(07 Jul 2015, 4:41 pm)S813 FVK wrote Overall, I think that they are brilliant vehicles. One thing, I did note that 6126 has a NSA screen (similar to the ones on the C&C and Red Kite Streetlites). Could this mean that there is a possibility of services X30/X31/X70/X71 gaining NSAs in the future? It is already connected to the depot because it was displaying the 'code' thing with the service number at the end (unless it was a pure coincidence).

Not sure if they're the same, but without having seen them, I'd assume they've been left over from the Brighton & Hove days? Most of their fleet use the LED NSAs.

(07 Jul 2015, 5:01 pm)aureolin wrote Not sure if they're the same, but without having seen them, I'd assume they've been left over from the Brighton & Hove days? Most of their fleet use the LED NSAs.

It is the Bus Stopping screen.

Unsure if it has the potential to double up as a Next Stop Announcement screen or not, but they certainly don't have announcements programmed at the moment.

(07 Jul 2015, 5:11 pm)Dan wrote It is the Bus Stopping screen.

Ah right. I did notice it was lacking a traditional bus stopping screen. Can't remember it displaying 'Bus Stopping' though.

(07 Jul 2015, 5:13 pm)S813 FVK wrote Ah right. I did notice it was lacking a traditional bus stopping screen. Can't remember it displaying 'Bus Stopping' though.

Some are setup to show Bus Stopping and others are just scrolling rubbish at the minute.  They will all show Bus Stopping soon, but there is no reason later on, we could use them for NSA's, but we are a bit busy with Peterlee and Quaylink.  

Also, looking to do a refresh on the current NSA's at some point soon as well.

Great review Adam.

The 21/X21 is EcoCity operated however the 21A is usually allocated Scania Omnicity's although Pulsar's normally appear in place if an Omnicity is unavailable so it's quite rare to see 1923 on there.

Also I don't imagine you are aware of this but I was actually on the 1537 service 7 that you were on (I was not stalking you!) the traffic from Durham Bus Station to Nevilles Cross is normal for that journey which is caused by all the schools with there being several between Nevilles Cross and Brandon and there is also loads of lollipop people down the road, so with them stopping the traffic and the amount of parents picking their children up in cars it can be horrendous getting down here at this time. God those roadworks at the Honest Lawyer are a pain.

(08 Jul 2015, 9:12 am)Adam wrote Thank you Jimmi

I had no idea you were on the same bus. I would have recognised you as well after bumping into you at Eldon Square a few weeks ago. Where abouts were you sitting may I ask? 

Aye, those roadworks are a right pain!

I was sat where the step is on the drivers side, I was wearing a burgundy Vans hoodie. I also had no idea you were on although when I met you in Eldon Square that day I was a bit off and my head was all over the place that morning, also your not a person I'd really expect to see on the 7.

(08 Jul 2015, 10:31 am)Adam wrote I do recall seeing a burgundy hoodie. Couldn't tell you the brand though. If you say it was Vans and yourself wearing it then I'll take your word for it I do apologise for not realising it was you though.

It was the first time I used the 7. Just making the most of my free day ticket

In fairness I didn't realise you were on the bus until I read the review this morning.

I'm doing an explorer tomorrow, I'll arrive at Chester le Street at 1035 according to my plans then across to Stanley to find an Olympian or an OmniDekka.

(09 Jul 2015, 2:41 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote I'm doing an explorer tomorrow, I'll arrive at Chester le Street at 1035 according to my plans then across to Stanley to find an Olympian or an OmniDekka.

I'll be at CLS until 1115 if anyone wants to join me on my trip, I've only got an 8 and an X31 planned after CLS, so I can go anywhere after Newcastle.

That time of the week again - the bombardment of Marcus-style reviews! Here's mine and I hope you enjoy reading what I got up to today... As usual, my journey log is given first and then the commentary follows:

1014 E6: Roker Avenue to South Shields - Stagecoach North East 27733
1115 Ferry: South Shields to North Shields - Tyne & Wear Ferry 'Spirit of the Tyne'
1130 333: North Shields Ferry to Town Centre - Phoenix 907
1150 310: North Shields to Newcastle - Go North East 6112
1305 Q1: Newcastle to Gateshead - Go North East 638
1340 X70: Gateshead to Team Valley - Go North East 6126
1420 97: Team Valley to Gateshead - Go North East 5228
1445 X1: Gateshead to Washington Galleries - Go North East 6053
1508 4: Washington to Fatfield - Go North East 5360
1531 2: Fatfield to Sunderland - Go North East 8324
1606 9: Park Lane Interchange to Newcastle Road - Go North East 3980

It's been a few weeks since I've gone out to get photos of all the latest things to have happened across the region, so as it was forecast to be sunny, I decided to head out this morning with no set plan. I had a few things in mind that I wanted to catch up with, but nothing set in stone for when and where I would get photos of these things.

I set out at about 10 o'clock, and walked from my house to Stagecoach in Sunderland's Wheatsheaf Depot. Many photos have now appeared online of the recently acquired ADL Enviro400s and the enthusiast who lives the closest hadn't managed to walk over to the depot yet... I had to put that right! Regrettably, other buses were parked in the way of the ADL Enviro400s meaning that it was quite difficult to get photos of them. Alas, I moved on, and headed to Roker Avenue where I intended to catch an E6 to South Shields.

I wasn't waiting long before 27733 turned up on service E6. I really like these ADL Enviro300s; granted, they're no Mercedes Citaro, but they are quite comfortable and are ideal in the summer months because they're light and breezy. As usual, I took my seat by the emergency exit towards the back of the bus, as this set of seats have the most leg room. I was expecting a much busier bus with it being sunny, but I found only five or so older passengers were on-board. I still can't work out the issue with contravision: the only time when it is difficult to see is when the sun shines through it, otherwise it barely makes a difference. I for one certainly enjoyed the coastal and country views from Lizard Lane, despite sitting in a seat which allegedly restricts the view of the outside world... It wasn't long before I arrived in South Shields, where I intended to catch up with a couple of the new ADL Enviro200s.

After taking a few photos, I decided to head to North Shields on the Ferry. It's been quite some time since I last used one of these, and every experience is always pleasant. The sun had gone in by this point but it was still quite warm. The staff are always very polite, and I often think that this has its disadvantages, as you can be stood at a terminal boarding until well after departure, while those running late continue to run to catch it. We departed about four minutes late - nothing too disastrous but could have easily been avoided.

I don't get a lot of opportunities to travel on independent operators' vehicles these days as I no longer have a POP Card, so I opted for the connecting 333 service opposed to the faster 19 service up to the town centre. I had to stand (as did a few others) as the bus was full. This made for a rather uncomfortable journey, which, when paired with an annoying bell sound which went off every second, was one I regretted somewhat too. I must however compliment the skill of the driver, who coped rather well with the excessive traffic owing to an event being held at North Shields. I'm unsure what this event was, but there was a large grey ship further down the road from the ferry terminal.

Next up was a trip to Newcastle (I know; I could have easily hopped on the Metro or 27 from South Shields, but where's the fun in that?) I just missed a 310 at 1135, so had to settle for the 1150 departure instead. I spend enough time on the Metro during the week, so definitely wasn't going to use it if I had the option not to! After all, who could turn down a Volvo B9TL with plug sockets and Wi-Fi?! This was a really nice journey which I thoroughly enjoyed.

After a walk through Newcastle City Centre and a bite to eat, I jumped on a Q1 at Central Station. I was looking forward to a ride of an Optare Versa, but was landed with a Solo. I had plenty of time to kill before Go North East's recently acquired Scania OmniDekkas arrived on the scene for a photo I'd planned, so stayed on all the way through to Gateshead on the Q1. It's a nice little run and does pick up a fair few people en-route on a good run. Best of luck to Go North East running the service commercially from the end of this month!

I saw another enthusiast at Gateshead Interchange taking photos and jotting down things in his notepad. He didn't make an attempt to acknowledge me, so I assumed he was not the talkative type. A lack of Nexus supervisors at Gateshead meant that both of us were able to take some photos without getting any hassle. I didn't stay too long before leaving however, as I spotted an OmniDekka which I could kill some time on while waiting for the next one to turn up. These still are some of my favourite buses in the fleet, but as they spend longer within the fleet, opinion seems to have been divided somewhat...

Unfortunately, after waiting for quite some time at Team Valley (which admittedly did allow for some photos in an area not many people take photos at), I realised that 6133 wasn't going to turn up. The service cancellation was noted on Go North East's Twitter feed a little later to confirm this. As such, I headed back to Gateshead on 5228 to meet a connection to an X1 to Washington, where I intended to catch 5162 having transferred to Deptford.

The ride on 6053 was really smooth, albeit a bit too warm. I had decided to sit on the lower deck on the very back seats - great decision during the winter, but not so in the summer. I'll not be so lazy and climb the stairs next time! I met a connection to the 4 service to Fatfield, got my photos of 5300 and 5162 on the 2/2A services, and then caught 8324 back to Sunderland. I walked from Hays Travel to Park Lane after this, and got a few photos, before heading home on 3980, which had been allocated to service 9. Was rather gutted when 6099 pulled up on service 20 after I boarded 3980, but did get home a minute or two quicker!

Look forward to reading the rest of your reviews - I'll get to them later tonight, as I'm going to try my best to upload some photos first! 

Being the pied piper of Chester-le-Street; I had a day out with Adrian and Lee today. It was mainly a photo-based outing, although we did ride quite a few buses in order to get to the various photo locations. Upon viewing my photos on the desktop, I'm very happy with the results of today and plan to upload them to my Flickr in batches of 5 over the course of the evening.

#21 – Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station – (08:49 --- 09:38) – Go North East 6059 – Volvo B5HL/Wright Gemini 2
I was initially going to get the 08:57 through to Newcastle, which is typically allocated a Wright Gemini 1 bodied B7TL; however, after leaving the house at 08:25, I managed to walk into the town centre with enough time to catch the service before the 08:57. It was being operated by 6059; a Gemini 2 as opposed to a Gemini 1. I notified Lee of this alteration, and he joined me at the Coach & Horses in Birtley. Overall, it was quite a pleasant journey; the Hybrid was fantastic as usual, and made for a comfortable ride. When we alighted in Eldon Square, we walked up to the little island that is convenient for photographs of buses entering Eldon Square and pulling out of their stands in Haymarket. Two older men were also taking photos here, upon viewing some photos linked by Robert in the Go North East: Rare and Odd Workings thread, I've determined one of them goes by the name ''durham bus man'' on Flickr, which one though is debatable. After a few minutes, Adrian joined us, and once we'd taken plenty of photographs, we moved on to the next aim for today; Heworth.

#27 – Newcastle, Market Street West to Heworth Metro Interchange – (10:28 --- 10:47) – Go North East 4902 – Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
We walked down Percy Street, and prepared to make our way left towards Blackett Street; when Adrian saw a friend from work, Ken, who also is an enthusiast. He was taking photos on Newgate Street, so we popped over for a quick conversation. He seemed very friendly and approachable, even though it was just Adrian he spoke to he did say goodbye to all three of us when we made our way down to Market Street. The moment we turned the corner; we saw a red Gemini 1 pull away with the 27 to South Shields. To kill time, Adrian briefly went into the Co-Op; Lee and I followed him in as we had nothing better to do. Before long, I was treated with the sight of a Wright Renown, it's blind set for the 27. I initially thought it was just a native Riverside example, but then discovered it was in fact a former ''Lime'' branded B10BLE; 4902. Before us in the queue, was a man who was obviously foreign, but spoke English. When he asked to go to South Shields, the driver offered him the best value ticket types, as well as even trying to sway him away from the bus, saying the Tyne and Wear Metro got to South Shields in half the time he would. Fantastic customer service skills, if only all drivers could be so helpful. Back to the bus; it was a fantastic runner with the distinctive ''B10 noise'' with superb smoothness.

#4 – Heworth Metro Interchange to Washington, The Galleries Bus Station – (11:05 --- 11:27) – Go North East 5360 – Mercedes 0530N/Mercedes Citaro
When we alighted 4902, which got to Heworth with enough time to stand for a few minutes, I got some shots of it. However, Lee realised he had forgotten to bring his memory card; so we changed our plans to go to the Wilkinsons (or ''Wilko'' as I later found out it is now called!). Nevertheless, I got some photos of the various vehicles that entered the Interchange, a lot of which were Wright Renowns, I was very happy to get some more photos of them. Before long, things began to get rather repetitive, so we headed around to the other side of the Interchange, and boarded 5360. Just before doing so, we noticed a ''Nexus'' Solo SR; Adrian joked that it could be the Gateshead Central Taxis woman, when I went down to a have a look, it turned out to be a man at the wheel. We boarded the ''Connections 4'' branded Citaro, and sat towards the back. This journey never picked up a great amount of passengers, which was a bonus. The Citaro was quite smooth; I really like how the examples used on the 4 service are still in good condition. However, we did find one fault. We began to slap our hands down on the seats to see how much dirt was actually underneath, to be brutally honest, the amount of grime hidden beneath the seating is disgusting. I found it hard to sit on any other seats today without wondering exactly what I was sitting on.

#8 – Washington, The Galleries Bus Station to Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange – (11:42 --- 12:15) – Go North East 5395 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid
The moment we alighted the 4, at the highest stand in the bus station, I noticed loaned Dual-Door Renown 5162 was at a stand. It appeared to be working the ''Simplicity'' services; we darted down to the bottom stands, and crossed over to the ramps, in order to get a shot. Sadly, the spur of the moment thing meant that I didn't get a great shot. However; we then walked up into the shopping centre, where Lee got his memory card from Wilkinsons... Or ''Wilko'', before heading back down into the bus station. Assuming the 11:33 ''Coast & Country'' 8 to Sunderland hadn't been, as there was a small queue that had formed; I began to doubt myself when I saw a ''Whey Aye Five 0'' service come in with standees (which made me consider whether or not it may have broken down in Chester-le-Street, and passengers heading to the Galleries had been asked to board the 50 instead). Fortunately, I saw a ''Coast & Country'' branded bus turn the corner, which I was relieved about. The journey was comfortable; usually in hot weather, the e-leather seating can be very uncomfortable to sit on, but luckily it wasn't too hot. Few rattles and squeaks, although this can be put down to the newness of the vehicle. The only downside, was that despite numerous attempts, I could not get the plug sockets or USB ports to play the game, and the WiFi seemed quite dodgy too.

#56 – Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange to Gateshead Transport Interchange – (12:32 --- 13:42) – Go North East 6094 – Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2
Once we'd disembarked 5395, and walked out of Park Lane itself to my favoured spot for photos, we got camera snappy. I was really happy with some of the photos that my camera managed to produce; after around ten minutes, we headed back into Park Lane. A ''Fab56'' branded B9TL was in the layover, so we took the opportunity to head into Greggs, as I came back out, the destination screen came to life, and moments later it was brought out of the layover and into it's stand. The three of us boarded, and took the seats at the front upstairs; Adrian and the left hand side, Lee sat behind him, and myself to the right, just above the staircase. Although I was expecting the journey to drag on, we just talked about random stuff for the journey; before long we were at Concord. Very few people boarded throughout this journey, which again, was a bonus; I like quiet buses. When we got to Old Durham Road, Adrian suggested we had a trip down to Saltmeadows Road depot. Again, as with the ''Connections 4'' Citaro, we decided to see how much grime was really underneath the rather clean appearing seats. It would seem looks can be deceiving. #FabFilthySix

#93 – Gateshead Transport Interchange to Saltmeadows Road Bus Depot – (13:44 --- 13:57) – Go North East 5225 – Scania L94UB/Wright Solar
Conveniently; as we headed across to the area of the Interchange that the ''Loop'' services leave from, we saw a branded example stood at a standstill, with it's engine turned off. Lee was adamant it was the 93, which after the driver kicked the engine into life and turned the destination blind on, was proven to be correct. The three of us boarded, and made our way to the back. Adrian sat in the middle of the back row, with Lee and I sat at the row in front, on either side of him. I love the noises that the engines of these particular buses produce, it reminds me so much of a Plaxton Prestige. After the short journey to Saltmeadows Road, we alighted at the bus stop located just outside of the facility. All of the shutters were down, although we did see a ''Crusader'' branded Mercedes Citaro parked up, out of service. It must be said, a lot of them were off the road today; we later saw three examples at Riverside. I noted that 4846 was not parked in front of 8293, which still remains there; so I'm assuming it has been disposed of. At the very rear, behind 8293; was ''Lime'' 4855. Then, to the left of that; were Volvo Olympians 3823 and 3825. A sad sight to see the latter two, but fortunately, 4855 is moving on into preservation.

#94 – Saltmeadows Road Bus Depot to Gateshead Transport Interchange – (14:13 --- 14:19) – Go North East 5222 – Scania L94UB/Wright Solar
We waited for the 94 service, which usually comes just minutes after the 93 drops off at Saltmeadows. After waiting for over 10 minutes, during which Lee decided to call Customer Services, enquiring it's whereabouts, it turned the corner. It was another ''Loop'' branded vehicle, this time 5222. Deciding to sit in the section of the bus reserved for OAPs, as there were no more than half a dozen passengers already on board, and the majority of which were sat towards the rear. I chose to sit at one of the side-facing seats; probably not the best decision I've made in my life, but the journey was very short, so it didn't really matter. As with 5225, it was very smooth and I loved the engine sounds. During my time off for the summer, I think I'll go for a longer ride on one of the routes, rather than just the short journey to Saltmeadows and back. 

#X66 – Gateshead Transport Interchange to Riverside Bus Depot – (14:23 --- 14:32) – Go North East 5394 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid
Next on the agenda, was a trip to Riverside depot, for some photos. The first thing that we saw in Gateshead that headed that way, after getting off the 94, was ''X66 MetroCentre'' branded 5394, just entering the Interchange with a run from the MetroCentre. As it does stop outside of Riverside, to allow Riverside staff to commute between Riverside and Gateshead as quickly as possible, we went with it. The bus left with only a few seats available, the journey itself was fine. A foreign family boarded at the front of the queue in Gateshead, I think they had a child in a buggy, if my memory is correct. They then went to the front of the bus and began talking to the driver; what it was about, I have no idea. But I found it quite funny. When the stop for Riverside loomed around the corner, we all made our way to the front of the bus, along with a driver, and alighted at the bus stop. Making our way around the perimeter of the depot, slowly, and taking photos as we went, we noticed the amount of Cadets that are now seeing use in the Driver Training fleet. I hadn't actually realised how many until I saw them parked up in the depot. Rather than walk back, and then along to the MetroCentre, we proceeded to walk around by Costco, then into the MetroCentre through the entrance that leads up to the Railway Station, and across the bridge.

#X66 – MetroCentre Transport Interchange to Gateshead Transport Interchange – (15:37 --- 15:48) – Go North East 5394 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid
After parting ways briefly at the MetroCentre, where Adrian went to a store just outside of the Interchange, and Lee and I popped into Poundland. We met up again about fifteen minutes later, intending to take some photos at the entrance for Newcastle-bound services and exit for buses heading to Stanley, Consett, etc.. However, two police officers had followed Adrian down the escalators, where the bus station manager explained that a man had been abusive and aggressive towards others at the top, and needed to be spoken to. We chose not to take any photos while that was going on, so just sat down and talked. By the time it had dispersed, none of us were in the mood to take any photos, so we headed back to the X66 stand. Waiting there, was 5394 (again!). We left with standing room only; Adrian sat at one of the OAP seats, and Lee and myself at the folding seats. Mine wasn't particularly comfortable. We discussed trains, and various different money-back guarantees (which arose from a conversation about the X12 always running off-schedule, and the no-quibble money-back guarantee).

#21 – Gateshead Transport Interchange to Chester-le-Street Red Lion – (16:03 --- 16:34) – Go North East 6019 – Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President
The three of us made our way across to the little spot just across from the top of the X66/Citylink stand area, getting photos of the traffic that passed through. After a few minutes, we'd accumulated enough photos to move on, and as we walked around the ''Citylink'' stand, and then in through Stand H's doors, we saw two Nexus employees with walkie talkies making their way across to where we had just been. Can't help but think they'd spotted us and were dispatched to incapacitate us. We said goodbye to Adrian, who then went for his bus back, while Lee and I awaited the next ''Angel'' service. It turned out to be operated by 6019, which Lee was extremely dismayed about it; being a hater of all Volvo Presidents. I personally didn't mind it, I managed to grab the seats with plenty of legroom located at the very back upstairs, on the left-hand side. After quite a discussion, Lee departed my company at the Coach & Horses in Birtley, while I carried on to Chester-le-Street.

When I arrived, I walked up to Morrisons for a couple of things, before then walking back down to the 21 stand on Front Street, and catching the 16:45 service towards Durham, alighting at my local stop; the run was operated by 6068. Aside from one other person, I was the only other passenger sat downstairs for this short journey. Overall, it was a fantastic day out; I managed to get plenty of photos, which is what I went out for, so it was a successful outing. I'll start uploading them shortly, then edit a link to the album on my Flickr, updating it with more throughout the evening. Thanks to Adrian and Lee for the company today. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your weekend.

A link to my photostream on Flickr, where you'll find photos from today: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127739730@N02/?

Marcus

See Dan, we didn't touch the seats

(11 Jul 2015, 7:55 pm)LeeCalder wrote See Dan, we didn't touch the seats    

Aye, you can't kid a kidder..! Greeno had already grassed you up before typing up his review, man!

Whacking the seats was my game back in the day, and something I've complained about myself in the past (to both Go North East and Arriva North East). Truth is that it's a widespread issue across the industry rather than a problem specific to one company, and it's the reason why bus operators are moving across to e-leather seating from fabric seating. Stagecoach's 'bench-style' seating on the MAN ALX300s used to be really bad for it, but it's not as much of an issue with the Lazzerini seating... Whether that's down to more vigorous cleaning or that type of seating not accumulating as much dirt, I do not know.

Personally, I'd prefer to sit on a more comfortable fabric seat (that has dirt and dust underneath that cannot be seen unless whacked) than an e-leather seat which isn't particularly comfortable.

Me, Bazza and Dan Picken had a great day out today, which consisted of trips to Middlesbrough, Peterlee (2), unknown, Horden , Seaham, sunderland my day started like this:

Go North East 4944 on service 52 Wrekenton - Heworth
Although this was probably the best ever day I have had whilst out taking bus photos, I started quite badly when I put an alarm on my mobile phone but it didn't go off. I had planned to wake up between 6-7am so I put an alarm on my phone for 6.00am. I woke up at 9;40 (approximately), and the first thing I done was check my phone. I saw that I had a Facebook notification and text message from Dan and Bazza respectively, both saying 'Where are you?' Having rushed out of the house, I walked as quickly as I could to Wrekenton High Street and once I walked around the corner, I saw that 4944 was on it's old stomping ground operating service 52. This was certainly a smooth journey and to make it better, I had a vey nice and an enthusiast friendly driver.

Go North East 6044 on service X10 Heworth - Middlesbrough
After getting off 4944 on the 52 I walked across to the X9/ X10 stand to see what time the next 'Boro bound service was and to my amazement (And relief) I only had to wait a couple of minutes. I saw 4910 was operating a Crusader service so I decided to get a photograph of it and a minute (Or so) after that the X10 service I wanted pulled in. I don't remember much from this journey (Mainly because I slept for most of it), but I remember sitting at seats where I could charge my phone. I woke up near the Stockton area, (although at the time I didn't have a clue where I was) and I realised I hadn't far to go. When Middlesbrough approached I saw Dan and Bazza at Middlesbrough on the corner taking bus photos, and once I had got off 6044 I did the same thing, until we decided to go for food. We walked to McDonalds which didn't take very long, and whilst we were eating our meals we were having many discussions, about what rare allocations could potentially occur, cats and football.

Go North East 6043 on service X9 Middlesbrough - Peterlee
Having finished our food, we then went back to the bus station (After getting lost) because we had planned to go to Hartlepool (Via Peterlee). 6043 was at the stand so we decided to get that (even though Dan walked passed the door) rather than the planned X7. Although it wasn't a long journey, it was certainly a good laugh with Bazza chatting up a woman and Dan kept making me laugh. Once we arrived into Peterlee, we checked to see what time the next Hartlepool bound X35 service was, and it was due in 20 minutes time, so we decided to get some bus photos. Whilst taking bus photos, I think we all got a shock when we saw 5161 operating Fast Cats service x35, so me and Bazza photographed it.

Go North East 4955 Peterlee - Horden
I was rather excited when 4955 came around the corner. as it one of only 2 (I believe) 02 reg solars in the fleet (the other being 4954). Having boarded we were saying how we liked the engine noise the Solars made. We then had a big problem because there were road works which seemed to take an age to get through so Dan made a suggestion that we got off at the next stop and got the next Sunderland bound X35 service to Peterlee. Me and Baz both agreed this was a great idea so we got off and crossed the road. Dan then checked the time on his phone and found out that the next X35 service was due in 3 minutes. I started to get hot so I took my huddy off and put it in my bag. I was wearing my Arriva top and I was hoping that maybe an Arriva driver may have waved to me, but sadly, that didn't happen (Although one driver driving a sapphire Enviro 400 which was carrying a sub-branding for service 24 down.

Go North East 4976 on service X35 Horden - Peterlee
Having waited for a while (Or that what it seemed) for this service to turn up, it finally did and we all boarded. Me and Dan were talking about how all the Peterlee bound services were running late due to the road works on the other side of the road, however, we forgot that there were also road works on the side we were now traveling on. Once we reached the temp traffic lights the driver decided to turn the bus off as I guess he assumed we'd be waiting for a while. Once we'd finally reached Peterlee, the first thing we done was check to see what time service X7 would turn up. Then we decided to get some more bus photos, and then we got a nice surprise off an Arriva driver who cam over and asked us if we were bus enthusiasts. At this point I think the three of us all thought we were in trouble, however, we all got a goodie bag each. We continued photographing buses until a Wear Tees Express Citaro came around the corner.

Go North East 5334 on service X7 Peterlee - Seaham
As soon as 5334 pulled into the stand we walked towards and then on it, Dan wanted to sit in the seats for disabled people, however, an elderly passenger got on so we decided to sit closer to the back. Dan came up with a suggestion of getting off at Seaham and getting a 60 service from Seaham to Sunderland, so we decided to do so. After a 15/20 minute journey on 5334 we decided to get off and wait for the next 60 service. Whilst waiting, 636 was operating service 238 so I decided to photograph it, and not long after that left Seaham we got another shock when we saw a Prince Bishops Scania Solar operating service 60. Me and Baz just managed photos of it when we just got to the bus stop 5376 turned up.

Go North East 5376 on service 60 Seaham - Sunderland
This was my debut on the Drifter Streetlites and I am proud to say I enjoyed it. Although the journey seemed to take an age, me, Dan and Baz had a laugh on it. Dan wanted to get off and get 5217 which was unusually operating service 60, however, I think he may have just been joking. When we reached Park Lane Bazza stud up, but Dan didn't seem to know that we had just arrived in Sunderland. We instantly walked down Stockton road to see if we could get a photograph of 5162 which was on SimpliCity services 2/2A. We didn't have to wait long, and we got some other photographs of buses as well as 5162, and Bazza then decided he wanted to go into Debenhams, so he could find out when Sunderland's new away kit would be released. Sadly, Dan said he had to go home, so he went off to catch a 20 service to South Shields and me and Baz went into Debenhams. Once he found out, we then walked back into Park Lane because I needed the toilet and Bazza was talking to a man who worked for nexus. We walked to the bottom of Park Lane and to our surprise a SimpliCity branded Optare Versa which was unusually operating service 36 past us. We were talking about buses when Baz looked up and saw that a Sunderland Connect branded Optare Solo Sr was unusually operating service 238 so we quickly crossed the road to photograph that and Nexus bus branded Optare Solo SR 635 which was operating Sunderland Connect service 700. After we finished photographing them to solos we then returned to our original spot when I saw a Prince Bishops Scania Solar on Fast Cats service X35. We both photographed that and then we continues talking until we decided to go and have a sit down, however, I saw a National Holidays coach arrive and I wanted to photograph it. I wanted to wait until the coach had left the stand it was in, and a couple minutes later another National Holidays coach turned up. About a minute or so after the second coach appeared there was an ambulance rushing into the bus stands so me and Bazza decided to move. After we had moved I saw Bazza move fast, as he had seen 5207 on Prince Bishops service 20A, so we photographed it, however,on my front shot of it the blind didn't come out so i had to settle for a rear shot. Eventually the coaches pulled out and I finally managed to get a photograph of the coach I wanted. Then I noticed Northern branded Vying had a rear advert which I hadn't seen before so I photographed it. I hadn't realised at the time (Until Bazza told me) that fellow bus enthusiast and NEB member Daniel Graham was on it. After that, we then decided that it was starting to get a bit late and me walked to the bus stand for service 56.

Go North East 6090 on service 56 Sunderland - Wrekenton Health Centre
After i had said goodbye to Bazza I got on and sat at the front upstairs. I saw 22214 on the 12 and photographed it (At the time I didn't know it was off route) and I just sat back and relaxed. Not many people were on this particular service. There's nothing more to note off this journey, apart from it being very boring.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

I cant really be bothered to write my outing tonight so I will do it tomorrow.

Happy Weekend Everyone

No outing from me this weekend as I have had other things going on.

On Thursday I am possibly looking at making a trip down to Whitby and Scarborough and may also do a Moorsbus trip on Sunday. Both trips will be dependent on weather and how I am feeling.

Also planning some East Durham MPD bashing as I could really do with some more photos as the clock really is ticking now. Not sure where I am going to get all my photos yet but I may try and get some around Durham, Peterlee, Seaham and Dalton Park.

Great reviews. Since its 2315 I can't bear to stay up much longer so will try to remember to write mine tomorrow.

This is one of my worries about doing Dalesbus.


If it arrives in Ingleton late I would be stuck in Ingleton for two hours with nothing to do until the bus performs the 831 to Ribblehead which sits there for 40 odd minutes then heads back to Ingleton via Settle where I could either stay on the bus all the way back to Darlington or get the 881 to Malham then bus to York. Problem is this is all so risky and if things go wrong, they really do go wrong which could lead to scenarios which could leave me unable to get home and would lead to a massive expense.

(12 Jul 2015, 11:48 am)Jimmi wrote This is one of my worries about doing Dalesbus.


If it arrives in Ingleton late I would be stuck in Ingleton for two hours with nothing to do until the bus performs the 831 to Ribblehead which sits there for 40 odd minutes then heads back to Ingleton via Settle where I could either stay on the bus all the way back to Darlington or get the 881 to Malham then bus to York. Problem is this is all so risky and if things go wrong, they really do go wrong which could lead to scenarios which could leave me unable to get home and would lead to a massive expense.

Same reason why I hate going out on a Sunday. Low frequency, and lets face it, you can never 100% rely on a bus being punctual. There are too many factors on the roads and route to cause delay, unlike the railways*

* Tyne and Wear Metro excluded.

So I guess I'll start the trend of the posting my days out, which are usually with Sid The Bus Babe, although I do sometimes meet up with other enthusiasts too! I did have a location in mind that I wanted to travel to and the day kind of revolved around that!

This was yesterday, for anyone wandering.

45 - Rowlands Gill - Newcastle Eldon Square - (10:37 - 11:14):
A nice pleasant start to the day with a ride on 5413, although the brakes were quite annoying to say the least during the decent to Winlaton Mill, where it filled up with passengers. I noted 4899 on the 47, which was a nice blast to the past! Except for that, the ride was pretty standard as I have made it many times before!

At Newcastle, I stopped at Northumberland Street for my lunch in Eat 4 Less, which I highly recommend if you are after a cheap lunch, it's basically just McDonalds except with baguettes, paninis and toasties!

X70 - Newcastle Eldon Square - Consett Bus station - (11:30 - 12:24):
A fantastic ride on a Scania Omnidekka that I think was 6123. It sounded amazing as it went through Marley Hill and around that area, as I had a driver that I've certainly had before that loved nothing more than to use the accelerator to the max! I noted 6133 at Gateshead Interchange which did look fantastic and 6127 on the X71 at the Team Valley. I was slightly disappointed that I was not on the X71 as it prefer it to the X70 as it goes through Medomsley which which is a fantastic place to be in any bus! I was fairly busy all throughout the route which was a big surprise to me especially at around midday.

After missing the 12:15 15 by 20 seconds(it was late), I stopped off at Consett and took a few photos there. I saw another enthusiast but I decided not to go over to him as he has his headphones in.

15A - Consett Bus Station - Durham Bus Station - (12:45 - 13:25):
I then hopped on the 15A (which is my preferred out of the two routes from Consett to Durham) to Durham, it was a nice ride for scenery, but I would have much preferred an Olympian, Omnidekka or even a Trident of any sort, as the Volvo President's are certainly not my favourite. At Lanchester, I saw the 15A which was going the other way in the stand with an engineer at the wheel, I didn't really see what was going on, but soon bus drove away towards Consett. After some more rural driving after Lanchester I arrived in Durham.

I took a few photos there for a while, taking the diversion because of the Miners Parade (or something like that) to my advantage.

208 - Durham Bus Station - Low Pittington - (14:00 - 14:25):
For the main part of the day, I had a nice plesant ride on 541 on a short 25 minute ride to Low Pittington, a place I spotted a while back when I rode the 265 for the first time. It proved to be a fantastic place for photos with wildlife( rabbits, mice, squirrels) everywhere which added to the scene. I caught a nice photo of the 265 which I have uploaded to Flickr and some of the 204 and 208 which also stopped there. The actual journey on the 208 was nice except for the fact that it was full to the brim and it went through what seemed to be a never-ending housing estate at Belmont.

208 - Low Pittington - Durham Bus Station - (15:03 - 15:28):
The return service was a lot more quiet which coincidently made it 5 minutes early coming into my stop, which wasn't much of a problem to me but for it being an hourly service somepeople could easily miss it.

When I got back into Durham, it was a pure catastrophe! Due to this miners event, the road from the exit of the bus station was closed which meant that buses were coming in and out both ways from the bus station, and having to reverse in the stands for the buses, which meant that certain services had to wait in their stand, causing mayhem in every sense of the word, I managed to get the fast cats bus on the 20A. I initially wanted to get the 44 but i missed that so I got the X22.

X22 - Durham - MetroCentre - (15:34 - 16:09):
A quite frankly disgusting ride on the X22 as somebody was sick on the upper deck of the bus which stank out the whole bus. The bus was Chester-le-streets 3872(a Dennis Trident). Somebody did clean it up at Chester-le-street but it still stank. The bus also sounded like it was about to overheat which it unsurprisingly didn't however that didn't justify one of the worst rides I have probably ever had on a Dennis Trident.  

47 - MetroCentre - High Spen - (16:33 - 17:12):
A nice way to end off the day on 6118 which is my favourite of the new Red Kite Gemini's. There were some very annoying teenagers that got on but that didn't stop me from enjoying the ride home.

And that sums up my day out yesterday which I thoroughly enjoyed, please feel free to correct me if I have got anything wrong so I can correct it,

Thanks,

Jack.

When I got back into Durham, it was a pure catastrophe! Due to this minors event, the road from the exit of the bus station was closed which meant that buses were coming in and out both ways from the bus station, and having to reverse in the stands for the buses, which meant that certain services had to wait in their stand, causing mayhem in every sense of the word, I managed to get the fast cats bus on the 20A. I initially wanted to get the 44 but i missed that so I got the X22.


And that sums up my day out yesterday which I thoroughly enjoyed, please feel free to correct me if I have got anything wrong so I can correct it,

Thanks,

Jack.

Ok then, you spelt miners incorrectly

(12 Jul 2015, 4:07 pm)Sidthebusbabe wrote Ok then, you spelt miners incorrectly

I'd be pretty worried if I found out people were going to Durham for an event about minors. 

Right here's mine.

0643 685 Greenhead to Eldon Square - 27141 (Stagecoach in Cumbria)
Thankfully I had 27141 to take me over vice 27142 today which was a stroke of luck! Not a bad journey really, met up with my grandma for a bit as she was heading off to her part time cleaning job. Got some decent speed out of it too, also went past two red lights (literally red as we passed). In this respect he was a great driver as we got there a tad sooner!!

0830 X20 Haymarket to Ashington Bus Station - 7472 (Arriva)
Seen what was around in Eldon Square and it was just the usual. I decided I was hungry and my mate and I should go to a Wetherspoons for a decent cooked brekkie and coffee. My mate needed three more Spoons in the north east and Ashington was one of them so we decided we'd head up that way. Walked up to Haymarket Bus Station where we found an E400 on the X15 but an ALX400 on the X20. This was the natural choice, especially as I hadn't got this one for haulage previously!
Very good little bus. Gearbox was a bit knackered but the Volvo engine powering along the A1 was pretty neat, when we could get up to any speed that is! (Various cars cutting us up when about to overtake).

Had a gorgeous Large Breakfast (Beans, Toast, Fried Eggs, Sausages, Bacon, Hash browns, mushroom, tomato) and filter coffee for about a fiver. Then popped into the poundstretchers next door for some Jaffa Cakes (my lunch) and a Cadburys Puddles bar. Although for about 16 people in the queue (growing by the minute) they only had one slow and old member of staff on the tills. Some sort of management guy then came along and opened another till before the old guy just seemed to disappear! Won't be going back there any time soon. Not too keen on Ashington anyway, dump!

1000 X21 Ashington Bus Station to Regent Centre - 7508 (Arriva)
Having missed an MPD on the 1 because of the above farce we had to get the X21 back down. Was 7508 and it was a decent bus, think I've been on it before. Only bad thing was how hot it got upstairs; we were sat right at the front and all of the windows are a good few seats back. To make it worse the sun was burning down right on us too! Not to worry, we were going to get back down to Haymarket to find an Omnidekka however I decided to bail at Regent Centre to either get something more decent behind us or get the Metro. Got the Metro as nothing came along!

1105 TWM Regent Centre to Monument - 4004 4071*
Boarded this rather full pair of Metrocars. Got shafted outside South Gosforth (to be expected) but other than that it was a quick run into the city centre. Alighted at Monument and walked up to street level where it was incredibly busy because of the car show on that day. Police everywhere and posh cars around too. Walked up to Eldon Square Bus Station where we'd wait for an Omnidekka.

We walked up to the stand for the imminent X70 however it was 6127, the same one I did with Marcus last time I was on one. Wanted a bit of variety so I flagged this, until something purple appeared down Percy Street!

1130 31 Eldon Square to Dunston, St Omers Road - 4841 (Go North East)
Was a R-PRG registered Renown on the 31! Naturally this brought a smile to my face and we boarded it. I alighted at Dunston, St Omers Road as the sun was perfect for photos and I didn't want to do a boring Metrocentre leap on it! Walked along to Riverside depot whilst getting various pics of buses passing on Handy Drive.

1206 49 Handy Drive (Depot) to Metrocentre - 5282 (Go North East)
A 49 turned up for Winlaton and I flagged it down for the 1-2 minute journey to Metrocentre. Good little vehicle, wasn't busy at all and the driver was a friendly one.
Was rather impressed and happy to see a live stream of the front of the vehicle on the CCTV screen from the forward-facing CCTV camera, rather unique but better than looking at images of the passengers in the saloon!
Alighted at Metrocentre where I needed a drink (bacon made me thirsty) so I looked for a coffee shop however couldn't find one and ended up going to Poundworld and getting a pack of 6 for £1. Carrying these around wasn't easy but I managed!

1222 43 Metrocentre to Stanley Bus Station - 5296 (Go North East)
Waited for something decent to turn up off the railway overbridge and along came a Diamond Citaro on the 43. I decided to go for this as I loved the route we did last time from Durham to Stanley, so I thought it'd be great to get the remainder in from Metrocentre to Stanley. Traffic was busy in Sunniside with the bus three-quarters full. Boy this bus had some power though! The kickdowns were brilliant and well-timed and the bus coped with them great (even in the lower revs it still managed to climb banks pretty well!).

Before I knew it we were in Stanley - the plan here was to find an Omnidekka but, alas, none as we'd just missed one and a Lolyne was on the X30 to Lanchester! We got the next sensible choice ('sensible' taken with a pinch of salt)

1319 8 Stanley Bus Station to Chester-le-Street, South Burns - 5408 (Go North East)
Got this over to Chester to make our way to Durham to enable a chippy move. Power didn't work however the next stop announcements and displays were; absolutely top stuff. Alighted in Chester and, having just missed an X22, we noticed a blue Omnicity heading down Front Street. This was a route I still needed, around the top through Framwellgate Moor and Arnison Centre.

1352 50 Chester-le-Street, Front Street to Durham Bus Station - 5256 (Go North East)
Sat right at the back, again the bus was about two thirds full. Good-ish journey down, nothing special though. Made it to Durham where I headed straight for my favourite chippy.... mmm!!! Had my chips whilst at the roundabout underneath the viaduct and at the top of the bus station where I watched various bus and rail movements (including an Arriva Optare Solo arriving into Durham with X66 Middlesbrough via Stockton on the blinds!!!!)

The next plan was to go to Peterlee to then catch a WTX up to Sunderland and then back over. However I kinda forgot the 22 was Streetlite operated and there was a good bus load of people waiting to board so I gave this a miss. (Would've done it if it was an Ecocity, or better still, Pulsar on!)

1440 265 Durham Bus Station to Hetton-le-Hole Interchange - 574 (Go North East)
Boarded this lovely little MPD on the two sideways seats behind the driving cab. Not much to be said really, good little trip over apart from nearly falling off my seat at a couple of corners on the route.

1503 X1 Hetton-le-Hole Interchange to Easington Lane to Gateshead Interchange - 6051 (Go North East)
Seeing as we'd just missed the previous X1 north, and still needing the X1 route, we boarded 6051 which had just arrived on a Houghton service. Stayed on around the roundabout at the top to then come back up (driver must've thought we were mental). Good little trip and I'm happy this route is now ticked off!

1612 TWM Gateshead to Monument - 4066 4061*
Walked to the Metro station where there were announcements that the service had gone up the wall due to a points failure inbetween Pelaw and Sunderland. Amongst the quiet chaos we boarded the next Metro back up to Newcastle. There were plenty of seats but we decided to stand. A fair few got off at Central Station.

1635 10A Eldon Square to Metrocentre - 6084 (Go North East)
Walked over to the X70/1 stand where we wanted another Omnidekka but, I give up, 6127 was there again on another bloody X70! Not wanting to do this with the precious time we had left, we boarded the spare red B9TL on the 10A to Rockwood Hill. Alighted at Metrocentre, again... this time for a loo break!

1716 X66 Metrocentre to Gateshead - 5391 (Go North East)
Having seen an X66 leave full to the brim, I wasn't too keen on getting one of these over to Gateshead but another one turned up and went to the stand about 2 minutes after and left a quarter full. Great little run along the busway!

1732 Q1 Gateshead to Newcastle Central Station - 638 (Go North East)
Noticed a Nexus-liveried Solo on the Quaylinks earlier today but not thought anything of it. Seen this at the Quaylink stand at Gateshead and immediately went for it as I've only done the Q2 part-route before! Gorgeous little run, absolutely love the Quayside at Newcastle. Seen three Ferrari 458s around which I was drooling at (apologies GNE cleaners!). Alighted at Central Station where I went to see what was around. Seen my first VTEC MkIV set in the flesh (barring 91) then another full liveried set after!
Also seen a pair of DRS 57/3s on the Northern Belle ECS from Castleton Moor (after working from Kings Cross earlier).

Walked up to Eldon Square, where now it was bus-time to go home! Seen 4664 pull in which was a relief.

1845 85 Eldon Square to Hexham Bus Station - 4664 (Arriva)
Good little journey back as I think 4664 is the best of the original Jesmond batch (barring 4663). Had to alight at Hexham to connect with the Carlisle run.

1941 685 Hexham Bus Station to Greenhead - 27141 (Stagecoach in Cumbria)
Was 27141 again. Not to worry as this was a good little bus with a rather fast driver! Not much to be said of this journey either.


Overall yet another cracking day. I could do this more often

Next goal is to get an Omnidekka other than 6127!

(12 Jul 2015, 4:53 pm)northern156 wrote 1206 49 Handy Drive (Depot) to Metrocentre - 5282 (Go North East)
A 49 turned up for Winlaton and I flagged it down for the 1-2 minute journey to Metrocentre. Good little vehicle, wasn't busy at all and the driver was a friendly one.
Was rather impressed and happy to see a live stream of the front of the vehicle on the CCTV screen from the forward-facing CCTV camera, rather unique but better than looking at images of the passengers in the saloon!
Alighted at Metrocentre where I needed a drink (bacon made me thirsty) so I looked for a coffee shop however couldn't find one and ended up going to Poundworld and getting a pack of 6 for £1. Carrying these around wasn't easy but I managed!

You couldn't find a coffee shop in the Metrocentre?? There's dozens!

(12 Jul 2015, 4:59 pm)aureolin wrote You couldn't find a coffee shop in the Metrocentre?? There's dozens!

Yeah I think there is a Cafe Nero near the bus station that does the best coffee out of the chains I think.

(12 Jul 2015, 5:03 pm)Tom wrote Yeah I think there is a Cafe Nero near the bus station that does the best coffee out of the chains I think.

Nah - Costa by a million miles!

We should perhaps have a 'Coffee related outings and reviews' thread?

(12 Jul 2015, 5:08 pm)aureolin wrote Nah - Costa by a million miles!

We should perhaps have a 'Coffee related outings and reviews' thread?

It always seems to Costa-lot in there though. You can't beat instant coffee straight from Asda

(12 Jul 2015, 5:08 pm)aureolin wrote Nah - Costa by a million miles!

We should perhaps have a 'Coffee related outings and reviews' thread?

Haha good idea

I don't like Costa Coffee at all, but the hot chocolate is nice.

Cafe Nero and Starbucks are both nice, but Cafe Nero is quite a bit cheaper so I go for that normally. Prefer the Frappes from Starbucks though.

Pretty sure I got a photo of the 265 at Low Pittington @northern156, did you see me by any chance, I'm sure I started running to get a photo of it as the service was early but he pulled away before I could do so, everyone on the bus was watching me too!

Re the coffee. I was looking out for a shop to get my water bottle refilled (usually do that when running low) but walked down and never noticed one! Wasn't going far from the Interchange though.

Re Jack, yeah I noticed someone with a camera out running but missed the bus! Haven't a clue where I was though!