(27 May 2014, 5:25 pm)Andreos Constantopolous No idea on dates or whether this will help narrow things down but as I am going from memory alone here...

The Solars on the 93/94 were originally at Chester (displaced Prestiges from 21 series) prior to the move to Sunderland Road and subsequent repaints.

The two acquired Solars at Deptford (branded for 20/20a), were if I remember the correct order: Chester (often on 721), Washington (x3/x4), Sunderland Road (51/52), then I am not sure whether it was the 9 or x36/37 which came first, eventually ending up on the 20's

(27 May 2014, 5:33 pm)Dan 5219-21 were new to Gateshead in January 2005 with 5219 being branded for services 93/94 under the "Kickstart" brand.
5222-28 were new to Chester-le-Street.

There's no record of movements after that for any of the vehicles - so if anyone has any recollection of the dates/movements after that..?

(27 May 2014, 5:39 pm)Andreos Constantopolous Yes, forgot about the couple that were on the 93/94 prior to the rest moving from Chester.

A short lived spell in GNE colours prior to the repaint into the black and then rebrand of the livery.

(27 May 2014, 5:47 pm)Dan GNE's Archive has 5219's first livery down as 'Kickstart'; however, I've found a photograph of the vehicle which says 'carrying the first version of the Loop livery':
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95597126@N05/13033333444

Do you know which is correct?


Edit: From what I can gather, the ones at Chester received the 'swoop-style' version of the corporate livery too, before being repainted black in January 2008.

(27 May 2014, 6:03 pm)Andreos Constantopolous Yup, they were in the swoop style livery for just a short period.
Could have sworn it was prior to Jan 2008 though they went black - although Jan 08 could have been when they went into livery.
As I say, going solely off memory - I was working as a sub-contractor within an organisation that had sites across the NE, including one in East Gateshead until late 07 and I remember seeing the newly repainted black Solars which had transferred from Chester, before then.

I cant remember any specific Kickstart livery - pretty sure the original livery on each of the vehicles, was always to do with the East Gateshead partnership in an adaptation of the 'swoop' livery - prior to the two black versions.

Pretty sure the initial batch were in the first version (as per the photo) and when the frequency was increased by the Chester arrivals, then it went black.

(27 May 2014, 6:07 pm)Dan There's a tagline which says something about a 'Kickstart Partnership' at the very top, so they'll both be the same.

Regarding the black repaints... This photograph is the only one I can find of the initial black repaint for the Scanias, and it was taken in January 2008.

(27 May 2014, 6:16 pm)Andreos Constantopolous Hmm, the plot thickens.

I'm 99.9% sure they went black before Dec 07, as I had no reason to be over that way beyond then for quite a while - it was maybe 2/3 months at the very least. By that point, they vehicles would have been in the first black livery.

Anything on the fleet archive about the Chester batch transferring over? That may help narrow dates down.

Sorry to have opened up a can of worms here!

(27 May 2014, 6:24 pm)Dan Nothing at all on the Fleet Archive. I find that, until 2010 or so, it wasn't particularly detailed and was quite vague.
There wasn't as many photographers as there are nowadays too (probably due to the higher expense before digital photography became popular), which makes it even harder to track down the history for each vehicle.
I think the PSV Circle has a history for each vehicle, but I didn't quite understand the document when I was given a preview of it. It was all full of information in a small black font if I remember correctly.

Hopefully, by bringing it up on here, some of the older enthusiasts/photographers will be able to answer our questions.

(27 May 2014, 6:32 pm)Andreos Constantopolous Jeffs Bus Lane may have something on too.

Just to stir the pot a bit more - not sure where all of the Prestiges ended up, but some were at Deptford for a short while.
They often appeared on the x35, including at least one, which spent time in Deptford prior to its move to Chester/Winlaton in its full Team Valley Clipper livery.
That would have been about the same time the Omnicitys were introduced to Chester, which in turn replaced the displaced Solars to Sunderland Road and all prior to Dec 2007.

(27 May 2014, 6:42 pm)Marcus I get all my info from Jeff's Bus Lane

(27 May 2014, 6:51 pm)Dan As useful as it is, my main problem is that you've got to have a rough idea before you start - the movements aren't noted anywhere so you have to compare from one week to the next (unless anyone has a workaround for this?)

(27 May 2014, 6:59 pm)Marcus Yeah, I suppose you do have to have exact dates to get be able to directly find the right fleet list. If I don't I just tend to hover around a specific area until I find what I'm after.

(27 May 2014, 7:10 pm)Andreos Constantopolous That's what I was hoping this sharing of info would do.
If we have a rough period of time, where we know buses were shifted about and repainted, then it can help narrow specific dates down.

So for example:
We know the Solars at Chester arrived in 2005, which displaced the Prestiges to other depots.
The Solars were replaced by the Omnis at Chester at some point in 2006/2007 (after the Omni's short spell at Washington - replaced by Citaros).

The Solars went black by Jan 08, following their move to Sunderland Road at some point in 06/07.

Phewf... Ready for an early night now!

(27 May 2014, 7:13 pm)Marcus It can be quite frustrating when you can't find what you want! When I was looking up the last Optare Solo to operate with GNE I remember checking out about a dozen fleet lists (thinking they were withdrawn several years than turned out)

(27 May 2014, 7:19 pm)Andreos Constantopolous Aye, it can be.

Once you find one piece, the rest should fall into place.

Re Solo's. Was it the Pink Panther's at Percy Main? Moved from Chester after the Newton Hall service failed to take off.

(27 May 2014, 7:25 pm)Marcus Can't remember - I do remember there was a couple of them at Percy Main. Apparently the original Solos were very popular with drivers.

(27 May 2014, 6:16 pm)Andreos Constantopolous I'm 99.9% sure they went black before Dec 07, as I had no reason to be over that way beyond then for quite a while - it was maybe 2/3 months at the very least. By that point, they vehicles would have been in the first black livery.

(27 May 2014, 7:42 pm)Dan You were right.

August 2007:
- 5219
- 5220

September 2007:
- 5221
- 5222
- 5226

October 2007:
- 5223

November 2007:
- 5224
- 5225

(27 May 2014, 7:25 pm)Marcus Can't remember - I do remember there was a couple of them at Percy Main. Apparently the original Solos were very popular with drivers.