(03 Dec 2015, 9:14 pm)Jimmi wrote Today I decided to brave the cold, damp weather and venture on an outing in parts of Yorkshire today.

0747 5A Home - Darlington Tubwell Row (Arriva North East: 1498)
0900 72 Darlington, Feethams - Northallerton, The Buck Inn (Dales & District: AE60 GRX)
1015 70 Northallerton, The Buck Inn - Thirsk, Market Place (Dales & District: YJ64 DXL)
1100 30X Thirsk, Market Place - Easingwold, Market Place (Reliance Motor Services: BF62 UYO)
1210 30 Easingwold, Market Place - Thirsk, Market Place (Reliance Motor Services: YJ51 NXK)
1317 70 Thirsk, Market Place - Ripon Bus Station (Dales & District: MX07 JOJ)
1455 159 Ripon Bus Station - Richmond, Market Place (Dales & District: MW52 PZB)
1625 29 Richmond, Market Place - Darlington, Houndgate (Dales & District: MX07 JOU)
1712 5 Darlington, Tubwell Row - Home (Arriva North East: 1426)

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Starting the day off on service 5A and in typical fashion, it was late! Was quite busy with it being a peak time journey although I thankfully managed to get through it easily enough. From Coatham Mundeville onwards it seemed like although the 7 and 8 were both just in front of us, it seemed like there was a 1498 fan club out in force as it seemed like the 7 and 8 would just leave and then we had to pick up the passengers even though we were by far the busiest of the three. The end result was it arriving in Darlington around 10 minutes late.

After getting some drinks from Poundland I went for the 72 to Northallerton which as usual MCV Evolution AE60 GRX was the bus allocated to the service today. As the other passengers waiting for the 72 in Darlington Town Centre seemed to be off with the fairies I flagged down the bus in the correct place and jumped on first taking the backseat so I could stretch my legs out. This bus seemed to handle the route fairly well and the interior looked fairly warm and inviting, although I'm not sure how suitable the duel-door London style layout works in this part of the country, on a previous journey on this bus a wheelchair user boarded somewhere along the route and it was a right faff on as the other passengers first had to depart/board at the front and then the wheelchair had to get on through the centre doors and once the wheelchair eventually got into the wheelchair bay the driver had to take the passengers concession pass to scan it and hand it back to the passenger.

After a 20 odd minute wait it was time to get the bus to Thirsk and ex Leven Valley Solo SR YJ64 DXL operating this journey today, although every other time I've gotten this journey it has been StreetLite MX62 GUG, in some ways I was happy to get something different to a StreetLite although my seating choice wasn't the best as it was behind the rear wheel and the seats weren't the best as it was rather thin and plastic. Not a great deal else to say about this journey really and before I knew it, I arrived in Thirsk.

Next a operator who I had yet to sample, Reliance Motor Services. Volvo B7RLE? BF62 UYO was allocated to this journey and the driver was quite friendly when I boarded. First thing I thought when I sat down on this bus was that it had the same interior as the Go North East "Red Kite" Volvo B9TL's although not the same seats, so I imagine that this bus was bought from dealer stock. Quite a smooth ride and was pretty quiet especially as it wasn't a particularly busy journey. Arrived at Easingwold and I was thankful there was passengers boarding at Easingwold Market Place otherwise I may have missed the stop and ended up goodness knows where.

Not a lot to see and do in Easingwold it seems, there's a Co-Op and that's about it really so it was rather boring especially as in the 50 minutes I was here there was only another two buses to snap while I was here and I decided to head to the Co-Op to kill some time and bought a packet of Starburst. I saw three Reliance buses and non of them were the Volvo B8RLE demonstrator which is on-loan to them at the moment (the same one that Go North East trialled on the 20/20A earlier in the year) so was hoping that would be the 30 to Thirsk, so imagine my disappointment when a Cadet turned up! This had a rather unusual interior with bulky seats with moquette which looked like it belonged in an old people's home, although one concern I have is the interior as behind the front wheels there is two flip down seats on both sides so goodness knows how this bus is meant to carry wheelchairs, so I highly doubt this will be DDA compliant. Anyway this was a pretty smooth journey and then I arrived back in Thirsk at around 12:35 to wait for the 70 to Ripon.

The 70 was due to depart at 12:52 and it arrived at 13:17, yes that's right, it was 25 minutes late!!! As you can imagine I was not amused about this especially as when we got towards the 20 minute mark I did begin to panic a little and began to think it wasn't coming and I'd have to opt for the 14:00 Shaun's service 153 back to Northallerton then head onto Richmond on the 54 to return to Darlington. So was totally p***ed off by this point after being stood in the freezing cold for 45 minutes and wasn't best pleased with this Solo as it was one of a batch which has the seats which I can only describe is like the seat behind the drivers cab on Arriva's Pulsar's. So we arrived in Ripon just before 2pm due to the delay.

After spending around an hour in a rather cold and foggy Ripon getting some photos, I took my place in the queue for the 159 to Richmond and was a little surprised to have a 52 reg Solo operating this journey. I let Everyone get on before me and I pleased no-one occupied the backseats so I made my way for them, this bus has bulky seats and is fitted with seatbelts although whenever I get on a bus with these seats I can't help but notice nobody ever wears the seatbelts, well I say nobody, I do! especially nice having them on a route like this where the bus is being thrashed around twists and turns. Just before we left the driver of the 138/139 bus had a brief chat with the 159 driver and commented by saying "why do you get the racing car" and I was just sat there thinking "really?" but as we got further into the journey it seemed that he wasn't kidding, it was actually a pretty nippy bus and it was given a good thrashing, think I actually enjoyed this journey far too much than it is acceptable to enjoy a Solo.

Got off MW52PZB at Richmond Market Place and got myself a night shot before it headed back to Ripon which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, even though I have gotten better at night shots, the main issue being there was an issue with the destination screen where it only seemed to display the number/service for a few seconds before disappearing, but thankfully I managed. After this I made my way to my bus back to Darlington which was Dales & District Solo MX07 JOU on service 29, pretty quiet journey, in fact it was me and two other passengers, one got off somewhere along the route whereas the other also stayed on until Darlington. Not much to say about this run as I couldn't see anything as it was incredibly dark on this route although someone had more Christmas lights on thier house than Blackpool Illuminations. There was water dripping down from the emergency exit roof hatch.

The 29 arrived in Darlington at 17:07 so I thought I had missed the 5 home but I can always count on it being late, annoyingly it was another busy peak time journey so I had limited seating options so I ended up sat in the pushchair bay but moved to the seat behind the drivers cab somewhere down North Road. There was traffic between the Town Centre and Morrisons and someone was barring their horn when we got to Morrisons because the bus stopped to let passengers off and on the bus and there was some yellow markings on the road along with a shelter on the path, but what is this and why has the bus stopped there? Well it's called a bus stop you moron!

Despite the rather naff weather and the 70 turning up in Thirsk 25 minutes late, today was actually a pretty decent day out and when things go to plan I actually enjoy these sorts of trips out in Yorkshire as the routes are so much more enjoyable to ride then say sitting on the 21 stopping at every stop along Durham Road and I actually prefer taking and viewing fewer photos in places like Thirsk and Easingwold then seeing endless photos of buses in Newcastle all the flaming time.

Hope you enjoyed the review, you will be able to view some of my photos from today's outing on my Flickr tomorrow (Friday 4th December).

I have been into York three  different occasions this week and although not specifically looking out for it, I have seen Reliance vehicles about - but there was no sign of the demo.
Tony mentioned it being there on Saturday I think it was. So if it has gone, it has just gone.

Hope you enjoyed heading somewhere different and away from the usual!

(03 Dec 2015, 9:35 pm)Andreos1 wrote I have been into York three  different occasions this week and although not specifically looking out for it, I have seen Reliance vehicles about - but there was no sign of the demo.
Tony mentioned it being there on Saturday I think it was. So if it has gone, it has just gone.

Hope you enjoyed heading somewhere different and away from the usual!

May have gone now possibly, they have had it a fair few weeks now. As much as it would have been nice to snap it with Reliance I will not lose any sleep over not getting a photo of it, on the plus side I snapped three Reliance buses today and thankfully non of them were the two I've previously photographed so I now have a fair few of the single deckers in their fleet. Also snapped a Stephensons of Easingwold Enivro whilst I was in Easingwold.

I quite enjoy these outings as it does give a change of pace and scenery to just heading to Newcastle or Middlesbrough and I quite like riding and snapping services operated by independent companies so it means I get a greater mix of operators and better scenery. Had a look on Flickr the other day and found there was very few bus photos in Easingwold.

(03 Dec 2015, 9:35 pm)Andreos1 wrote I have been into York three  different occasions this week and although not specifically looking out for it, I have seen Reliance vehicles about - but there was no sign of the demo.
Tony mentioned it being there on Saturday I think it was. So if it has gone, it has just gone.

Hope you enjoyed heading somewhere different and away from the usual!

I noticed  Reliance still had the demo vehicle on Wednesday (2nd) it departed from York on a #40 at 14:05.

(05 Dec 2015, 7:59 pm)GuyParkRoyal wrote I noticed  Reliance still had the demo vehicle on Wednesday (2nd) it departed from York on a #40 at 14:05.

Its the same Volvo B8RLE that GNE had back in the summer
There is speculation in Yorkshire that Reliance are considering buying 2 B8RLEs next year to supplement there B7RLEs

(05 Dec 2015, 8:45 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote Its the same Volvo B8RLE that GNE had back in the summer
There is speculation in Yorkshire that Reliance are considering buying 2 B8RLEs next year to supplement there B7RLEs

It is the same one that GNE had on demo.

(03 Dec 2015, 9:35 pm)Andreos1 wrote I have been into York three  different occasions this week and although not specifically looking out for it, I have seen Reliance vehicles about - but there was no sign of the demo.
Tony mentioned it being there on Saturday I think it was. So if it has gone, it has just gone.

Hope you enjoyed heading somewhere different and away from the usual!

It was out last Sunday morning on their service 19 (York-Skelton) before it was replaced by their last B7RLE - ex-demostrator BF62UYO.

(05 Dec 2015, 7:59 pm)GuyParkRoyal wrote I noticed  Reliance still had the demo vehicle on Wednesday (2nd) it departed from York on a #40 at 14:05.

It's always possible that it just on a different run to the four runs that I saw on Thursday. Although at least what I thought would happen didn't, I thought it would pass me when I was on the 30X to Easingwold then again on the 30 back to Thirsk.

Not really motivated to do a proper review so here is a log of the journeys made today.

0837 21/X21 Newton Aycliffe Town Centre - Peterlee - Sunderland (ANE 4811)
1051 20 Sunderland Park Lane - South Shields (GNE 4946)
1145 Shields Ferry: South Shields - North Shields
1156 333 North Shields Ferry - North Shields Town Centre (YJ59 NNO)
1230 19 North Shields Town Centre - Royal Quays (GNE 5246)
1256 17 Royal Quays - Wallsend Interchange (GNE 4917)
1347 12 Wallsend Interchange - Newcastle (SNE 12077)
1544 10A Central Station - MetroCentre Bus Station (GNE 6075)
1633 6 MetroCentre Bus Station - Stanley Bus Station (GNE 3831)
1746 16 Stanley Bus Station - Durham Bus Station (GNE 5286)
1845 7 Durham Bus Station - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 7535)

Not a particularly brilliant day out today, the low winter sun caused me a fair problems trying to get photos this morning but was still enjoying the journeys I was making... until I got the 19! (see Go North East: Latest - December 2015 thread to see what happened there ). Was pleased to see 3831 turn up on the 6 as it's certainly my favourite GNE Volvo Olympian so was quite pleased I made that journey although the traffic around Whickham was pretty poor. For once I got the front seat on the drivers side upstairs on 7535.

Unsure when today's photos will be on Flickr (if ever) as I am just have no motivation to upload the photos right now.

I was on 3831 this morning. Fantastic bus.

(10 Dec 2015, 8:48 pm)S813 FVK wrote I was on 3831 this morning. Fantastic bus.

Aren't all Volvo Olympians/Palatine Norhern Countie 2s?

(10 Dec 2015, 8:50 pm)Davie wrote Aren't all Volvo Olympians/Palatine Norhern Countie 2s?

3822 and 3832 are most definitely not  They take the bottom 2 places of the Stanley Olympians because their ride quality isnt very good.

(10 Dec 2015, 8:52 pm)S813 FVK wrote 3822 and 3832 are most definitely not  They take the bottom 2 places of the Stanley Olympians.

I had 3832 earlier this year and it was lovely. 3814 is my person favourite!

(10 Dec 2015, 8:52 pm)Davie wrote I had 3832 earlier this year and it was lovely. 3814 is my person favourite!

3832 is starting to become like 3814 was - lacking power and crawling up banks like snails.

3814 is brilliant now. Love to know what the miracle worker has done to it!

(10 Dec 2015, 8:52 pm)S813 FVK wrote 3822 and 3832 are most definitely not  They take the bottom 2 places of the Stanley Olympians because their ride quality isnt very good.

Obviously I don't get to ride the Olympians as much as you do, but I have to agree that 3822 and 3832 are the worst of the remaining Olympians in the fleet. Still need 3814 for haulage, will hopefully get it at some point over the Christmas period. 3822 has some stupid belt scream thing going on while 3832 is just horrible internally and underpowered. 3831 is outstanding with 3830 following.

(10 Dec 2015, 9:50 pm)R852 PRG wrote Obviously I don't get to ride the Olympians as much as you do, but I have to agree that 3822 and 3832 are the worst of the remaining Olympians in the fleet. Still need 3814 for haulage, will hopefully get it at some point over the Christmas period. 3822 has some stupid belt scream thing going on while 3832 is just horrible internally and underpowered. 3831 is outstanding with 3830 following.

Aye - it has gained some other noise (only way i can describe it is a boat) alongside that too.

(10 Dec 2015, 8:36 pm)Jimmi wrote Not really motivated to do a proper review so here is a log of the journeys made today.

0837 21/X21 Newton Aycliffe Town Centre - Peterlee - Sunderland (ANE 4811)
1051 20 Sunderland Park Lane - South Shields (GNE 4946)
1145 Shields Ferry: South Shields - North Shields
1156 333 North Shields Ferry - North Shields Town Centre (YJ59 NNO)
1230 19 North Shields Town Centre - Royal Quays (GNE 5246)
1256 17 Royal Quays - Wallsend Interchange (GNE 4917)
1347 12 Wallsend Interchange - Newcastle (SNE 12077)
1544 10A Central Station - MetroCentre Bus Station (GNE 6075)
1633 6 MetroCentre Bus Station - Stanley Bus Station (GNE 3831)
1746 16 Stanley Bus Station - Durham Bus Station (GNE 5286)
1845 7 Durham Bus Station - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 7535)

Not a particularly brilliant day out today, the low winter sun caused me a fair problems trying to get photos this morning but was still enjoying the journeys I was making... until I got the 19! (see Go North East: Latest - December 2015 thread to see what happened there ). Was pleased to see 3831 turn up on the 6 as it's certainly my favourite GNE Volvo Olympian so was quite pleased I made that journey although the traffic around Whickham was pretty poor. For once I got the front seat on the drivers side upstairs on 7535.

Unsure when today's photos will be on Flickr (if ever) as I am just have no motivation to upload the photos right now.

Exactly me right now, haven't uploaded in two weeks.

(10 Dec 2015, 9:58 pm)Jackamcardle wrote Exactly me right now, haven't uploaded in two weeks.

Don't know if it's just because I'm tired or because I've been in a pretty crappy mood since I boarded the 19 at lunchtime. This is totally unlike me, normally even after long days out I am straight on the laptop to get the photos on Flickr once I get home, tonight I put the photos on the laptop, looked through a few of them and just thought "can't be bothered."

Interestingly, my stats tell me that I've had 19 views from Facebook today on the photo I uploaded of the Catch22Bus Dart on Saturday. https://flic.kr/p/BJBcpc

(10 Dec 2015, 8:52 pm)S813 FVK wrote 3822 and 3832 are most definitely not  They take the bottom 2 places of the Stanley Olympians because their ride quality isnt very good.

The stop buttons on mine didn't even work. It stopped at every single stop on route 6, which is already a long enough trip.

I was at a loose end on Thursday afternoon so decided to have a short trip out. In the morning I had done my father’s weekly shop at Tesco and then made his dinner. The weather looked good so I just decided to set off on the spur of the moment. My first bus was GNE 4906 a Wright Renown bodied Volvo. I caught this on Shipcote Lane, Gateshead working the 12.37 67 service to the Metrocentre. The bus was quite busy for the time of day and it was an OK journey across Gateshead. I alighted at Dunston near the Tudor Rose pub.

Gateshead Council has now reopened part of the former Garden Festival site as a public park so I decided to take a look around. It was worth it as you get a good view of the former coal staithes which are to be restored. A team of volunteers was working in the park pruning vegetation and tidying up paths. They had arrived in a 16 seat transit owned by the council for the use of their countryside rangers. I had not spotted this vehicle before so was pleased; it wears an attractive green and white livery. The park will look good when it is finished.

My next bus was StreetLite 5411 working the 45 service; I took this to the Metrocentre. It was a short journey and we passed the Riverside depot of GNE. Two trainers were present, I believe 8247 and 7077. The StreetLite performed well over the short journey. StreetLites are probably my favourite kind of contemporary single decker. On arrival at the Metrocentre I got a few photos. Gateshead Central Taxis had a new Fiat Ducato in service working a Nexus contracted route.

I did not stay long at the Metrocentre, as GNE 3971 pulled in working the 10A at 13.25. I just could not pass the chance of a journey on this East Lancs dual door bodied Volvo B7. The bus was pretty crowded but performed well on the journey. I remembered these dual door buses working the 21 Angel service and the problems alighting via the centre door at certain stops. I remember having to climb over railings at Low Fell once on my way back from Durham. I was able to get the front seat upstairs above the driver on this journey.

On the way we passed Chainbridge Industrial Estate. This has a large poster of an attractive young woman dressed as a maid advertising a sex store near its entrance. The sign has been there for about ten years. I can just imagine that woman now probably aged about 35 with 3 children, 4 extra stones and a load of really bad tattoos. We also passed Hanover Dairies where Weardale Motor Services stable 6-8 deckers during school days.

At Blaydon I alighted using the front door of 3971 and headed to Gateshead Council’s Resource Centre. This is a few minutes walk from the bus station. I was pleased to find 5 of the Council’s minibus fleet parked up at the Resource Centre. Only one of these vehicles is listed in the 2015 PSV Circle fleet book for Tyne & Wear. I was able to obtain full details of all vehicles before returning to the bus station. On arrival I noted a new 8 seat Renault Traffic working the Nexus TB511 service operated by Gateshead Central Taxis.

Wright bodied Volvo B9 6077 pulled in working 13.43 10B service. I decided to take this bus to Prudhoe. Again I was able to get the seat above the driver. This was a good journey with a lively thrash though Ryton and Crawcrook. There are OK views across the Tyne Valley near Crawcrook. I got off the bus at Prudhoe near the Youth Centre. They had a single non-psv Fiat Ducato present. I then walked through a housing estate and woodland to the site of Prudhoe Hospital. This is now being redeveloped for housing. Still standing is Prudhoe Hall which used to form the centre of a large landed estate. The estate used to stretch all the way Coalburns and was the property of a wealthy family of mine owners. I wanted to get some photos of the hall which is being returned to residential use. It latterly had been used as a psychiatric institution and is slowly being restored to it’s former glory. Part of the site is still used as a hospital with a new facility recently completed. I walked past this and over the hill back into Prudhoe along Moor Road.

On the way I passed Prudhoe High School which had vehicles from Bells and Wright Brothers parked outside. I was surprised to see a Wright’s vehicle at Prudhoe as I thought their contracts were mainly in the Hexham, Haltwhistle and Haydon Bridge areas. My next stop was Hillarys on Castle View. Three vehicles were present at this operator’s premises including their King Long. Their withdrawn Mercedes 512D minibus has now been disposed of. I did not stay at Hillarys long before walking to Prudhoe Castle. I got some OK photos of the castle and headed through the woods to Rowells Coaches on Dukesway. Unfortunately there were no vehicles present here at the time of my visit.

I made my way along to the railway station where I intended to pick up the 10B back to the Metrocentre. I walked onto the nearby road bridge and watched the swollen River Tyne. The bridge is currently only open to pedestrians and was busy with children walking home after school from Ovingham. I did not wait long until Wright bodied Volvo 3964 arrived on the 15.48 10B service. This was a good journey back to the Metrocentre as the sun set. The thrash up the hill to Prudhoe town centre was most impressive. Again I got the seat above the driver. In Prudhoe we passed vehicles from Snaiths and Stanley Travel working school contracts. At Ryton Nightingale Coaches and Weardale Motor Services deckers were also spotted. The journey seemed to be over in a flash and soon we pulled into the Metrocentre bus station. I had been tempted to change at Blaydon to a Citaro working the 49 but decided against this course of action as time was getting on.

At the Metrocentre I jumped onto 5392 working the X66. The bus was busy and it was now dark outside. The journey did not last long and we were soon at Gateshead Interchange. My final bus of the day was Citaro 5293 working the 57. This bus has the new Citylink livery applied and looks rather smart externally. The 57 was quite full but I was able to get a seat at the rear of the bus. Opposite me was a young woman who stunk of booze. She was fast asleep with her head against the window. A can of Stella had fallen from her grasp and was rolling on the floor. I left the bus at Deckham and returned to my father’s. On the way off the bus I told the driver about the drunken woman and his colleague went to check on her. I hope she managed to get home OK.

It was a good little trip out and I enjoyed the change of scenery. Hope you liked this review; hopefully I’ll manage another trip out over the weekend.

Charles

Nice review as ever Charles.

(12 Dec 2015, 12:23 pm)citaro5284 wrote Nice review as ever Charles.

I second that.

Yesterday I had a cracking day out in County Durham. I had two objectives; firstly visit the garages of some independent operators and secondly get my Christmas shopping in Durham city centre. The day started on GNE 4936, a Wright bodied Scania working the 09.42 X25 service which I boarded at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead. There was only a single person on this bus when it arrived after powering it’s way up Sheriff Hill. No sooner had we set off than I spotted a brand new 16 seat Ford Transit belonging to Gateshead NHS Trust. I knew it was going to be an exciting and interesting day.

Next I spotted Plaxton bodied Plasma KX59GOE of the Jim Hughes fleet working the 23 at Wrekenton. This vehicle looked really smart externally. I’ll have to give the 23 service a go some day. The journey on 4936 passed without incident and the bus picked up additional passengers at Wrekenton. I got off at Portobello and decided to visit the Jim Hughes depot. This company is now majority owned by the Shipley family. I had visited the old Jim Hughes depot at Southwick in the late 1980s when the company was owned by the Hughes family. Mrs Hughes was amazed that anyone would be interested in her husband’s buses! The company has really expanded since the Shipley family took majority ownership.

I asked for permission to look round and take some photos. The staff had no objection to this as long as I did not photograph inside the workshop. There were 27 vehicles on site; I took my time and got some good photos. The fleet looked very smart and the vehicles are striking in the gold-based livery. The coaches were really impressive. JH15BUS, a Sunsundegui bodied Volvo was particularly interesting and a rare find. I noted that the company appears to undertake National Express work, a number of vehicles present were wearing their livery. There were also a number of Dennis Trident deckers present. I thanked the staff for a most enjoyable visit and made my way over to Kingsley Coaches.

Kingsley’s main yard is about 5 minutes walk from the Jim Hughes garage. Kingsley Coaches is 100% owned by various members of the Kingsley family. I asked Ian Kingsley if it was OK to look round the yard. He had no objection to this as long as I wore a hi-vis. I counted 23 members of Kingsley fleet present and again I got some really good photos. There were plenty of double deckers in the yard resting between school duties. Also present at the rear of the yard was some interesting withdrawn stock including former A-Line Dennis Dart T601JBA. Also present was a Volvo B10M belonging to Altona Coach Services who keep their vehicles in Kingsley’s yard. Rodham (Calvary Coaches) also has Kingsley’s yard as his operating centre but currently does not own any vehicles. I thanked the staff for letting me look around and headed to Kingsley’s other yard on the industrial estate. However this was locked up with no vehicles present. Opposite this yard is the Felling MOT Centre. A Mr and Mrs Allen have recently applied for a 5 vehicle national o-licence based at the MOT Centre. No vehicles were present at the time of my visit.

I did not have to wait long for my next bus which was 4927 working the 10.53 X25. I took this service to Chester-le-Street. It was a short journey with 6 passengers on the bus when I boarded. On the way I spotted 2 further Kingsley’s vehicles heading to their depot. At Chester-le-Street I just had time to spot a Mercedes Sprinter belonging to Mitcheson (Birtley Minibus) before changing to Citaro 5298 on the 11.13 36 service. This was a well used bus and a nice journey with good scenery. I took the 36 to Woodstone. There were good views of Lumley Castle, Durham County Cricket Ground and the Penshaw Monument on this journey.

At Woodstone I visited the premises of Johnson (County Coaches). This garage was easy to find being near the main road on an industrial estate. I was able to look around the garage and get plenty of photos. Recent acquisitions here are a Bova WA04TYU (ex Dawlish Coaches) and a Plaxton bodied Mercedes YN10HHZ (ex Aydons, Doncaster). The garage building itself is part of the former colliery. County Coaches share their yard with a firm of hauliers. I remember seeing County Coaches minibuses in late 1980s when they used to operate ‘bread van’ conversions of Ford Transits on contracts to special schools in the Gateshead area. Also based on this industrial estate is Couzens (KC Minicoach Hire), However I could not find any trace of his yard after a good look around. I had only just returned at the bus stop when the 78 arrived. I was pleased as this was operated by busy StreetLite 5400. It did not take long to arrive back at Chester-le-Street. On the way we passed Lumley Evangelical Church who operate a non-psv LDV Maxus. This is a cracking journey on a StreetLite as it powered downhill.

On arrival at Chester I made my way to the GNE garage. I was hoping to spot some of their new Lagunas. Only one of these coaches was present and this was sandwiched behind other vehicles so I could not get details of the registration or fleet number. I was able to spot a number of other coaches in the depot, including two that I had not seen previously. This was a good result in itself as these coaches can take some tracking down. On the way back into the town centre I passed the Territorial Army Centre. There were two new style Transits present for the Durham Army Cadets and one for the Air Cadets in the yard.

I was planning to get some lunch at Chester-le-Street, however East Lancs bodied Trident 3872 shortly appeared working the 12.08 X25. I noticed the seat above the driver was free, so I decided to have a trip on this service. Witton Gilbert was my objective; there were excellent views along the way especially over Waldridge Fell. This was a lovely journey in the early afternoon sunshine. Even Sacriston looked OK, I must have been in a good mood! The bus struggled on the climb out of Chester towards the Hermitage School but made it in the end. It did not take long until we arrived at the Witton Gilbert Working Men’s Club.

Taxibus proprietor Fred Prophet was my objective. Mr Prophet operates a local service around Lanchester and appears in latest VOSA Notices and Proceedings due to a change of route and timetable. I had not spotted any of Mr Prophet’s vehicles before and wanted to get some photos of his bus. Unfortunately no vehicles were present at his given address on Durham Gardens. I headed to his previous address on Dene Terrace, unfortunately no vehicles were here either. I therefore am no wiser as to the composition of Mr Prophet’s fleet. I also checked out the premises of Gladstone (Brians Minibus) on Brookside, but there were no vehicles present. Neither for that matter was Sinbad! Undeterred I made my way along Front Street to the premises of minibus operator Colors Taxis. Witton Gilbert was a bit of a write off as there were no vehicles here either.

After the disaster of Witton Gilbert, I jumped on Scania 4934 working the 13.00 X25 to Langley Park. This bus arrived promptly and I was only aboard for a few minutes until we arrived. I made my way to owner-operator Hartshorn on Garden Avenue. Unfortunately his single minibus was not present. I therefore walked along the old railway to industrial estate. This is the home of Diggerland which is very popular with small children and also grown men reliving their childhood. Also here is the garage of Harrison (Diamond Travel). Mr Harrison operates a single Bova which I was able to photograph.

My final destination in Langley Park was Smith (Bob Smith Coaches). This operator is located in the former garage of Cox (Gypsy Queen). Gypsy Queen was a long-established independent bus operator the area before being taken over by Go-Ahead. They used to operate a very smart Duple bus bodied Volvo B10 on their local service to Durham. Bob Smith used to be based further up Front Street in an old cinema which had been converted into a garage. I visited this location a number of times in the early 1990s. The Bob Smith fleet used to be a lot bigger at approximately 25 vehicles which used to operate on a number of local services around Durham. The site of the old Bob Smith garage has now been redeveloped. There was only vehicle present during this visit; a Van Hool bodied Volvo B10. This is now the Smith family’s only full size vehicle.

Next I caught Trident 3864 working the 13.30 service 13 to Durham. I backtracked somewhat going through Witton Gilbert and Sacriston again, however it was worth it for the fine views. The bus surged up the bank towards Sacriston from Witton Gilbert. Again I had the seat above the driver. This journey got quite busy in Sacriston with shoppers heading to Durham. The local Fyndoune Community College has a small minibus fleet which consists of a single non-psv Ford Transit. I alighted from this bus at Durham Hospital.

I wanted to get some photos of Dryburn Hall which has been incorporated into the hospital complex. This former mansion is now virtually surrounded by hospital buildings but is still standing. The site was very busy as it is opposite the main entrance to the accident and emergency department. Whilst here I spotted a number of patent transport minibuses including Mercedes Sprinter NK07EPR which is currently the oldest patent transport vehicle in service with the North East Ambulance NHS Trust. I did not stay long at the hospital site, catching Plaxton bodied Volvo B7 6034 working the Pronto X21 at 13.53.

On arrival at Durham bus station I alighted and bought some dinner. I ate this at the Market Place. Here an oldish guy was entertaining shoppers by belting out Christmas songs on a Karaoke machine. He managed to slaughter a number of favourite festive tunes. He had just launched into Blue Blue Christmas when a chav stole his microphone. The chav pretended to be a DJ which livened things up. Unfortunately the singer got his mike back and proceeded to destroy Blue Blue Christmas. After this bit of entertainment I had a good look around the shops and market at Durham. I was able to get virtually all of my Christmas shopping and now only have a couple of little things left to get. I then returned to the bus station and did a bit spotting by the roundabout. I like the Sapphire branded Arriva deckers which look good. The GNE Indigo Solos also look rather smart.

Dusk was falling when I decided to head home. I caught Scania Omnicity 5255 on the 15.58 service 50 South Shields. This was a decent journey and there was little in the way of traffic at the Arnison Centre. The Scania thrashed it’s way along the motorway section and then downhill from Waldridge into Chester-Le-Street. At Chester I got a few photos before changing into Wrightbus Gemini bodied Volvo 6061 working the 16.30 21 Angel Service. This bus was busy with people returning home from work stopping at just about every stop on the route. I just spent the journey playing on my phone as there was not much to see night having fallen. I alighted from the bus at Low Fell and made my way home through the cold evening air, happy after a good day’s spotting and shopping.

I hope you enjoyed this review, I certainly had a cracking day despite the disappointment at Witton Gilbert. The visits to Hughes’ and Kingsley’s yards more than made up for it. The day had cost only £7.80 with GNE’s three zone plus ticket. I thought this was excellent value given the amount of buses I travelled on. I also got to experience a god variety of vehicles in GNE’s fleet. Now I just have to photograph the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s new Transit. Thanks very much for reading. I’ll try and do one final trip before Christmas.

Charles

(17 Dec 2015, 10:35 am)Charles41 wrote Yesterday I had a cracking day out in County Durham. I had two objectives; firstly visit the garages of some independent operators and secondly get my Christmas shopping in Durham city centre. The day started on GNE 4936, a Wright bodied Scania working the 09.42 X25 service which I boarded at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead. There was only a single person on this bus when it arrived after powering it’s way up Sheriff Hill. No sooner had we set off than I spotted a brand new 16 seat Ford Transit belonging to Gateshead NHS Trust. I knew it was going to be an exciting and interesting day.

Next I spotted Plaxton bodied Plasma KX59GOE of the Jim Hughes fleet working the 23 at Wrekenton. This vehicle looked really smart externally. I’ll have to give the 23 service a go some day. The journey on 4936 passed without incident and the bus picked up additional passengers at Wrekenton. I got off at Portobello and decided to visit the Jim Hughes depot. This company is now majority owned by the Shipley family. I had visited the old Jim Hughes depot at Southwick in the late 1980s when the company was owned by the Hughes family. Mrs Hughes was amazed that anyone would be interested in her husband’s buses! The company has really expanded since the Shipley family took majority ownership.

I asked for permission to look round and take some photos. The staff had no objection to this as long as I did not photograph inside the workshop. There were 27 vehicles on site; I took my time and got some good photos. The fleet looked very smart and the vehicles are striking in the gold-based livery. The coaches were really impressive. JH15BUS, a Sunsundegui bodied Volvo was particularly interesting and a rare find. I noted that the company appears to undertake National Express work, a number of vehicles present were wearing their livery. There were also a number of Dennis Trident deckers present. I thanked the staff for a most enjoyable visit and made my way over to Kingsley Coaches.

Kingsley’s main yard is about 5 minutes walk from the Jim Hughes garage. Kingsley Coaches is 100% owned by various members of the Kingsley family. I asked Ian Kingsley if it was OK to look round the yard. He had no objection to this as long as I wore a hi-vis. I counted 23 members of Kingsley fleet present and again I got some really good photos. There were plenty of double deckers in the yard resting between school duties. Also present at the rear of the yard was some interesting withdrawn stock including former A-Line Dennis Dart T601JBA. Also present was a Volvo B10M belonging to Altona Coach Services who keep their vehicles in Kingsley’s yard. Rodham (Calvary Coaches) also has Kingsley’s yard as his operating centre but currently does not own any vehicles. I thanked the staff for letting me look around and headed to Kingsley’s other yard on the industrial estate. However this was locked up with no vehicles present. Opposite this yard is the Felling MOT Centre. A Mr and Mrs Allen have recently applied for a 5 vehicle national o-licence based at the MOT Centre. No vehicles were present at the time of my visit.

I did not have to wait long for my next bus which was 4927 working the 10.53 X25. I took this service to Chester-le-Street. It was a short journey with 6 passengers on the bus when I boarded. On the way I spotted 2 further Kingsley’s vehicles heading to their depot. At Chester-le-Street I just had time to spot a Mercedes Sprinter belonging to Mitcheson (Birtley Minibus) before changing to Citaro 5298 on the 11.13 36 service. This was a well used bus and a nice journey with good scenery. I took the 36 to Woodstone. There were good views of Lumley Castle, Durham County Cricket Ground and the Penshaw Monument on this journey.

At Woodstone I visited the premises of Johnson (County Coaches). This garage was easy to find being near the main road on an industrial estate. I was able to look around the garage and get plenty of photos. Recent acquisitions here are a Bova WA04TYU (ex Dawlish Coaches) and a Plaxton bodied Mercedes YN10HHZ (ex Aydons, Doncaster). The garage building itself is part of the former colliery. County Coaches share their yard with a firm of hauliers. I remember seeing County Coaches minibuses in late 1980s when they used to operate ‘bread van’ conversions of Ford Transits on contracts to special schools in the Gateshead area. Also based on this industrial estate is Couzens (KC Minicoach Hire), However I could not find any trace of his yard after a good look around. I had only just returned at the bus stop when the 78 arrived. I was pleased as this was operated by busy StreetLite 5400. It did not take long to arrive back at Chester-le-Street. On the way we passed Lumley Evangelical Church who operate a non-psv LDV Maxus. This is a cracking journey on a StreetLite as it powered downhill.

On arrival at Chester I made my way to the GNE garage. I was hoping to spot some of their new Lagunas. Only one of these coaches was present and this was sandwiched behind other vehicles so I could not get details of the registration or fleet number. I was able to spot a number of other coaches in the depot, including two that I had not seen previously. This was a good result in itself as these coaches can take some tracking down. On the way back into the town centre I passed the Territorial Army Centre. There were two new style Transits present for the Durham Army Cadets and one for the Air Cadets in the yard.

I was planning to get some lunch at Chester-le-Street, however East Lancs bodied Trident 3872 shortly appeared working the 12.08 X25. I noticed the seat above the driver was free, so I decided to have a trip on this service. Witton Gilbert was my objective; there were excellent views along the way especially over Waldridge Fell. This was a lovely journey in the early afternoon sunshine. Even Sacriston looked OK, I must have been in a good mood! The bus struggled on the climb out of Chester towards the Hermitage School but made it in the end. It did not take long until we arrived at the Witton Gilbert Working Men’s Club.

Taxibus proprietor Fred Prophet was my objective. Mr Prophet operates a local service around Lanchester and appears in latest VOSA Notices and Proceedings due to a change of route and timetable. I had not spotted any of Mr Prophet’s vehicles before and wanted to get some photos of his bus. Unfortunately no vehicles were present at his given address on Durham Gardens. I headed to his previous address on Dene Terrace, unfortunately no vehicles were here either. I therefore am no wiser as to the composition of Mr Prophet’s fleet. I also checked out the premises of Gladstone (Brians Minibus) on Brookside, but there were no vehicles present. Neither for that matter was Sinbad! Undeterred I made my way along Front Street to the premises of minibus operator Colors Taxis. Witton Gilbert was a bit of a write off as there were no vehicles here either.

After the disaster of Witton Gilbert, I jumped on Scania 4934 working the 13.00 X25 to Langley Park. This bus arrived promptly and I was only aboard for a few minutes until we arrived. I made my way to owner-operator Hartshorn on Garden Avenue. Unfortunately his single minibus was not present. I therefore walked along the old railway to industrial estate. This is the home of Diggerland which is very popular with small children and also grown men reliving their childhood. Also here is the garage of Harrison (Diamond Travel). Mr Harrison operates a single Bova which I was able to photograph.

My final destination in Langley Park was Smith (Bob Smith Coaches). This operator is located in the former garage of Cox (Gypsy Queen). Gypsy Queen was a long-established independent bus operator the area before being taken over by Go-Ahead. They used to operate a very smart Duple bus bodied Volvo B10 on their local service to Durham. Bob Smith used to be based further up Front Street in an old cinema which had been converted into a garage. I visited this location a number of times in the early 1990s. The Bob Smith fleet used to be a lot bigger at approximately 25 vehicles which used to operate on a number of local services around Durham. The site of the old Bob Smith garage has now been redeveloped. There was only vehicle present during this visit; a Van Hool bodied Volvo B10. This is now the Smith family’s only full size vehicle.

Next I caught Trident 3864 working the 13.30 service 13 to Durham. I backtracked somewhat going through Witton Gilbert and Sacriston again, however it was worth it for the fine views. The bus surged up the bank towards Sacriston from Witton Gilbert. Again I had the seat above the driver. This journey got quite busy in Sacriston with shoppers heading to Durham. The local Fyndoune Community College has a small minibus fleet which consists of a single non-psv Ford Transit. I alighted from this bus at Durham Hospital.

I wanted to get some photos of Dryburn Hall which has been incorporated into the hospital complex. This former mansion is now virtually surrounded by hospital buildings but is still standing. The site was very busy as it is opposite the main entrance to the accident and emergency department. Whilst here I spotted a number of patent transport minibuses including Mercedes Sprinter NK07EPR which is currently the oldest patent transport vehicle in service with the North East Ambulance NHS Trust. I did not stay long at the hospital site, catching Plaxton bodied Volvo B7 6034 working the Pronto X21 at 13.53.

On arrival at Durham bus station I alighted and bought some dinner. I ate this at the Market Place. Here an oldish guy was entertaining shoppers by belting out Christmas songs on a Karaoke machine. He managed to slaughter a number of favourite festive tunes. He had just launched into Blue Blue Christmas when a chav stole his microphone. The chav pretended to be a DJ which livened things up. Unfortunately the singer got his mike back and proceeded to destroy Blue Blue Christmas. After this bit of entertainment I had a good look around the shops and market at Durham. I was able to get virtually all of my Christmas shopping and now only have a couple of little things left to get. I then returned to the bus station and did a bit spotting by the roundabout. I like the Sapphire branded Arriva deckers which look good. The GNE Indigo Solos also look rather smart.  

Dusk was falling when I decided to head home. I caught Scania Omnicity 5255 on the 15.58 service 50 South Shields. This was a decent journey and there was little in the way of traffic at the Arnison Centre. The Scania thrashed it’s way along the motorway section and then downhill from Waldridge into Chester-Le-Street. At Chester I got a few photos before changing into Wrightbus Gemini bodied Volvo 6061 working the 16.30 21 Angel Service. This bus was busy with people returning home from work stopping at just about every stop on the route. I just spent the journey playing on my phone as there was not much to see night having fallen. I alighted from the bus at Low Fell and made my way home through the cold evening air, happy after a good day’s spotting and shopping.

I hope you enjoyed this review, I certainly had a cracking day despite the disappointment at Witton Gilbert. The visits to Hughes’ and Kingsley’s yards more than made up for it. The day had cost only £7.80 with GNE’s three zone plus ticket. I thought this was excellent value given the amount of buses I travelled on. I also got to experience a god variety of vehicles in GNE’s fleet. Now I just have to photograph the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s new Transit. Thanks very much for reading. I’ll try and do one final trip before Christmas.

Charles

There may be two transits.
Noted two the other day - whether they are both new, not sure.

Nice to see a familiar name pop up too. Although I haven't seen him for years, I know one of the guys you mention having a minibus.

Some of the buskers in Durham are comically bad.

I have a soft spot for the guy who tortures his accordion on fram bridge, though.

Disappointingly, there was no music at all, this morning.

(17 Dec 2015, 11:51 am)Andreos1 wrote There may be two transits.
Noted two the other day - whether they are both new, not sure.

Nice to see a familiar name pop up too. Although I haven't seen him for years, I know one of the guys you mention having a minibus.

Top review as ever, Charles.

In terms of the QE Transits - Yes there are 2.  White, with QE Facilites branding.  I think they're both 65 plate, but I'll keep an eye out next time I'm out for a walk.  They're operating the QE park & ride. Outside of peak hours they appear to be parked up at Moss Heaps whilst a silver people carrier (either Merc or VW I think) does the P&R.

My plan for tomorrow is to hopefully try and track down the Volvo B5TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 demonstrator that is currently on trial with Transdev Yorkshire Coastliner. Hopefully they will reveal it's whereabouts, with some luck it will end up on a run to Whitby, Scarborough or Bridlington, although knowing my luck it won't.

Seems like for the Christmas fortnight's holidays I will be sticking close to home, on Wednesday I am planning on heading to Barnard Castle and Richmond, hoping that the ex Stagecarriage Leyland Olympian will be on the Cumbria Classic Coaches on the 572 again.

(18 Dec 2015, 2:45 pm)Jimmi wrote My plan for tomorrow is to hopefully try and track down the Volvo B5TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 demonstrator that is currently on trial with Transdev Yorkshire Coastliner. Hopefully they will reveal it's whereabouts, with some luck it will end up on a run to Whitby, Scarborough or Bridlington, although knowing my luck it won't.

Seems like for the Christmas fortnight's holidays I will be sticking close to home, on Wednesday I am planning on heading to Barnard Castle and Richmond, hoping that the ex Stagecarriage Leyland Olympian will be on the Cumbria Classic Coaches on the 572 again.

Chances are it will be on one of the 840/843/845. You might be better off going to Thornton-le-Dale for the 840 though.

(18 Dec 2015, 4:01 pm)S813 FVK wrote Chances are it will be on one of the 840/843/845. You might be better off going to Thornton-le-Dale for the 840 though.

Problem with that is, I will be on the X93, so it would make more sense to catch the 840 in Whitby although annoyingly it's the winter X93 timetable so annoyingly it's only one bus an hour between Whitby and Scarborough. Annoyingly I have to try and think where I need to be at the right time, it's no good being in Scarborough when it's on the 840 to Whitby. Hopefully the Yorkshire Coastliner Facebook/Twitter will give me it's whereabouts.

(18 Dec 2015, 4:34 pm)Jimmi wrote Problem with that is, I will be on the X93, so it would make more sense to catch the 840 in Whitby although annoyingly it's the winter X93 timetable so annoyingly it's only one bus an hour between Whitby and Scarborough. Annoyingly I have to try and think where I need to be at the right time

I dread to think what a certain thread on this forum will be like tomorrow... 

(18 Dec 2015, 4:36 pm)Dan wrote I dread to think what a certain thread on this forum will be like tomorrow... 

I will be so annoyed!

Chances are in typical Jimmi fashion, it will go badly wrong. Hopefully I don't use the weekday timetable by mistake... again!