(29 Nov 2014, 8:08 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote It is a lot of time to be on a Coach in a Single Day, but as id be going down in the early hours of the Morning, then id end up going to sleep anyway, so I wouldnt be that bothered, coming back would be the worst part as I know the Coach will be packed coming out of London-and will probs not be empty until Middlesbrough/Sunderland, as was the case when I went to Leeds back in July.

Ill probs end up picking up a copy of Buses Magazine to Read as I tend to do when doing Day Trips, I might even be cheeky and ask my Dad or Brother if I could borrow one of there Tablets, so I can watch something whilst on the Coach.

Aye I'd hate that! Hate packed buses/coaches/trains/anything. I'm down London in a few weeks time, but doing an overnight and East Coast there and back. Might take the camera for once even! 

(30 Nov 2014, 3:30 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Planning on booking a short day out on the railways for Tuesday 23rd December....

CrossCountry - DHM to NCL
(11:17 --- 11:29)
Northern Rail - NCL to MCE
(11:44 --- 11:54)
Northern Rail - MCE to NCL
(12:02 --- 12:12)
East Coast - NCL to DHM
(12:25 --- 12:42)

If you're on an open return, break your journey up and use your time at Metrocentre and Newcastle for some photos.

(30 Nov 2014, 3:30 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Planning on booking a short day out on the railways for Tuesday 23rd December....

CrossCountry - DHM to NCL
(11:17 --- 11:29)
Northern Rail - NCL to MCE
(11:44 --- 11:54)
Northern Rail - MCE to NCL
(12:02 --- 12:12)
East Coast - NCL to DHM
(12:25 --- 12:42)

Are you sure that's a bus related outing?

My unexciting list of buses from yesterday.

1222 - Q2 - 8314 - GNE from Spillars Wharf to Market Street
Hid in the Geek Retreat all afternoon.
1753 - Q2 - 8316 - GNE from Market Street to Spillars Wharf.

Expecting to be on only 2 buses tomorrow too, except this time it will be using the Durham Park and Ride and spending the afternoon in Durham. Probably wandering about and then hiding in the Dark Matter Cafe, they serve nice lattes.

(30 Nov 2014, 4:56 pm)GMitchelhill wrote My unexciting list of buses from yesterday.

1222 - Q2 - 8314 - GNE from Spillars Wharf to Market Street
Hid in the Geek Retreat all afternoon.
1753 - Q2 - 8316 - GNE from Market Street to Spillars Wharf.

Expecting to be on only 2 buses tomorrow too, except this time it will be using the Durham Park and Ride and spending the afternoon in Durham. Probably wandering about and then hiding in the Dark Matter Cafe, they serve nice lattes.

This is mine tomorrow...

8:16 am or 8:26am - 2A/2C - Grindon Mill to Washington 
8:44am/8:55am - 4 - Washington to Usworth College 

* 9.30am-4:30pm, in lessons*

4:30pm/5:30pm (may stay back) 4 - to Washington 
2A/2C - Washington to Grindon Mill

(30 Nov 2014, 4:56 pm)GMitchelhill wrote My unexciting list of buses from yesterday.

1222 - Q2 - 8314 - GNE from Spillars Wharf to Market Street
Hid in the Geek Retreat all afternoon.
1753 - Q2 - 8316 - GNE from Market Street to Spillars Wharf.

Expecting to be on only 2 buses tomorrow too, except this time it will be using the Durham Park and Ride and spending the afternoon in Durham. Probably wandering about and then hiding in the Dark Matter Cafe, they serve nice lattes.

Bit unrelated, but what's that Geek Retreat shop like? Noticed it for the first time when I passed yesterday.

Misread it completely and thought Gary had spent the afternoon nibbling on Olives, Mezze and sipping on Greek Coffee!

(30 Nov 2014, 5:04 pm)aureolin wrote Bit unrelated, but what's that Geek Retreat shop like? Noticed it for the first time when I passed yesterday.

It's a cafe / comic collectable store. Also has retro computer gaming, a few pinball tables. It's quite canny actually, Dark Matter Cafe in Durham is the same.

Chances are I would have been in there when you passed. Would have been playing a fan based card game at the time.

(30 Nov 2014, 5:07 pm)GMitchelhill wrote It's a cafe / comic collectable store. Also has retro computer gaming, a few pinball tables. It's quite canny actually, Dark Matter Cafe in Durham is the same.

Chances are I would have been in there when you passed. Would have been playing a fan based card game at the time.

I might have a pop in if I'm out next weekend!

I mentioned a few weeks ago, that I was thinking of doing a rail trip, when I've got some time off next summer. I've been looking at more closely recently, and I'm thinking of getting a north country 4 in 8 day rail rover, and doing the following around August/September time.

I plan to do a rail trip day 1, 3, 5, and 7, leaving day 2, 4, 6 and 8 for a local day out. Weather permitting of course, but I don't actually plan to buy the ticket unless it's a decent forecast for that week!

Any comments/suggestions welcome, because I don't know any of the areas well at all.

Day 1: York - Scarborough - Hull - Whitby

Train: Durham to York
Train: York to Hull
Train: Hull to Scarborugh
Train: Scarborough to York
Train: York to Durham

Day 2: Carlisle - Maryport - Whitehaven - Barrow-in-Furness - Penrith
Train: Durham to Newcastle
Train: Newcastle to Carlisle
Train: Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness
Bus: Stagecoach Gold 300 Whitehaven to Maryport
Train: Maryport to Carlisle
Bus: Stagecoach 104 Carlisle to Penrith
Bus: Stagecoach 104 Penrith to Carlisle
Train: Carlisle to Newcastle
Train: Newcastle to Durham

Day 3: Leeds - Wakefield - Bradford - Halifax
Train: Durham to Leeds
Bus: Arriva 110 Leeds to Wakefield
Bus: Arriva 425 Wakefield to Bradford Interchange
Train: Bradford to Halifax
Train: Halifax to York
Train: York to Durham

Day 4: Leeds - Nottingham - Derby
Train: Durham to Leeds
Train: Leeds to Nottingham (off peak day return £23ish)
Bus: Trent Barton Red Arrow - Nottingham to Derby
Bus: Trent Barton Red Arrow - Derby to Nottingham
Train: Nottingham to Leeds (off peak day return £23ish)
Train: Leeds to Durham

How long are you planning to spend in each place and are you looking to take photographs of buses, trains, planes, submarines or buildings?

There are any amount of things in each place, it just depends on what you are after?

Mainly buses, but happy to photograph trains too. I wouldn't go out of my way to photograph trains though.

Had another thought of changing day 4 with a trip to Nottingham. I'd use the ticket to get to Leeds, and then do Leeds to Nottingham on an open return from there, as it's cheap enough to do. Would give me the opportunity to photograph the Trent Barton fleet.

(30 Nov 2014, 5:36 pm)aureolin wrote I mentioned a few weeks ago, that I was thinking of doing a rail trip, when I've got some time off next summer. I've been looking at more closely recently, and I'm thinking of getting a north country 4 in 8 day rail rover, and doing the following around August/September time.

I plan to do a rail trip day 1, 3, 5, and 7, leaving day 2, 4, 6 and 8 for a local day out. Weather permitting of course, but I don't actually plan to buy the ticket unless it's a decent forecast for that week!

Any comments/suggestions welcome, because I don't know any of the areas well at all.

Day 1: York - Scarborough - Hull - Whitby

Train: Durham to York
Train: York to Hull
Train: Hull to Scarborugh
Train: Scarborough to York
Train: York to Durham

Day 2: Carlisle - Maryport - Whitehaven - Barrow-in-Furness - Penrith
Train: Durham to Newcastle
Train: Newcastle to Carlisle
Train: Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness
Bus: Stagecoach Gold 300 Whitehaven to Maryport
Train: Maryport to Carlisle
Bus: Stagecoach 104 Carlisle to Penrith
Bus: Stagecoach 104 Penrith to Carlisle
Train: Carlisle to Newcastle
Train: Newcastle to Durham

Day 3: Leeds - Wakefield - Bradford - Halifax
Train: Durham to Leeds
Bus: Arriva 110 Leeds to Wakefield
Bus: Arriva 425 Wakefield to Bradford Interchange
Train: Bradford to Halifax
Train: Halifax to York
Train: York to Durham

Day 4: Blackburn - Preston - Lancaster - Morecambe
Train: Newcastle to Carlisle
Train: Carlisle to Lancaster
Train: Lancaster to Preston
Train: Preston to Blackburn
Train: Blackburn to York
Train: York to Newcastle

The Northern Rail/West Yorkshire Metro Train only takes 15-20 Minutes to each Destination though, might even be quicker going from Wakefield to Bradford via Leeds by Train than it is by Bus, if iirc it took me an Hour on the Train to do that if you time the connections perfectly like I did.

Racking my brains for each place, but in Nottingham, you have the trams too.
Not many places they run alongside each other, but it is possible.
The market square is a nice background too.

Bradford has the guided busway.

York and Carlisle have the historic buildings as a backdrop.

It is a while since I have been to Hull and Preston, but in Preston you have the bus station. Both offer a range of operators.

York is decent, Dan got some photos in the places I suggested the other week.

Wakefield is blurry as I have only been there on a stag do. Seem to remember the buses stop near Wetherspoons and operate in a circle.

Will rack my brains for the other places.

(30 Nov 2014, 6:48 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote The Northern Rail/West Yorkshire Metro Train only takes 15-20 Minutes to each Destination though, might even be quicker going from Wakefield to Bradford via Leeds by Train than it is by Bus, if iirc it took me an Hour on the Train to do that if you time the connections perfectly like I did.

Aye it's an option! Will have a DayRover over that way anyway. The thinking was to get a bus trip in wherever I went, hence using the Stagecoach Gold, rather than train for a leg of my Carlisle day.

I've updated day 4. Going to do Nottingham instead, as I've plenty opportunity to do Preston and Blackburn at other times.

(30 Nov 2014, 7:00 pm)Andreos1 wrote Racking my brains for each place, but in Nottingham, you have the trams too.
Not many places they run alongside each other, but it is possible.
The market square is a nice background too.

Bradford has the guided busway.

York and Carlisle have the historic buildings as a backdrop.

It is a while since I have been to Hull and Preston, but in Preston you have the bus station. Both offer a range of operators.

York is decent, Dan got some photos in the places I suggested the other week.

Wakefield is blurry as I have only been there on a stag do. Seem to remember the buses stop near Wetherspoons and operate in a circle.

Will rack my brains for the other places.

Cheers. Don't know much about the Nottingham trams, but will look them up. Quite enjoyed photograpphing the Edinburgh and Blackpool trams. I'll give those York locations a shot too.

I kept the amount of travel for Day 1 down to a minimum, so I could pencil in a trip to the NRM in before I head home. I think I'll do that by taking Whitby out of the equation, and just do that another day on an Explorer ticket.

Can you get to Doncaster on that ticket?
The buses more or less, stop right outside the railway station and apart from the P&R sites, you have the backdrop of the racecourse, where these is a strange little interchange facility

Just getting back to proposed Trip to London...if I go, these are the spots id like to take Photos at.

Victoria Bus Station
Victoria Coach Station
Hyde Park
Pimlico
Buckingham Palace
Westminister/Westminister Abbey
Piccadilly Circus

Id also like to attempt to Photograph all those Borismaster Statues, depending on where they are Located, in which I havent a clue, could anyone provide me with the Details for these, and finally is there any suggestions to add to the above list of Locations.

(02 Dec 2014, 7:00 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Just getting back to proposed Trip to London...if I go, these are the spots id like to take Photos at.

Victoria Bus Station
Victoria Coach Station
Hyde Park
Pimlico
Buckingham Palace
Westminister/Westminister Abbey
Piccadilly Circus

Id also like to attempt to Photograph all those Borismaster Statues, depending on where they are Located, in which I havent a clue, could anyone provide me with the Details for these, and finally is there any suggestions to add to the above list of Locations.

Adam, I'd highly recommend you stay clear from London bus stations. They're really anal about most stuff down there, and it's really not worth the hassle. Plus there's plenty more places to choose from.

(02 Dec 2014, 10:09 pm)aureolin wrote Adam, I'd highly recommend you stay clear from London bus stations. They're really anal about most stuff down there, and it's really not worth the hassle. Plus there's plenty more places to choose from.

To be honest I only really wanted the one Photo, similar to the one below as I quite like the Architecture of Buildings to the left of the Photo.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/steve75c/7982646780/

The vast majority of the Photos will end up away from the Bus/Coach Station anyway at the Locations that I listed in my Previous Post.

(02 Dec 2014, 10:09 pm)aureolin wrote Adam, I'd highly recommend you stay clear from London bus stations. They're really anal about most stuff down there, and it's really not worth the hassle. Plus there's plenty more places to choose from.

Yes, when I was down there in October, I saw two people taking photos of buses, and there was a police officer who didn't approach them, but seemed to always have one eye on them, if you know what I mean!

(02 Dec 2014, 10:26 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Yes, when I was down there in October, I saw two people taking photos of buses, and there was a police officer who didn't approach them, but seemed to always have one eye on them, if you know what I mean!

Everyone is just so paranoid down there. You get people staring at you just for having a camera, yet you'd think they'd be used to it with tourism?

(02 Dec 2014, 10:29 pm)aureolin wrote Everyone is just so paranoid down there. You get people staring at you just for having a camera, yet you'd think they'd be used to it with tourism?

Exactly that.

Thing is, if we didn't have terrorism and stuff, none of this would be an issue to any of us!

Don't want to come across in a bad way here, but when I've been down in the past it's been 50% foreign and 50% people who can actually speak our language!!

Been and got back from my work trip to Oxfordshire.
Only there a few day, but got some mileage in and managed to make one or two observations along the way.

Set off on Monday morning, paying my £4.00 for a 30min trip to Durham.
Traffic wasn't too bad at that time, but there were a few passengers wanting to buy their weekly tickets. We got to the bottom of Leazes Bowl about 10mins late.
Got up to the station and got my CrossStinky direct to Oxford (via Doncaster). It didn't smell that bad.

On arriving at Oxford, I needed some money and with the two machines in the station being out of order, I needed to hunt one out. It also gave me the chance to do a bit spotting - seeing the OBC electric hybrids and Citaro's, various Stagecoach Golds, a Sapphire or too and the Oxford Tube - before getting on the S1 (Gold E400 - 15933)
Seats were ok, the plastic rattled, it seemed powerful on the fast stretches (sorry Davey) and the WiFi didn't work. I paid my £4.20 for my 60min trip.

I did my work for a few hours, before needing to get to the hotel - which mean a 15 min journey (£2.30) on the 19 on Solo 47449.

A last minute change of plan, meant I didn't need to be in work for a few hours, so I got the 19 to Witney (47394 - £3.10 for a 30 min trip) and caught up on emails, paperwork etc and had a mooch around the shops after a coffee and a bit cake).
That was followed by a trip back to work, getting the S1, for the 15 min trip (15617 - £2.80). Again, there was no working WiFi.

Work was done later that day, so the 19 took me back to the digs (47395).

Today was home day. Timings of the 19 towards Bampton, connecting with an 18 - worked out better for my train, than a 19 to Carterton or Witney, changing onto an S1/S2.
The 19 also offered a guaranteed connection at Bampton, with the 18 waiting and a through ticket being an option.
So, a very cold 47395 connected with a warmer 47239 at a cost of £4.20.
The entire journey took 70mins and got me into Oxford about 30mins before my train was due.

CrossStinky to New St (via Coventry) and then another CrossStinky to Durham (via Leeds) after the obligatory change of platforms.
Neither train were stinky!

Quite a few miles and no issues at all, with late running or overcrowding. Reasonable fares for the distance and duration of the journeys, with the 18 and 19 (secured services), giving me the chance to see villages, hamlets, turning circles, dead ends, car parks and country lanes - that I probably won't see (or ever find) again.

Getting into Durham, I decided to walk from the station to Leazes Bowl, rather than North Road or Milburngate.
After being forced to let three purple Solars go (drivers choice), due to the buses being full, not to mention the 20a which didn't turn up or was running late, I managed to get on one, after the driver stopped to let a handful of passengers on. He reached his limit, with people behind me having to wait for the following bus.
I paid my £4.00 and stood for the majority of my 30min journey.

What was interesting in Oxford, was that Stagecoach had a sticker by the door, advertising the smart cards they accepted. These included the two types of Key Card (Brookes Uni having their own version) in circulation in Oxford.

(02 Dec 2014, 7:00 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Just getting back to proposed Trip to London...if I go, these are the spots id like to take Photos at.

Victoria Bus Station
Victoria Coach Station
Hyde Park
Pimlico
Buckingham Palace
Westminister/Westminister Abbey
Piccadilly Circus

Id also like to attempt to Photograph all those Borismaster Statues, depending on where they are Located, in which I havent a clue, could anyone provide me with the Details for these, and finally is there any suggestions to add to the above list of Locations.

Looks like ill be having quite a bit of Borismaster Fun on this Trip if I visit the above Locations, just to break down it down the following are Boris Operated, all but Service 8 serve the Locations I have listed, somehow ill have to fit in a Location for that Route as I would like to Photograph all the Routes.

Victoria Bus Station (Route 11/24/38/148)
Hyde Park (Route 9/10/38/137/148)
Pimlico (Route 24)
Buckingham Palace
Westminister/Westminister Abbey (Route 11/24/453)
Piccadilly Circus (Route 38/453)

Adding a few extra Locations as they are near by or are on the Routes listed above

Kings Cross (Route 10/390)
Marble Arch (Route 10/137/148/390)
Trafalgar Square (Route 11/24/453)

(04 Dec 2014, 3:07 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Looks like ill be having quite a bit of Borismaster Fun on this Trip if I visit the above Locations, just to break down it down the following are Boris Operated, all but Service 8 serve the Locations I have listed, somehow ill have to fit in a Location for that Route as I would like to Photograph all the Routes.

Victoria Bus Station (Route 11/24/38/148)
Hyde Park (Route 9/10/38/137/148)
Pimlico (Route 24)
Buckingham Palace
Westminister/Westminister Abbey (Route 11/24/453)
Piccadilly Circus (Route 38/453)

Adding a few extra Locations as they are near by or are on the Routes listed above

Kings Cross (Route 10/390)
Marble Arch (Route 10/137/148/390)
Trafalgar Square (Route 11/24/453)

When are ya planning on this Malarkey???

(05 Dec 2014, 3:22 pm)marxistafozzski wrote When are ya planning on this Malarkey???

January Fozz.

Hoping for an Olympian on Service X43 tomorrow!

#21 - Chester to Gateshead
(11:09 --- 11:45)
#49A - Gateshead to MetroCentre
(11:50 --- 12:09)
#X43 - MetroCentre to Stanley
(12:30 --- 13:00)
#8 - Stanley to Chester
(13:15 --- 13:42)
#21 - Chester to Home
(14:00 --- 14:04)

Waiting for Tom's comment about Metrocentre!

(05 Dec 2014, 4:15 pm)Dan wrote Waiting for Tom's comment about Metrocentre!

Haha - at least it's not the same old he normally does

I want a ride on the X43, so watch it be a B7TL.

(05 Dec 2014, 4:25 pm)Tom wrote Haha - at least it's not the same old he normally does

I want a ride on the X43, so watch it be a B7TL.

Well.....

I'm just trying my absolute hardest to get an Olympian! I'm a bit bad with the fleet at the minute, so which Olympians are still in service up at Stanley, again?

3822, 3823, 3828, 3830, 3831 and 3832 I think.