Great review Sean, shame it was more disastrous than some of my outings have been.

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Whilst I'm here, I'll give just a few notes from my trip to Edinburgh yesterday.

Managed to deal with all the train stuff alright, such as finding my reserved seat (although I sat somewhere else on the way back), one thing that annoyed me on the journey to Edinburgh was the two oldies who got on in at Berwick who couldn't seem to find their reserved seats and despite the fact we were in the quiet coach they kept fairly loudly talking about the food they brought on the train with them. Just outside Dunbar? I went to the toilet and when I came back I found that the old woman had put her coat on my seat, honestly!

Can't really remember much of the bus stuff I rode in Edinburgh and not sure what I made of them although they all seemed alright.

So, Lothian Open Doors then, oh dear this was my worst nightmare, it wasn't so much the fact there was too many people, it was more the fact that it seemed like everyone even when you have an expensive DSLR camera round your neck clearly trying to take a photo of a bus would walk in front of you or stand in front of a bus for 10 minutes, in the end we had to give up the photo taking as it seemed like an impossibility and this was probably the best idea considering how angry I got, seriously I was in a pretty bad mood about this and some of you who were there at the time will now know how annoyed I actually get. Yeah it was pretty bad, sorry to you for seeing me in that state.

Still not in the best of moods headed back to Princess Street on an Enviro 400, I was sat on the fold down seat in the wheelchair Bay and part way through the journey some guy came down from upstairs and decided to stand just in front of me for the remainder of the journey so because of the height of the seat with me browsing the internet on my phone and the height of the person standing, my face was pretty much right in his crotch, worst lap dance ever!

For some of the time after this probably as a result of my outburst, I began to feel slightly light headed but began to feel alright after a few minutes photo taking by the bus station. Got a few more photos before heading for the train home (via McDonald's).

Arrived back in Darlington where I got to see a Northern Rail Class 142 leaving for Bishop Auckland, Damn, I missed it! So because the 5 didn't leave Darlington Town Centre until 19:05 I hung around the station for a bit, was a bit confused why some people were stood on the platform outside the station, which I later discovered was because of people seeing Tornado pass through, gutted I didn't realise this, would have been a good photo for my Photostream.

On the 5 home, was quiet journey (well as quiet as you can get on a shaking 1426) until Pease Way Doctors Surgery when Billy from across the road and his friend got on the bus, despite claiming he doesn't drink in the past, Billy (and his friend) were pretty tipsy. Annoyingly everytime I get on the 5/5A on a Saturday or if I've jumped off the 21 from Sunderland/Peterlee I always seem to run into these two.

Thanks for reading this review, mixed day then, other than my long snapping session of people at the Lothian event I actually enjoyed my trip up to Edinburgh and may do it again next year, although I will take Dan's advice on-board about going to the Lothian event towards the time it should end and will stay in Edinburgh longer so I can fit some more stuff in as we were a bit pushed for time. The first lot of photos should probably appear on my Flickr sometime today and more photos will probably appear over the next week.

Great review Sean, shame it was more disastrous than some of my outings have been.

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Whilst I'm here, I'll give just a few notes from my trip to Edinburgh yesterday.

Managed to deal with all the train stuff alright, such as finding my reserved seat (although I sat somewhere else on the way back), one thing that annoyed me on the journey to Edinburgh was the two oldies who got on in at Berwick who couldn't seem to find their reserved seats and despite the fact we were in the quiet coach they kept fairly loudly talking about the food they brought on the train with them. Just outside Dunbar? I went to the toilet and when I came back I found that the old woman had put her coat on my seat, honestly!

Can't really remember much of the bus stuff I rode in Edinburgh and not sure what I made of them although they all seemed alright.

So, Lothian Open Doors then, oh dear this was my worst nightmare, it wasn't so much the fact there was too many people, it was more the fact that it seemed like everyone even when you have an expensive DSLR camera round your neck clearly trying to take a photo of a bus would walk in front of you or stand in front of a bus for 10 minutes, in the end we had to give up the photo taking as it seemed like an impossibility and this was probably the best idea considering how angry I got, seriously I was in a pretty bad mood about this and some of you who were there at the time will now know how annoyed I actually get. Yeah it was pretty bad, sorry to you for seeing me in that state.

Still not in the best of moods headed back to Princess Street on an Enviro 400, I was sat on the fold down seat in the wheelchair Bay and part way through the journey some guy came down from upstairs and decided to stand just in front of me for the remainder of the journey so because of the height of the seat with me browsing the internet on my phone and the height of the person standing, my face was pretty much right in his crotch, worst lap dance ever!

For some of the time after this probably as a result of my outburst, I began to feel slightly light headed but began to feel alright after a few minutes photo taking by the bus station. Got a few more photos before heading for the train home (via McDonald's).

Arrived back in Darlington where I got to see a Northern Rail Class 142 leaving for Bishop Auckland, Damn, I missed it! So because the 5 didn't leave Darlington Town Centre until 19:05 I hung around the station for a bit, was a bit confused why some people were stood on the platform outside the station, which I later discovered was because of people seeing Tornado pass through, gutted I didn't realise this, would have been a good photo for my Photostream.

On the 5 home, was quiet journey (well as quiet as you can get on a shaking 1426) until Pease Way Doctors Surgery when Billy from across the road and his friend got on the bus, despite claiming he doesn't drink in the past, Billy (and his friend) were pretty tipsy. Annoyingly everytime I get on the 5/5A on a Saturday or if I've jumped off the 21 from Sunderland/Peterlee I always seem to run into these two.

Thanks for reading this review, mixed day then, other than my long snapping session of people at the Lothian event I actually enjoyed my trip up to Edinburgh and may do it again next year, although I will take Dan's advice on-board about going to the Lothian event towards the time it should end and will stay in Edinburgh longer so I can fit some more stuff in as we were a bit pushed for time. The first lot of photos should probably appear on my Flickr sometime today and more photos will probably appear over the next week.

Quite honestly Jimmi, folk walking in the way of pictures happens all the time in Edinburgh - it's just one of those places where you have to put up with it. I sometimes stop on islands for pics. Not been for a while though.

Quite honestly Jimmi, folk walking in the way of pictures happens all the time in Edinburgh - it's just one of those places where you have to put up with it. I sometimes stop on islands for pics. Not been for a while though.

In Edinburgh itself we had very little problems with this especially as we kept away from people by standing on islands etc. I did understand the few times it did happen in Edinburgh itself as it's a busy place with lots of people walking around so that's understandable and didn't really bother me, it was just at the open day where I got incredibly hacked off about it, there was one person stood talking to a driver in front of a bus for around the entire 20-30 or so minutes we were there.

Giving this another go, really tried to focus on the vehicle this time rather than the journey:

Go North East's Volvo Olympian NC Palatine 2 3814 (S814 FVK):

This vehicle is, in terms of batches, the oldest Olympian (and indeed the oldest vehicle in service across the fleet) and it certainly does show. As I have continuously said in the past, the bus really does lack the power that all other Stanley based Olympians (and indeed 3819 and 3824 at Riverside - I can't speak for 3818 having never ridden on it) have. Struggling to get up Maiden Law Bank coming out of Lanchester, some drivers keeping their foot flat to the floor (probably gaining at dead leg in the process) and others being forced to stop otherwise it will run out of power. It really needs to go, why 3813 couldn't have been kept over this thing I really have no idea. I've always found this vehicle quite quiet (although this tends to be cancelled out by the noise being made by the younger kids) but the rattles that are made by the lights are quite annoying. The ride quality is alright, not as good as the other Olympians but for a bus of its age, it absorbs bumps really well without making it look like we were on a trapoline bouncing up and down everytime we went over a pothole.

Overall opinion: Bad

Giving this another go, really tried to focus on the vehicle this time rather than the journey:

Go North East's Volvo Olympian NC Palatine 2 3814 (S814 FVK):

This vehicle is, in terms of batches, the oldest Olympian (and indeed the oldest vehicle in service across the fleet) and it certainly does show. As I have continuously said in the past, the bus really does lack the power that all other Stanley based Olympians (and indeed 3819 and 3824 at Riverside - I can't speak for 3818 having never ridden on it) have. Struggling to get up Maiden Law Bank coming out of Lanchester, some drivers keeping their foot flat to the floor (probably gaining at dead leg in the process) and others being forced to stop otherwise it will run out of power. It really needs to go, why 3813 couldn't have been kept over this thing I really have no idea. I've always found this vehicle quite quiet (although this tends to be cancelled out by the noise being made by the younger kids) but the rattles that are made by the lights are quite annoying. The ride quality is alright, not as good as the other Olympians but for a bus of its age, it absorbs bumps really well without making it look like we were on a trapoline bouncing up and down everytime we went over a pothole.

Overall opinion: Bad

Of course, your preference of 3813 over 3814 is in no way unbiased

Bit sad that we've probably missed out on a ride on one of these. Had we known they were for the chop, we had a few opportunities earlier in the summer.

After having a cold for the last week I was wanting an outing today, problem being I didn't know where to go, so I kind of just winged it.

Here's the log, but do read on to see what happened over the course of the day and what influenced my decisions etc.
1011 8 Newton Aycliffe Town Centre - Ferryhill Market Place (ANE 1508)
1039 113 Ferryhill Market Place - Spennymoor, Cheapside (Scarlet Band MX10DXK)
1053 6 Spennymoor, Cheapside - Durham Bus Station (ANE 1527)
1145 128 Durham Bus Station - Beamish Museum Entrance (GNE 5419)
1222 28 Beamish Museum Entrance - Birtley (GNE 4957)
1246 21 Birtley - Chester-le-Stree, Front Street (GNE 3962)
1322 50 Chester-Le-Street, Front Street - Washington Galleries (GNE 5260)
1335 85 Washington Galleries - Concord Bus Station (GNE 606)
1358 4 Concord Bus Station - Houghton-le-Spring (GNE 5367)
1437 20A Houghton-le-Spring - Sunderland, Park Lane (GNE 3979)
1615 X21 Sunderland, Park Lane - Ryhope Village (ANE 4812)
1630 22 Ryhope Village - Durham Bus Station (ANE 7538)
1752 7 Durham Bus Station - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 1513)

Decided I wanted to start off with a change of scenery, so I opted to get the 8 to Ferryhill. Was a little annoyed to get 1508 as I was hoping for 1463, 1465 or 1466 which have recently transferred to Darlington from Belmont but I can't seem to catch them and always get lumbered with the same examples over and over again, almost every 5/5A I've been on recently I've had either 1462 or 1498. This was a rather slow journey especially as we were stuck behind a tractor, the end result was us arriving in Ferryhill 7 minutes late. Waited in Ferryhill where I was planning on getting either the 56 to Durham or 113 to Spennymoor but the 56 chucked up a Solo so I opted for the 113 which was an Enviro 200 so I had the "joy" of Urban90's seating.

Today was my first time on the 6 since it was upgraded to Sapphire and this was quite a nice bus, although in typical Arriva fashion there was some issues with the next stop announcements, the main one being the stop for New Elvet where the letters doubled in size meaning it was off the end of the screen.

Waited in Durham for something interesting, so I went for 5419 on the 128 which was in no way interesting at all. Pretty steady away journey which was boring, made even worse by the fact I couldn't access the WiFi. Digging up an old argument but you can say all you want about the Civic 3 e-leather seating being the same that Arriva have for it's Sapphire buses but I still don't think they are as comfortable on GNE buses than Arriva's Sapphire buses, just seems harder to me whereas Arriva's feel softer, was having this discussion last weekend in Edinburgh with some forum members and we all agreed with this. Was very confused when I saw a Lolyne enter Beamish Museum, was hoping for something spectacular to photograph, nope it was there for a driver change on the 128. From Beamish I hopped on the 28 to Birtley where I abandoned ship and switched to the 21, it seems like I never get an Angel Hybrid on the 21 and today was no exception although at least today I got treated to 3962 instead of a President.

After stretching my legs for a bit in Chester, I got 5260 to Washington Galleries and dear lord I hated 5260, sat in the seats by the emergency exit door the engine or whatever was deafening me and I just found it a totally awful journey and Washington couldn't come soon enough! At Washington I decided to get the 85 to Concord as I didn't fancy a Solar on the 2 to Sunderland. From Concord I got the 4 to Houghton where I had the slight nervousness as to where to get off with the road closures due to Houghton Feast, but thankfully I was fine.

At Houghton I had a choice of either 5217 or 3979 both on the 20A to Sunderland, I decided to go with 3979 to add to the variety and I'm not a fan of the Prince Bishops Solars as they do rattle a fair bit. 3979 getting up Houghton Cut, oh dear! it was terrible and to make it even more embarrassing we were overtaken by a Fast Cats Solar, that's how bad it was! Just as we were getting to Sunderland, out of the corner of my eye I spotted JH Coaches ALX300 displaying "Sunderland University Open Day" honestly didn't even think of this so I made my way down to Chester Road for some photos.

Decided to head for the X21 to head all the way back to Aycliffe but 2 minutes into the journey I saw Sapphire Enviro 400 7538 go past on the 22, when the 22 was interworking with the 24 during the Millburngate works I wanted to sample a E400 on this route but never really got round to it so I don't know why but I made the decision to bail from the X21 and get the 22 all the way to Durham, some of the next stop audio announcements on this route are terrible "See Ham" was quite bad but there was quite a few sniggers (not just from me) when see said "the next stop is... More Cock!" By Sherburn Hospital the novelty of being bounced around on an E400 wore off and was looking forward to be off. Was pleased to get 1513 home on the 7.

Today was a bit of a mixed day, with me enjoying some things but not others. Anyway thanks for reading

"Digging up an old argument but you can say all you want about the Civic 3 e-leather seating being the same that Arriva have for it's Sapphire buses but I still don't think they are as comfortable on GNE buses than Arriva's Sapphire buses, just seems harder to me whereas Arriva's feel softer,"

Funny this, but we caught 2 different aged E400s on our run to Ashington and back, this afternoon, both with the same seat type, but of different stock. The first had rock hard seats, set a little high and attached to an obvious track on the floor, which made it uncomfortable for me to put my feet down, as I couldn't put the outside one down flat. The second had softer seats, clearly not retrofitted, so lower. They were also softer.

"the 22 all the way to Durham, some of the next stop audio announcements on this route are terrible "See Ham" was quite bad but there was quite a few sniggers (not just from me) when see said "the next stop is... More Cock!"

Some of the pronunciation is terrible on Arriva services. On the X22 to Ashington we had "Cheviot" pronounced as if it was French, rather than "cheeviot" ending with a hard T. Many of the spellings are equally dreadful.

If Arriva had a Sapphire service to Chichester I'd catch it just for the inevitable pronunciation balls up.

I should have waved when you passed us. We were home, by then!

"Digging up an old argument but you can say all you want about the Civic 3 e-leather seating being the same that Arriva have for it's Sapphire buses but I still don't think they are as comfortable on GNE buses than Arriva's Sapphire buses, just seems harder to me whereas Arriva's feel softer,"

Funny this, but we caught 2 different aged E400s on our run to Ashington and back, this afternoon, both with the same seat type, but of different stock. The first had rock hard seats, set a little high and attached to an obvious track on the floor, which made it uncomfortable for me to put my feet down, as I couldn't put the outside one down flat. The second had softer seats, clearly not retrofitted, so lower. They were also softer.

"the 22 all the way to Durham, some of the next stop audio announcements on this route are terrible "See Ham" was quite bad but there was quite a few sniggers (not just from me) when see said "the next stop is... More Cock!"

Some of the pronunciation is terrible on Arriva services. On the X22 to Ashington we had "Cheviot" pronounced as if it was French, rather than "cheeviot" ending with a hard T. Many of the spellings are equally dreadful.

If Arriva had a Sapphire service to Chichester I'd catch it just for the inevitable pronunciation balls up.

I should have waved when you passed us. We were home, by then!

There is some terrible pronunciations on the announcements including the ones mentioned and there is several mistakes which never seem to get anything done about them, I'd like them to add the additional stops that have been added to the 7 route and also remove "Lyons Tetley" and replace it with "Hitachi" or "Long Tens Way" on the 5/5A route as it means that the next stop is not announced.

I was sat towards the back on the drivers side until somewhere in Wheatley Hill when I moved to the front once the child who was sat there got off.

We didn't spot any actual passengers - just the bus through the net curtains!

It stayed on the route until the end of its day, mind - came back from Durham again and did a final pass at 8:20.

Today I thought I'd do an Explorer as I hadn't done one since May. Below is the log if you don't want to read through:

07:44 Metro 107 Brockley Whins - Gateshead 4006
08:10 X10 Gateshead - Middlesbrough 6043
09:32 X66 Middlesbrough - Stockton 4649
10:41 7 Stockton - Yarm Bridge 1105
11:42ish 17S Yarm, Bridge Road - Yarm, Spitfields 2805
12:29 (12:50) 17 Yarm, Spitfields - Ingleby Barwick, Tesco 1920
13:30ish 17 Ingleby Barwick, Tesco - Middlesbrough 14xx
14:32 X66 Middlesbrough - Darlington 4649
15:30 7 Darlington - Durham 7538(?)
16:39 X21 Durham - Newcastle 6037
17:40 X9 Newcastle - Gateshead 6046
17:54 Metro 1xx Gateshead - Brockley Whins 4031

I was up at around 6:20 this morning ready for today with Davie and left just after 7:30 to get the Metro to Gateshead. I bought my ticket with no hassle surprisingly. The journey was alright could of been better arriving at Gateshead at 8:00.

The X10 arrived at 8:05 with a reasonable amount of passengers and I headed upstairs and found a seat with Plugs and charged my phone up on the way. At Peterlee Slip Road we sat for a couple of minutes and went off for Norton where I saw a few Connecting The Dots E300s and followed one into Stockton. We arrived in Middlesbrough at around 9:15.

The X66 was chosen as it was the next bus to Stockton due and it was non-stop I would I stayed on til Darlington but Davie didn't turn up but told me he was on the X10 behind me so I got off and saw 1105 and probably should of got it if I'd known I could of been there and back before 10:45 and went to Darlington however waited for Davie to turn up on 6045 where we endued a 30 minute wait for 1105 to come back.

The driver let me straight on with my Explorer and I took a back seat on this to get all the engine noises we went along picking up a few on the way to Yarm. Then I noticed a long line of cars in front and realised what it was having not payed attention to the paper saying it was on in Middlesbrough. We got off and walked down past the road with the temporary stop on and when we got the the 7 and 17S left and we had to wait 30 minutes for the 17S to come back and we got it to where we got kicked off to wait for the 17 which went up and waited before coming back to pick us up where a 30 minute wait endued for 2805 to come back with no one on so we left 2805 in our tracks.

We then got yo Tesco seeing the 15 ehuch left as we got there and then realised it was only every 30 minutes to Ingleby Barwick and had to wait fir the next 17.

The next 17.

We boarded the Pulsar which the driver was reluctant to let me on but dif when walking up the bus I saw £2.40 so picked it up the tide to Middlesbrough was very boring so I was glad to get off and go to McDonalds.

I saw the X66 swing round and realised it was the same one as before however with a very annoying fan all the way so again gld to get off as by this time I just wanted to be hike.

The 7 was in when we arrived in Darlington so we boarded and charged our phones on the chav- filled E400 we didn't need the extra capacity this time but the run infrint did as it passed us full to the brim.

The X21 was the first bus to turn up and we wanted the X21 anyway so took seats upstairs at the back and trundled along the A167 and eventually got unto Gateshead then Eldon Square whre we were greeted by 557 on the 74 and 5292 on the 43 all branded up.

The X9 was o ly to get ke ti the Metro this B9 soundded horrendous so definitely needs a looking st.

The Metro journey home was made better by the driver also playing the Doors Closing tone.

Thanks fir reading if you've made it this gar hoping to do another one soon as well as Carlisle in 6 weeks fir the diverts.

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Today I thought I'd do an Explorer as I hadn't done one since May. Below is the log if you don't want to read through:

07:44 Metro 107 Brockley Whins - Gateshead 4006
08:10 X10 Gateshead - Middlesbrough 6043
09:32 X66 Middlesbrough - Stockton 4649
10:41 7 Stockton - Yarm Bridge 1105
11:42ish 17S Yarm, Bridge Road - Yarm, Spitfields 2805
12:29 (12:50) 17 Yarm, Spitfields - Ingleby Barwick, Tesco 1920
13:30ish 17 Ingleby Barwick, Tesco - Middlesbrough 14xx
14:32 X66 Middlesbrough - Darlington 4649
15:30 7 Darlington - Durham 7538(?)
16:39 X21 Durham - Newcastle 6037
17:40 X9 Newcastle - Gateshead 6046
17:54 Metro 1xx Gateshead - Brockley Whins 4031

I was up at around 6:20 this morning ready for today with Davie and left just after 7:30 to get the Metro to Gateshead. I bought my ticket with no hassle surprisingly. The journey was alright could of been better arriving at Gateshead at 8:00.

The X10 arrived at 8:05 with a reasonable amount of passengers and I headed upstairs and found a seat with Plugs and charged my phone up on the way. At Peterlee Slip Road we sat for a couple of minutes and went off for Norton where I saw a few Connecting The Dots E300s and followed one into Stockton. We arrived in Middlesbrough at around 9:15.

The X66 was chosen as it was the next bus to Stockton due and it was non-stop I would I stayed on til Darlington but Davie didn't turn up but told me he was on the X10 behind me so I got off and saw 1105 and probably should of got it if I'd known I could of been there and back before 10:45 and went to Darlington however waited for Davie to turn up on 6045 where we endued a 30 minute wait for 1105 to come back.

The driver let me straight on with my Explorer and I took a back seat on this to get all the engine noises we went along picking up a few on the way to Yarm. Then I noticed a long line of cars in front and realised what it was having not payed attention to the paper saying it was on in Middlesbrough. We got off and walked down past the road with the temporary stop on and when we got the the 7 and 17S left and we had to wait 30 minutes for the 17S to come back and we got it to where we got kicked off to wait for the 17 which went up and waited before coming back to pick us up where a 30 minute wait endued for 2805 to come back with no one on so we left 2805 in our tracks.

We then got yo Tesco seeing the 15 ehuch left as we got there and then realised it was only every 30 minutes to Ingleby Barwick and had to wait fir the next 17.

The next 17.

We boarded the Pulsar which the driver was reluctant to let me on but dif when walking up the bus I saw £2.40 so picked it up the tide to Middlesbrough was very boring so I was glad to get off and go to McDonalds.

I saw the X66 swing round and realised it was the same one as before however with a very annoying fan all the way so again gld to get off as by this time I just wanted to be hike.

The 7 was in when we arrived in Darlington so we boarded and charged our phones on the chav- filled E400 we didn't need the extra capacity this time but the run infrint did as it passed us full to the brim.

The X21 was the first bus to turn up and we wanted the X21 anyway so took seats upstairs at the back and trundled along the A167 and eventually got unto Gateshead then Eldon Square whre we were greeted by 557 on the 74 and 5292 on the 43 all branded up.

The X9 was o ly to get ke ti the Metro this B9 soundded horrendous so definitely needs a looking st.

The Metro journey home was made better by the driver also playing the Doors Closing tone.

Thanks fir reading if you've made it this gar hoping to do another one soon as well as Carlisle in 6 weeks fir the diverts.

"The Metro journey home was made better by the driver also playing the Doors Closing tone."

I'll confess to being old enough to remember the unrest when, as well as the "meeeerrrrrp" tone, drivers were expected to request "stand clear of the doors, please." Eventually a compromise was reached that the meeerrrrp became a recorded one with a recorded stand clear of the doors please at the end of it.

Nowt like this new fangled twinkly shit [gimmer emoticon]

4649 (or 4644) has to be my least favourite Omnicity, I get it on the X66 everytime without fail usually. It sounds awful, it seems to be the worst for battered panels etc. inside. It was terrible the day I had it one the 8 from Spennymoor - Aycliffe especially on hills.

Might as well give a brief account of my journeys this afternoon.

1323 7 Newton Aycliffe - Harrowgate Hill Roundabout (ANE 1513)
1348 X66 Harrowgate Hill Roundabout - Stockton (ANE 4649)
1435ish X66 Stockton - Middlesbrough (ANE 4643)
1632 X66 Middlesbrough - Darlington (ANE 4643)
1800 5 Darlington - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 1426)

First I had an Enviro 400 fly straight past running 15 minutes late displaying "Private Charter" so had to get the next bus which unfortunately had to be a Pulsar and pretty much the only seat available was the one behind the drivers cab. Fortunately a fair few got off at Aycliffe Town Centre.

Got the X66 which was on-time but when we got to Great Burdon another X66 came up behind us and all the passengers on the bus behind got transferred onto ours which meant I ended up being sandwiched between three other passengers which caused a lack of leg room which made my knees hurt so I alighted at Stockton because of the pain.

Got 4643 to Middlesbrough, annoyingly 1105 appeared on the 7 just after I jumped on the X66.

After spending time in Middlesbrough I got 4643 back to Darlington Town Centre as I needed the loo and hung around in the hope that either 4654 or 4658 would appear on the X75, thankfully 4654 did so I got a photo, unfortunately as it ran 5 minutes later than I thought plus it was a minute or two late I missed the 7.

Got 1426 on the 5 and service takes FAR TOO LONG!!! to get to Newton Aycliffe! Two people boarded along North Road and said we should have got a taxi about a million times and moaned everytime the bus stopped for various reasons waiting time, traffic lights etc. It was annoying, I wanted to shout at them saying "WELL I WISH YOU DID GET A TAXI, THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU!" obviously I didn't, but was certainly thinking it.

Mixed day today, also I have a cold at the moment which is annoying.

4649 (or 4644) has to be my least favourite Omnicity, I get it on the X66 everytime without fail usually. It sounds awful, it seems to be the worst for battered panels etc. inside. It was terrible the day I had it one the 8 from Spennymoor - Aycliffe especially on hills.

Might as well give a brief account of my journeys this afternoon.

1323 7 Newton Aycliffe - Harrowgate Hill Roundabout (ANE 1513)
1348 X66 Harrowgate Hill Roundabout - Stockton (ANE 4649)
1435ish X66 Stockton - Middlesbrough (ANE 4643)
1632 X66 Middlesbrough - Darlington (ANE 4643)
1800 5 Darlington - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 1426) ....

You'll know this - where is the "Town Hall" stop in Darlo? Big'un fancies a trip out to Richmond, sometime. (I'll be making it a Farmer's market day, I think!)

You'll know this - where is the "Town Hall" stop in Darlo? Big'un fancies a trip out to Richmond, sometime. (I'll be making it a Farmer's market day, I think!)

It's just off Tubwell Row, I've attached a map showing where the stop is. Richmond buses leave from stand M.

It's just off Tubwell Row, I've attached a map showing where the stop is. Richmond buses leave from stand M.

Ah - I think I know where you mean. I've seen a non-Arriva bus down there before now. Cheers! I have my bearings for finding it properly, on google now.

Edit - google insists it's a bus station!

Yesterday's outing.

ANE 1767 1 Ashington - Blyth - What a heap of misery, engine squeals and no legroom. Managed to get 10 minutes of layover on the route at Bedlington, Bebside Interchange and Cowpen despite being held at 2 sets temporary traffic lights.
ANE 1504 X9 Blyth - Newcastle - Brandon joined me from here on, this was a newly refurbished VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar, to my surprise - silver handrails, the same as in the Sapphire spec vehicles.
GNE 5292 43 Newcastle - Central Station - A short ride on this, a revenue inspector was on board checking tickets and giving advice. Marcus joined us at Central Station for photos of the Duchess of Sutherland steam locomotive on the "North Eastern" railtour.
GNE 6123 X30 Newcastle - Stanley - my second EL OmniDekka, quite a nice ride to Stanley. Marcus expressed his concerns over the connecting 8, as we were held up in traffic in Sunniside.
GNE 5406 8 Stanley - Beamish - A short ten minute ride on this STREETLITE (sorry!), Beamish-branded 5419 was parked up in Stanley depot (thank crunchie!). We took photos of another C&C StreetLite on the 8 before heading down to the Museum coach park to get photos of the 28A and a Stanley Travel Plaxton Elite.
GNE 650 128 Beamish - Durham - This was certainly a good Venture(!) to Durham. Three teenage girls got on in some village and were making a right racket. It was about 1500, and I popped to Subway in Durham for lunch/dinner(!). We were taking photos at the bus station for a short while then Marcus headed off home on a 21 which was operated by a red President (can't remember the number).
ANE 7626 X12 Durham - Newcastle - my second ride on a X12 VDL DB300/Wright Gemini 2DL, we managed to catch up to the red President on the 21 in Chester-le-Street. When we reached the lights at the Market Place, we set off at 2mph and could hear the accelerator being pushed hard many times. We pulled over just close to the roundabout, some tit driving an Angel-branded B5LH blared the horns at us for some reason. The driver managed to get it up to 20mph up to Birtley via all stops, then got advice to get the bus out of 'limp mode'. After being shaken around by the kneeler, normal service resumed. On arrival at Newcastle, I wished Brandon farewell as I sprinted to Haymarket for my connecting X20.
ANE 7470 X20 Newcastle - Ashington - I wish I had got 7504 on the X21. It would have been quicker in the race to Ashington. It took close to an hour from Newcastle to Ashington, with no traffic. Four teenage girls were blasting music and making a right racket, they had no idea where they were as they had gotten on this hellhole by mistake instead of the X18. Then I forgot about the new route in Ashington, which meant I had to connect onto either the 1, 19 or X21 to get home.
GNE 5246 19 Ashington - Fifth Avenue - The Looney bus. There was two strange people on board, reading out strange messages and talking to people like George and his friends who weren't on the bus, he wasn't on the phone either.

Thanks for reading.

To add a bit more variety, I am thinking of maybe doing the following outings in the coming weeks.

Wed 21st: Morpeth, Ashington, Blyth, Newcastle.

Sat 24th: Teesside.

Mon 26th: GNE changes - Lanchester, Stanley, Metrocentre, Newcastle and also the new Arriva X66/X67.

Sat 31st: Teesside Park - new S1.

I'm also thinking of planning a rare Sunday outing somewhere, possibly on November 8th.

To add a bit more variety, I am thinking of maybe doing the following outings in the coming weeks.

Wed 21st: Morpeth, Ashington, Blyth, Newcastle.

Sat 24th: Teesside.

Mon 26th: GNE changes - Lanchester, Stanley, Metrocentre, Newcastle and also the new Arriva X66/X67.

Sat 31st: Teesside Park - new S1.

I'm also thinking of planning a rare Sunday outing somewhere, possibly on November 8th.

No Sunderland?

No Sunderland? [emoji14]

Went to Sunderland the previous two Saturday's but will probably pop up there again soon, I often seem to enjoy my trips in the Sunderland area.

Went to Sunderland the previous two Saturday's but will probably pop up there again soon, I often seem to enjoy my trips in the Sunderland area.

Ah right,

I need to get out more, might go on a massive bus journey next week....

To add a bit more variety, I am thinking of maybe doing the following outings in the coming weeks.

Wed 21st: Morpeth, Ashington, Blyth, Newcastle.

Sat 24th: Teesside.

Mon 26th: GNE changes - Lanchester, Stanley, Metrocentre, Newcastle and also the new Arriva X66/X67.

Sat 31st: Teesside Park - new S1.

I'm also thinking of planning a rare Sunday outing somewhere, possibly on November 8th.

You're better off missing Ashington off (as nothing has changed since your last visit    ) and going to Blyth direct by the 2. The 434 stops at Clayton Arms in Bedlington Station (same stop as 1&2 towards Blyth) and theres a frequent service (1&2) to Blyth from there, so an opportunity there.  

You're better off missing Ashington off (as nothing has changed since your last visit    ) and going to Blyth direct by the 2. The 434 stops at Clayton Arms in Bedlington Station (same stop as 1&2 towards Blyth) and theres a frequent service (1&2) to Blyth from there, so an opportunity there.  

Any idea what service 664 is mostly likely to be found on as I could do with a photo of it and would possibly like to go for a ride too.

May have a look into Bedlington again tomorrow for Wednesdays outing.

Today I went on a an outing, here is what I did:
09:52 32A DSS Longbenton-Gosforth Saleters Lane Arriva 2603
Had bus to myself great little bus, by far the best solo in the Arriva fleet, bit sluggish on Church Road up the hill.
10:11 7 Gosforth Salters Lane-Metrocentre Stagecoach 22675
Bus was in a comparatively good shape compared to some other buses of the same batch that I had recently travelled on, not great through Kenton Bar Estate though, struggled to get round Hazeldene Avenue well. Bus stopped many times on the way, constantly being early along the route. Struggled down the bank in Lemington too. Arrived at the Metrocentre early.
11:00 S1 Metrocentre-Metrocentre Go North East 8266
Amazing bus, always astounds me how it is viable to use a merit in this service with it being so large compared to the Classic solos it replaced. One of the best buses in the GNE fleet, very nice engine sound, the Euro 5 eminox I believe changed the engine sound for the better. Expected to end up on the next S1 service as it arrived late.
11:15 X66 Metrocentre-Gateshead Go North East 5392
Worst StreetLite in GNE's fleet awful bus in my opinion.
11:25 21 Gateshead-Eldon Square Go North East 6066
One of the better Angel buses, still don't like them much though. The NSA's volume need turning up.
11:45 55 Haymarket-DSS Longbenton Arriva 4523
Decent ALX300, better than Stagecoach's. Nearly choked me when I got off with the exhaust

11:00 S1 Metrocentre-Metrocentre Go North East 8266
Amazing bus, always astounds me how it is viable to use a merit in this service with it being so large compared to the Classic solos it replaced. One of the best buses in the GNE fleet, very nice engine sound, the Euro 5 eminox I believe changed the engine sound for the better. Expected to end up on the next S1 service as it arrived late.

When Classic did the S1 it ran every 7/8 minutes instead of the 15 minute frequency GNE runs. It's probably more cost effective to run one Merit rather than two Solos.

I'm personally not a fan of 8266 when I've used the S1, rattles far too much when stationary when I've been on it although it has been a while since I last rode it.

When Classic did the S1 it ran every 7/8 minutes instead of the 15 minute frequency GNE runs. It's probably more cost effective to run one Merit rather than two Solos.

I'm personally not a fan of 8266 when I've used the S1, rattles far too much when stationary when I've been on it although it has been a while since I last rode it.

When Classic ran it people actually got on.

When Classic ran it people actually got on.

Probables because more people have cars now maybe that's why the frequency might of been dropped.... isn't the S1 funded by the Metrocentre?

When Classic ran it people actually got on.

I think it's about the same, there can a fair few on at times but it looks deserted at times as well though.

Probables because more people have cars now maybe that's why the frequency might of been dropped.... isn't the S1 funded by the Metrocentre?

Yes it is funded by Intu.

When Classic did the S1 it ran every 7/8 minutes instead of the 15 minute frequency GNE runs. It's probably more cost effective to run one Merit rather than two Solos.

I'm personally not a fan of 8266 when I've used the S1, rattles far too much when stationary when I've been on it although it has been a while since I last rode it.

When did you last use it?