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R852 PRG's Reviews

R852 PRG's Reviews

 
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Ambassador



1,806
17 Feb 2016, 12:07 am #261
I've always liked the Tridents. They were a welcome  relief after the Omnicities 21 disaster, I'll always remember them from original 723/4 branding to the pink front coaster body branding to the 24 hr 21 branding

It's always a nice surprise when one pops up in normal service on the 21

Vykings however are the work of the devil
Edited 17 Feb 2016, 12:08 am by Ambassador.

Wistfully stuck in the 90s
Ambassador
17 Feb 2016, 12:07 am #261

I've always liked the Tridents. They were a welcome  relief after the Omnicities 21 disaster, I'll always remember them from original 723/4 branding to the pink front coaster body branding to the 24 hr 21 branding

It's always a nice surprise when one pops up in normal service on the 21

Vykings however are the work of the devil


Wistfully stuck in the 90s

17 Feb 2016, 12:38 am #262
(17 Feb 2016, 12:07 am)Ambassador I've always liked the Tridents. They were a welcome  relief after the Omnicities 21 disaster, I'll always remember them from original 723/4 branding to the pink front coaster body branding to the 24 hr 21 branding

It's always a nice surprise when one pops up in normal service on the 21

Vykings however are the work of the devil

I wasn't really interested in buses during that period of time, but I remember being told about the OmniCities being completely unsuitable, with people left behind frequently. Whenever I see a Lolyne, I have an urge to bash it, as they're so small in number now.

I agree about the Vykings. Their dual-door features were completely unsuitable for the infrastructure up here (for example, rear doors opening onto the face of a bus shelter), and most of them didn't know what had hit them when they'd gone from trundling around the streets of London at 30mph to Newcastle-Bishop Auckland. I like 3983, it is seemingly well-liked overall, and it's quite a speedy machine. Shame about the Voith gearbox.
R852 PRG
17 Feb 2016, 12:38 am #262

(17 Feb 2016, 12:07 am)Ambassador I've always liked the Tridents. They were a welcome  relief after the Omnicities 21 disaster, I'll always remember them from original 723/4 branding to the pink front coaster body branding to the 24 hr 21 branding

It's always a nice surprise when one pops up in normal service on the 21

Vykings however are the work of the devil

I wasn't really interested in buses during that period of time, but I remember being told about the OmniCities being completely unsuitable, with people left behind frequently. Whenever I see a Lolyne, I have an urge to bash it, as they're so small in number now.

I agree about the Vykings. Their dual-door features were completely unsuitable for the infrastructure up here (for example, rear doors opening onto the face of a bus shelter), and most of them didn't know what had hit them when they'd gone from trundling around the streets of London at 30mph to Newcastle-Bishop Auckland. I like 3983, it is seemingly well-liked overall, and it's quite a speedy machine. Shame about the Voith gearbox.

09 Mar 2016, 9:44 pm #263
Saturday 5th March 2016

A delayed review of my Get Around outing on Saturday.

My day started with an alarm at 07:00, I left my house at 07:45 and walked to Chester-le-Street depot for 08:10. I'd decided, the night prior, to try and time 6301 leaving the depot on it's way to Bishop Auckland for the launch (with the launch starting at 10:00, I figured it would leave the depot at around 09:00 in order to get there for around 09:30, therefore allowing sufficient time to get into position and set everything up). Upon arrival at the depot, one of my friends in the engineering department, Craig Smith (of the Northern National Restoration Group) came over and spoke with me for about five minutes. I hovered around the depot until about 09:25, photographing 6301 leaving for Bishop Auckland, 6303 out on an engineering run, 7093 leaving on a National Express turn, and 572 leaving, all of which were required for photograph.

09:37 X21 6035 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Bishop Auckland Market Place
Following my successful session down by the depot, I walked to Front Street, arriving at about 09:30. My intention was to catch the shortly due X21 through to Bishop Auckland. When it appeared, my favourite of the Pronto B7s, 6035, appeared. Of the 6 B7s left in service as of Saturday, 6035 and 6040 were the best in condition (although I saw the latter leaving the depot with an engineer at the wheel when I first arrived!), with the others stringing along in no particular order of preference for me. One of the older drivers at Crook was at the wheel, and after obtaining my Get Around day ticket at the price of £3.75 (great value for money if it is milked), I took a seat at the very back downstairs. When the lower deck emptied at Durham Bus Station, I took the seat of the passenger who had been sat in the offside corner next to the emergency exit door. As it always has done in the past, 6035 provided a superb journey through to Bishop Auckland, where I alighted at the Market Place. Two other forum members had been sat upstairs, and also alighted here. 

11:29 X21 6037 Bishop Auckland Bus Station to Durham Bus Station
I walked across to where 6301 was parked, and spent a few minutes standing with Ian Robinson and Andrew Tydsley, taking photos, before heading across to the Streetdeck to have a look inside. The driver who had brought 6301 from Chester-le-Street was Gary Hindhaugh, I hadn't spoken to him in years, at one point he used to drive one of my scholars and we got on well. He didn't fail to recognise me when I walked over, and we stood and had a catch up for around 15 minutes. I had a little look around inside, I was certainly impressed, and I can't wait to try the Castles Express for myself, this Saturday, at some point. Having got all of my photos, I departed company with Gary with a handshake, and proceeded to wake my way along to the bus station. Spent about 20 minutes getting photos in the bus station, before the same driver as before, having had his meal break, took 6037 out of the layover bays and started boarding passengers. I took the front seat upstairs, above the driver, and shortly realised that BusLoverMum and Big'un were sat a few rows behind me. 6037 was never one of the better Presidents on the X21; lacking power on inclines and struggling up gradients, which was demonstrated on this occasion, which was to be my final ride on 6037.

12:25 21 6068 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Corals
I decided to bail from 6037 at Durham, saying goodbye to BusLoverMum as I made my way downstairs, and proceeded to walk out onto North Road for some photos. Managed to snap 7438 and 7442 (both duds for photo and haulage, sadly) on the 64, which I was fairly pleased about, and then I headed back into the bus station, intent on catching the next service back to Chester-le-Street. This came in the form of 6068, an Angel Hybrid. Rather than head upstairs, I sat at the offside quadrant, adjacent to the emergency exit door, and watched the journey go by. It passed quite quickly, and before I knew it we were in the vicinity of Chester-le-Street. In my recent rides on Angel Hybrids, I have noticed some are started to sound a bit ''off'', making strange noises when pulling away, which I noticed on 6068. As I alighted, the driver made a sarcastic remark, asking if I'd been through to Bishop Auckland to see the new Streetdeck. As nothing of any real interest to me was present, I headed across to the ''Isle of Wheat'' to speak to Gary Wheatley, the supervisor at Chester-le-Street. 

13:06 50 3869 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station
Following about 15 minutes of talking to Gary, I sighted 3983, Chester-le-Street's single Vyking allocation, coming in with the 13:04 34A service up to Urpeth Grange. Was quite tempted to bash it up to Urpeth Grange and back, but as I was about to join the end of the queue, I saw Lolyne 3869 coming in with a late-running 50 for Durham. The driver, who, in my opinion, is the most miserable one at Chester-le-Street, showing absolutely no customer service skills, and always looking like he's sick to death of his life. A disabled passenger in front of me fell victim to his abusive manner, when he ripped the ticket from the machine and caused something to jam, resulting in ''oh why don't do you just break me flaming ticket machine while you're at it''. As we were running late, he pulled away as soon as I had showed him my Get Around, and I consequently made my way towards the back. While 3869 is the eldest Lolyne at Chester-le-Street, in my opinion, it is also the slowest. It didn't top 30mph at the very best, and travelled along the A167 in snail mode. 

13:37 X21 3878 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Corals
Headed up to North Road roundabout for a photograph of 3869 (which did not come out with a destination blind), and then retreated back to the bus station. Fortunately, my luck was in once again, as Lolyne 3878 came in with the 13:39 X21 for Newcastle. As I've discussed many times in my reviews, 3878 is my favourite of the four Lolynes still in service at Chester-le-Street, for sentimental reasons, and it is always a pleasure to ride, or even just see in service. As per usual, I hit the back seats, sitting directly next to the emergency exit door, and I enjoyed the ride back to Chester-le-Street. While the Durham-Chester-le-Street route is quite mundane, when, like me, you've done it many times, it is always worth doing just for a ride on something decent, in this instance, 3878. Sounding as good as ever, and speeding along at a much faster pace than 3869 did, I arrived back into Chester-le-Street at just before 14:00.

14:04 34A 3983 Chester-le-Street Corals to Chester-le-Street Red Lion via Urpeth Grange
Having seen 3983 on the 34A earlier in the day, I was looking forward to a ride on it at some point, and it just so happened that it was due in just a few minutes after I returned. I'd photographed it leaving the depot earlier in the morning, assuming it was going out on Metro Replacements, as Chester-le-Street were covering a few duties on them on this occasion. However, a ride on 3983 is always hard to turn down, as it is arguably one of the better Vykings in the Go North East fleet, as well as being something of a novelty to me, as it is the only one of it's type left at Chester-le-Street (with the depot once being swarmed with an allocation of them on the Angel routes). I enjoyed a return journey up to Urpeth Grange and back behind 3983, while the interior is very shabby, with lots of vandalism evident through etched names on the side of the interior, I think 3983 has an abundance of power when the right sort of driver is behind the wheel.

When I got back to Chester-le-Street, I decided to end the outing there, and after doing a few things that I needed to, I headed home, arriving back at around 15:30. Thanks for reading.

R852 PRG
Edited 02 Apr 2016, 9:33 pm by R852 PRG.
R852 PRG
09 Mar 2016, 9:44 pm #263

Saturday 5th March 2016

A delayed review of my Get Around outing on Saturday.

My day started with an alarm at 07:00, I left my house at 07:45 and walked to Chester-le-Street depot for 08:10. I'd decided, the night prior, to try and time 6301 leaving the depot on it's way to Bishop Auckland for the launch (with the launch starting at 10:00, I figured it would leave the depot at around 09:00 in order to get there for around 09:30, therefore allowing sufficient time to get into position and set everything up). Upon arrival at the depot, one of my friends in the engineering department, Craig Smith (of the Northern National Restoration Group) came over and spoke with me for about five minutes. I hovered around the depot until about 09:25, photographing 6301 leaving for Bishop Auckland, 6303 out on an engineering run, 7093 leaving on a National Express turn, and 572 leaving, all of which were required for photograph.

09:37 X21 6035 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Bishop Auckland Market Place
Following my successful session down by the depot, I walked to Front Street, arriving at about 09:30. My intention was to catch the shortly due X21 through to Bishop Auckland. When it appeared, my favourite of the Pronto B7s, 6035, appeared. Of the 6 B7s left in service as of Saturday, 6035 and 6040 were the best in condition (although I saw the latter leaving the depot with an engineer at the wheel when I first arrived!), with the others stringing along in no particular order of preference for me. One of the older drivers at Crook was at the wheel, and after obtaining my Get Around day ticket at the price of £3.75 (great value for money if it is milked), I took a seat at the very back downstairs. When the lower deck emptied at Durham Bus Station, I took the seat of the passenger who had been sat in the offside corner next to the emergency exit door. As it always has done in the past, 6035 provided a superb journey through to Bishop Auckland, where I alighted at the Market Place. Two other forum members had been sat upstairs, and also alighted here. 

11:29 X21 6037 Bishop Auckland Bus Station to Durham Bus Station
I walked across to where 6301 was parked, and spent a few minutes standing with Ian Robinson and Andrew Tydsley, taking photos, before heading across to the Streetdeck to have a look inside. The driver who had brought 6301 from Chester-le-Street was Gary Hindhaugh, I hadn't spoken to him in years, at one point he used to drive one of my scholars and we got on well. He didn't fail to recognise me when I walked over, and we stood and had a catch up for around 15 minutes. I had a little look around inside, I was certainly impressed, and I can't wait to try the Castles Express for myself, this Saturday, at some point. Having got all of my photos, I departed company with Gary with a handshake, and proceeded to wake my way along to the bus station. Spent about 20 minutes getting photos in the bus station, before the same driver as before, having had his meal break, took 6037 out of the layover bays and started boarding passengers. I took the front seat upstairs, above the driver, and shortly realised that BusLoverMum and Big'un were sat a few rows behind me. 6037 was never one of the better Presidents on the X21; lacking power on inclines and struggling up gradients, which was demonstrated on this occasion, which was to be my final ride on 6037.

12:25 21 6068 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Corals
I decided to bail from 6037 at Durham, saying goodbye to BusLoverMum as I made my way downstairs, and proceeded to walk out onto North Road for some photos. Managed to snap 7438 and 7442 (both duds for photo and haulage, sadly) on the 64, which I was fairly pleased about, and then I headed back into the bus station, intent on catching the next service back to Chester-le-Street. This came in the form of 6068, an Angel Hybrid. Rather than head upstairs, I sat at the offside quadrant, adjacent to the emergency exit door, and watched the journey go by. It passed quite quickly, and before I knew it we were in the vicinity of Chester-le-Street. In my recent rides on Angel Hybrids, I have noticed some are started to sound a bit ''off'', making strange noises when pulling away, which I noticed on 6068. As I alighted, the driver made a sarcastic remark, asking if I'd been through to Bishop Auckland to see the new Streetdeck. As nothing of any real interest to me was present, I headed across to the ''Isle of Wheat'' to speak to Gary Wheatley, the supervisor at Chester-le-Street. 

13:06 50 3869 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station
Following about 15 minutes of talking to Gary, I sighted 3983, Chester-le-Street's single Vyking allocation, coming in with the 13:04 34A service up to Urpeth Grange. Was quite tempted to bash it up to Urpeth Grange and back, but as I was about to join the end of the queue, I saw Lolyne 3869 coming in with a late-running 50 for Durham. The driver, who, in my opinion, is the most miserable one at Chester-le-Street, showing absolutely no customer service skills, and always looking like he's sick to death of his life. A disabled passenger in front of me fell victim to his abusive manner, when he ripped the ticket from the machine and caused something to jam, resulting in ''oh why don't do you just break me flaming ticket machine while you're at it''. As we were running late, he pulled away as soon as I had showed him my Get Around, and I consequently made my way towards the back. While 3869 is the eldest Lolyne at Chester-le-Street, in my opinion, it is also the slowest. It didn't top 30mph at the very best, and travelled along the A167 in snail mode. 

13:37 X21 3878 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Corals
Headed up to North Road roundabout for a photograph of 3869 (which did not come out with a destination blind), and then retreated back to the bus station. Fortunately, my luck was in once again, as Lolyne 3878 came in with the 13:39 X21 for Newcastle. As I've discussed many times in my reviews, 3878 is my favourite of the four Lolynes still in service at Chester-le-Street, for sentimental reasons, and it is always a pleasure to ride, or even just see in service. As per usual, I hit the back seats, sitting directly next to the emergency exit door, and I enjoyed the ride back to Chester-le-Street. While the Durham-Chester-le-Street route is quite mundane, when, like me, you've done it many times, it is always worth doing just for a ride on something decent, in this instance, 3878. Sounding as good as ever, and speeding along at a much faster pace than 3869 did, I arrived back into Chester-le-Street at just before 14:00.

14:04 34A 3983 Chester-le-Street Corals to Chester-le-Street Red Lion via Urpeth Grange
Having seen 3983 on the 34A earlier in the day, I was looking forward to a ride on it at some point, and it just so happened that it was due in just a few minutes after I returned. I'd photographed it leaving the depot earlier in the morning, assuming it was going out on Metro Replacements, as Chester-le-Street were covering a few duties on them on this occasion. However, a ride on 3983 is always hard to turn down, as it is arguably one of the better Vykings in the Go North East fleet, as well as being something of a novelty to me, as it is the only one of it's type left at Chester-le-Street (with the depot once being swarmed with an allocation of them on the Angel routes). I enjoyed a return journey up to Urpeth Grange and back behind 3983, while the interior is very shabby, with lots of vandalism evident through etched names on the side of the interior, I think 3983 has an abundance of power when the right sort of driver is behind the wheel.

When I got back to Chester-le-Street, I decided to end the outing there, and after doing a few things that I needed to, I headed home, arriving back at around 15:30. Thanks for reading.

R852 PRG

Jimmi



10,961
09 Mar 2016, 9:56 pm #264
(09 Mar 2016, 9:44 pm)R852 PRG The driver, who, in my opinion, is the most miserable one at Chester-le-Street, showing absolutely no customer service skills, and always looking like he's sick to death of his life. A disabled passenger in front of me fell victim to his abusive manner, when he ripped the ticket from the machine and caused something to jam, resulting in ''oh why don't do you just break me flaming ticket machine while you're at it''.

I had a Chester-le-Street driver turn round and gave me a lecture on how to pull tickets from their ticket machines when I got on either the 8 or 78 in Stanley at the start of last year as I pulled it too early. Wasn't used to Go North East's ticket machines at the time of the incident.
Jimmi
09 Mar 2016, 9:56 pm #264

(09 Mar 2016, 9:44 pm)R852 PRG The driver, who, in my opinion, is the most miserable one at Chester-le-Street, showing absolutely no customer service skills, and always looking like he's sick to death of his life. A disabled passenger in front of me fell victim to his abusive manner, when he ripped the ticket from the machine and caused something to jam, resulting in ''oh why don't do you just break me flaming ticket machine while you're at it''.

I had a Chester-le-Street driver turn round and gave me a lecture on how to pull tickets from their ticket machines when I got on either the 8 or 78 in Stanley at the start of last year as I pulled it too early. Wasn't used to Go North East's ticket machines at the time of the incident.

Ambassador



1,806
10 Mar 2016, 12:13 am #265
[quote pid='155280' dateline='1457559896']
 we were in the vicinity of Chester-le-Street. In my recent rides on Angel Hybrids, I have noticed some are started to sound a bit ''off'', making strange noises when pulling away, which I noticed on 6068
[/quote]

It's not just you. I use them every day and they are getting rougher by the week. Certainly interior standards are failing dramatically but they definitely lack some punch, the Allerdene dual carriageway is painful compared to X12 allocation or even B7s

Wistfully stuck in the 90s
Ambassador
10 Mar 2016, 12:13 am #265

[quote pid='155280' dateline='1457559896']
 we were in the vicinity of Chester-le-Street. In my recent rides on Angel Hybrids, I have noticed some are started to sound a bit ''off'', making strange noises when pulling away, which I noticed on 6068
[/quote]

It's not just you. I use them every day and they are getting rougher by the week. Certainly interior standards are failing dramatically but they definitely lack some punch, the Allerdene dual carriageway is painful compared to X12 allocation or even B7s


Wistfully stuck in the 90s

LeeCalder



1,928
10 Mar 2016, 12:48 am #266
The Angel Hybrid's are becoming very tedious. Horrendously underpowered, becoming very shabby inside and taking an age to pull away from stops

According to a Chester driver, the 21 will be getting StreetDeck's next year, whether there's much truth in this I'm unsure.

Good review Marcus.
LeeCalder
10 Mar 2016, 12:48 am #266

The Angel Hybrid's are becoming very tedious. Horrendously underpowered, becoming very shabby inside and taking an age to pull away from stops

According to a Chester driver, the 21 will be getting StreetDeck's next year, whether there's much truth in this I'm unsure.

Good review Marcus.

Jimmi



10,961
10 Mar 2016, 1:07 am #267
(10 Mar 2016, 12:48 am)LeeCalder The Angel Hybrid's are becoming very tedious. Horrendously underpowered, becoming very shabby inside and taking an age to pull away from stops

According to a Chester driver, the 21 will be getting StreetDeck's next year, whether there's much truth in this I'm unsure.

Good review Marcus.
At least if that were to happen, the buses on the 21 would likely to be the same specification as the StreetDeck's on the X21 which would be good on evenings and Sundays when the X21 interworks with the 21 using the Angel branded buses. If the Volvo B5LH's were to be taken off the 21, where would they go? The current double decker branded routes use buses of similar age to the hybrids, so I think if they are taken off the 21 they would either convert a single decker route to double deck operation (27 possibly) or become corporate liveried buses to see off the President's and possibly the Vykings.
Jimmi
10 Mar 2016, 1:07 am #267

(10 Mar 2016, 12:48 am)LeeCalder The Angel Hybrid's are becoming very tedious. Horrendously underpowered, becoming very shabby inside and taking an age to pull away from stops

According to a Chester driver, the 21 will be getting StreetDeck's next year, whether there's much truth in this I'm unsure.

Good review Marcus.
At least if that were to happen, the buses on the 21 would likely to be the same specification as the StreetDeck's on the X21 which would be good on evenings and Sundays when the X21 interworks with the 21 using the Angel branded buses. If the Volvo B5LH's were to be taken off the 21, where would they go? The current double decker branded routes use buses of similar age to the hybrids, so I think if they are taken off the 21 they would either convert a single decker route to double deck operation (27 possibly) or become corporate liveried buses to see off the President's and possibly the Vykings.

Charles41



474
10 Mar 2016, 1:28 pm #268
Good review, enjoyed reading. I'm going to see if I can catch the castles Express from the Canon to Newcastle on Saturday.

Jimmi - good photos on your flckr, my favourites are 4945 and 6306. I like the way you have the red bin and red edged sign next to 4945.

Charles
Charles41
10 Mar 2016, 1:28 pm #268

Good review, enjoyed reading. I'm going to see if I can catch the castles Express from the Canon to Newcastle on Saturday.

Jimmi - good photos on your flckr, my favourites are 4945 and 6306. I like the way you have the red bin and red edged sign next to 4945.

Charles

Jimmi



10,961
10 Mar 2016, 1:36 pm #269
(10 Mar 2016, 1:28 pm)Charles41 Jimmi - good photos on your flckr, my favourites are 4945 and 6306. I like the way you have the red bin and red edged sign next to 4945.

Charles

Thanks Charles, don't forget the red car behind 4945! Not intentional, more the fact that I had just come out of Coopland's and saw it leaving the bus station, so quickly ran and dug the camera out my bag.

I do quite like how my photos turned out on Monday, especially 6305 and 6306. In addition to the Nightingale Coaches StreetLite, I also snapped a Coast and Country StreetLite and a Waggonway Solar in the same spot which I'll upload another day.
Jimmi
10 Mar 2016, 1:36 pm #269

(10 Mar 2016, 1:28 pm)Charles41 Jimmi - good photos on your flckr, my favourites are 4945 and 6306. I like the way you have the red bin and red edged sign next to 4945.

Charles

Thanks Charles, don't forget the red car behind 4945! Not intentional, more the fact that I had just come out of Coopland's and saw it leaving the bus station, so quickly ran and dug the camera out my bag.

I do quite like how my photos turned out on Monday, especially 6305 and 6306. In addition to the Nightingale Coaches StreetLite, I also snapped a Coast and Country StreetLite and a Waggonway Solar in the same spot which I'll upload another day.

13 Mar 2016, 12:38 am #270
Saturday 12th March 2016

Had an enjoyable outing today, using a North East Explorer ticket.

07:57 X21 6303 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
My day began with an alarm at 07:00. Leaving my house at 07:30, I made a leisurely walk into Chester-le-Street, arriving at 07:50ish. Didn't have to wait long before the 07:59 X21, the first of the day from Bishop Auckland all the way through to Newcastle, and it soon appeared in the form of 6303, which was to be my first of the new Streetdecks that I could clear for haulage. My favourite of the drivers at Crook was at the wheel, and we exchanged greetings as I boarded, before I received my Explorer from him and ascended the staircase. Thankfully, the front seats upstairs on the offside were available, so I took a seat there. Legroom was fantastic, and the plug sockets and WiFi worked perfectly. I had noticed, as the bus had pulled into the bus stop, that the fans were blaring, loud enough for me to hear them upstairs still. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the driver stopped outside of Chester-le-Street depot while some engineers tended to the problem. A few minutes passed before we were on our way again, and the journey through to Newcastle flew past from that point onwards. Definitely a massive improvement on the Pronto B7TLs, and as I disembarked, I asked the driver what he thought of the Streetdecks; he expressed his liking for them.

08:43 685 27141 Newcastle Eldon Square to Hexham Bus Station
As I made my way up to Percy Street, I photographed 6083 on TENs and 6118 on the 47, before I looked down and saw Stagecoach in Cumbria's 27141 coming into the uppermost stand. A trip to Hexham for some photos of the loaned vehicles from Optare, and some final photos of the MPDs before they are replaced on the local Hexham services in the near future was needed, so I decided to catch this across to Hexham. The queue was very short, but it moved incredibly slowly due to some OAPs faffing on with their bus passes. In the corner of my eye, I saw another forum member, to my left. Took a seat at the back row, on the offside, and we departed on-time. I knew that 27141, as well as sibling 27142, had high-back seating and WiFi, but I didn't realise there was an addition of seatbelts as well. Spent the majority of the journey listening to some music through my earphones, but I didn't manage to catch forty winks at any point, despite being quite tired. When Hexham came into view, I noticed the building work on the new bus station appeared to be well underway.

10:30 85 4662 Hexham Bus Station to Newcastle Eldon Square
After assisting a disabled gentleman in getting off 27141, I thanked the driver and watched him depart on his way to Carlisle, somewhere I intend to visit in the near future. I've heard it's a pretty dire place. My luck seemed to be in, as within the first ten minutes; I photographed both 9106 and 9105 on the 683 and 682 respectively. Then, I managed to shoot 557 and 558 (both of which were required), and the former had enthusiast and driver Mark Westgarth at the wheel. He stopped for a few minutes to talk to me, and seemed very nice, even offering to tell me where any of the things I was after in particular were at. Sadly, 9104, the most recent addition, was on the 681/185 runs. Following a successful visit to Hexham, I boarded Jesmond-based 4662 on the 10:27 85 back to Newcastle. Managed to bag the quadrant on the offside, next to the emergency door. I'm of the understanding that the OmniCities on the 85/685 are widely disliked by many enthusiasts, but I honestly couldn't see anything wrong with 4662. It was quick off the mark, provided some nice thrash, and the seats were relatively comfortable.

11:33 6 6126 Newcastle Eldon Square to Metrocentre Interchange
While I had been returning to Newcastle on 4662, one of my friends at Chester-le-Street depot, Ben Stoves, informed me that he was to be the 14:32 900 Metro Replacement service from North Shields to Four Lane Ends. I knew he was starting his shift in the afternoon, hence the journey to Hexham in the morning, but this later start than expected gave me some more time to play with. When I alighted 4662 in Eldon Square, I contemplated a trip to Blaydon and back on the 11, in hopes of two B10BLEs, but I then noticed OmniDekka 6126 coming in with the 11:35 service 6 for Stanley. I still needed 6126 for haulage, so I decided to catch it across to the Metrocentre (boring, I know) for the new haulage. Contrary to what I typically do with an OmniDekka ride, which is to sit upstairs, I sat downstairs. Until then, I had not seen just how poor the legroom is at the very back row of one, and, as I'm 6 foot tall, I struggled to get in, so opted for the offside quadrant instead. A pleasant journey across to the Metrocentre, I still find an OmniDekka ride to be appealing, even though their novelty has long worn off.

12:04 6 6009 Metrocentre Interchange to Newcastle Eldon Square
After I alighted 6126 in the interchange, I floated around for about ten minutes. 8266 arrived with the 12:00 S1 circular service, and I had an urge to bash it, with it's seats recently re-trimmed into the standard ''Go'' moquette. However, I saw a President coming in with an inbound 6. My hopes for up for one of the native Plaxton-bodied Tridents, but alas, I was landed with 6009; a clapped-out ex-London B7TL. I made my way to the rear of the lower saloon for this journey, sitting on the nearside as opposed to the usual offside, for a change of scenery. Not much to say about this journey really, although I have to say I think 6009 is one of the poorer ex-London Presidents. 

12:47 310 6114 Newcastle Haymarket to North Shields Town Centre
Upon return to Newcastle, I wandered across to the Haymarket, intent on catching the next Cobalt Clipper 310 up to North Shields. It turned out that I had only just missed one, so I paced up and down the bus station for about ten minutes, until the next one came in. 6114 was my chariot; I was somewhat peeved to see the young child, and presumably his grandfather, take the front seats above the driver. However, I ended up looking like I was having a stroke with my failed attempt to later contain my laughter, when the young boy randomly turned around to him and yelled ''I will f*** you up''. He must have been no younger than six. What are the current generation coming to...? I was pleased to find that the plug sockets worked perfectly on 6114, and I therefore managed to charge my phone up for the journey to North Shields. I noticed that the queue for the 900 was colossal, which worried me, as no replacement buses appeared at all for the first fifteen minutes that I was there.

14:30 900 6036 North Shields Town Centre to Four Lane Ends Interchange
Ben brought ancillary van 1020 from Chester-le-Street depot, and proceeded to park it in the layover area. We spent about twenty minutes talking, before we headed up to Railway Terrace. 6036 was the haulage for this little jolly (and, at the time that I'm writing this, he will still be jollying in!). Not my favourite, but not my least favourite of the Presidents allocated to Chester-le-Street. My previous experience of Metro Replacements put me off very much, it was during the Heworth-Monument closures at some point last May, I think. My train from Sunderland was terminated at Brockley Whins, meaning we were all stood in a housing estate for about twenty minutes until the 901 arrived, followed by a further twenty minute wait at Heworth for a 900 through to Newcastle! Was an absolute farce. Thankfully, this journey passed without any real issues, although I'd say that the time of the day and the route contributed to that fact. When we arrived at Four Lane Ends at about 15:35, I thanked Ben and then he proceeded to head over to the layover bays, while I awaited the next Arriva service back to Newcastle.

15:40 55 2848 Four Lane Ends Interchange to Newcastle Haymarket
This came in the form of the 15:38 55 service, running a couple of minutes late and in the hands of Optare Solo 2848. I noted that the driver was being mentored by an evidently more senior driver, sadly, this new starter appeared to be very rough on the brakes and too quick with the accelerator; the two of which can make a nasty combination in terms of passenger comfort. I heard other passengers voice their discomfort when the brakes were slammed on, and further to this, the chassis of the Solo felt like it was scraping off of the road. A sound that I only really associate with the Solos and Lowlanders based at Belmont. On the upside, the hasty driving got us into Haymarket on-time, despite the original loss of time when I boarded. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable journey, albeit mainly because I rarely use any of Arriva's Optare Solos.

16:05 X21 6302 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace
As the time was 15:55 when I checked my watch, I decided to head to ''Cling-on Corner'' (*shudders*) for a shot of the 16:09 when it came in. In front of the Streetdeck in the queue on Percy Street, was 'sentenced' President 6024, coming in with a 6 for Stanley. I recalled seeing a Northern OmniDekka when I was in North Shields, and it must be said, it's quite poor that a branded vehicle is doing Metro Replacements while a vehicle branded for a now non-existant brand, and supposed to be confined to scholars services only, was in it's place. Luckily, the X21 that was also entering was winner 6302 (for both photograph and haulage!). I then descended down into the bus station and boarded, but this time, I sat at the back downstairs. I like how the seats at the back are more moulded to the rear of the vehicle than those in the Streetlites, which are incredibly uncomfortable. I enjoyed listening to the whistling Voith retarder whenever we slowed down, and the rattle-free environment provided a great journey back to Chester-le-Street, where I alighted at my nearest stop.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable day out. My first impressions of the Streetdecks are overly positive, and I'm looking forward to riding and photographing more of them in the near future. Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

R852 PRG
Edited 02 Apr 2016, 9:34 pm by R852 PRG.
R852 PRG
13 Mar 2016, 12:38 am #270

Saturday 12th March 2016

Had an enjoyable outing today, using a North East Explorer ticket.

07:57 X21 6303 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
My day began with an alarm at 07:00. Leaving my house at 07:30, I made a leisurely walk into Chester-le-Street, arriving at 07:50ish. Didn't have to wait long before the 07:59 X21, the first of the day from Bishop Auckland all the way through to Newcastle, and it soon appeared in the form of 6303, which was to be my first of the new Streetdecks that I could clear for haulage. My favourite of the drivers at Crook was at the wheel, and we exchanged greetings as I boarded, before I received my Explorer from him and ascended the staircase. Thankfully, the front seats upstairs on the offside were available, so I took a seat there. Legroom was fantastic, and the plug sockets and WiFi worked perfectly. I had noticed, as the bus had pulled into the bus stop, that the fans were blaring, loud enough for me to hear them upstairs still. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the driver stopped outside of Chester-le-Street depot while some engineers tended to the problem. A few minutes passed before we were on our way again, and the journey through to Newcastle flew past from that point onwards. Definitely a massive improvement on the Pronto B7TLs, and as I disembarked, I asked the driver what he thought of the Streetdecks; he expressed his liking for them.

08:43 685 27141 Newcastle Eldon Square to Hexham Bus Station
As I made my way up to Percy Street, I photographed 6083 on TENs and 6118 on the 47, before I looked down and saw Stagecoach in Cumbria's 27141 coming into the uppermost stand. A trip to Hexham for some photos of the loaned vehicles from Optare, and some final photos of the MPDs before they are replaced on the local Hexham services in the near future was needed, so I decided to catch this across to Hexham. The queue was very short, but it moved incredibly slowly due to some OAPs faffing on with their bus passes. In the corner of my eye, I saw another forum member, to my left. Took a seat at the back row, on the offside, and we departed on-time. I knew that 27141, as well as sibling 27142, had high-back seating and WiFi, but I didn't realise there was an addition of seatbelts as well. Spent the majority of the journey listening to some music through my earphones, but I didn't manage to catch forty winks at any point, despite being quite tired. When Hexham came into view, I noticed the building work on the new bus station appeared to be well underway.

10:30 85 4662 Hexham Bus Station to Newcastle Eldon Square
After assisting a disabled gentleman in getting off 27141, I thanked the driver and watched him depart on his way to Carlisle, somewhere I intend to visit in the near future. I've heard it's a pretty dire place. My luck seemed to be in, as within the first ten minutes; I photographed both 9106 and 9105 on the 683 and 682 respectively. Then, I managed to shoot 557 and 558 (both of which were required), and the former had enthusiast and driver Mark Westgarth at the wheel. He stopped for a few minutes to talk to me, and seemed very nice, even offering to tell me where any of the things I was after in particular were at. Sadly, 9104, the most recent addition, was on the 681/185 runs. Following a successful visit to Hexham, I boarded Jesmond-based 4662 on the 10:27 85 back to Newcastle. Managed to bag the quadrant on the offside, next to the emergency door. I'm of the understanding that the OmniCities on the 85/685 are widely disliked by many enthusiasts, but I honestly couldn't see anything wrong with 4662. It was quick off the mark, provided some nice thrash, and the seats were relatively comfortable.

11:33 6 6126 Newcastle Eldon Square to Metrocentre Interchange
While I had been returning to Newcastle on 4662, one of my friends at Chester-le-Street depot, Ben Stoves, informed me that he was to be the 14:32 900 Metro Replacement service from North Shields to Four Lane Ends. I knew he was starting his shift in the afternoon, hence the journey to Hexham in the morning, but this later start than expected gave me some more time to play with. When I alighted 4662 in Eldon Square, I contemplated a trip to Blaydon and back on the 11, in hopes of two B10BLEs, but I then noticed OmniDekka 6126 coming in with the 11:35 service 6 for Stanley. I still needed 6126 for haulage, so I decided to catch it across to the Metrocentre (boring, I know) for the new haulage. Contrary to what I typically do with an OmniDekka ride, which is to sit upstairs, I sat downstairs. Until then, I had not seen just how poor the legroom is at the very back row of one, and, as I'm 6 foot tall, I struggled to get in, so opted for the offside quadrant instead. A pleasant journey across to the Metrocentre, I still find an OmniDekka ride to be appealing, even though their novelty has long worn off.

12:04 6 6009 Metrocentre Interchange to Newcastle Eldon Square
After I alighted 6126 in the interchange, I floated around for about ten minutes. 8266 arrived with the 12:00 S1 circular service, and I had an urge to bash it, with it's seats recently re-trimmed into the standard ''Go'' moquette. However, I saw a President coming in with an inbound 6. My hopes for up for one of the native Plaxton-bodied Tridents, but alas, I was landed with 6009; a clapped-out ex-London B7TL. I made my way to the rear of the lower saloon for this journey, sitting on the nearside as opposed to the usual offside, for a change of scenery. Not much to say about this journey really, although I have to say I think 6009 is one of the poorer ex-London Presidents. 

12:47 310 6114 Newcastle Haymarket to North Shields Town Centre
Upon return to Newcastle, I wandered across to the Haymarket, intent on catching the next Cobalt Clipper 310 up to North Shields. It turned out that I had only just missed one, so I paced up and down the bus station for about ten minutes, until the next one came in. 6114 was my chariot; I was somewhat peeved to see the young child, and presumably his grandfather, take the front seats above the driver. However, I ended up looking like I was having a stroke with my failed attempt to later contain my laughter, when the young boy randomly turned around to him and yelled ''I will f*** you up''. He must have been no younger than six. What are the current generation coming to...? I was pleased to find that the plug sockets worked perfectly on 6114, and I therefore managed to charge my phone up for the journey to North Shields. I noticed that the queue for the 900 was colossal, which worried me, as no replacement buses appeared at all for the first fifteen minutes that I was there.

14:30 900 6036 North Shields Town Centre to Four Lane Ends Interchange
Ben brought ancillary van 1020 from Chester-le-Street depot, and proceeded to park it in the layover area. We spent about twenty minutes talking, before we headed up to Railway Terrace. 6036 was the haulage for this little jolly (and, at the time that I'm writing this, he will still be jollying in!). Not my favourite, but not my least favourite of the Presidents allocated to Chester-le-Street. My previous experience of Metro Replacements put me off very much, it was during the Heworth-Monument closures at some point last May, I think. My train from Sunderland was terminated at Brockley Whins, meaning we were all stood in a housing estate for about twenty minutes until the 901 arrived, followed by a further twenty minute wait at Heworth for a 900 through to Newcastle! Was an absolute farce. Thankfully, this journey passed without any real issues, although I'd say that the time of the day and the route contributed to that fact. When we arrived at Four Lane Ends at about 15:35, I thanked Ben and then he proceeded to head over to the layover bays, while I awaited the next Arriva service back to Newcastle.

15:40 55 2848 Four Lane Ends Interchange to Newcastle Haymarket
This came in the form of the 15:38 55 service, running a couple of minutes late and in the hands of Optare Solo 2848. I noted that the driver was being mentored by an evidently more senior driver, sadly, this new starter appeared to be very rough on the brakes and too quick with the accelerator; the two of which can make a nasty combination in terms of passenger comfort. I heard other passengers voice their discomfort when the brakes were slammed on, and further to this, the chassis of the Solo felt like it was scraping off of the road. A sound that I only really associate with the Solos and Lowlanders based at Belmont. On the upside, the hasty driving got us into Haymarket on-time, despite the original loss of time when I boarded. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable journey, albeit mainly because I rarely use any of Arriva's Optare Solos.

16:05 X21 6302 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace
As the time was 15:55 when I checked my watch, I decided to head to ''Cling-on Corner'' (*shudders*) for a shot of the 16:09 when it came in. In front of the Streetdeck in the queue on Percy Street, was 'sentenced' President 6024, coming in with a 6 for Stanley. I recalled seeing a Northern OmniDekka when I was in North Shields, and it must be said, it's quite poor that a branded vehicle is doing Metro Replacements while a vehicle branded for a now non-existant brand, and supposed to be confined to scholars services only, was in it's place. Luckily, the X21 that was also entering was winner 6302 (for both photograph and haulage!). I then descended down into the bus station and boarded, but this time, I sat at the back downstairs. I like how the seats at the back are more moulded to the rear of the vehicle than those in the Streetlites, which are incredibly uncomfortable. I enjoyed listening to the whistling Voith retarder whenever we slowed down, and the rattle-free environment provided a great journey back to Chester-le-Street, where I alighted at my nearest stop.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable day out. My first impressions of the Streetdecks are overly positive, and I'm looking forward to riding and photographing more of them in the near future. Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

R852 PRG

DanPicken

Banned

2,177
13 Mar 2016, 6:07 am #271
(13 Mar 2016, 12:38 am)R852 PRG Saturday 12th March 2016

Had an enjoyable outing today, using a North East Explorer ticket.

07:57 X21 6303 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
My day began with an alarm at 07:00. Leaving my house at 07:30, I made a leisurely walk into Chester-le-Street, arriving at 07:50ish. Didn't have to wait long before the 07:59 X21, the first of the day from Bishop Auckland all the way through to Newcastle, and it soon appeared in the form of 6303, which was to be my first of the new Streetdecks that I could clear for haulage. My favourite of the drivers at Crook was at the wheel, and we exchanged greetings as I boarded, before I received my Explorer from him and ascended the staircase. Thankfully, the front seats upstairs on the offside were available, so I took a seat there. Legroom was fantastic, and the plug sockets and WiFi worked perfectly. I had noticed, as the bus had pulled into the bus stop, that the fans were blaring, loud enough for me to hear them upstairs still. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the driver stopped outside of Chester-le-Street depot while some engineers tended to the problem. A few minutes passed before we were on our way again, and the journey through to Newcastle flew past from that point onwards. Definitely a massive improvement on the Pronto B7TLs, and as I disembarked, I asked the driver what he thought of the Streetdecks; he expressed his liking for them.

08:43 685 27141 Newcastle Eldon Square to Hexham Bus Station
As I made my way up to Percy Street, I photographed 6083 on TENs and 6118 on the 47, before I looked down and saw Stagecoach in Cumbria's 27141 coming into the uppermost stand. A trip to Hexham for some photos of the loaned vehicles from Optare, and some final photos of the MPDs before they are replaced on the local Hexham services in the near future was needed, so I decided to catch this across to Hexham. The queue was very short, but it moved incredibly slowly due to some OAPs faffing on with their bus passes. In the corner of my eye, I saw another forum member, to my left. Took a seat at the back row, on the offside, and we departed on-time. I knew that 27141, as well as sibling 27142, had high-back seating and WiFi, but I didn't realise there was an addition of seatbelts as well. Spent the majority of the journey listening to some music through my earphones, but I didn't manage to catch forty winks at any point, despite being quite tired. When Hexham came into view, I noticed the building work on the new bus station appeared to be well underway.

10:30 85 4662 Hexham Bus Station to Newcastle Eldon Square
After assisting a disabled gentleman in getting off 27141, I thanked the driver and watched him depart on his way to Carlisle, somewhere I intend to visit in the near future. I've heard it's a pretty dire place. My luck seemed to be in, as within the first ten minutes; I photographed both 9106 and 9105 on the 683 and 682 respectively. Then, I managed to shoot 557 and 558 (both of which were required), and the former had enthusiast and driver Mark Westgarth at the wheel. He stopped for a few minutes to talk to me, and seemed very nice, even offering to tell me where any of the things I was after in particular were at. Sadly, 9104, the most recent addition, was on the 681/185 runs. Following a successful visit to Hexham, I boarded Jesmond-based 4662 on the 10:27 85 back to Newcastle. Managed to bag the quadrant on the offside, next to the emergency door. I'm of the understanding that the OmniCities on the 85/685 are widely disliked by many enthusiasts, but I honestly couldn't see anything wrong with 4662. It was quick off the mark, provided some nice thrash, and the seats were relatively comfortable.

11:33 6 6126 Newcastle Eldon Square to Metrocentre Interchange
While I had been returning to Newcastle on 4662, one of my friends at Chester-le-Street depot, Ben Stoves, informed me that he was to be the 14:32 900 Metro Replacement service from North Shields to Four Lane Ends. I knew he was starting his shift in the afternoon, hence the journey to Hexham in the morning, but this later start than expected gave me some more time to play with. When I alighted 4662 in Eldon Square, I contemplated a trip to Blaydon and back on the 11, in hopes of two B10BLEs, but I then noticed OmniDekka 6126 coming in with the 11:35 service 6 for Stanley. I still needed 6126 for haulage, so I decided to catch it across to the Metrocentre (boring, I know) for the new haulage. Contrary to what I typically do with an OmniDekka ride, which is to sit upstairs, I sat downstairs. Until then, I had not seen just how poor the legroom is at the very back row of one, and, as I'm 6 foot tall, I struggled to get in, so opted for the offside quadrant instead. A pleasant journey across to the Metrocentre, I still find an OmniDekka ride to be appealing, even though their novelty has long worn off.

12:04 6 6009 Metrocentre Interchange to Newcastle Eldon Square
After I alighted 6126 in the interchange, I floated around for about ten minutes. 8266 arrived with the 12:00 S1 circular service, and I had an urge to bash it, with it's seats recently re-trimmed into the standard ''Go'' moquette. However, I saw a President coming in with an inbound 6. My hopes for up for one of the native Plaxton-bodied Tridents, but alas, I was landed with 6009; a clapped-out ex-London B7TL. I made my way to the rear of the lower saloon for this journey, sitting on the nearside as opposed to the usual offside, for a change of scenery. Not much to say about this journey really, although I have to say I think 6009 is one of the poorer ex-London Presidents. 

12:47 310 6114 Newcastle Haymarket to North Shields Town Centre
Upon return to Newcastle, I wandered across to the Haymarket, intent on catching the next Cobalt Clipper 310 up to North Shields. It turned out that I had only just missed one, so I paced up and down the bus station for about ten minutes, until the next one came in. 6114 was my chariot; I was somewhat peeved to see the young child, and presumably his grandfather, take the front seats above the driver. However, I ended up looking like I was having a stroke with my failed attempt to later contain my laughter, when the young boy randomly turned around to him and yelled ''I will f*** you up''. He must have been no younger than six. What are the current generation coming to...? I was pleased to find that the plug sockets worked perfectly on 6114, and I therefore managed to charge my phone up for the journey to North Shields. I noticed that the queue for the 900 was colossal, which worried me, as no replacement buses appeared at all for the first fifteen minutes that I was there.

14:30 900 6036 North Shields Town Centre to Four Lane Ends Interchange
Ben brought ancillary van 1020 from Chester-le-Street depot, and proceeded to park it in the layover area. We spent about twenty minutes talking, before we headed up to Railway Terrace. 6036 was the haulage for this little jolly (and, at the time that I'm writing this, he will still be jollying in!). Not my favourite, but not my least favourite of the Presidents allocated to Chester-le-Street. My previous experience of Metro Replacements put me off very much, it was during the Heworth-Monument closures at some point last May, I think. My train from Sunderland was terminated at Brockley Whins, meaning we were all stood in a housing estate for about twenty minutes until the 901 arrived, followed by a further twenty minute wait at Heworth for a 900 through to Newcastle! Was an absolute farce. Thankfully, this journey passed without any real issues, although I'd say that the time of the day and the route contributed to that fact. When we arrived at Four Lane Ends at about 15:35, I thanked Ben and then he proceeded to head over to the layover bays, while I awaited the next Arriva service back to Newcastle.

15:40 55 2848 Four Lane Ends Interchange to Newcastle Haymarket
This came in the form of the 15:38 55 service, running a couple of minutes late and in the hands of Optare Solo 2848. I noted that the driver was being mentored by an evidently more senior driver, sadly, this new starter appeared to be very rough on the brakes and too quick with the accelerator; the two of which can make a nasty combination in terms of passenger comfort. I heard other passengers voice their discomfort when the brakes were slammed on, and further to this, the chassis of the Solo felt like it was scraping off of the road. A sound that I only really associate with the Solos and Lowlanders based at Belmont. On the upside, the hasty driving got us into Haymarket on-time, despite the original loss of time when I boarded. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable journey, albeit mainly because I rarely use any of Arriva's Optare Solos.

16:05 X21 6302 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace
As the time was 15:55 when I checked my watch, I decided to head to ''Cling-on Corner'' (*shudders*) for a shot of the 16:09 when it came in. In front of the Streetdeck in the queue on Percy Street, was 'sentenced' President 6024, coming in with a 6 for Stanley. I recalled seeing a Northern OmniDekka when I was in North Shields, and it must be said, it's quite poor that a branded vehicle is doing Metro Replacements while a vehicle branded for a now non-existant brand, and supposed to be confined to scholars services only, was in it's place. Luckily, the X21 that was also entering was winner 6302 (for both photograph and haulage!). I then descended down into the bus station and boarded, but this time, I sat at the back downstairs. I like how the seats at the back are more moulded to the rear of the vehicle than those in the Streetlites, which are incredibly uncomfortable. I enjoyed listening to the whistling Voith retarder whenever we slowed down, and the rattle-free environment provided a great journey back to Chester-le-Street, where I alighted at my nearest stop.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable day out. My first impressions of the Streetdecks are overly positive, and I'm looking forward to riding and photographing more of them in the near future. Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Marcus

Good review Marcus, the Housing Estate was Brockley Whins, if you had got the Metro itself from North Shields you could of had 4001/40.
Edited 13 Mar 2016, 6:07 am by DanPicken.
DanPicken
13 Mar 2016, 6:07 am #271

(13 Mar 2016, 12:38 am)R852 PRG Saturday 12th March 2016

Had an enjoyable outing today, using a North East Explorer ticket.

07:57 X21 6303 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
My day began with an alarm at 07:00. Leaving my house at 07:30, I made a leisurely walk into Chester-le-Street, arriving at 07:50ish. Didn't have to wait long before the 07:59 X21, the first of the day from Bishop Auckland all the way through to Newcastle, and it soon appeared in the form of 6303, which was to be my first of the new Streetdecks that I could clear for haulage. My favourite of the drivers at Crook was at the wheel, and we exchanged greetings as I boarded, before I received my Explorer from him and ascended the staircase. Thankfully, the front seats upstairs on the offside were available, so I took a seat there. Legroom was fantastic, and the plug sockets and WiFi worked perfectly. I had noticed, as the bus had pulled into the bus stop, that the fans were blaring, loud enough for me to hear them upstairs still. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the driver stopped outside of Chester-le-Street depot while some engineers tended to the problem. A few minutes passed before we were on our way again, and the journey through to Newcastle flew past from that point onwards. Definitely a massive improvement on the Pronto B7TLs, and as I disembarked, I asked the driver what he thought of the Streetdecks; he expressed his liking for them.

08:43 685 27141 Newcastle Eldon Square to Hexham Bus Station
As I made my way up to Percy Street, I photographed 6083 on TENs and 6118 on the 47, before I looked down and saw Stagecoach in Cumbria's 27141 coming into the uppermost stand. A trip to Hexham for some photos of the loaned vehicles from Optare, and some final photos of the MPDs before they are replaced on the local Hexham services in the near future was needed, so I decided to catch this across to Hexham. The queue was very short, but it moved incredibly slowly due to some OAPs faffing on with their bus passes. In the corner of my eye, I saw another forum member, to my left. Took a seat at the back row, on the offside, and we departed on-time. I knew that 27141, as well as sibling 27142, had high-back seating and WiFi, but I didn't realise there was an addition of seatbelts as well. Spent the majority of the journey listening to some music through my earphones, but I didn't manage to catch forty winks at any point, despite being quite tired. When Hexham came into view, I noticed the building work on the new bus station appeared to be well underway.

10:30 85 4662 Hexham Bus Station to Newcastle Eldon Square
After assisting a disabled gentleman in getting off 27141, I thanked the driver and watched him depart on his way to Carlisle, somewhere I intend to visit in the near future. I've heard it's a pretty dire place. My luck seemed to be in, as within the first ten minutes; I photographed both 9106 and 9105 on the 683 and 682 respectively. Then, I managed to shoot 557 and 558 (both of which were required), and the former had enthusiast and driver Mark Westgarth at the wheel. He stopped for a few minutes to talk to me, and seemed very nice, even offering to tell me where any of the things I was after in particular were at. Sadly, 9104, the most recent addition, was on the 681/185 runs. Following a successful visit to Hexham, I boarded Jesmond-based 4662 on the 10:27 85 back to Newcastle. Managed to bag the quadrant on the offside, next to the emergency door. I'm of the understanding that the OmniCities on the 85/685 are widely disliked by many enthusiasts, but I honestly couldn't see anything wrong with 4662. It was quick off the mark, provided some nice thrash, and the seats were relatively comfortable.

11:33 6 6126 Newcastle Eldon Square to Metrocentre Interchange
While I had been returning to Newcastle on 4662, one of my friends at Chester-le-Street depot, Ben Stoves, informed me that he was to be the 14:32 900 Metro Replacement service from North Shields to Four Lane Ends. I knew he was starting his shift in the afternoon, hence the journey to Hexham in the morning, but this later start than expected gave me some more time to play with. When I alighted 4662 in Eldon Square, I contemplated a trip to Blaydon and back on the 11, in hopes of two B10BLEs, but I then noticed OmniDekka 6126 coming in with the 11:35 service 6 for Stanley. I still needed 6126 for haulage, so I decided to catch it across to the Metrocentre (boring, I know) for the new haulage. Contrary to what I typically do with an OmniDekka ride, which is to sit upstairs, I sat downstairs. Until then, I had not seen just how poor the legroom is at the very back row of one, and, as I'm 6 foot tall, I struggled to get in, so opted for the offside quadrant instead. A pleasant journey across to the Metrocentre, I still find an OmniDekka ride to be appealing, even though their novelty has long worn off.

12:04 6 6009 Metrocentre Interchange to Newcastle Eldon Square
After I alighted 6126 in the interchange, I floated around for about ten minutes. 8266 arrived with the 12:00 S1 circular service, and I had an urge to bash it, with it's seats recently re-trimmed into the standard ''Go'' moquette. However, I saw a President coming in with an inbound 6. My hopes for up for one of the native Plaxton-bodied Tridents, but alas, I was landed with 6009; a clapped-out ex-London B7TL. I made my way to the rear of the lower saloon for this journey, sitting on the nearside as opposed to the usual offside, for a change of scenery. Not much to say about this journey really, although I have to say I think 6009 is one of the poorer ex-London Presidents. 

12:47 310 6114 Newcastle Haymarket to North Shields Town Centre
Upon return to Newcastle, I wandered across to the Haymarket, intent on catching the next Cobalt Clipper 310 up to North Shields. It turned out that I had only just missed one, so I paced up and down the bus station for about ten minutes, until the next one came in. 6114 was my chariot; I was somewhat peeved to see the young child, and presumably his grandfather, take the front seats above the driver. However, I ended up looking like I was having a stroke with my failed attempt to later contain my laughter, when the young boy randomly turned around to him and yelled ''I will f*** you up''. He must have been no younger than six. What are the current generation coming to...? I was pleased to find that the plug sockets worked perfectly on 6114, and I therefore managed to charge my phone up for the journey to North Shields. I noticed that the queue for the 900 was colossal, which worried me, as no replacement buses appeared at all for the first fifteen minutes that I was there.

14:30 900 6036 North Shields Town Centre to Four Lane Ends Interchange
Ben brought ancillary van 1020 from Chester-le-Street depot, and proceeded to park it in the layover area. We spent about twenty minutes talking, before we headed up to Railway Terrace. 6036 was the haulage for this little jolly (and, at the time that I'm writing this, he will still be jollying in!). Not my favourite, but not my least favourite of the Presidents allocated to Chester-le-Street. My previous experience of Metro Replacements put me off very much, it was during the Heworth-Monument closures at some point last May, I think. My train from Sunderland was terminated at Brockley Whins, meaning we were all stood in a housing estate for about twenty minutes until the 901 arrived, followed by a further twenty minute wait at Heworth for a 900 through to Newcastle! Was an absolute farce. Thankfully, this journey passed without any real issues, although I'd say that the time of the day and the route contributed to that fact. When we arrived at Four Lane Ends at about 15:35, I thanked Ben and then he proceeded to head over to the layover bays, while I awaited the next Arriva service back to Newcastle.

15:40 55 2848 Four Lane Ends Interchange to Newcastle Haymarket
This came in the form of the 15:38 55 service, running a couple of minutes late and in the hands of Optare Solo 2848. I noted that the driver was being mentored by an evidently more senior driver, sadly, this new starter appeared to be very rough on the brakes and too quick with the accelerator; the two of which can make a nasty combination in terms of passenger comfort. I heard other passengers voice their discomfort when the brakes were slammed on, and further to this, the chassis of the Solo felt like it was scraping off of the road. A sound that I only really associate with the Solos and Lowlanders based at Belmont. On the upside, the hasty driving got us into Haymarket on-time, despite the original loss of time when I boarded. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable journey, albeit mainly because I rarely use any of Arriva's Optare Solos.

16:05 X21 6302 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace
As the time was 15:55 when I checked my watch, I decided to head to ''Cling-on Corner'' (*shudders*) for a shot of the 16:09 when it came in. In front of the Streetdeck in the queue on Percy Street, was 'sentenced' President 6024, coming in with a 6 for Stanley. I recalled seeing a Northern OmniDekka when I was in North Shields, and it must be said, it's quite poor that a branded vehicle is doing Metro Replacements while a vehicle branded for a now non-existant brand, and supposed to be confined to scholars services only, was in it's place. Luckily, the X21 that was also entering was winner 6302 (for both photograph and haulage!). I then descended down into the bus station and boarded, but this time, I sat at the back downstairs. I like how the seats at the back are more moulded to the rear of the vehicle than those in the Streetlites, which are incredibly uncomfortable. I enjoyed listening to the whistling Voith retarder whenever we slowed down, and the rattle-free environment provided a great journey back to Chester-le-Street, where I alighted at my nearest stop.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable day out. My first impressions of the Streetdecks are overly positive, and I'm looking forward to riding and photographing more of them in the near future. Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Marcus

Good review Marcus, the Housing Estate was Brockley Whins, if you had got the Metro itself from North Shields you could of had 4001/40.

27 Mar 2016, 6:49 pm #272
Saturday 26th March 2016

Yesterday, I enjoyed a trip to York and Harrogate.

08:18 21 6066 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station
The day began with an 07:15 alarm, to allow ample to time to get to Durham Railway Station for the train south; the 09:43 Virgin Trains East Coast service, 1E06, pathed to be a Class 91. I left my house just before 08:00, and met Adrian on Front Street at about 08:15. He wasn't to be joining me on this outing, but he was heading through to Durham to sort some stuff out at work. 6066 was our ride through to Durham, operating the 08:18 21 service from Chester-le-Street. We sat behind the stairwell and talked throughout the short ride to Durham, and spent about twenty minutes taking photos at the entrance of the bus station of stuff coming in, was also able to catch recently repainted Enviro200 1320 on North Road. Just after 09:00, we parted ways, and I began making the arduous climb up to the station.

09:50 1E06 91112 Durham Railway Station to York Railway Station
Joining me on this occasion was citaro5284, who had boarded at Newcastle, but no sooner had the train departed Newcastle, the station staff at Durham informed passengers awaiting the imminently due southbound TransPennine service that a platform change was occurring due to a broken rail rendering Platform 1 (southbound platform at Durham) useless. I watched from Platform 1 with intrigue as a Class 185 unit rolled into the northbound platform (2), heading southbound, and unsurprisingly, the passengers awaiting the 09:43 VTEC were soon moved across. Upon reaching Platform 2, I saw the Mk4 set slowly rolling into the platform, with DVT 82216 leading the train. Quickly made my way up to the flag for Coach D, in which we were booked, and boarded the coach at the end nearest our seats. We sat at a standstill until 09:56, departing Durham with a delay of 17 minutes, stopping again before Darlington, arriving there having incurred a delay totalling 20 minutes. Our coach remained lightly loaded for the duration of our journey, and we rolled into York at about 10:55. 

11:09 2C25 142023 York Railway Station to Harrogate Railway Station
After identifying the Class 91 that had been paired with 82216 as 91112, which was a winner for haulage, we headed across to the ticket office and used one of the electronic ticket machines to collect our tickets for Harrogate. Once this was done, a short walk across to the platform for our train to Harrogate was made, our train was already in the platform in the pairing of 142037 and 142023; unsurprisingly, both were winners. Both had bench seating, with the 3-2 formation on the interior, and so when the driver came and opened the doors, we boarded 142023 and took a seat at the two rows of seats that face each other about mid-way in the saloon. citaro5284, who had come down with a cold that he had presumably obtained from Dan, offered me a locket so that I could ''fight the infection before I get it''. Our plan was to meet one of my friends at Harrogate, one of the moderators on RailUK Forums, David Russell (he made an account on this forum with the same username as his RailUK account, ''theblackwatch''). The journey on this stopping service was very enjoyable, far superior to some of the units at Newcastle.

13:04 2C30 142037 Harrogate Railway Station to York Railway Station
We met with David at Harrogate Bus Station; citaro5284 and him talked for a few minutes while I focused on getting some photos, before citaro5284 headed down to the stand for the 36 for a closer inspection of the operations. Following about thirty minutes at the bus station, we walked down to a place called North Bar, which David led us down to, and we had a drink in there for about twenty minutes. Customer service was great, but the interior was a bit too basic. Upon returning to the railway station at 12:55, we parted company with David, and headed back to the platform. Our train back to York soon appeared, the same pair of Pacers as before, 142037 and 142023, so we sat in the former this time to allow some variety. Managed to bag the same seats as we had sat in on 142023, and we enjoyed the scenic journey back to York. I'd recommend this journey, the loadings were quite light, and I found it enjoyable. Was also nice to have two more Pacers ticked off, too.

Upon returning to York, we walked to the National Railway Museum to catch a glimpse of Class A3 Pacific 60103 (4472 in it's LNER days) ''Flying Scotsman''. It was quite crowded, and as we'd been before, we didn't stick around. Following this, we walked back through the railway station and made our way up to The Punchbowl for some lunch. citaro5284 enjoyed a steak while I had a steak and ale pie. We noticed, from our seats, that some of Transdev's reverse Olympians were running around on the shuttle service for York Racecourse, so I decided to focus on getting some photos of them. Following our lunch, we slowly walked back to the railway station for 15:20. Managed to photograph S54 VNM, a Palatine 1-bodied Volvo, which turned out alright: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127739730@...ed-public/

16:39 1S21 91125 York Railway Station to Durham Railway Station
We returned to the station at 16:00, making our way over to Platform 9 and taking a seat at the end of the platform. We sat and observed stuff coming in and out of the station, before citaro5284 pointed out that the late-running TPE that was using the same platform as our train might end up causing a delay to our service, due at 16:35. As predicted, our train rolled in just after it's scheduled departure time, with 91125 leading the train north (thankfully, another winner for haulage). We took our reserved seats in Coach E, but shortly after departure from York, citaro5284 moved across to some unreserved seats, as the coach was effectively empty. Was a nice journey back, with stops at Northallerton and Darlington, and we rolled into Durham at about 17:30. My father picked me up and we drove back, arriving home at 17:45. I'll be quite sad when the HSTs, but more so the 91s, are replaced in due course, as they are fantastic machines that demonstrate power and speed at it's best.

It was a very enjoyable outing, my thanks to citaro5284 for the company. I'm unsure of when my next outing outside of the north east will be, as there is a lot of stuff I need to try and catch up with over the next few weeks, but chances are it will be in the next two months or so. However, I have decided to end my reviews at this point, until further notice. Back in September, I took a temporary hiatus from this forum, for reasons that I made clear at the end of a review at the time. Things haven't improved, and now I am well and truly at the end of my tether. Some of the people associated with this hobby make me dislike it, in short, so I intend to no longer post on the forum much, and have less of an online presence. 

R852 PRG
Edited 31 Mar 2016, 3:07 pm by R852 PRG.
R852 PRG
27 Mar 2016, 6:49 pm #272

Saturday 26th March 2016

Yesterday, I enjoyed a trip to York and Harrogate.

08:18 21 6066 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station
The day began with an 07:15 alarm, to allow ample to time to get to Durham Railway Station for the train south; the 09:43 Virgin Trains East Coast service, 1E06, pathed to be a Class 91. I left my house just before 08:00, and met Adrian on Front Street at about 08:15. He wasn't to be joining me on this outing, but he was heading through to Durham to sort some stuff out at work. 6066 was our ride through to Durham, operating the 08:18 21 service from Chester-le-Street. We sat behind the stairwell and talked throughout the short ride to Durham, and spent about twenty minutes taking photos at the entrance of the bus station of stuff coming in, was also able to catch recently repainted Enviro200 1320 on North Road. Just after 09:00, we parted ways, and I began making the arduous climb up to the station.

09:50 1E06 91112 Durham Railway Station to York Railway Station
Joining me on this occasion was citaro5284, who had boarded at Newcastle, but no sooner had the train departed Newcastle, the station staff at Durham informed passengers awaiting the imminently due southbound TransPennine service that a platform change was occurring due to a broken rail rendering Platform 1 (southbound platform at Durham) useless. I watched from Platform 1 with intrigue as a Class 185 unit rolled into the northbound platform (2), heading southbound, and unsurprisingly, the passengers awaiting the 09:43 VTEC were soon moved across. Upon reaching Platform 2, I saw the Mk4 set slowly rolling into the platform, with DVT 82216 leading the train. Quickly made my way up to the flag for Coach D, in which we were booked, and boarded the coach at the end nearest our seats. We sat at a standstill until 09:56, departing Durham with a delay of 17 minutes, stopping again before Darlington, arriving there having incurred a delay totalling 20 minutes. Our coach remained lightly loaded for the duration of our journey, and we rolled into York at about 10:55. 

11:09 2C25 142023 York Railway Station to Harrogate Railway Station
After identifying the Class 91 that had been paired with 82216 as 91112, which was a winner for haulage, we headed across to the ticket office and used one of the electronic ticket machines to collect our tickets for Harrogate. Once this was done, a short walk across to the platform for our train to Harrogate was made, our train was already in the platform in the pairing of 142037 and 142023; unsurprisingly, both were winners. Both had bench seating, with the 3-2 formation on the interior, and so when the driver came and opened the doors, we boarded 142023 and took a seat at the two rows of seats that face each other about mid-way in the saloon. citaro5284, who had come down with a cold that he had presumably obtained from Dan, offered me a locket so that I could ''fight the infection before I get it''. Our plan was to meet one of my friends at Harrogate, one of the moderators on RailUK Forums, David Russell (he made an account on this forum with the same username as his RailUK account, ''theblackwatch''). The journey on this stopping service was very enjoyable, far superior to some of the units at Newcastle.

13:04 2C30 142037 Harrogate Railway Station to York Railway Station
We met with David at Harrogate Bus Station; citaro5284 and him talked for a few minutes while I focused on getting some photos, before citaro5284 headed down to the stand for the 36 for a closer inspection of the operations. Following about thirty minutes at the bus station, we walked down to a place called North Bar, which David led us down to, and we had a drink in there for about twenty minutes. Customer service was great, but the interior was a bit too basic. Upon returning to the railway station at 12:55, we parted company with David, and headed back to the platform. Our train back to York soon appeared, the same pair of Pacers as before, 142037 and 142023, so we sat in the former this time to allow some variety. Managed to bag the same seats as we had sat in on 142023, and we enjoyed the scenic journey back to York. I'd recommend this journey, the loadings were quite light, and I found it enjoyable. Was also nice to have two more Pacers ticked off, too.

Upon returning to York, we walked to the National Railway Museum to catch a glimpse of Class A3 Pacific 60103 (4472 in it's LNER days) ''Flying Scotsman''. It was quite crowded, and as we'd been before, we didn't stick around. Following this, we walked back through the railway station and made our way up to The Punchbowl for some lunch. citaro5284 enjoyed a steak while I had a steak and ale pie. We noticed, from our seats, that some of Transdev's reverse Olympians were running around on the shuttle service for York Racecourse, so I decided to focus on getting some photos of them. Following our lunch, we slowly walked back to the railway station for 15:20. Managed to photograph S54 VNM, a Palatine 1-bodied Volvo, which turned out alright: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127739730@...ed-public/

16:39 1S21 91125 York Railway Station to Durham Railway Station
We returned to the station at 16:00, making our way over to Platform 9 and taking a seat at the end of the platform. We sat and observed stuff coming in and out of the station, before citaro5284 pointed out that the late-running TPE that was using the same platform as our train might end up causing a delay to our service, due at 16:35. As predicted, our train rolled in just after it's scheduled departure time, with 91125 leading the train north (thankfully, another winner for haulage). We took our reserved seats in Coach E, but shortly after departure from York, citaro5284 moved across to some unreserved seats, as the coach was effectively empty. Was a nice journey back, with stops at Northallerton and Darlington, and we rolled into Durham at about 17:30. My father picked me up and we drove back, arriving home at 17:45. I'll be quite sad when the HSTs, but more so the 91s, are replaced in due course, as they are fantastic machines that demonstrate power and speed at it's best.

It was a very enjoyable outing, my thanks to citaro5284 for the company. I'm unsure of when my next outing outside of the north east will be, as there is a lot of stuff I need to try and catch up with over the next few weeks, but chances are it will be in the next two months or so. However, I have decided to end my reviews at this point, until further notice. Back in September, I took a temporary hiatus from this forum, for reasons that I made clear at the end of a review at the time. Things haven't improved, and now I am well and truly at the end of my tether. Some of the people associated with this hobby make me dislike it, in short, so I intend to no longer post on the forum much, and have less of an online presence. 

R852 PRG

07 Sep 2016, 8:05 pm #273
No More reviews Marcus?

Craig Smith. NNRG Operations Engineer. NNRG. Bus Preservationists of the North East.
Craig Smith
07 Sep 2016, 8:05 pm #273

No More reviews Marcus?


Craig Smith. NNRG Operations Engineer. NNRG. Bus Preservationists of the North East.

02 Oct 2016, 2:45 pm #274
Afternoon all,

Pleased to announce that after a break from the forum, I'll be continuing with the reviews on a regular basis of hopefully one or two per month. They'll be posted in this thread.

R852 PRG
R852 PRG
02 Oct 2016, 2:45 pm #274

Afternoon all,

Pleased to announce that after a break from the forum, I'll be continuing with the reviews on a regular basis of hopefully one or two per month. They'll be posted in this thread.

R852 PRG

01 Nov 2016, 5:00 pm #275
Saturday 29th October 2016

Had a thoroughly enjoyable day in Edinburgh in the company of Adrian, Sean and citaro5284, and the time has come for me to publish the review. 

07:43 1S02 91132 Newcastle Central Station to Edinburgh Waverley Station
I was picked up by citaro5284 at 0645, making a detour to Heworth in order to collect Adrian, before arriving at Central Station for about 0715. After Sean joined us, we headed to our platform for our train north. 91132 was identified as the locomotive as it rolled to a halt; I am a fan of the 91s, and I'll miss them when they're eventually withdrawn in the coming future. As this one was a winner, I'm now one closer to having them all ticked off for haulage. It would be nice if I could get all thirty-one of them before then. Our table of four was in the centre of coach E, and we were entertained during the journey by the guard, named Sean, who kept cracking jokes and practised a magic act. Brilliant guy, thought it was worth tweeting VTEC in hopes he would receive some praise. This set was unrefurbished, potentially the last journey I will make on an unrefurbished Mk4 set.

10:39 Tram 263 Princes Street Tram Stop to Gyle Centre Tram Stop
After alighting the train, which was terminating at Waverley, Sean led us out of the station and into the adjacent Wetherspoons. I sampled the Scottish Breakfast, I've had nicer breakfasts at other Wetherspoons, particularly at the one near the station in York, but this did the job and filled me up. Exited the Wetherspoons and made our way along Princes Street to the nearest tram stop. Rather than get our day tickets on a bus, we just got them from the machines here. The material from which the ticket is produced feels a lot longer lasting than your average bus ticket, too. My second time on one of the Edinburgh Trams, and I was just as impressed as I was the first time. Very comfortable to ride. There were two guards on this, one of which was being trained; the other, his mentor. 

11:13 22 338 Gyle Centre Shopping Centre to Princes Street
We alighted the tram (263) at Gyle Centre after travelling a few stops, in order to make a strategic move and head to Ocean Terminal. The plan was to get a 22 back to Princes Street and then tick off a Volvo 7900 by heading to Easter Road and catching a 35 onwards to Ocean Terminal, hopefully an Omnicity double decker. I've used the 22 before and sampled the B9TLs on there. To me, the B9TL is the modern day Olympian; fast, powerful and comfortable, with marks from drivers alike for drive quality. Slowly started to pick up passengers heading into the city centre, and the upper saloon where we decided to sit quickly became about half full. There was a driver changeover at a bus stop along the route, comparable to how Percy Main do their changeovers, with the depot nearby and drivers commuting using an ancillary van. Got to Princes Street and walked down to the bus stop for the 1 service.

11:54 1 5 Princes Street to Easter Road
First time I have sampled one of these 7900 things, and I was very impressed. Number 5 is a 14-plate, so coming up to three years of age, and there was barely a rattle from the bodywork. How many Streetlites, aged a year and a half, aren't complete bone shakers? Much like our Volvo B5LHs on the Angel and Coastliner, the stop-start hybrid engine meant that we would pull away from stops in full electric mode before full diesel came in. That distinct sound is one that I have become very much accustomed to since late 2012 when 6056-6070 were introduced on the 21, and it is one that I really like. I would be more than happy to sample another of these modern-age beasts again at some point in the future. Alighted at the terminus to find we had an eighteen minute wait for the 35 to Ocean Terminal, so citaro5284 and Sean took a wander while Adrian and I got some photos on Easter Road.

12:33 35 629 Easter Road to Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre
After observing yet another 1 terminate and turn around to head to Clermiston, we saw another one in the distance, but trailing behind a President this time. I was very happy about this, as I have always had a soft for the President bodywork, irrespective of the chassis. From seeing the Trident Presidents on the 21/21A/21B as a young one, and being drawn to their front panels, which looked to display a 'happy' facial expression, to seeing a batch of V-LGC B7TLs migrate north from London; I have always had a soft spot for the bodywork. The downstairs saloon was quite full so we ventured upstairs, only to find it was even more so up there! One table was present on the nearside towards the front, which seemed a little pointless, as there were no other tables anywhere else on the bus. 

13:36 34 563 Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre to Princes Street
Upon arrival at Ocean Terminal, we disembarked from 629 and headed into the shopping centre for a sit down and a bite to eat. The allocation to the 34 is Volvo B5TL/Wright Gemini 3s, although with the modernised body now sold with StreetDecks. I remember trying one last time I was in Edinburgh, for the depot open day last year (564), and found it to be very good. With the usual power of a Volvo and the glazed windows on the roof, these are definitely a decent ride. One thing we noticed on this journey is that all Lothian Buses have free WiFi available, but plug sockets are absent. 

14:17 14 763 Waverley Bridge to Craigmillar Castle
We alighted 563 on Princes Street, and Sean began leading us across the Waverley Bridge to visit the 'old town'. Me being me, I assumed he had something else in mind, but then we noticed a 14 for Greendykes was imminently due, so stuck around for it. Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 763, a 56-reg example, was our steed. My goodness, the kickdowns from the Voith gearbox in this were something else entirely. Whenever pulling away from a junction, the surge of power and scream of the Voith accelerating was fantastic. Not usually a Voith fan, due to be 'raised on' ZF Ecomat, but I cannot deny that they're musical and fascinating things to listen to. We alighted near Craigmillar Castle and crossed the road for the next thing back to the city centre.

14:40 14 643 Craigmillar Castle to Waverley Bridge
Turned out to be another 14 service; I was pleased to see that we were about to treated to our second President of the day, number 643. citaro5284 made his way upstairs while Adrian, Sean and I sat downstairs. Same mechanical figuration as 629 earlier on, although it seemed to be a bit more gutsy. A guy boarded along the route and I can't help but think he milked the disabled card. One thing I noticed on this journey that further amplified my own consensus about cities such as Edinburgh is you always get a flow of passengers boarding and alighting a service; buses rarely seem to run around carrying fresh air only, exclusion can perhaps be given to a ''leap frogger'', which we observed earlier on when we had 563 on the 34 from Ocean Terminal.

15:01 5 957 Waverley Bridge to Piershill Square East
No sooner had we alighted 643 on Waverley Bridge, with just under two hours before our train, the 1700 off Edinburgh (1E24), Sean suggested we catch a 5 a few stops out of the city centre and then catch something else back, providing we were on a busy corridor. The ride was 957; an 11-plate Volvo B9TL with Wright Gemini 2 bodywork, we were amazed to see Jimmi of all people shortly after we departed! Complete coincidence. After about ten minutes, we decided to alight at Piershill Square East and catch the next thing back to Waverley Bridge or Princes Street.

15:22 5 958 Piershill Square East to Waverley Bridge
The next bus in fleet-number order was our return journey for the 5, no different to 957 really; the clagging noise produced by the manifold gasket being on its way out, much like the Volvo B9TLs on the X9/X10. A 26 had come along just beforehand, but the heavy loading put us off boarding, and with another 5 following imminently, we decided to just go with this. Sat at the rear of the downstairs saloon and picked up quite a few passengers on the way back into the city centre. While the 26 would have dropped us off at Princes Street, we didn't mind the walk back from Waverley Bridge, that was until Sean dragged us to a 'winner Spoons'! Got there for 1600 and had to quickly drink before heading back to the station, arriving just after 1630. Sean and I went to photograph 90047 and 67021 while Adrian and citaro5284 headed straight to our waiting train on Platform 9.

17:00 1E24 91107 Edinburgh Waverley Station to Newcastle Central Station
Another winner for haulage! We were booked into First Class for our return journey, the set of coaches were refurbished as well so I got to sample the refurbished First Class. Our coach, M, was quite quiet, with about ten other passengers in total, spread out over the coach. Departure from Waverley was punctual, with refreshments quickly being served, but not before the Scottish guard came through our coach, lacking manners and inspecting tickets as closely as possible. He made the same announcement three times in fifteen minutes, each filled with irrelevant drivel, guessing he likes the sound of his own voice. Other than that, the journey south was quite enjoyable. Upon return to Newcastle at 1828, I got a quick photo of 91107 and its nameplate, ''Skyfall'', at the top of Platform 4 before heading outside to meet my dad; arriving home at bang-on 1900. 

All in all, a fantastic day out. My thanks to those who joined me. Hope you enjoyed this review.

R852 PRG
R852 PRG
01 Nov 2016, 5:00 pm #275

Saturday 29th October 2016

Had a thoroughly enjoyable day in Edinburgh in the company of Adrian, Sean and citaro5284, and the time has come for me to publish the review. 

07:43 1S02 91132 Newcastle Central Station to Edinburgh Waverley Station
I was picked up by citaro5284 at 0645, making a detour to Heworth in order to collect Adrian, before arriving at Central Station for about 0715. After Sean joined us, we headed to our platform for our train north. 91132 was identified as the locomotive as it rolled to a halt; I am a fan of the 91s, and I'll miss them when they're eventually withdrawn in the coming future. As this one was a winner, I'm now one closer to having them all ticked off for haulage. It would be nice if I could get all thirty-one of them before then. Our table of four was in the centre of coach E, and we were entertained during the journey by the guard, named Sean, who kept cracking jokes and practised a magic act. Brilliant guy, thought it was worth tweeting VTEC in hopes he would receive some praise. This set was unrefurbished, potentially the last journey I will make on an unrefurbished Mk4 set.

10:39 Tram 263 Princes Street Tram Stop to Gyle Centre Tram Stop
After alighting the train, which was terminating at Waverley, Sean led us out of the station and into the adjacent Wetherspoons. I sampled the Scottish Breakfast, I've had nicer breakfasts at other Wetherspoons, particularly at the one near the station in York, but this did the job and filled me up. Exited the Wetherspoons and made our way along Princes Street to the nearest tram stop. Rather than get our day tickets on a bus, we just got them from the machines here. The material from which the ticket is produced feels a lot longer lasting than your average bus ticket, too. My second time on one of the Edinburgh Trams, and I was just as impressed as I was the first time. Very comfortable to ride. There were two guards on this, one of which was being trained; the other, his mentor. 

11:13 22 338 Gyle Centre Shopping Centre to Princes Street
We alighted the tram (263) at Gyle Centre after travelling a few stops, in order to make a strategic move and head to Ocean Terminal. The plan was to get a 22 back to Princes Street and then tick off a Volvo 7900 by heading to Easter Road and catching a 35 onwards to Ocean Terminal, hopefully an Omnicity double decker. I've used the 22 before and sampled the B9TLs on there. To me, the B9TL is the modern day Olympian; fast, powerful and comfortable, with marks from drivers alike for drive quality. Slowly started to pick up passengers heading into the city centre, and the upper saloon where we decided to sit quickly became about half full. There was a driver changeover at a bus stop along the route, comparable to how Percy Main do their changeovers, with the depot nearby and drivers commuting using an ancillary van. Got to Princes Street and walked down to the bus stop for the 1 service.

11:54 1 5 Princes Street to Easter Road
First time I have sampled one of these 7900 things, and I was very impressed. Number 5 is a 14-plate, so coming up to three years of age, and there was barely a rattle from the bodywork. How many Streetlites, aged a year and a half, aren't complete bone shakers? Much like our Volvo B5LHs on the Angel and Coastliner, the stop-start hybrid engine meant that we would pull away from stops in full electric mode before full diesel came in. That distinct sound is one that I have become very much accustomed to since late 2012 when 6056-6070 were introduced on the 21, and it is one that I really like. I would be more than happy to sample another of these modern-age beasts again at some point in the future. Alighted at the terminus to find we had an eighteen minute wait for the 35 to Ocean Terminal, so citaro5284 and Sean took a wander while Adrian and I got some photos on Easter Road.

12:33 35 629 Easter Road to Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre
After observing yet another 1 terminate and turn around to head to Clermiston, we saw another one in the distance, but trailing behind a President this time. I was very happy about this, as I have always had a soft for the President bodywork, irrespective of the chassis. From seeing the Trident Presidents on the 21/21A/21B as a young one, and being drawn to their front panels, which looked to display a 'happy' facial expression, to seeing a batch of V-LGC B7TLs migrate north from London; I have always had a soft spot for the bodywork. The downstairs saloon was quite full so we ventured upstairs, only to find it was even more so up there! One table was present on the nearside towards the front, which seemed a little pointless, as there were no other tables anywhere else on the bus. 

13:36 34 563 Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre to Princes Street
Upon arrival at Ocean Terminal, we disembarked from 629 and headed into the shopping centre for a sit down and a bite to eat. The allocation to the 34 is Volvo B5TL/Wright Gemini 3s, although with the modernised body now sold with StreetDecks. I remember trying one last time I was in Edinburgh, for the depot open day last year (564), and found it to be very good. With the usual power of a Volvo and the glazed windows on the roof, these are definitely a decent ride. One thing we noticed on this journey is that all Lothian Buses have free WiFi available, but plug sockets are absent. 

14:17 14 763 Waverley Bridge to Craigmillar Castle
We alighted 563 on Princes Street, and Sean began leading us across the Waverley Bridge to visit the 'old town'. Me being me, I assumed he had something else in mind, but then we noticed a 14 for Greendykes was imminently due, so stuck around for it. Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 763, a 56-reg example, was our steed. My goodness, the kickdowns from the Voith gearbox in this were something else entirely. Whenever pulling away from a junction, the surge of power and scream of the Voith accelerating was fantastic. Not usually a Voith fan, due to be 'raised on' ZF Ecomat, but I cannot deny that they're musical and fascinating things to listen to. We alighted near Craigmillar Castle and crossed the road for the next thing back to the city centre.

14:40 14 643 Craigmillar Castle to Waverley Bridge
Turned out to be another 14 service; I was pleased to see that we were about to treated to our second President of the day, number 643. citaro5284 made his way upstairs while Adrian, Sean and I sat downstairs. Same mechanical figuration as 629 earlier on, although it seemed to be a bit more gutsy. A guy boarded along the route and I can't help but think he milked the disabled card. One thing I noticed on this journey that further amplified my own consensus about cities such as Edinburgh is you always get a flow of passengers boarding and alighting a service; buses rarely seem to run around carrying fresh air only, exclusion can perhaps be given to a ''leap frogger'', which we observed earlier on when we had 563 on the 34 from Ocean Terminal.

15:01 5 957 Waverley Bridge to Piershill Square East
No sooner had we alighted 643 on Waverley Bridge, with just under two hours before our train, the 1700 off Edinburgh (1E24), Sean suggested we catch a 5 a few stops out of the city centre and then catch something else back, providing we were on a busy corridor. The ride was 957; an 11-plate Volvo B9TL with Wright Gemini 2 bodywork, we were amazed to see Jimmi of all people shortly after we departed! Complete coincidence. After about ten minutes, we decided to alight at Piershill Square East and catch the next thing back to Waverley Bridge or Princes Street.

15:22 5 958 Piershill Square East to Waverley Bridge
The next bus in fleet-number order was our return journey for the 5, no different to 957 really; the clagging noise produced by the manifold gasket being on its way out, much like the Volvo B9TLs on the X9/X10. A 26 had come along just beforehand, but the heavy loading put us off boarding, and with another 5 following imminently, we decided to just go with this. Sat at the rear of the downstairs saloon and picked up quite a few passengers on the way back into the city centre. While the 26 would have dropped us off at Princes Street, we didn't mind the walk back from Waverley Bridge, that was until Sean dragged us to a 'winner Spoons'! Got there for 1600 and had to quickly drink before heading back to the station, arriving just after 1630. Sean and I went to photograph 90047 and 67021 while Adrian and citaro5284 headed straight to our waiting train on Platform 9.

17:00 1E24 91107 Edinburgh Waverley Station to Newcastle Central Station
Another winner for haulage! We were booked into First Class for our return journey, the set of coaches were refurbished as well so I got to sample the refurbished First Class. Our coach, M, was quite quiet, with about ten other passengers in total, spread out over the coach. Departure from Waverley was punctual, with refreshments quickly being served, but not before the Scottish guard came through our coach, lacking manners and inspecting tickets as closely as possible. He made the same announcement three times in fifteen minutes, each filled with irrelevant drivel, guessing he likes the sound of his own voice. Other than that, the journey south was quite enjoyable. Upon return to Newcastle at 1828, I got a quick photo of 91107 and its nameplate, ''Skyfall'', at the top of Platform 4 before heading outside to meet my dad; arriving home at bang-on 1900. 

All in all, a fantastic day out. My thanks to those who joined me. Hope you enjoyed this review.

R852 PRG

Jimmi



10,961
01 Nov 2016, 5:26 pm #276
(01 Nov 2016, 5:00 pm)R852 PRG 11:13 22 338 Gyle Centre Shopping Centre to Princes Street
We alighted the tram (263) at Gyle Centre after travelling a few stops, in order to make a strategic move and head to Ocean Terminal. The plan was to get a 22 back to Princes Street and then tick off a Volvo 7900 by heading to Easter Road and catching a 35 onwards to Ocean Terminal, hopefully an Omnicity double decker. I've used the 22 before and sampled the B9TLs on there. To me, the B9TL is the modern day Olympian; fast, powerful and comfortable, with marks from drivers alike for drive quality. Slowly started to pick up passengers heading into the city centre, and the upper saloon where we decided to sit quickly became about half full. There was a driver changeover at a bus stop along the route, comparable to how Percy Main do their changeovers, with the depot nearby and drivers commuting using an ancillary van. Got to Princes Street and walked down to the bus stop for the 1 service.

Great review Smile

May be wrong but I think I saw Adrian sat at the front of this bus, as I was on a 22 heading towards Gyle Centre during this time.

I didn't enjoy my journey on Volvo 7900 - fleet number 45, just felt a bit boring although I got the 12 from Gyle Centre to Princes Street and the route was very stop start, so just about every time it would get up to speed, it would get to another stop or get stuck in traffic which is probably why it didn't excite me much.
Jimmi
01 Nov 2016, 5:26 pm #276

(01 Nov 2016, 5:00 pm)R852 PRG 11:13 22 338 Gyle Centre Shopping Centre to Princes Street
We alighted the tram (263) at Gyle Centre after travelling a few stops, in order to make a strategic move and head to Ocean Terminal. The plan was to get a 22 back to Princes Street and then tick off a Volvo 7900 by heading to Easter Road and catching a 35 onwards to Ocean Terminal, hopefully an Omnicity double decker. I've used the 22 before and sampled the B9TLs on there. To me, the B9TL is the modern day Olympian; fast, powerful and comfortable, with marks from drivers alike for drive quality. Slowly started to pick up passengers heading into the city centre, and the upper saloon where we decided to sit quickly became about half full. There was a driver changeover at a bus stop along the route, comparable to how Percy Main do their changeovers, with the depot nearby and drivers commuting using an ancillary van. Got to Princes Street and walked down to the bus stop for the 1 service.

Great review Smile

May be wrong but I think I saw Adrian sat at the front of this bus, as I was on a 22 heading towards Gyle Centre during this time.

I didn't enjoy my journey on Volvo 7900 - fleet number 45, just felt a bit boring although I got the 12 from Gyle Centre to Princes Street and the route was very stop start, so just about every time it would get up to speed, it would get to another stop or get stuck in traffic which is probably why it didn't excite me much.

citaro5284



3,230
01 Nov 2016, 5:45 pm #277
(01 Nov 2016, 5:26 pm)Jimmi Great review Smile

May be wrong but I think I saw Adrian sat at the front of this bus, as I was on a 22 heading towards Gyle Centre during this time.

I didn't enjoy my journey on Volvo 7900 - fleet number 45, just felt a bit boring although I got the 12 from Gyle Centre to Princes Street and the route was very stop start, so just about every time it would get up to speed, it would get to another stop or get stuck in traffic which is probably why it didn't excite me much.

Aye, he was on the nearside and Marcus was on the offside upstairs.
citaro5284
01 Nov 2016, 5:45 pm #277

(01 Nov 2016, 5:26 pm)Jimmi Great review Smile

May be wrong but I think I saw Adrian sat at the front of this bus, as I was on a 22 heading towards Gyle Centre during this time.

I didn't enjoy my journey on Volvo 7900 - fleet number 45, just felt a bit boring although I got the 12 from Gyle Centre to Princes Street and the route was very stop start, so just about every time it would get up to speed, it would get to another stop or get stuck in traffic which is probably why it didn't excite me much.

Aye, he was on the nearside and Marcus was on the offside upstairs.

04 Dec 2016, 5:16 pm #278
Saturday 3rd December 2016

While today didn't go quite to plan, with a vast assortment of cock-ups and things generally not working out, but I rather enjoyed it.

08:25 X12 7627 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Stockton High Street North
The purpose of today's trip was to sample some of the new Enviro200MMCs that have entered service at Stagecoach's Slatyford depot on the 30/31 services, have a ride on the Wear Tees Xpress X7 service for one last time prior to its discontinuation as of tomorrow, and catch a photograph of 9098 (SN66 WLK). In a change from the norm, I decided to catch the MAX X12 service direct from Chester-le-Street to Teesside, rather than the first X21 of the day through to Newcastle and the 09:00 X10 south, so that I could take a different route and one that allowed Adrian to board en-route. 7627 was the vehicle operating this journey; the 08:26 X12 from Chester-le-Street, which commences from Birtley a few minutes prior. While I initially bagged the front seats, shortly after departure from Durham, the opposite pair were taken by two others, which meant I had to move back to sit with Adrian when he boarded at Coxhoe.

10:22 X7 655 Stockton High Street North to Sunderland Park Lane Interchange
Arrival at the northern end of Stockton High Street was on-time, and we spent about half an hour getting some shots here. After Adrian caught a glimpse of an indiGo Solo SR, and I recalled seeing mention of two Wear Tees Xpress Citaros being absent for repaint, I took it that our haulage for the X7 would be a 15-reg Optare from Peterlee. I'd been anticipating the melodious ZF Ecomat in a powerful 2010-vintage Citaro, as well as the extra space that comes with a full-size saloon as opposed to a minibus. Having endured packed minibuses in the past and observed heavy loadings on the X7 service, the 11:33 arrival time into Sunderland couldn't have come sooner. While the loading wasn't too bad when we left Stockton, it was standing room only from Peterlee. On a more positive note, I was able to tick 655 off for haulage, as it's rare I am in the Peterlee area or focus on the indiGo East Durham network at all.

11:45 T&WM 4058+4022 Park Lane Station to Central Station
Once we arrived into Park Lane Interchange, we headed out for a photo of 655 leaving on the X7. The extent of how dirty the Solo actually was was unbelievable; it was evident it hadn't been through a wash. ''indiGo'' branding on the sides was barely visible, with the panels being reduced to the same colour as the wheels! Adrian and I wandered back into the bus station and descended the stairs into the Metro station, just catching the 11:45 Metro to Airport, with the intention of getting off at Central or Monument and then hunting the handful of Enviro200MMCs in service for the next few hours. The train wasn't that busy; we managed to secure a pair of seats that faced each other. I still haven't succeeded in tracking down 4001, the Tyne & Wear PTE-liveried Metrocar, as it's on my to-do list before it is either repainted or when they begin to withdraw the Metrocars en-masse when replacements eventually arrive in years to come.

12:37 30 22413 Newcastle Clayton Street to Fawdon Park Road Terminus to Gosforth High Street
When our service got to Central, I decided she would bail here and head up to Clayton Street West, where the 30 and 31 (two routes the E200MMCs are meant to be allocated to) stop on a frequent basis, as well as lots of Go North East stuff from the Metrocentre heading into Eldon Square and some Stagecoach Enviro400 routes such as the 1 and 22, so we could just get photos of stuff coming through until an MMC appeared. Sadly, things didn't quite go to plan. We spent a good fifteen minutes and watched some 30/31 services pass us, but all were allocated ALX300s. While I am a fan of the Stagecoach ALX300s, with their front lights resembling eyes and the smart Stagecoach ''Beachball'' corporate livery; the aim of the day was to get some E200MMCs. Rather than just stand in the cold, we decided to catch 22413 to Fawdon Park Road, alight in the turning circle, get a quick photo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142814434@...ed-public/) and jump back on for the return journey to Gosforth.

13:37 31 22070 Gosforth High Street to Newcastle Pilgrim Street
The following twenty minutes on Gosforth High Street allowed me to obtain the following primary research; Gosforth has bad traffic; Gosforth is useless for photos unless you have the patience of a Saint, and the people of Gosforth get in the way quite a bit. Much to my dismay, when the next 31 came along, it was yet another ALX300! At least it was an older example than 06-reg 22413; 22070. As mentioned, I find the younger MANs to be a bit gutless and the screaming Voith gearboxes don't have as much entertainment value as the elder 2003/2004 examples. They just don't have as much character to them. One thing I noticed was the doors seemed to be a bit funny; when the driver closed them, he had to open them again to rectify them so they closed properly. A mutual friend of Adrian and I, Ken, was in a pub near to Pilgrim Street, so we decided to alight here and catch up with him.

14:18 38 19380 Newcastle Pilgrim Street to Freeman Hospital
After about fifteen minutes of talking to Ken and his friends in Lady Grey's, we walked out to find the unusual site of a Cumbria Classic Coaches vehicle, registered JTB 749, so we alerted Ken who seemed most pleased with this winner. Although it looked a bit too old for my interest, I have to admit it was rather smart. While anything pre-1965 isn't of much interest me, I do find a lot of the contemporary stuff to be enjoyable. The Stagecoach Newcastle Enviro400s are fine machines, both the diesels and Hybrids, are some such vehicles. I'd done a vague mock plan for the day, and this involved catching a 38 to the Freeman Hospital, the Arriva 553 across to Regent Centre and then a Go North East 33 back across. The next 38 from Pilgrim Street was in the hands of 19380; quick of the mark and entirely capable of the route. Ideal buses for city work, if you ask me.

14:49 52 4523 Freeman Hospital to Newcastle St. Mary's Place
My plan had accounted for the 38 to get to the Freeman for about 14:30, giving us ample time to cross into the hospital grounds for the 14:48 553 to Regent Centre, arriving at 14:58, then onto the 15:05 33 back to Newcastle, terminating on Market Street at 15:24. However, when I'd been forming my plan, I misread the 553 timetable for the Monday-Friday times instead of the Saturday service. This meant that the next 553 was actually due at 15:16, not 14:48! With that cock-up acknowledged, we walked back to Freeman Road in order to catch a more mainstream service directly back to the city centre. No prizes for guessing my reaction when a Volvo B10BLE with Alexander ALX300 bodywork, Jesmond's 4523, turned up with a 52. Absolute beast, it had one of the smoothest engine notes I've heard in a long time from a B10. Shame the Arriva ALX-bodied ones are slowly growing fewer in number. 

15:44 21 6067 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Red Lion
After almost hitting someone on St. Mary's Place (he seemed to foolishly walk out as soon as the traffic light turned to red rather than check to see if the coast was clear), we alighted and had a wander down Northumberland Street, before entering Eldon Square and walking through to the bus station. We sat down for a bite to eat, I looked through some photos and picked out a few favourites, the following of 22346 at the Freeman being one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/142814434@...ed-public/. I'd miscalculated in my head the times of 9098's departure from Eldon Square as the 15:47, when it was the 14:47, but knowing that it was on a run to Durham, hoped that we could catch it at Chester as the 16:32 to Newcastle. Hybrid 6067, the basis of the ''Angel'' model produced by Corgi in 2014, was our chariot to my hometown. Smooth ride in the stop-start motion at the back upstairs. Read however. Tongue

16:47 21 6063 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station
As we approached Northlands, a couple of stops before Front Street, Adrian pointed out that the Enviro400 City was about to pass us heading to Newcastle. Bollocks! I had mistimed its departure from Chester-le-Street, thinking it was the one behind based on the information I'd received, assuming it was the 16:32 from Front Street when it was, in fact, the 16:24. After a few calculations in my head, I determined that 9098 must be the 18:05 termination at the Red Lion, then light to the depot. Rather than stand in the cold for an hour and a half, I tried to think of options for how to kill time. I knew one of my driver friends was on a late shift tonight, and they were taking over the 16:47 21 to Durham, so we decided to do Durham and back with him and 6063. Arrived into Durham on-time and had to drop passengers off in stand F (Arriva dumping buses as per usual), before proceeding to layover in the new bus stops on North Road.

17:18 21 6063 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Corals
After returning to the bus station and picking up on stand B, we left punctually and the monotonous journey (not the worst route I can think of, but when you've seen it goodness knows how many times...) back to Chester-le-Street commenced. Got a quick photo of him at Corals before Adrian and I headed to Tesco to pick some stuff up. As I had determined that 9098 was due to terminate at the Red Lion at 18:05, we hurried back to Front Street to get a night shot of it. Fortunately, our luck had finally rolled in, as it was sat waiting at the lights at the bottom of Newcastle Road. Jimmi alighted but failed to get a shot of it before the driver set the blind to ''Not in Service''. On that note, with the mission complete, I headed home. 

All in all, not a bad outing. Positives are as follows:

Finally managed to get a shot of 9098 (SN66 WLK) on the 21, and the night shot didn't come out too badly
Was fortunate enough to ride Volvo B10BLE/Alexander ALX300 (favourite chassis with favourite body) 4523 on the 52
Got two Stagecoach Newcastle ALX300s in the form of 22070 and 22413, and a good shot of the latter at its terminus

...and the negatives: 

Didn't see a single Enviro200MMC, let alone photograph or claim one for haulage
Couldn't enjoy a Citaro on the X7 and had to make do with 655
Messed up the times for the 553, but that did lead onto one of the positive aspects of the day

Thanks for reading. Photographs available on my Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/142814434@N05/

R852 PRG
R852 PRG
04 Dec 2016, 5:16 pm #278

Saturday 3rd December 2016

While today didn't go quite to plan, with a vast assortment of cock-ups and things generally not working out, but I rather enjoyed it.

08:25 X12 7627 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Stockton High Street North
The purpose of today's trip was to sample some of the new Enviro200MMCs that have entered service at Stagecoach's Slatyford depot on the 30/31 services, have a ride on the Wear Tees Xpress X7 service for one last time prior to its discontinuation as of tomorrow, and catch a photograph of 9098 (SN66 WLK). In a change from the norm, I decided to catch the MAX X12 service direct from Chester-le-Street to Teesside, rather than the first X21 of the day through to Newcastle and the 09:00 X10 south, so that I could take a different route and one that allowed Adrian to board en-route. 7627 was the vehicle operating this journey; the 08:26 X12 from Chester-le-Street, which commences from Birtley a few minutes prior. While I initially bagged the front seats, shortly after departure from Durham, the opposite pair were taken by two others, which meant I had to move back to sit with Adrian when he boarded at Coxhoe.

10:22 X7 655 Stockton High Street North to Sunderland Park Lane Interchange
Arrival at the northern end of Stockton High Street was on-time, and we spent about half an hour getting some shots here. After Adrian caught a glimpse of an indiGo Solo SR, and I recalled seeing mention of two Wear Tees Xpress Citaros being absent for repaint, I took it that our haulage for the X7 would be a 15-reg Optare from Peterlee. I'd been anticipating the melodious ZF Ecomat in a powerful 2010-vintage Citaro, as well as the extra space that comes with a full-size saloon as opposed to a minibus. Having endured packed minibuses in the past and observed heavy loadings on the X7 service, the 11:33 arrival time into Sunderland couldn't have come sooner. While the loading wasn't too bad when we left Stockton, it was standing room only from Peterlee. On a more positive note, I was able to tick 655 off for haulage, as it's rare I am in the Peterlee area or focus on the indiGo East Durham network at all.

11:45 T&WM 4058+4022 Park Lane Station to Central Station
Once we arrived into Park Lane Interchange, we headed out for a photo of 655 leaving on the X7. The extent of how dirty the Solo actually was was unbelievable; it was evident it hadn't been through a wash. ''indiGo'' branding on the sides was barely visible, with the panels being reduced to the same colour as the wheels! Adrian and I wandered back into the bus station and descended the stairs into the Metro station, just catching the 11:45 Metro to Airport, with the intention of getting off at Central or Monument and then hunting the handful of Enviro200MMCs in service for the next few hours. The train wasn't that busy; we managed to secure a pair of seats that faced each other. I still haven't succeeded in tracking down 4001, the Tyne & Wear PTE-liveried Metrocar, as it's on my to-do list before it is either repainted or when they begin to withdraw the Metrocars en-masse when replacements eventually arrive in years to come.

12:37 30 22413 Newcastle Clayton Street to Fawdon Park Road Terminus to Gosforth High Street
When our service got to Central, I decided she would bail here and head up to Clayton Street West, where the 30 and 31 (two routes the E200MMCs are meant to be allocated to) stop on a frequent basis, as well as lots of Go North East stuff from the Metrocentre heading into Eldon Square and some Stagecoach Enviro400 routes such as the 1 and 22, so we could just get photos of stuff coming through until an MMC appeared. Sadly, things didn't quite go to plan. We spent a good fifteen minutes and watched some 30/31 services pass us, but all were allocated ALX300s. While I am a fan of the Stagecoach ALX300s, with their front lights resembling eyes and the smart Stagecoach ''Beachball'' corporate livery; the aim of the day was to get some E200MMCs. Rather than just stand in the cold, we decided to catch 22413 to Fawdon Park Road, alight in the turning circle, get a quick photo (https://www.flickr.com/photos/142814434@...ed-public/) and jump back on for the return journey to Gosforth.

13:37 31 22070 Gosforth High Street to Newcastle Pilgrim Street
The following twenty minutes on Gosforth High Street allowed me to obtain the following primary research; Gosforth has bad traffic; Gosforth is useless for photos unless you have the patience of a Saint, and the people of Gosforth get in the way quite a bit. Much to my dismay, when the next 31 came along, it was yet another ALX300! At least it was an older example than 06-reg 22413; 22070. As mentioned, I find the younger MANs to be a bit gutless and the screaming Voith gearboxes don't have as much entertainment value as the elder 2003/2004 examples. They just don't have as much character to them. One thing I noticed was the doors seemed to be a bit funny; when the driver closed them, he had to open them again to rectify them so they closed properly. A mutual friend of Adrian and I, Ken, was in a pub near to Pilgrim Street, so we decided to alight here and catch up with him.

14:18 38 19380 Newcastle Pilgrim Street to Freeman Hospital
After about fifteen minutes of talking to Ken and his friends in Lady Grey's, we walked out to find the unusual site of a Cumbria Classic Coaches vehicle, registered JTB 749, so we alerted Ken who seemed most pleased with this winner. Although it looked a bit too old for my interest, I have to admit it was rather smart. While anything pre-1965 isn't of much interest me, I do find a lot of the contemporary stuff to be enjoyable. The Stagecoach Newcastle Enviro400s are fine machines, both the diesels and Hybrids, are some such vehicles. I'd done a vague mock plan for the day, and this involved catching a 38 to the Freeman Hospital, the Arriva 553 across to Regent Centre and then a Go North East 33 back across. The next 38 from Pilgrim Street was in the hands of 19380; quick of the mark and entirely capable of the route. Ideal buses for city work, if you ask me.

14:49 52 4523 Freeman Hospital to Newcastle St. Mary's Place
My plan had accounted for the 38 to get to the Freeman for about 14:30, giving us ample time to cross into the hospital grounds for the 14:48 553 to Regent Centre, arriving at 14:58, then onto the 15:05 33 back to Newcastle, terminating on Market Street at 15:24. However, when I'd been forming my plan, I misread the 553 timetable for the Monday-Friday times instead of the Saturday service. This meant that the next 553 was actually due at 15:16, not 14:48! With that cock-up acknowledged, we walked back to Freeman Road in order to catch a more mainstream service directly back to the city centre. No prizes for guessing my reaction when a Volvo B10BLE with Alexander ALX300 bodywork, Jesmond's 4523, turned up with a 52. Absolute beast, it had one of the smoothest engine notes I've heard in a long time from a B10. Shame the Arriva ALX-bodied ones are slowly growing fewer in number. 

15:44 21 6067 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Red Lion
After almost hitting someone on St. Mary's Place (he seemed to foolishly walk out as soon as the traffic light turned to red rather than check to see if the coast was clear), we alighted and had a wander down Northumberland Street, before entering Eldon Square and walking through to the bus station. We sat down for a bite to eat, I looked through some photos and picked out a few favourites, the following of 22346 at the Freeman being one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/142814434@...ed-public/. I'd miscalculated in my head the times of 9098's departure from Eldon Square as the 15:47, when it was the 14:47, but knowing that it was on a run to Durham, hoped that we could catch it at Chester as the 16:32 to Newcastle. Hybrid 6067, the basis of the ''Angel'' model produced by Corgi in 2014, was our chariot to my hometown. Smooth ride in the stop-start motion at the back upstairs. Read however. Tongue

16:47 21 6063 Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Durham Bus Station
As we approached Northlands, a couple of stops before Front Street, Adrian pointed out that the Enviro400 City was about to pass us heading to Newcastle. Bollocks! I had mistimed its departure from Chester-le-Street, thinking it was the one behind based on the information I'd received, assuming it was the 16:32 from Front Street when it was, in fact, the 16:24. After a few calculations in my head, I determined that 9098 must be the 18:05 termination at the Red Lion, then light to the depot. Rather than stand in the cold for an hour and a half, I tried to think of options for how to kill time. I knew one of my driver friends was on a late shift tonight, and they were taking over the 16:47 21 to Durham, so we decided to do Durham and back with him and 6063. Arrived into Durham on-time and had to drop passengers off in stand F (Arriva dumping buses as per usual), before proceeding to layover in the new bus stops on North Road.

17:18 21 6063 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Corals
After returning to the bus station and picking up on stand B, we left punctually and the monotonous journey (not the worst route I can think of, but when you've seen it goodness knows how many times...) back to Chester-le-Street commenced. Got a quick photo of him at Corals before Adrian and I headed to Tesco to pick some stuff up. As I had determined that 9098 was due to terminate at the Red Lion at 18:05, we hurried back to Front Street to get a night shot of it. Fortunately, our luck had finally rolled in, as it was sat waiting at the lights at the bottom of Newcastle Road. Jimmi alighted but failed to get a shot of it before the driver set the blind to ''Not in Service''. On that note, with the mission complete, I headed home. 

All in all, not a bad outing. Positives are as follows:

Finally managed to get a shot of 9098 (SN66 WLK) on the 21, and the night shot didn't come out too badly
Was fortunate enough to ride Volvo B10BLE/Alexander ALX300 (favourite chassis with favourite body) 4523 on the 52
Got two Stagecoach Newcastle ALX300s in the form of 22070 and 22413, and a good shot of the latter at its terminus

...and the negatives: 

Didn't see a single Enviro200MMC, let alone photograph or claim one for haulage
Couldn't enjoy a Citaro on the X7 and had to make do with 655
Messed up the times for the 553, but that did lead onto one of the positive aspects of the day

Thanks for reading. Photographs available on my Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/142814434@N05/

R852 PRG

21 Dec 2016, 8:15 pm #279
Tuesday 20th December 2016

Yesterday, I embarked on a North East Explorer without any real aims, just to give me the freedom to roam wherever. 

08:26 X25 6140 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
The day started with an alarm at 07:00, not too painful as it's routine for me to be getting up at that hour during term time. I had decided the previous night to try and catch the 0830 X25 from Chester-le-Street through to Newcastle, then head north from there. Having been out for some night shots the evening before, I observed all of Chester-le-Street's OmniDekkas were out in service, and as the board that the 0830 is attached to is more often than not a double decker, I was hoping for one of the aforementioned buses on it. I was quite happy to see 6140 was my chariot, with one of the drivers I know at the wheel. Nice ride through to Newcastle, although the suspension was shot (which I notice is a persistent issue on Scania N94UDs) and a guy got on at Portobello that absolutely reeked to high heaven of stale urine. As I was getting off, I had a brief conversation with the driver as he was curious about the orders list. 

09:32 X21 7528 Newcastle Haymarket to Regent Centre Metro
I got some photographs at the bottom of Prudhoe Place for about five minutes (reminder: I do not care if it is a bus station shot or not. I think if the quality is good, the photo is good), before heading across to Haymarket. The time by this point was 0925, and I noticed that an X16 was due to depart at 0948. I had enough time to catch something else up to Regent Centre and go from there, so opted for a Sapphire X21. The driver pulled into the stand, turned the bus off and got off to have a cigarette, chatting to another Arriva driver on the X14. Now, it might just be me, but if there is a queue waiting to board, maybe let them get on first before you have a cigarette and make us stand in the cold? Just a suggestion. In true fashion, the plug sockets and WiFi did not work. Aside from that, it wasn't that bad a journey, the Enviro400s are quite entertaining at higher speeds.

09:59 X16 1408 Regent Centre Metro to Morpeth Bus Station
During my ride up to Regent Centre, the sun seemed to emerge from behind the clouds and cast its rays upon Gosforth. My intention had been to utilise my fifteen minutes or so here for photos, but the poor sun pretty much prevented this. While the sun may shine with a harsh glare during the winter months, it doesn't eliminate the harsh cold. Following a near hypothermia-inducing wait at Regent Centre, 1408 finally arrived with the X16 for Morpeth. This was probably one of the better rides of the day; I am a fan, like many others for that matter, of the 09-plate VDL Pulsars. They have an abundance of power and are very responsive vehicles when compared to Pulsars that have been plagued with 'EcoNoSpeed', which, from what I have heard, has more negative impacts than positive in the long run. After a spirited run up to Morpeth, I disembarked into the cold bus station.

10:41 43 2870 Morpeth Bus Station to Cramlington Manor Walks
This one came as quite a surprise. I was expecting an ALX300 or ALX400, or perhaps a B7TL Gemini, but a Nexus Solo was the last thing I expected! The driver was an unbelievably miserable man; failed to make any exchange with passengers, not even a thank you, and challenged a woman at Bedlington over something so ridiculous I can't remember what it was. 2870 wasn't a bad little machine, quite quick off the mark and the seating was comfortable enough. The best thing about this journey, in my opinion, was the nice views between Morpeth and Bedlington. Some of the country lane running was quite scenic, with passenger numbers remaining low until Bedlington, where most of those who had just boarded alighted only a few stops later. My makeshift plan was to alight at Cramlington and then connect onto a Go North East 42 towards Killingworth, then carry on from there.

11:29 42 625 Cramlington Manor Walks to Killingworth Bus Station
After a longer wait than anticipated at Cramlington, I finally saw an indiGo Solo approaching. It had an orange LED destination, which indicated it was one of the older examples that joined the Percy Main fleet a few months ago during service changes. As it soared past me, with the driver clearly eager to make up for lost time (by now, running well over five minutes late), I identified it as 625, which previously saw use on the low-cost unit local services in Whitley Bay that have since been tendered to Phoenix Coaches, and was new to Saltmeadows Road in the summer of 2011. This one was a winner for haulage, and was certainly quite agile, which is something I find present in a lot of the Solo SRs. Passenger numbers were quite decent, with about half of the seats occupied by the time we reached Killingworth, where I chose to alight in favour of something else.

11:49 54 7474 Killingworth Bus Station to North Shields, Nile Street
Absent from its 'branded' route of the 43/44/45, I was surprised to see DAF DB250RS/Alexander ALX400 coming into the bus station with the 53 I was intending to catch to North Shields. The driver was quite a happy chap; a far cry from the misery in the cab of 2870. Rather than sit downstairs, as usual, I decided to head upstairs and claim the front seats above the driver. Another passenger occupied the upper deck, bearing an Asda uniform, presumably on his way to work or having finished his shift. I couldn't believe just how powerful 7474 was, I have always been of the opinion that the DAF ALX400s are animals of machines, but this one really did affirm that judgement. The tremendous roar of the DAF engine whenever the driver placed the slightest bit of pressure on the accelerator was hard to believe. It was quite a shame to get off, I could have happily done the return journey, but I had other plans...

12:36 1 5270 North Shields, West Percy Street to Wallsend The Forum
As a rare user of the Coaster service, I decided that, as it was a convenient connection time, I'd catch the 1239 service from North Shields, towards Wrekenton, and jump ship at some point along the route. Luckily, it was waiting time, so I crossed the road and boarded, taking a seat at the rear next to the emergency exit door. Heating was on so the bus was nice and warm, which was welcomed following just a few minutes in the freezing North Shields. Out of habit, I inspected one of the tickets and noticed that, through the duty number, the driver was on an early shift (104), and hypothesised to myself that he would be relieved at Percy Main by another driver, which was correct, he was replaced by a much older guy. I decided that I would bail at Wallsend and make my way down to the bus station, before catching an 18 to Walker and a 39 to Newcastle from there. 

13:33 18 22343 Wallsend Metro Interchange to Walker Bus Terminus
Made my way to the bus station from the High Street, noticing how quiet the activity was. A few indiGo Solos passed through and I managed to get some photos, as well as 4899 on the Q3, although the low winter sun was a bit of a pain. With Santa Claus at the helm, I saw a 55-reg ALX300 coming in on the 18, so I headed to stand C to board it. I am a fan of the Stagecoach ALX300s; the half-German (MAN) and half-Scottish (Alexander) collaboration ensuring hundreds of them taking places in the uniformed Stagecoach fleet all over the country, although their time is slowly coming to an end. While I think some of the older examples in the region, the 03/53-plates, are the better ones, at least the stylish bodywork will live on for a few more years, courtesy of the younger examples, such as 22341-22348 and 22408-22413. I alighted at Walker and put £1 in the charity donation bucket on the dashboard.

13:55 39 12069 Walker Bus Terminus to Newcastle Blackett Street
From my ten minutes at Walker, I was able to establish that this desolate dump is not a place I intend to return to for some time. Perhaps I was just in the wrong part of it, and the rest of Walker doesn't look like the target of carpet bombing, but the impression I obtained of the place was one of a post-apocalyptic world, covered by a thick fog that conceals the residents from view in the darker hours and allows them to go about their business undetected. I was more than happy to see two Enviro400 Hybrids turn up together, with 12069 being the one to take me back to the city centre while the other made use of the layover bay. One of the aspects of the E400Hs that I really do admire is how quickly they get up to speed. I believe they top out at around 40mph (free to correct if mistaken), but it doesn't take them long at all to get there. Alighted on Blackett Street and made my way towards Market Street.

14:45 1 5267 Newcastle Pilgrim Street to Low Fell Ale Taster
Following some calculations in my head, I realised that if I caught the 1430 service 1 from Pilgrim Street towards Wrekenton, and alighted at Low Fell, I could then connect onto the 69 service, in hopes of a Volvo B10BLE. It was quite apparent that there was some traffic congestion in the city centre, and after waiting for a considerable time, I was most pleased to see a Coaster Omnicity eventually round the corner onto Pilgrim Street. 5267 was my steed for this journey; quite quiet in passenger numbers, with about ten other people boarding on Pilgrim Street. With the 69 due at Low Fell at 1513, I was a bit unsure if I would make the connection, as 5267 was fifteen minutes down. However, after leaving Gateshead, the driver thrashed it along Durham Road and managed to make up enough time to reach Low Fell at 1505, having made up five minutes since leaving Newcastle.

15:19 69 4900 Low Fell Ale Taster to Blaydon Bus Station
Woop! Although running over five minutes late, I was greeted with the sight of a Volvo B10BLE. Easily, this journey was the highlight of the day. 4900 was for many years a ''Lime'' vehicle, operated by Stanley depot for most of its life, on the Consett/Stanley to Sunderland services, which have been in several guises since its introduction to the fleet but are now numbered 8/8A/78/78A. Having heard reports that, these days, it produces a strange noise when accelerating, I was intrigued to find out what it was like for myself. It's very much a whining noise not too dissimilar to that of a Voith gearbox during take-off. After consulting an engineering friend of mine who is an expert in the Volvo B10BLE, he determined it was a result of the turbo ring blowing on the joint to the intercooler, likely the result of the turbo turning slightly. Aside from that, it was generally as sweet as a nut as far as older buses go these days.

16:00 49 4933 Blaydon Bus Station to Metrocentre Interchange
Once 4900 reached Blaydon, I decided to disembark here and work my way back to Newcastle via the Metrocentre, catching a 49 there and then a Stagecoach 100 to Blackett Street. While I was hoping for a Mercedes Citaro on the 49, as I have very few of them ticked off in the book (self-confessed saddo over here), I was instead faced with the sight of Y-reg Scania L94UB 4933. As I have a fondness for some of the Solars, and 4933 is a 'winner', I decided to go with it. Fantastic machine. The heating modifications proved themselves to be beneficial, as I was warmed up more or less instantly upon boarding, having effectively frozen to death outside. Mechanically, the bus was sound. Very responsive whenever the driver touched on the accelerator, and it got up to speed comparatively quickly to the Stagecoach Enviro400H earlier in the day on the 39. Alongside 4929, 4935 and 5217, this is now one of my favourites. 

16:14 100 27508 Metrocentre Interchange to Newcastle Blackett Street
I alighted at the Metrocentre and made my way down to the departure stand for 100. One of the Scottish Enviro300s was waiting to depart, but it was packed like a tin of sardines. Decided to let it go and wait for the next one. I noticed 27508 and two ALX300s, both 54-plates, were sat over in the layovers with what looked like a supervisor present. Seems like the heavy passenger traffic on the 100 had warranted some management at the Metrocentre. I was quite pleased to have 27508 as my vehicle to Newcastle, as it could likely be the last time I have one of the 05-plates on the 100. During the journey, I was reminded of just how powerful they are when not carrying a full load, as it was thrashed down the motorway with about one-third of the bus full. 

16:45 X21 6019 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Front Street
Waited on Blackett Street until about 1635, after giving it five minutes and seeing no activity at all, which was surprising given the time of day, I decided to just head into Eldon Square for the bus home. It was pitch black by now, and I must admit I love the atmosphere of the dark. As the 1650 X21 off Eldon Square isn't Crook-operated, but a miscellaneous car working operated by Chester-le-Street, I looked for one of our own. Volvo B7TL 6019 was sat in the layover bays, so astutely assumed this was to be my final vehicle of the day. As it turned out, I was correct. Had one of the 4-day rota drivers that used to regularly take me to school on the 21 driving; he seemed to recognise me but we didn't exchange more than friendly smiles. Following a spirited journey along Durham Road, I alighted at the Red Lion and got a quick night shot, getting a nod from the driver as he pulled away. To be honest, I was surprised he was smiling at all customers. The poor guy has been at Chester since 1997. 

Overall, an enjoyable outing that didn't piece together too badly in the end. Will be doing another one next week. I got a quick video of 4900 storming up Lobley Hill Bank, a link is attached below. If anybody wonders who disliked it, I'd hazard a guess at it being a former forum troll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beDPh7M28e8

As I doubt I will be out again between now and Christmas, I would like to wish all who read my reviews a happy Christmas.

R852 PRG
Edited 22 Dec 2016, 12:09 pm by R852 PRG.
R852 PRG
21 Dec 2016, 8:15 pm #279

Tuesday 20th December 2016

Yesterday, I embarked on a North East Explorer without any real aims, just to give me the freedom to roam wherever. 

08:26 X25 6140 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
The day started with an alarm at 07:00, not too painful as it's routine for me to be getting up at that hour during term time. I had decided the previous night to try and catch the 0830 X25 from Chester-le-Street through to Newcastle, then head north from there. Having been out for some night shots the evening before, I observed all of Chester-le-Street's OmniDekkas were out in service, and as the board that the 0830 is attached to is more often than not a double decker, I was hoping for one of the aforementioned buses on it. I was quite happy to see 6140 was my chariot, with one of the drivers I know at the wheel. Nice ride through to Newcastle, although the suspension was shot (which I notice is a persistent issue on Scania N94UDs) and a guy got on at Portobello that absolutely reeked to high heaven of stale urine. As I was getting off, I had a brief conversation with the driver as he was curious about the orders list. 

09:32 X21 7528 Newcastle Haymarket to Regent Centre Metro
I got some photographs at the bottom of Prudhoe Place for about five minutes (reminder: I do not care if it is a bus station shot or not. I think if the quality is good, the photo is good), before heading across to Haymarket. The time by this point was 0925, and I noticed that an X16 was due to depart at 0948. I had enough time to catch something else up to Regent Centre and go from there, so opted for a Sapphire X21. The driver pulled into the stand, turned the bus off and got off to have a cigarette, chatting to another Arriva driver on the X14. Now, it might just be me, but if there is a queue waiting to board, maybe let them get on first before you have a cigarette and make us stand in the cold? Just a suggestion. In true fashion, the plug sockets and WiFi did not work. Aside from that, it wasn't that bad a journey, the Enviro400s are quite entertaining at higher speeds.

09:59 X16 1408 Regent Centre Metro to Morpeth Bus Station
During my ride up to Regent Centre, the sun seemed to emerge from behind the clouds and cast its rays upon Gosforth. My intention had been to utilise my fifteen minutes or so here for photos, but the poor sun pretty much prevented this. While the sun may shine with a harsh glare during the winter months, it doesn't eliminate the harsh cold. Following a near hypothermia-inducing wait at Regent Centre, 1408 finally arrived with the X16 for Morpeth. This was probably one of the better rides of the day; I am a fan, like many others for that matter, of the 09-plate VDL Pulsars. They have an abundance of power and are very responsive vehicles when compared to Pulsars that have been plagued with 'EcoNoSpeed', which, from what I have heard, has more negative impacts than positive in the long run. After a spirited run up to Morpeth, I disembarked into the cold bus station.

10:41 43 2870 Morpeth Bus Station to Cramlington Manor Walks
This one came as quite a surprise. I was expecting an ALX300 or ALX400, or perhaps a B7TL Gemini, but a Nexus Solo was the last thing I expected! The driver was an unbelievably miserable man; failed to make any exchange with passengers, not even a thank you, and challenged a woman at Bedlington over something so ridiculous I can't remember what it was. 2870 wasn't a bad little machine, quite quick off the mark and the seating was comfortable enough. The best thing about this journey, in my opinion, was the nice views between Morpeth and Bedlington. Some of the country lane running was quite scenic, with passenger numbers remaining low until Bedlington, where most of those who had just boarded alighted only a few stops later. My makeshift plan was to alight at Cramlington and then connect onto a Go North East 42 towards Killingworth, then carry on from there.

11:29 42 625 Cramlington Manor Walks to Killingworth Bus Station
After a longer wait than anticipated at Cramlington, I finally saw an indiGo Solo approaching. It had an orange LED destination, which indicated it was one of the older examples that joined the Percy Main fleet a few months ago during service changes. As it soared past me, with the driver clearly eager to make up for lost time (by now, running well over five minutes late), I identified it as 625, which previously saw use on the low-cost unit local services in Whitley Bay that have since been tendered to Phoenix Coaches, and was new to Saltmeadows Road in the summer of 2011. This one was a winner for haulage, and was certainly quite agile, which is something I find present in a lot of the Solo SRs. Passenger numbers were quite decent, with about half of the seats occupied by the time we reached Killingworth, where I chose to alight in favour of something else.

11:49 54 7474 Killingworth Bus Station to North Shields, Nile Street
Absent from its 'branded' route of the 43/44/45, I was surprised to see DAF DB250RS/Alexander ALX400 coming into the bus station with the 53 I was intending to catch to North Shields. The driver was quite a happy chap; a far cry from the misery in the cab of 2870. Rather than sit downstairs, as usual, I decided to head upstairs and claim the front seats above the driver. Another passenger occupied the upper deck, bearing an Asda uniform, presumably on his way to work or having finished his shift. I couldn't believe just how powerful 7474 was, I have always been of the opinion that the DAF ALX400s are animals of machines, but this one really did affirm that judgement. The tremendous roar of the DAF engine whenever the driver placed the slightest bit of pressure on the accelerator was hard to believe. It was quite a shame to get off, I could have happily done the return journey, but I had other plans...

12:36 1 5270 North Shields, West Percy Street to Wallsend The Forum
As a rare user of the Coaster service, I decided that, as it was a convenient connection time, I'd catch the 1239 service from North Shields, towards Wrekenton, and jump ship at some point along the route. Luckily, it was waiting time, so I crossed the road and boarded, taking a seat at the rear next to the emergency exit door. Heating was on so the bus was nice and warm, which was welcomed following just a few minutes in the freezing North Shields. Out of habit, I inspected one of the tickets and noticed that, through the duty number, the driver was on an early shift (104), and hypothesised to myself that he would be relieved at Percy Main by another driver, which was correct, he was replaced by a much older guy. I decided that I would bail at Wallsend and make my way down to the bus station, before catching an 18 to Walker and a 39 to Newcastle from there. 

13:33 18 22343 Wallsend Metro Interchange to Walker Bus Terminus
Made my way to the bus station from the High Street, noticing how quiet the activity was. A few indiGo Solos passed through and I managed to get some photos, as well as 4899 on the Q3, although the low winter sun was a bit of a pain. With Santa Claus at the helm, I saw a 55-reg ALX300 coming in on the 18, so I headed to stand C to board it. I am a fan of the Stagecoach ALX300s; the half-German (MAN) and half-Scottish (Alexander) collaboration ensuring hundreds of them taking places in the uniformed Stagecoach fleet all over the country, although their time is slowly coming to an end. While I think some of the older examples in the region, the 03/53-plates, are the better ones, at least the stylish bodywork will live on for a few more years, courtesy of the younger examples, such as 22341-22348 and 22408-22413. I alighted at Walker and put £1 in the charity donation bucket on the dashboard.

13:55 39 12069 Walker Bus Terminus to Newcastle Blackett Street
From my ten minutes at Walker, I was able to establish that this desolate dump is not a place I intend to return to for some time. Perhaps I was just in the wrong part of it, and the rest of Walker doesn't look like the target of carpet bombing, but the impression I obtained of the place was one of a post-apocalyptic world, covered by a thick fog that conceals the residents from view in the darker hours and allows them to go about their business undetected. I was more than happy to see two Enviro400 Hybrids turn up together, with 12069 being the one to take me back to the city centre while the other made use of the layover bay. One of the aspects of the E400Hs that I really do admire is how quickly they get up to speed. I believe they top out at around 40mph (free to correct if mistaken), but it doesn't take them long at all to get there. Alighted on Blackett Street and made my way towards Market Street.

14:45 1 5267 Newcastle Pilgrim Street to Low Fell Ale Taster
Following some calculations in my head, I realised that if I caught the 1430 service 1 from Pilgrim Street towards Wrekenton, and alighted at Low Fell, I could then connect onto the 69 service, in hopes of a Volvo B10BLE. It was quite apparent that there was some traffic congestion in the city centre, and after waiting for a considerable time, I was most pleased to see a Coaster Omnicity eventually round the corner onto Pilgrim Street. 5267 was my steed for this journey; quite quiet in passenger numbers, with about ten other people boarding on Pilgrim Street. With the 69 due at Low Fell at 1513, I was a bit unsure if I would make the connection, as 5267 was fifteen minutes down. However, after leaving Gateshead, the driver thrashed it along Durham Road and managed to make up enough time to reach Low Fell at 1505, having made up five minutes since leaving Newcastle.

15:19 69 4900 Low Fell Ale Taster to Blaydon Bus Station
Woop! Although running over five minutes late, I was greeted with the sight of a Volvo B10BLE. Easily, this journey was the highlight of the day. 4900 was for many years a ''Lime'' vehicle, operated by Stanley depot for most of its life, on the Consett/Stanley to Sunderland services, which have been in several guises since its introduction to the fleet but are now numbered 8/8A/78/78A. Having heard reports that, these days, it produces a strange noise when accelerating, I was intrigued to find out what it was like for myself. It's very much a whining noise not too dissimilar to that of a Voith gearbox during take-off. After consulting an engineering friend of mine who is an expert in the Volvo B10BLE, he determined it was a result of the turbo ring blowing on the joint to the intercooler, likely the result of the turbo turning slightly. Aside from that, it was generally as sweet as a nut as far as older buses go these days.

16:00 49 4933 Blaydon Bus Station to Metrocentre Interchange
Once 4900 reached Blaydon, I decided to disembark here and work my way back to Newcastle via the Metrocentre, catching a 49 there and then a Stagecoach 100 to Blackett Street. While I was hoping for a Mercedes Citaro on the 49, as I have very few of them ticked off in the book (self-confessed saddo over here), I was instead faced with the sight of Y-reg Scania L94UB 4933. As I have a fondness for some of the Solars, and 4933 is a 'winner', I decided to go with it. Fantastic machine. The heating modifications proved themselves to be beneficial, as I was warmed up more or less instantly upon boarding, having effectively frozen to death outside. Mechanically, the bus was sound. Very responsive whenever the driver touched on the accelerator, and it got up to speed comparatively quickly to the Stagecoach Enviro400H earlier in the day on the 39. Alongside 4929, 4935 and 5217, this is now one of my favourites. 

16:14 100 27508 Metrocentre Interchange to Newcastle Blackett Street
I alighted at the Metrocentre and made my way down to the departure stand for 100. One of the Scottish Enviro300s was waiting to depart, but it was packed like a tin of sardines. Decided to let it go and wait for the next one. I noticed 27508 and two ALX300s, both 54-plates, were sat over in the layovers with what looked like a supervisor present. Seems like the heavy passenger traffic on the 100 had warranted some management at the Metrocentre. I was quite pleased to have 27508 as my vehicle to Newcastle, as it could likely be the last time I have one of the 05-plates on the 100. During the journey, I was reminded of just how powerful they are when not carrying a full load, as it was thrashed down the motorway with about one-third of the bus full. 

16:45 X21 6019 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Front Street
Waited on Blackett Street until about 1635, after giving it five minutes and seeing no activity at all, which was surprising given the time of day, I decided to just head into Eldon Square for the bus home. It was pitch black by now, and I must admit I love the atmosphere of the dark. As the 1650 X21 off Eldon Square isn't Crook-operated, but a miscellaneous car working operated by Chester-le-Street, I looked for one of our own. Volvo B7TL 6019 was sat in the layover bays, so astutely assumed this was to be my final vehicle of the day. As it turned out, I was correct. Had one of the 4-day rota drivers that used to regularly take me to school on the 21 driving; he seemed to recognise me but we didn't exchange more than friendly smiles. Following a spirited journey along Durham Road, I alighted at the Red Lion and got a quick night shot, getting a nod from the driver as he pulled away. To be honest, I was surprised he was smiling at all customers. The poor guy has been at Chester since 1997. 

Overall, an enjoyable outing that didn't piece together too badly in the end. Will be doing another one next week. I got a quick video of 4900 storming up Lobley Hill Bank, a link is attached below. If anybody wonders who disliked it, I'd hazard a guess at it being a former forum troll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beDPh7M28e8

As I doubt I will be out again between now and Christmas, I would like to wish all who read my reviews a happy Christmas.

R852 PRG

Ambassador



1,806
21 Dec 2016, 11:08 pm #280
As usual,  a great read. I enjoy your style of writing very much.

Yes,Walker isn't the greatest, the Riverside is nice and under regeneration but there are still parts (including where the bus terminal is) that are slightly sketchy, though students are slowly encroaching. 

Agree on those Hybrids, far more impressive than Angel examples GNE went for.
Edited 21 Dec 2016, 11:09 pm by Ambassador.

Wistfully stuck in the 90s
Ambassador
21 Dec 2016, 11:08 pm #280

As usual,  a great read. I enjoy your style of writing very much.

Yes,Walker isn't the greatest, the Riverside is nice and under regeneration but there are still parts (including where the bus terminal is) that are slightly sketchy, though students are slowly encroaching. 

Agree on those Hybrids, far more impressive than Angel examples GNE went for.


Wistfully stuck in the 90s

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