to be a superb buy and justifies me banging on about going for B9TLs... Intrigued to see how tired the Yorkshire ones would have been that we were offered. The punctuality of everything was spot on and it's ages since I've had a day out go that smoothly...

(21 Feb 2015, 6:19 pm)Tom My Northumberland trip today...

#306 1200 Coast Road/Churchill Street to Newcastle Haymarket 1220 - ANE 1587
#X15 1238 (5 late) Newcastle Haymarket to Alnwick Bus Station 1415ish - ANE 4653
#X18 1510 (8 late) Alnwick Bus Station to Morpeth Bus Station 1620 - ANE 7530
#2 1625 Morpeth Bus Station to Blyth Bus Station 1713 - ANE 1742
#308 1715 Blyth Bus Station to Coast Road/Churchill Street 1755 - ANE 7806

Enjoyed the day thoroughly. Was really happy to see a Omnicity on the X15 as I haven't been on one since they have been refurbished, but the driver was driving like a snail, and we got stuck near Felton for ages. The X18 ride was really nice, and the E400 was faultless, and beautiful views on the Alnmouth-Acklington stretch. Also it called into the HMP Prison which I wasn't expecting. I did intend to ride it all of the way to Newcastle, but then I saw 1742 coming in, and I couldn't resist what will probably be my last ride on a Dennis MPD. Wasn't too bad, and the engine sounds were good, but it was very rattly. Not a bad day for a fiver!

(21 Feb 2015, 6:38 pm)Dan The sun was shining again, so I decided to head out today. I'd initially planned for this morning to be dedicated to catching up with Go North East's most recent repaints, and this afternoon to be dedicated to catching up with Arriva's buses on the 306 / 308 to demonstrate the addition of the contravision vinyls to promote ticketing options. I took longer than expected to upload and caption all of my photographs from yesterday, meaning that I didn't have as much time to catch up with the repaints, and nothing seemed to go to plan after that, either.

1014 #20: Newcastle Road to Park Lane - Go North East 4946
1034 #2 (6 late): Green Terrace to Chester Road - Go North East 8324
1050 NIS: Chester Road to The Galleries - Go North East 8324
1124 #X1: The Galleries to Newcastle - Go North East 6052
1153 #X66: Gateshead to Riverside Depot - Go North East 4966
1255 #44A: Askew Road to Newcastle - Go North East 5285
1325 #309: Newcastle to Whitley Bay - Go North East 6102
1457 #1: Whitley Bay to Tynemouth - Go North East 5265
1545 #1: Tynemouth to North Shields - Go North East 5270
1555 #333: North Shields to Ferry Terminal - Phoenix 905
1600 Ferry: North Shields to South Shields - Spirit of the Tyne
1644 #E6: South Shields to Wheatsheaf - Stagecoach North East 22734

I tried to get a photograph of 4845 on the 1023 #8 out of Sunderland and the sun was at the complete wrong angle for me to catch it. I ran to Chester Road from Holmeside, completely forgetting that the 8 hasn't gone up Chester Road for a number of months now, so ended up missing it. I somehow managed to bash my hand off a traffic light signal and it's now bruised, and hurts a little. My luck went from bad to worse when a blind man's dog was sick on 8324, and it ended up being 10 minutes late, and the driver told us he would have to let us get on the following 2 which was was due. The driver asked where we were all going, and after we all said 'The Galleries', control said it would be fine for the driver to take us all there direct instead. The bus lost power quite a few times, and it was hell getting it up to The Wavendon from the Royal Hospital. After two restarts, it started running a little bit better, but was still dreadful. Going downhill on the A19 give it a bit of kick up the arse, but it had nothing on a Volvo B10BLE (which I'm more used to on the old 8 route). After getting off at The Galleries, I ran round to get a photo of it coming out, but I had absolutely no luck at all as the sun caused huge shadows. What's more, Washington did not replace 8324, so I had yet more bad luck. Marcus decided he'd not come over and speak to me at this point too - no comment! I decided to give up on Go North East's repaints and head for The Coast instead. At Gateshead, I decided to abandon ship and catch up with the buses on the X66 as I hadn't really photographed the temporary allocation yet, but that didn't work particularly well at all either. My trip round The Coast went a bit better, but by the time I got to Tynemouth, it was hailstoning, and I wasn't in the mood for photos any more. Headed home via North Shields and South Shields as planned, taking very few photos other than when the sun came out again. Having 22734 home on the E6 made the day a bit better though - haven't been on that one in months - possibly since it left Sunderland!

I think I need my good luck to come back again, as this seems like an awfully negative 'review'. Photos up tomorrow!

(21 Feb 2015, 7:25 pm)Jimmi Did anyone actually have a good day today?

Can't even be bothered to write up my outing.

(21 Feb 2015, 7:27 pm)Tommy_1581 No.



The sun ruined it. 

(21 Feb 2015, 7:23 pm)MrFozz Poor old Marcus ain't gonna live that one down for a while

(21 Feb 2015, 7:23 pm)MrFozz Poor old Marcus ain't gonna live that one down for a while