(05 Apr 2014, 1:49 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote I only paid £26.50 for the exact same Train Departures as stated above, Although I was in the Quiet Coach, so maybe a bit cheaper than any of the other carriages but of thought it of made a difference to be honest.

The prices I quoted were to/from Glasgow Queen street. Your ticket is only fixed to and from Edinburgh, but you're free to make a trip each way to and from Glasgow any time during the day.

(05 Apr 2014, 2:31 pm)Dan wrote As much as I'd love to, I don't think I will be returning to Edinburgh until summer now (when, I imagine, it will be my overnight trip to Edinburgh from Sunderland via somewhere in Wales, London and Glasgow, with opportunities for Inverness too. September and October will be my trips to Edinburgh after that.

That sounds like a bloody long trip Mega Bus?

I'm down Brighton again in May for a week, so looking forward to a couple of photo opportunities down there. Edinburgh is just a random trip for Easter, but I plan on going over Carlisle at some point too.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:10 pm)Tom wrote I'm having a fab day, Premier Inn is faultless, and has a beautiful view of the castle.

Tend not to stay in Premier Inns much these days, but never ever had a problem with them. Holiday Inns are usually just as good.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:13 pm)aureolin wrote The prices I quoted were to/from Glasgow Queen street. Your ticket is only fixed to and from Edinburgh, but you're free to make a trip each way to and from Glasgow any time during the day.


That sounds like a bloody long trip Mega Bus?

I'm down Brighton again in May for a week, so looking forward to a couple of photo opportunities down there. Edinburgh is just a random trip for Easter, but I plan on going over Carlisle at some point too.


Tend not to stay in Premier Inns much these days, but never ever had a problem with them. Holiday Inns are usually just as good.

Only issue I've got is the horrendous evening meal choice at the Thyme.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:21 pm)Tom wrote Only issue I've got is the horrendous evening meal choice at the Thyme.

I never usually bother with evening meals at hotels. Pub is far too appealing.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:23 pm)aureolin wrote I never usually bother with evening meals at hotels. Pub is far too appealing.

Haha :p
Hoped for a Brewers Fayre or a TGI Fridays. We didn't bother with it either.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:13 pm)aureolin wrote That sounds like a bloody long trip Mega Bus?

I'm down Brighton again in May for a week, so looking forward to a couple of photo opportunities down there. Edinburgh is just a random trip for Easter, but I plan on going over Carlisle at some point too.

Think when I planned it originally, I had Megabus, Citylink, Megabus Gold and Citylink Gold - East Coast back too.

Leaving at 6am on a Wed and returning the following afternoon.

Well I set off yesterday on the 06:53ish Tyne & Wear Metro service from Stadium of Light to Central Station, arriving 07:15am. To my disappointment, I had refurbished Metrocar 4090 for this journey. I can - and have - dealt with Go North East's enthusiastic Next Stop Announcements at this hour and it's never been as painful as my journey on 4090 yesterday.

From Newcastle to Edinburgh Waverley, I had Class 91 set 91102.

I walked around the Princes St area for a while and then walked to Edinburgh Bus Station via St. Andrew's Square. Although the main objective was to get some change as I only had notes and Lothian don't give change, this allowed for some photography of many various coaches as well as some of Perrymans' fleet. Also new since I last visited Edinburgh was the Enviros on the 40/40A. Got a few photos of those too.

After this, I walked to Lothian's Central depot to see if anything was visible to photograph. Not a great deal there and it's amazing to compare how different it is on a normal operational day compared to the Open Day hosted last year.

I then jumped on a 26 to Lothian's Marine depot, and this is when it started to rain a little. Nevertheless, I got a few photos and then we were off again.

It was time to hunt down Volvo B5TL demonstrator 286, so I eagerly waited at The Mound until having the idea of getting on a Hunters Tryst bound 27 and hopefully seeing it en-route and catching it up on the following 27. This didn't take long, as we saw 286 the stop after The Mound! In true Edinburgh fashion, it was stuck in traffic and so we had enough time to jump off our bus and run back to The Mound so we could have a ride of it. We caught it with time to spare and had a ride of it all the way to Silverknowes on the top deck. Once we got to Silverknowes, we took some photographs and then when it was due to depart, we jumped on it again and had a ride back to the City Centre.

I took a few photos at The Mound and on Princes Street again while my friend from Edinburgh grabbed a sandwich quickly. Next on the agenda was to sample a Volvo 7900H as we only had a few minutes on them last time I was up there. We stayed on until Clermiston, and it was good to go there as I hadn't actually been there before.

Soon after, the 21 to Gyle Centre pulled in and we decided to get on that as I hadn't been on the 21 before. Again, it was nice to visit Gyle Centre as I hadn't been there before and there was quite a bit of variety, with a few smaller operators being present alongside Lothian and First.

After a quick photo session at Gyle Centre, we jumped on a 22 all the way to Ocean Terminal. I think most people have been to Ocean Terminal before so most will appreciate that it's a nice place to go for a little break as it has clean toilet facilities as well as places to eat. The long 50 minute or so journey there allowed me to sort through some of my photos and delete the "duplicate photos" I'd taken as buses were coming towards me.

To my surprise, the fair was on at Ocean Terminal and this meant that it was a lot busier (and louder) than usual. A Scania with the lovely seats turned up, and we jumped on that to Holyrood. I do have a soft spot for Lothian's Darts (well, some of them - there's one which has hideously squeaky brakes!) so I had a short ride of the 36 from Holyrood to the City Centre.

I grabbed a bite to eat in the City Centre, and then realised I had an hour or so left - so it was time to get as many photos as possible!

We did a quick tour of the City Centre again by walking to the bus station and then walking back to Princes St and The Mound, where I'd timed another photograph of 286. Walked to The Scotsman and got some photographs on that bridge, and that was me done for the day.

My train home was "Skyfall" 91107, and my Metro home was 4042. I was tired, so I wasn't particularly impressed when another refurbished one turned up...


I had a wonderful day and the weather was reasonably good compared to what had been forecast. I'm just in the process of uploading last year's Edinburgh trip photos to Flickr and I'm just glad that this time, my camera wasn't broken! Quality of those shots are awful but they're a lot better this time.

(06 Apr 2014, 11:52 am)Dan wrote Well I set off yesterday on the 06:53ish Tyne & Wear Metro service from Stadium of Light to Central Station, arriving 07:15am. To my disappointment, I had refurbished Metrocar 4090 for this journey. I can - and have - dealt with Go North East's enthusiastic Next Stop Announcements at this hour and it's never been as painful as my journey on 4090 yesterday.

From Newcastle to Edinburgh Waverley, I had Class 91 set 91102.

I walked around the Princes St area for a while and then walked to Edinburgh Bus Station via St. Andrew's Square. Although the main objective was to get some change as I only had notes and Lothian don't give change, this allowed for some photography of many various coaches as well as some of Perrymans' fleet. Also new since I last visited Edinburgh was the Enviros on the 40/40A. Got a few photos of those too.

After this, I walked to Lothian's Central depot to see if anything was visible to photograph. Not a great deal there and it's amazing to compare how different it is on a normal operational day compared to the Open Day hosted last year.

I then jumped on a 26 to Lothian's Marine depot, and this is when it started to rain a little. Nevertheless, I got a few photos and then we were off again.

It was time to hunt down Volvo B5TL demonstrator 286, so I eagerly waited at The Mound until having the idea of getting on a Hunters Tryst bound 27 and hopefully seeing it en-route and catching it up on the following 27. This didn't take long, as we saw 286 the stop after The Mound! In true Edinburgh fashion, it was stuck in traffic and so we had enough time to jump off our bus and run back to The Mound so we could have a ride of it. We caught it with time to spare and had a ride of it all the way to Silverknowes on the top deck. Once we got to Silverknowes, we took some photographs and then when it was due to depart, we jumped on it again and had a ride back to the City Centre.

I took a few photos at The Mound and on Princes Street again while my friend from Edinburgh grabbed a sandwich quickly. Next on the agenda was to sample a Volvo 7900H as we only had a few minutes on them last time I was up there. We stayed on until Clermiston, and it was good to go there as I hadn't actually been there before.

Soon after, the 21 to Gyle Centre pulled in and we decided to get on that as I hadn't been on the 21 before. Again, it was nice to visit Gyle Centre as I hadn't been there before and there was quite a bit of variety, with a few smaller operators being present alongside Lothian and First.

After a quick photo session at Gyle Centre, we jumped on a 22 all the way to Ocean Terminal. I think most people have been to Ocean Terminal before so most will appreciate that it's a nice place to go for a little break as it has clean toilet facilities as well as places to eat. The long 50 minute or so journey there allowed me to sort through some of my photos and delete the "duplicate photos" I'd taken as buses were coming towards me.

To my surprise, the fair was on at Ocean Terminal and this meant that it was a lot busier (and louder) than usual. A Scania with the lovely seats turned up, and we jumped on that to Holyrood. I do have a soft spot for Lothian's Darts (well, some of them - there's one which has hideously squeaky brakes!) so I had a short ride of the 36 from Holyrood to the City Centre.

I grabbed a bite to eat in the City Centre, and then realised I had an hour or so left - so it was time to get as many photos as possible!

We did a quick tour of the City Centre again by walking to the bus station and then walking back to Princes St and The Mound, where I'd timed another photograph of 286. Walked to The Scotsman and got some photographs on that bridge, and that was me done for the day.

My train home was "Skyfall" 91107, and my Metro home was 4042. I was tired, so I wasn't particularly impressed when another refurbished one turned up...


I had a wonderful day and the weather was reasonably good compared to what had been forecast. I'm just in the process of uploading last year's Edinburgh trip photos to Flickr and I'm just glad that this time, my camera wasn't broken! Quality of those shots are awful but they're a lot better this time.

Sounds like another cracking day out. Look forward to the photos. Did you find you had enough time? Too much time? Not enough time?

I've just booked tickets during the Easter week, but I'm going to head up on the 1042 East Coast and back on the 1830. It should still give me over 5½ hours of usable time.

(06 Apr 2014, 12:51 pm)aureolin wrote Sounds like another cracking day out. Look forward to the photos. Did you find you had enough time? Too much time? Not enough time?

I've just booked tickets during the Easter week, but I'm going to head up on the 1042 East Coast and back on the 1830. It should still give me over 5½ hours of usable time.

I found I had enough time, yeah. I took roughly 200 photos when I was there and to most that'll seem incredibly excessive - but it's around the norm for me on such a long day like that!

I find the 0742 up and the 1830 back down gives me enough time to sample some of the fleet too. The 1830 back down is a lovely journey - best part of five people has been the maximum number of passengers on all of my trips down on that journey in the Quiet Coach.

(06 Apr 2014, 1:04 pm)Dan wrote I found I had enough time, yeah. I took roughly 200 photos when I was there and to most that'll seem incredibly excessive - but it's around the norm for me on such a long day like that!

I find the 0742 up and the 1830 back down gives me enough time to sample some of the fleet too. The 1830 back down is a lovely journey - best part of five people has been the maximum number of passengers on all of my trips down on that journey in the Quiet Coach.

Yeah I always end up on that on work trips, as we usually get the 1715 out of Glasgow which connects to the 1830 at Edinburgh well. I'll have a few rides out when I'm up there too, and I'll probably revisit during the summer weeks. I decided against going all the way to Glasgow, as when I've checked my calendar, I have an overnight stay there a few weeks later anyway. Makes sense to just grab a few photos then.

Anyone heading to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games?
I imagine there will be some different stuff knocking around then.

It should be my next non business related trip up that way.

(06 Apr 2014, 12:51 pm)aureolin wrote Sounds like another cracking day out. Look forward to the photos. Did you find you had enough time? Too much time? Not enough time?

I've just booked tickets during the Easter week, but I'm going to head up on the 1042 East Coast and back on the 1830. It should still give me over 5½ hours of usable time.

I felt I had too much time to be honest, 9 Hours was quite a long day for me although it did fly over, I didn't get chance to sample the 7900H which I am quite guttered about, I'll blame that on the Problematic B5TL and I felt was a wasted journey up to Hunters Tryst and back to The Mound on the 27, If I had known there was Problems with it beforehand I would went down to Easter Road or Clermiston which had planned.

But an Hour round trip on the 22/27 severely reduced my time limits for going to other spots I had planned to go to, this was further reduced when I did see the B5TL in the Afternoon and decided to wait an Hour at The Mound for it to come back from Hunters Tryst, So in reality 2/3 Hours were wasted in chasing down the B5TL, That was the only down points to my Day really, otherwise I had a Fantastic time.

As for the Quiet Coach, going up there only me and a few people sitting on table seats in the row in front of where I was sitting, as for going back it was packed but thankfully no one was sitting next to me on both journeys.

(06 Apr 2014, 2:34 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Anyone heading to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games?
I imagine there will be some different stuff knocking around then.

It should be my next non business related trip up that way.

Probably going to head up and back one day, depending on the train fares.

I've got a few photos, but haven't saw the B5LH.

(06 Apr 2014, 3:32 pm)aureolin wrote Probably going to head up and back one day, depending on the train fares.

Taking full advantage of the family and friends railcards.
Is it not worth buying one of the railcards you can get to go with two adults?

(06 Apr 2014, 5:11 pm)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Taking full advantage of the family and friends railcards.
Is it not worth buying one of the railcards you can get to go with two adults?

I'd thought about that, but then I'm tied to going with the same person everywhere.

(06 Apr 2014, 5:09 pm)Tom wrote I've got a few photos, but haven't saw the B5LH.

It should be on the 27 Tom, unless it has Suspension Issues again like it did on Friday, in which case it'll be in Central Depot, but as it is Sunday I doubt it'll be out anyway.

(06 Apr 2014, 5:39 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote It should be on the 27 Tom, unless it has Suspension Issues again like it did on Friday, in which case it'll be in Central Depot, but as it is Sunday I doubt it'll be out anyway.

As I noted yesterday, it had the same issues again when I was sat on it - racking up a 13m delay.

From what I've been told, it pretty much constantly runs late... Good bus for you right there.

It seems Lothian's drivers aren't familiar with the good ol' "turn it off then turn it back on again" trick, as that sorted everything out yesterday when a Go North East driver/enthusiast said that might help...

(06 Apr 2014, 5:43 pm)Dan wrote As I noted yesterday, it had the same issues again when I was sat on it - racking up a 13m delay.

From what I've been told, it pretty much constantly runs late... Good bus for you right there.

It seems Lothian's drivers aren't familiar with the good ol' "turn it off then turn it back on again" trick, as that sorted everything out yesterday when a Go North East driver/enthusiast said that might help...

It'll fit in well up here then.

What a sight though, lovely to wake up to!

(06 Apr 2014, 6:32 pm)Tom wrote What a sight though, lovely to wake up to!

Were you still lying in bed when you took the photo.

(06 Apr 2014, 8:19 pm)GMitchelhill wrote Were you still lying in bed when you took the photo.

Yeah

Got a good few photos, from Edinburgh, Portobello and Berwick. I'll upload them tomorrow.

Going to try and get to the Edinburgh Lothian Buses Open Day, anyone know when it is?

(10 Apr 2014, 8:43 am)Tom wrote Going to try and get to the Edinburgh Lothian Buses Open Day, anyone know when it is?

Still TBC - http://lothianbuses.com/our-community/community/events

I imagine there'll be a few from here going?

(10 Apr 2014, 9:57 am)aureolin wrote Still TBC - http://lothianbuses.com/our-community/community/events

I imagine there'll be a few from here going?

I'll try my best.

(10 Apr 2014, 8:43 am)Tom wrote Going to try and get to the Edinburgh Lothian Buses Open Day, anyone know when it is?

In the past it has always been the last Saturday in September, which will be the 27th this year.

Going for a halfy half day today - couldn't resist a snap of the AD122 on the first day of operation but had already agreed to go out with mates, so we shall see how today pans out!
'Tis a Get Around though, so I'm making the most of it.

Will update my journeys on the bus section throughout the day..

0919 #X3 Wheatsheaf to Newcastle - GNE 4934
1010 #X85 Newcastle to Hexham - GNE 5230
1140 #688 Hexham Rail Station to Hexham Bus Station - GNE 5210
1148 #X85 Hexham to Newcastle - GNE 5232
1239 #21 Newcastle to Gateshead - GNE 60??
1240 #X9 Gateshead to Middlesbrough - GNE 6048
1430 #X10 Middlesbrough to Stockton - GNE 6043
1523 #X7 Stockton to Sunderland - GNE 5335
1635 #35 Park Lane to SoL Metro - GNE 5301

(12 Apr 2014, 8:30 am)Dan wrote Going for a halfy half day today - couldn't resist a snap of the AD122 on the first day of operation but had already agreed to go out with mates, so we shall see how today pans out!
'Tis a Get Around though, so I'm making the most of it.

Will update my journeys on the bus section throughout the day..

0919 #X3 Wheatsheaf to Newcastle - GNE 4934
1010 #X85 Newcastle to Hexham - GNE 5230

Did the above services have many passengers on, Dan?

(12 Apr 2014, 9:14 am)Tom wrote Did the above services have many passengers on, Dan?

X3 had 4x Conc. pass, 3x Key Card and 1x Network One - so it probably made a loss on that journey.

X85 currently has 6x Conc. pass, 1x single, 1x Key and 1x ? (Appears young enough to be a fare paying passenger though)

(12 Apr 2014, 9:17 am)Dan wrote X3 had 4x Conc. pass, 3x Key Card and 1x Network One - so it probably made a loss on that journey.

X85 currently has 6x Conc. pass, 1x single, 1x Key and 1x ? (Appears young enough to be a fare paying passenger though)

Sounds like the X85 is doing all right, but the X84 always seems considerably busier to me!