But, despite white lines and the road widening (?).... Have any buses got wedged in the bridge or has the bridge fallen down as per your last moan?
Hope not, cos I will be going that way later and the diversion is a canny one

(25 Sep 2014, 6:50 am)Andreos1 wrote But, despite white lines and the road widening (?).... Have any buses got wedged in the bridge or has the bridge fallen down as per your last moan?
Hope not, cos I will be going that way later and the diversion is a canny one

Hope not, as they're allocating buses which are less than a year old to this service - 6099 being today's offering!

Aye, busman101 is the foreteller of doom as far as Black Boy Road bridge goes - hopefully he is as wrong with this one as he is with QCS :p.

No idea where the next P&R site will be or whether the Roseberry Leisure link will continue (car parking at Pub and Arena).
Apart from sticking the cars in a field at Penshaw riding stables, I am not sure what other space Roseberry has these days.

Seen National Express Service "425 to London" heading into Washington Galleries at around 09:40am This Morning, I am curious as to whether this relates to the changes to National Express Services at Chester le Street, Obviously must of came for Chester le Street as it came in off the Motorway from that way, and it looked to be empty also.

Dennis Trident 3890 is the next to arrive at Saltmeadows for repaint, re-trim, to be fitted with LED destinations and then to be sent to Thorntons for a deep clean.

(25 Sep 2014, 11:35 am)Dan wrote Dennis Trident 3890 is the next to arrive at Saltmeadows for repaint, re-trim, to be fitted with LED destinations and then to be sent to Thorntons for a deep clean.

What colour will this 1 be?

(25 Sep 2014, 11:40 am)Michael wrote What colour will this 1 be?

Only time will tell!  

(25 Sep 2014, 11:40 am)Dan wrote Only time will tell!  

For joke am gonna say Pink haven't seen a pink bus in years

I saw 3963 at Park Lane yesterday in plain red, is it waiting to be branded or is will be a Red Spare...

Must admit it looks quite smart in plain red

(25 Sep 2014, 12:20 pm)marxistafozzski wrote I  saw 3963 at Park Lane yesterday in plain red, is it waiting to be branded or is will be a Red Spare...

Must admit it looks quite smart in plain red

It, very much like 3941 and 3964, are all corporate liveried spares which see primary use on "Tyne Tees Xpress" services X9/X10 and the "TEN" group of services.

Go North East's corporate livery has been discussed at length, including just recently, and it is not known whether there is going to be more added to just the plain red with Go North East logos or not...

Is 3963 still on loan to Deptford today?

(25 Sep 2014, 12:29 pm)Michael wrote Is 3963 still on loan to Deptford today?

Yup.

(25 Sep 2014, 12:39 pm)Dan wrote Yup.

Which route is it on today?

Any idea on how long its on loan for? 

(25 Sep 2014, 12:23 pm)Dan wrote It, very much like 3941 and 3964, are all corporate liveried spares which see primary use on "Tyne Tees Xpress" services X9/X10 and the "TEN" group of services.

Go North East's corporate livery has been discussed at length, including just recently, and it is not known whether there is going to be more added to just the plain red with Go North East logos or not...

Oh right...I liked the corporate paint job which had Northern in big white lettering

(25 Sep 2014, 11:35 am)Dan wrote Dennis Trident 3890 is the next to arrive at Saltmeadows for repaint, re-trim, to be fitted with LED destinations and then to be sent to Thorntons for a deep clean.

And I bet those LED's are off the Recently Withdrawn Lime Renowns.

And a question I forgot to ask Yesterday, Did 4949 receive Eminox Modifications while it was being Repaired by Diagtest.

(25 Sep 2014, 12:45 pm)Michael wrote Which route is it on today?

Any idea on how long its on loan for? 

It was sat in Park Lane this morning - don't know what it was on, as I was with friends, so didn't bother with gorping at the buses!  

It should be on loan until Volvo B7TL 6042 returns, as that's gone back to Riverside for repairs. That said, if Riverside is short and requires it back, Deptford will simply transfer it back if they can cope without it.

(25 Sep 2014, 1:40 pm)marxistafozzski wrote Oh right...I liked the corporate paint job which had Northern in big white lettering

I feel the current livery looks like it's missing something, as it's very plain indeed.
The "Northern" logos at least added a little bit more to the livery, but see this post if you don't know already why the Northern name has been phased out...

(25 Sep 2014, 4:01 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote And I bet those LED's are off the Recently Withdrawn Lime Renowns.

And a question I forgot to ask Yesterday, Did 4949 receive Eminox Modifications while it was being Repaired by Diagtest.

Maybe, but Saltmeadows will have spare LEDs just in case any buses with LEDs (coloured or non-coloured) need to be replaced due to an RTA - the "TEN" Volvo B9TL (6073? Fleet number has disappeared from my memory) springs to mind.

Like the majority of the fleet, Scania L94UB/Wright Solar 4949 is already Euro 4 thanks to Eminox modifications. There has been no funding (to my knowledge) which will allow for this vehicle (and others in Gateshead) to be upgraded even further to Euro 5 - so no. It's been quite some time since the first example was completed, so I'd imagine that all of the "Fast Cats" and "Prince Bishops" Scania L94s have now been kitted with the Euro 5 Eminox modifications.

The next vehicles to be upgraded, as we know, are the "Fab Fifty Six" and "Cobalt Clipper" branded Volvo B9TLs, though this is a slightly different modification as we discussed at the time. I don't think any other vehicles are due to receive Euro 5 Eminox modifications (yet).

(24 Sep 2014, 12:48 pm)Andreos1 wrote Sorry to keep harping on about this. Sad as it sounds, I find the whole set up for the service quite interesting.

Yeah, I get the varying shift patterns - but if a car park is full for the majority of the day from early morning, the chances of it emptying enough to justify a decker operating every 15mins, is slim to nil.
The fact the 35a can leave Rainton Bridge carrying nowt but the driver (operating a 20min frequency) and the 20a can whizz through and not stop at all - ditto the the 923, tells me all there is to know about shift patterns and demands for public transport over the course of the day.

However, to turn this into a positive! 
Demand for P&R will be higher today than previously - if only because of the huge crane parked outside NPower, offering bungee jumps. Not sure how many car parking spaces that is taking up, but it is a few!

The Rainton car park is going to become car share only, so non car share drivers will need to use the Park & Ride sites, so far though it's the 7am to 8am from Chilton Moor and 4pm return buses from that carry the loads.  I'm sure the bus sizes will be adjusted once the initial period has expired, time will tell 

(25 Sep 2014, 4:06 pm)Dan wrote It was sat in Park Lane this morning - don't know what it was on, as I was with friends, so didn't bother with gorping at the buses!  

It should be on loan until Volvo B7TL 6042 returns, as that's gone back to Riverside for repairs. That said, if Riverside is short and requires it back, Deptford will simply transfer it back if they can cope without it.


I feel the current livery looks like it's missing something, as it's very plain indeed.
The "Northern" logos at least added a little bit more to the livery, but see this post if you don't know already why the Northern name has been phased out...


Maybe, but Saltmeadows will have spare LEDs just in case any buses with LEDs (coloured or non-coloured) need to be replaced due to an RTA - the "TEN" Volvo B9TL (6073? Fleet number has disappeared from my memory) springs to mind.

Like the majority of the fleet, Scania L94UB/Wright Solar 4949 is already Euro 4 thanks to Eminox modifications. There has been no funding (to my knowledge) which will allow for this vehicle (and others in Gateshead) to be upgraded even further to Euro 5 - so no. It's been quite some time since the first example was completed, so I'd imagine that all of the "Fast Cats" and "Prince Bishops" Scania L94s have now been kitted with the Euro 5 Eminox modifications.

The next vehicles to be upgraded, as we know, are the "Fab Fifty Six" and "Cobalt Clipper" branded Volvo B9TLs, though this is a slightly different modification as we discussed at the time. I don't think any other vehicles are due to receive Euro 5 Eminox modifications (yet).

Didnt The Loop and Highwayman Vehicles receive the same Upgrade as the Examples at Deptford also.

(25 Sep 2014, 4:24 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Didnt The Loop and Highwayman Vehicles receive the same Upgrade as the Examples at Deptford also.

I recall Liam mentioning something about funding involving these vehicles in the past, but this may have been from Euro 3 to Euro 4.
It was well before the Durham County Council funding for the "Fast Cats" and "Prince Bishops" vehicles to my memory, so in theory should have been done before them too...

Maybe, but Saltmeadows will have spare LEDs just in case any buses with LEDs (coloured or non-coloured) need to be replaced due to an RTA - the "TEN" Volvo B9TL (6073? Fleet number has disappeared from my memory) springs to mind.

Yeah, it's 6073, it also lost the TEN branding above the reg.

6039 broke down while on my scholars.

(24 Sep 2014, 5:01 pm)citaro5284 wrote 3891 repainted.  Still got a logo to go on the front thou.

Looks like it should be on an ASDA shuttle

Mini update; all of Sunderland Road depot looks to be levelled now with only the permiter fence left.

X84 (17:32) and X85 (17:54) were running in tandem through Corbridge this evening (heading west) @ 17:57 (unless they were running a duplicate X85 - I wasn't close enough to see the numbers).

5325 has a loose panel on the Roof on underside of the Doors, can see it coming off and hitting someone on the head as they get on/off the Bus.

Just noticed on the GNE fleetlist on their website that a few deckers have changed registration plates:

3866 is now 340 GUP
3867 is now 524 FUP
3891 is now CU 7661
3943 is now FCU 190

Does anyone know if 3890 will follow suit, resulting in all four DFDS buses having personalised plates?

(25 Sep 2014, 9:10 pm)G-CPTN wrote X84 (17:32) and X85 (17:54) were running in tandem through Corbridge this evening (heading west) @ 17:57 (unless they were running a duplicate X85 - I wasn't close enough to see the numbers).

Buses trying to get into & out of eldon square were delayed around 5.15 onwards due to a gas problem just outside the bus station. Workmen still on scene at 11pm.

(25 Sep 2014, 10:02 pm)Adam wrote Just noticed on the GNE fleetlist on their website that a few deckers have changed registration plates:

3866 is now 340 GUP
3867 is now 524 FUP
3891 is now CU 7661
3943 is now FCU 190

Does anyone know if 3890 will follow suit, resulting in all four DFDS buses having personalised plates?

It will do - the buses are yet to have their registration plates changed in reality.

K2/K3VOY will also be freed up upon disposal of 7092 and 7093.
Assume there's a lot of trainees at the moment, as I've seen one in Park Lane every other day recently, and 7092/93 have also seen use as trainers.

Looks to be a few Problems with the B9TL's on the Red Arrows this morning, seen 6001 and another Unidentified B9TL being attended to by Engineers at Washington Galleries Bus Station.

Noticed it a few times now, but no idea if it is the same vehicle (too busy looking at the blind, rather than id).

The ex London Presidents on the 14, have Arnison Centre in capital letters, rather than the usual 'via' format of lower case.

It could just be the one vehicle, which I am seeing repeatedly, or a few have been done.

(26 Sep 2014, 2:59 pm)Andreos1 wrote Noticed it a few times now, but no idea if it is the same vehicle (too busy looking at the blind, rather than id).

The ex London Presidents on the 14, have Arnison Centre in capital letters, rather than the usual 'via' format of lower case.

It could just be the one vehicle, which I am seeing repeatedly, or a few have been done.

All of them have been like that for a while.