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+--- Thread: Bus Related Outings and Reviews (/showthread.php?tid=307)
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RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Charles41 - 25 Oct 2015
I used a day’s holiday from work on Friday to have a cracking tour of South East Northumberland. During the course of the day I met a millionaire, nearly got trapped on an industrial estate and found a rare preserved bus. The day started with me catching Arriva Alexander Dennis Trident 7508 on the 9.14 X21 service from Newcastle. The bus left on time with only a few passengers on board. The journey was pleasant in the morning sunshine. On the way we passed Gosforth Academy which has recently purchased two new style Ford Transits. They are currently in all over white livery. The journey was uneventful and I spent most of it reading the paper.
I alighted at Bedlington Station and walked down to Cooper’s Tourmaster Travel garage near the Kitty Brewster Bridge. This was a pleasant 5-10 minute walk along a little used lane next to the railway line. I found the access road to the garage without any difficulty. The site has recently been extended into part of the adjacent stables. Mr Cooper was really friendly when I asked for permission to look around. He even offered to move vehicles so I could get better photos. There were 24 vehicles on site and I spent a good 15-20 minutes looking around the well kept premises. Many vehicles were Irizar bodied Scanias which looked very impressive. Two interesting finds were JJI2672 a 35 year old Plaxton bodied Bedford YMT which is still in service. This vehicle has been with the Cooper family for over 20 years. The other was WJI2799 a 1995 Plaxton bodied Dennis Dart formerly with Stagecoach (32075). This is used on schools contracts. It was a real pleasure to look around this garage; the staff were all friendly and polite. I thanked them and made my way back to Bedlington Station in a good mood.
My next bus was another Arriva Trident 7507 working the late running X21 service. This was a short journey as I got off at the Barrington Arms in Stakeford. From here I walked to Sleekburn. On the way I was able to photograph GNE 6117 working the new 434 service to Ashington. It was wearing an all over red livery. After about a mile walk I came to West Sleekburn Industrial Estate. I was looking for Howard Snaith’s operating centre which has a licence for 20 vehicles. After a bit of searching, I found the garage on a traveller’s site. I’ve always found travellers friendly and approachable. They had no objection to me taking photos of the buses but warned me to watch out for Mr Snaith who was operating a small tractor.
Howard Snaith started with a single Ford Transit and with his family has built one of the North East’s largest independent bus and coach operators. Although the family recently lost their public bus services and schools contracts with Northumberland County Council they retain a substantial fleet for private hire and contract work. The most recent accounts for Howard Snaith Limited show the company had net assets of £1.66 million. Mr Snaith and his family own all the shares in the company. He was laying ballast on the site and had no objection to me looking round and photographing the 7 vehicles present. These comprised Volvo, Mercedes and Ford vehicles. Mr Snaith is in his 80s now and must possess a very strong work ethic.
My next target was Garfield Executive Travel Limited. This company is located on the Ferguson West Industrial Estate which is roughly half a mile from Snaith’s compound. I had no issues walking onto the industrial estate and found the Garfield garage without any difficulty. New here is a very smart Mercedes Sprinter, LX64AWJ. Unfortunately there was no one around at the garage. I therefore started to walk back to the estate entrance. At this point to my horror the main gates began to close. They must have been on a timing mechanism as a van was leaving the estate as I entered. I did not relish the thought of being trapped on an apparently empty industrial estate miles from anywhere. So I put on a sprint and just made it through the gates. I then waited for someone to come and query what I was doing on the estate. However no-one turned up, so I made my way to the Ferguson East Industrial Estate.
This is the home of Tatum (S & A Travel) who have a small fleet of minibuses. I approached the entrance to this estate which has a gatehouse. I wanted to explain the situation which had just occurred on the West Industrial Estate. However again there was no-one about and the estate had an open electric gate. I did not want to be potentially trapped again so decided to give S & A Travel a miss. I could see that they had a number of LDVs parked outside their garage. From here I walked over the road bridge across the River Wansbeck. This was a nice walk and I got some good pictures of the railway bridge in the distance.
My next stop was the garage of Balsdon (GB Travel) located in North Seaton. I found this garage after asking locals for directions. The last time I tried looking for it I was given directions to an empty unit. Mr Balsdon has a fleet of 5 vehicles and shares the operating centre with a branch of the Craiggs family. The wider Craiggs family used to run large coach company H E Craiggs (Craiggs of Amble) which is no longer trading. They currently trade as Craiggs Travel and have a fleet of 5 vehicles. An interesting vehicle present was F258RJX a 26 year old Van Hool bodied DAF. This vehicle belongs to Craiggs but is now withdrawn from service. The Craiggs also have vehicles parked opposite the Vulcan Garage at Bedlington. Now with Craiggs is former Priory Coaches 109 (E406SEL). It’s currently parked up at Bedlington.
I then took a short walk to Ashington Ambulance Station, there are a number of Patient Transport minibuses based here and I was able to spot quite a few from the road outside. PSV refurbishment company Thorntons have their entrance close to the Ambulance Station. On my way to the Ambulance Station I passed a training facility run by Northumberland County Council. Present here were 3 Ford Transits, two of which are recent purchases with new style bodywork. From here I walked to the Elephant pub and caught my next bus. This was Arriva 7504 on the 12.10 X21 service. I only had to wait a couple of minutes until it arrived. I took this bus on the short journey to Ashington’s messy bus station.
At the bus station was a young guy taking photos; he was joined by a middle aged bloke. I think one of these persons may have been forum member Tommy. They walked down the bus station and I went to find somewhere to sit and have my packed lunch. I found a wall which gave a good view of the main road through Ashington town centre and had a nice relaxed dinner. Afterward I went down to the Arriva depot, there unsurprisingly was not much stock given the time of day. Interesting vehicles present were DAF trainer 9990 and two Darts which are withdrawn from service. Community Bus operator Watbus on the Wansbeck Business Centre was my next objective. They had 7 vehicles parked outside their office comprising mainly Ford Transits. I was able to get some good photos of their fleet. A recent purchase is new style Transit BV65YZA which suits the Watbus livery of green vinyls on a white background well. I then took a slow walk back to the town centre and had a look in the shops on Ashington’s main street.
Alexander bodied Dart 1791 was my next bus. This vehicle has transferred up from Arriva’s Darlington depot and was working the number 1 to Blyth. The bus was 12 minutes late leaving Ashington bus station. I had to listen to an obnoxious little girl aged about 6 demanding things from her mother for most of the journey. Her mother must have the patience of a saint to put up with her constant whining. By the time we got to Cowpen I could not stand any more. So I got off the bus early and decided to walk. Wansbeck CVS was my first port of call in Blyth. They run a single Mercedes minibus under the fleetname Cowpen Friendship Club from a base on Briardale Road. Next I passed the TA Centre with a small number of Ford Transits present.
Morpeth Road Primary School was my next objective. This is operated by the Blyth Quays Trust. The trust has a fleet of 3 Ford Transit minibuses on Section 19 Permits which are securely parked next to the road that runs past the school. Two vehicles are in grey livery, the other is in all over white. From here Phoenix Travel’s main garage is about a 5 minute walk away. There were 15 vehicles present in Phoenix’s yard and the adjacent car park. Many of the vehicles were midibuses running on taxi plates. There was only a single decker, KV02URY. Phoenix do not allow enthusiasts to visit their yard but I was able to spot all the vehicles within through the fence.
I then walked into the town centre, via Blyth Hospital where a small number of patient transport minibuses were waiting for work. Arriva’s garage was my next stop; I was able to get some OK photos from the path that runs around the depot perimeter. I also got some good photos in the bus station. I decided to visit Blyth Star Enterprises Limited on Ridley Street. This charity runs a single Transit on a Section 19 Permit. Next was Blyth Valley Disabled Forum Limited on Stanley Street. This is another charitable Section 19 operator, present was Mercedes Sprinter NK04XUU formerly with Northumberland County Council.
Whilst photographing at the bus station Arriva Dennis Dart 1314 pulled in working the X7. This vehicle was transferred from Darlington’s Faverdale depot. I decided to take this service (which was the 15:20) to Seaton Deleval. This was a good journey; the ride along the coast road was lovely. There were no spoilt children and no one shat themselves. Seaton Deleval Hall the former home of the Deleval family is really spectacular to look at. The mansion was recently purchased by the National Trust and is open to the public. I understand members of the ancient Deleval family still own a large amount of farmland and timber plantations in the vicinity. I left the X7 at Double Row on the outskirts of Seaton Deleval. Here I visited the premises of Lifeline Medical Transport Services Limited. This private ambulance company owns a number of Renault Masters which are used for patient transport services. They used to be based in Blyth but their former depot is now demolished. I then walked to Western Avenue in Seaton Deleval.
Here is situated the home of Mr Robertson who runs Astley Coaches. I’d last visited this location in the mid 1990’s when the operator had a single minibus. Parked on Mr Robertson’s drive was a magnificent Leyland PS1 dating from 1948. Its registration is JAX354 and its wears a yellow Stevenson’s livery. It was a real surprise and pleasure to find such a rare and well preserved vehicle. It was a short walk from here to Westbourne Terrace. The garage here used to be the home of independent bus operator Hunters. They used to run a fleet of Leyland Atlanteans on a service from North Shields to Cramlington. There were taken over by Northumbria Motor Services (now Arriva) in the 1990s. The garage is now the operating centre of Richardson (Cookes Coaches) however no vehicles were present at the time of my visit.
Near to the garage I caught Arriva Wrightbus 7601 on the 16:12 X7 service. This was a short journey which was marred due to a guy talking to himself. He informed himself what he was going to do. For example he said “I’ll press the bell” and then pressed it. Next he said “I’ll go down the stairs” and off he went down them. I got off this bus at Seghill and looked for the Borderline Travel garage on Station Road. This operation would now appear to be in the hands of a new owner, Bowman Travel Limited. Try as I may I was unable to locate the garage despite walking back and forth along Station Road. Undeterred I headed to the new Atkinson House School. This council operated school runs a single Transit on a Section 19 Permit. Also spotted in Segill was Sprinter RRK598 which is operated by owner Mr Warwick. He is now using the fleetname Coast Travel and operates out of the Adamson’s Coaches depot at Cramlington.
My final bus of the day was Wrightbus 7803 on the late running 16:49 X7. I took this very busy service back to the Haymarket. It picked up a heavy loading at the industrial parks North of Benton. The bus was pretty much full when it reached Haymarket. The journey passed OK and I spent most of it looking out the window at the setting sun. As we arrived at Haymarket PCL Travel’s Mercedes Benz RIL5885 passed on the Otterburn service driven by it’s owner Mr Cowell.
The day had been a really good one apart from the incident with the gates. Again I thought the Arriva day ticket gave great value for money. I will definitely visit this area again as there is such a wide variety of vehicles and operators to see. The coastal scenery is also pretty good. For my next trip I’m going to try and visit minibus operator Milburns at Birtley on Tyne. I’m going to have to dig out a map and compass for this as its well out in the sticks deep in rural Northumberland!
Hope you enjoyed the review.
Charles
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - citaro5284 - 25 Oct 2015
My neck of the woods...I live in Seaton Delaval, and you are right Seaton Delaval Hall does looks spectacular
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - NK53 TKT - 26 Oct 2015
(25 Oct 2015, 8:32 am)NK53 TKT wrote 51 18:08 Corner HouseChosen to do these
Arriva 18:32 Earsdon
57A 18:38 Earsdon
Arriva 19:08 Cramlington Shops
X9 19:14 Cramlington Shops
Arriva 19:40 Blyth Bus Station
309 19:45 Blyth
Go North East-Cobalt Clipper 20:32 Corner House
And
309 09:21 Corner House
Go North East-Cobalt Clipper 09:52 Whitley Bay Town Centre
W1 10:03 Whitley Bay Town Centre Front Street
Go North East-NEXUS 10:48 Monkseaton Metro
M 10:57 Monkseaton
Nexus 11:12 Home
Reviews tomorrow
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - LeeCalder - 26 Oct 2015
I'm heading to the land of Trent Barton tomorrow!
Early start though... 0615 :p
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - NK53 TKT - 27 Oct 2015
Last night I went on an outing:
51 18:09 Chillingham Road Arriva 2834
18:32 Earsdon
The bus made quite a loud noise going round all the houses, this was my first trip on board this service. The bus was very busy on leaving my stop, nearly everyone got off at Wiltshire Gardens. Luckily even though it left my stop five minutes late it luckily just arrived in time at Earsdon.
57A 18:38 Earsdon Arriva 1801
19:08 Cramlington
The bus was one of the quiest MPDs I have ever been on, was on time at Earsdon and early at Cramlington. The bus goes through ALL of the estates in Seaton Delavel and Seghill, I must say, both are great places to go.
X9 19:13 Cramlington Arriva 7616
19:39 Blyth
The bus cannot be faulted. Used the X13 once or twice a month to go to Manor Walks from Brunton Park. First time having a double decker on this route. Bus was great if a bit bumpy, there were some teens at the back throwing an apple, not pleasing me. Was ten minutes early in Blyth.
309 19:45 Blyth Go North East 6109
20:29 Chillingham Road
The bus again was great, the NSAs were quite quiet, the seats are very comfortable on these buses, use the 309 once or twice a month left Blyth one minute early but got to my stop a bit late, saw the 'carnage' that is Blyth depot on a weeknight. I also saw the new 22 service in Cobalt
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - omnicity4659 - 30 Oct 2015
I'm thinking of doing Sunderland and Durham tomorrow, I haven't sampled Stagecoach's offerings in Sunderland yet so that will make a change. I'm hoping of riding the gas buses that Wheatsheaf depot have, but I don't know what services they operate on.
I will then cross to Durham on Arriva's 22, then take some photos there of the recently acquired NW Pulsars on the Sapphire 6 route and Durham Diamond vehicles.
I will then head to Stanley, then use service V7/V8 to MetroCentre then get Stagecoach's 100 express service to Monument.
I'm unsure where I should head after that but I'll find something!
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Dan - 30 Oct 2015
(30 Oct 2015, 4:32 pm)GX03 SVC wrote I'm thinking of doing Sunderland and Durham tomorrow, I haven't sampled Stagecoach's offerings in Sunderland yet so that will make a change. I'm hoping of riding the gas buses that Wheatsheaf depot have, but I don't know what services they operate on.
I will then cross to Durham on Arriva's 22, then take some photos there of the recently acquired NW Pulsars on the Sapphire 6 route and Durham Diamond vehicles.
I will then head to Stanley, then use service V7/V8 to MetroCentre then get Stagecoach's 100 express service to Monument.
I'm unsure where I should head after that but I'll find something!
Services 3, 13, 16 and 20. Any spare gas buses tend to crop up on service 4.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Michael - 30 Oct 2015
(30 Oct 2015, 4:36 pm)Dan wrote Services 3, 13, 16 and 20. Any spare gas buses tend to crop up on service 4.
All the above services run every 10 minutes during the day.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - omnicity4659 - 30 Oct 2015
(30 Oct 2015, 4:36 pm)Dan wrote Services 3, 13, 16 and 20. Any spare gas buses tend to crop up on service 4.
(30 Oct 2015, 4:39 pm)Michael wrote All the above services run every 10 minutes during the day.
Cheers Dan and Michael
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - NK53 TKT - 30 Oct 2015
(30 Oct 2015, 4:32 pm)GX03 SVC wrote I'm thinking of doing Sunderland and Durham tomorrow, I haven't sampled Stagecoach's offerings in Sunderland yet so that will make a change. I'm hoping of riding the gas buses that Wheatsheaf depot have, but I don't know what services they operate on.
I will then cross to Durham on Arriva's 22, then take some photos there of the recently acquired NW Pulsars on the Sapphire 6 route and Durham Diamond vehicles.
I will then head to Stanley, then use service V7/V8 to MetroCentre then get Stagecoach's 100 express service to Monument.
I'm unsure where I should head after that but I'll find something!
Try this:
19 08:30 Ashington
09:57 North Shields Ferry
F 10:00 North Shields
10:07 South Shields
20A 10:22 South Shields
10:56 Sunderland Holmside
13 11:01 Holmside
11:23 Doxford Park Shops
39 11:27 Doxford Park Shops
11:54 Park Lane
22 12:07 Park Lane
13:32 Durham
16A 13:50 Durham
14:22 Stanley
V7 14:27 Stanley
15:18 Metrocentre, via East Stanley
10A 15:23 Metrocentre
15:33 Blaydon
12A 15:41 Blaydon
16:29 Newcastle via Blaydon
X21 16:34 Newcastle
17:35 Ashington
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Michael - 31 Oct 2015
(30 Oct 2015, 6:12 pm)GX03 SVC wrote Cheers Dan and Michael
Forgot to add, the full routes for the gas buses are:
3: Hylton Castle - Southwick - City Centre - Durham Road - Farringdon
13: Doxford Park - Southwick - City Centre - Town End Farm
16: Hastings Hill - Sunderland Hospital - Southwick - Witherwack - Hylton Red House
20: City Centre - Sunderland Hospital - Pennywell.
If one is on the 4 then its route will be:
4: Doxford Park - East Herrington - Durham Road - City Centre - Southwick - Hylton Red House - Downhill - Town End Farm
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - omnicity4659 - 31 Oct 2015
(30 Oct 2015, 8:02 pm)NK53 TKT wrote Try this:
19 08:30 Ashington
09:57 North Shields Ferry
F 10:00 North Shields
10:07 South Shields
20A 10:22 South Shields
10:56 Sunderland Holmside
13 11:01 Holmside
11:23 Doxford Park Shops
39 11:27 Doxford Park Shops
11:54 Park Lane
22 12:07 Park Lane
13:32 Durham
16A 13:50 Durham
14:22 Stanley
V7 14:27 Stanley
15:18 Metrocentre, via East Stanley
10A 15:23 Metrocentre
15:33 Blaydon
12A 15:41 Blaydon
16:29 Newcastle via Blaydon
X21 16:34 Newcastle
17:35 Ashington
Wow, I definitely would do the parts in bold if it wasn't for me needing to post a parcel at 0900! :s
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jimmi - 07 Nov 2015
06/11/2015 Teesside Outing.
0836 21 Newton Aycliffe Town Centre - Sedgefield Green (ANE 4811)
0854 21A Sedgefield Green - Middlesbrough Bus Station (ANE 1417)
1015 64 Middlesbrough Bus Station - Eston Square (ANE 7486)
1052 63 Eston Square - Redcar Rail Station (ANE 1433)
1233 81 Redcar Clock - Stokesley (ANE 4511)
1357 29A Stokesley - Middlesbrough (ANE 1472)
1540 X67 Middlesbrough Bus Station - Darlington Tubwell Row (ANE 1502)
1715 7 Darlington Tubwell Row - Newton Aycliffe Town Centre (ANE 1595)
1755 5 Newton Aycliffe Town Centre - Home (ANE 1511).
Decided to have an outing on Teesside and decided to have a reasonably early start. For a change of scenery I decided I would head via Sedgefield rather than Darlington so I boarded the 0836 21 from Aycliffe Town Centre with this journey being worked by MAN EcoCity 4811 which was totally sweltering as heat was being pumped through the bus, as the last few times I've sampled this bus the WiFi hasn't being working and of course today was no different. On this bus a noticed someone in black shirt and trousers noting stuff down and talking to the driver. The connection between the 21 and 21A in Sedgefield is pretty tight, just 3 minutes, so did I manage to make the connection...
...Yes! ex Belmont Pulsar 1417 provided me with the next leg of my journey to Middlesbrough. Not the best Pulsar I've been on but still pretty decent ride and didn't shake when stationary unlike most of Darlington's 09 reg examples. As we got close to Stockton the driver had an issue with one of the passengers college passes and asked two passengers on-board to show their passes.
After a bit of a break I headed to the bus station to see if there was anything interesting to ride and I saw a Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini parked up next to an X93 MAX Gemini so waited to see where it was going (was obviously going to be one of the 22/64/64A as they are the only routes at Redcar where double deckers can be used (although only the Middlesbrough - Redcar High Street section of the 22), the only others that I know of are the 81/81A and X93, but another Gemini came in and became the 64 to New Marske so I hopped on that. Although this is now 14 years old it looks incredibly smart inside and on previous trips on these Gemini's on the X93 the WiFi hasn't worked but surprising on 7486 it was with the MAX login page coming up. If you've never done the 64 route before most of it looks as rough as a badgers arse especially South Bank despite that ginormous sign and watering can on the roundabout just outside South Bank. Decided to bail at Eston Square in the hope of getting a photo of 7486 but I forgot about all the bloody railings so it I was left with a pretty naff head on shot. Tried to snap Sapphire 1440 on the 64A which was 10 minutes behind the 64 but I didn't know where it was coming from and I wasn't working well with my camera as I failed to snap 1440, twice! so a bit hacked off I got the 63 to Redcar which was Pulsar 1433.
Not a great deal to say about the journey on the 63 but it got pretty busy as the journey went on. Again not the nicest route in the world it has to be said. A few passengers decided to alight at the stop just before Redcar Central Railway Station and as the level crossing closed stopping traffic I decided to bail here as well in the hope of getting a train photo but was too late so carried on foot into Redcar doing a bit of spotting. After some Cooplands Sausage Rolls, I carried on getting some photos and spotted 4511 on the 81A to Marske so I decided that I'd get on that when it came back from Marske, in the meantime I checked to see if there was any trains leaving from Redcar Central and there was trains at 12:09 and 12;10 so I made my way over there and after having to get past someone practically walking on the very edge of the platform nearly falling off I spotted Class 156 - 156484 in the distance about to depart for Saltburn I quickly ran up the platform for a photo as it's pretty rare to see Class 156's head to Saltburn at this time of the day so it was a brilliant accidental catch for my Flickr, also got 142022 heading to Bishop Auckland. After this I made my way to Redcar Clock which was displaying the wrong time to wait for 4511 on the 81.
I decided to sit in the quadrant seats on the drivers side for this journey, this is one of the examples which hasn't been treated to a refurbishment unlike 4515 which was also on the 81/81A yesterday along with Temsa 4710. Along the route to Guisborough I thought it wasn't very quick especially on hills, I did think about jumping off 4511 at Guisborough especially as I worked out 4515 would be in Guisborough at around the same time, unfortunately we were running a few minutes late and then we got stuck at the lights so 4515 left before I could get off, so I decided to stay on all the way to Stokesley. Sadly we fell even further behind time on this journey as we were stuck behind a tractor for a "good" 10 minutes, after we finally lost the tractor 4511 decided to prove me wrong about it being slow by flying on the road between Great Ayton and Stokesley annoyingly though some walkers had to ruin that by wanting to be off the bus in the middle of nowhere where there was no bus so that slowed us down. Arrived in Stokesley late so annoying meant I ended up with photos of the 81 and 29A on the High Street instead of a slightly more scenic shot of the 29A, although I tried to get a more scenic shot of the 81 on a bridge but sadly traffic ruined that, typical there was pretty much nothing in the minutes before the bus came then when it showed everything was heading into Stokesley, some loud swears were uttered after that so then I waited for the 29A.
Another ex Belmont Pulsar for this journey on the 29A in the form of 1472 which unfortunately shook at the back when stationary which got annoying when we got closer to Middlesbrough when the bus had to wait time in places. Not a great deal else to say about this journey. I arrived in Middlesbrough and decided to do a bit of Christmas shopping but instead just ended up buying myself stuff instead, as I can't imagine any of you are interested in what I did on my shopping break I'll leave it at that although when trying to leave Footasylum I was trying to get past somebody and my coat got caught on a shoe rack and I almost knocked it over. Anyway back to buses, I saw 1502 in the bus station so made my way to the bus stop for it to work the X67 to Darlington.
First time I've done the whole X67 route and probably the first time I've ever rode 1502 so I decided it would be an interesting journey. Couldn't connect to the WiFi on here. On this journey we went past Thornaby Station as normal then we went straight up Riverside to reach Stockton High Street with a fair few boarding in Stockton many of which jumped off around Hartburn. Even with all the promotion about the changes made nearly a fortnight ago and some still don't seem to know where it goes as when we turned instead of heading straight on through the roundabout a few people were going "where is he going" and generally looking peed off and then when the bus arrived in Darlington there was a few people not amused and asking where the bus was heading next which was the X66 back to Middlesbrough. So it seems not everybody is happy with these service changes.
Went off round Darlington for a bit before heading back to Tubwell Row where I planned to catch StreetLite 1595 on the 7 to provide me with a bit more variety as I was a bit sick of Pulsars, unfortunately the bus arrived in Darlington over 15 minutes late so was a bit of a boring wait. 1595 eventually turned up and everyone jumped straight on as of course being a Belmont working no driver change occurred, first thing I noticed about this was the lack of interior branding and there being no next stop announcements for the 7. This journey unfortunately ended up running even later as the traffic getting out of Darlington Town Centre especially at Northgate Roundabout was horrendous and someone in a van cut in front of us at Northgate Roundabout as he was in the wrong lane and the slow moving continued until we got to Harrowgate Hill Roundabout. Although StreetLite's have a bad reputation on here I actually didn't mind my journey on this and the emergency exit door barely made a sound unlike the GNE X66 StreetLite I had on Monday and I swear the Go North East examples are worse than Arriva's, even on the MAX X1 heading along the A68 past Burtree Gate where the road surface is pretty shocking the emergency exit door will barley make a sound whereas on the X66 example I had the other day on a smooth road it was shaking like mad, making sounds like a pneumatic drill, full of screws. Checked the Arriva Live Map to see if the 5 had left Aycliffe Town Centre and thankfully the 7 arrived first which was good especially I didn't fancy walking home especially as one route has no lights and all other routes has those awful white lights which tend to only light a small area, they are so bad I often have to use the flashlight on my phone to see where I'm going. Got some teenagers laughing me as I got a shot of 1595 although it was so dark you couldn't tell which StreetLite it was and also got an EcoCity on the 21 but that one didn't turn out too well. Then I had a short journey on 1511 on the 5 home.
Well, that's what I got up to yesterday with some good things happening and a few naff things as well. Tomorrow I may be doing a rare Sunday outing.
Thanks for reading
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jimmi - 08 Nov 2015
Well todays outing was a total bust, got stuck about 50 minutes for the 21 to get from Chester-le-Street to Newcastle because of diversions due to things surrounding Remembrance Sunday, then went to the Metrocentre where I was hoping to get some shoes from USC and when I asked if they had them in a size 8 they responded with "no, but we do have sizes 7 and 9." then I missed the Not So Fab Fifty Six as the bus had pulled in on an angle in Concord Bus Station and the X88 was stuck behind it and couldn't unload so I missed the 56 and had a boring cold wait at Concord, then with all this I just became really annoyed and still feel fed up now. Awful day out!
No idea when the photos from today will be on Flickr as I am just not in the mood, got half way through uploading then just pulled the plug on this upload.
Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jimmi - 21 Nov 2015
Well my last big outing around the North East was a total bust, so read on to see if this one was a success or another one that crashed and burned.
0842 7 Newton Aycliffe - Durham Bus Station (ANE 1514)
0936 X21 Durham Bus Station - Newcastle, John Dobson Street (GNE 6037)
1110 308 Newcastle, Haymarket Bus Station - Blyth Bus Station (ANE 7458)
1247 1 Blyth Bus Station - Ashington Bus Station (ANE 1763)
1341 X20 Ashington Bus Station - Regent Centre (ANE unidentified ALX400)
1437 X22 Regent Centre - Newcastle, Haymarket Bus Station (ANE 7505)
1450 X12 Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station - Durham Bus Station (ANE 7609)
1617 7 Durham Bus Station - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 7534)
Managed to get ready a bit early yesterday morning so I managed to catch an earlier 7 so this gave me a bit more time to play with. 1514 was my steed for my journey to Durham, this journey picked up fair few passengers on its way to Ferryhill where a fair few jumped off although a fair few jumped on, one of the passengers was a oldish woman who was texting or something on her phone for the remainder of the journey and she had not turned off the keypad noises so all I could hear for the remainder of the journey was beep beep beep beep! Irritating as...
My next journey was the X21 which as it was the first express to Newcastle after 09:30, so as you can imagine the age range of most of the passengers on-board especially once the New College Durham students departed, I sat at the back upstairs as some of the seats on the Pronto Presidents are uncomfortable and a oldish women sat on the opposite side then guess what I heard... Beep beep beep beep, yes it was the woman with the phone who was on the 7, grrr! As I posted in the GNE Latest thread there was a large number of passengers on-board with some standees, instead of heading along the A1(M) we ended up going through Birtley instead which ended up making the journey longer with the 21 that left Durham 5 minutes in front arriving before the so called express service which seemed to stop at almost every bloody stop on the way to Chester-le-Street, Pronto doesn't seem to be a word to describe this journey.
After doing a bit of spotting in Newcastle including the enthusiast hot-spot around Eldon Square Bus Station where I managed to snap the freshly repainted 6001. Oh and I was only there around 15 minutes so I was not taking up residency there!
Was wishing to head up to Blyth to catch some of the recently MAX refurbs so I headed to Haymarket where I went to see if there was anything intresting heading to Blyth and I saw DAF DB250/Alexander ALX400 7458 which is the only example of this batch remaining in the fleet with this example previously being with Classic. The first half of this route is rather boring, but gets more intresting once you get towards Whitley Bay, one amusing sight on this journey was I got to see an Optare Metrorider which is a "Butty Bus" had I not been a bit pushed for time and there was a bus stop a bit closer I would have got off for a photo. Seats were a tad bit uncomfortable on this bus.
Went past Arriva's Blyth depot where I spotted a withdrawn MPD and ALX200's 1795 and 1796 at the back but sadly when I walked back there was a car parked in the street, grrr! After some snapping I decided to head to Ashington as I didn't fancy riding a Pulsar or a VDL Gemini so for a change I headed on the 1 to Ashington. Not the best bus although I have been on worse MPD's than this.
As I arrived in Ashington, MAX X15 branded Enviro 400 7512 was sat on the stand blinded up for Sapphire service X22 so I made sure to get a photo of that and also got Lolyne 3859 on the 434 and Volvo B7 7446 on the X20 to Alnwick. Then I headed back to get the X20 towards Newcastle. Ashington has a bad reputation on this forum, and this review is not going to do the place any justice, two people who seemed totally and utterly gazeboed and they were shouting some rather choice words, most of them fall outside of the forum rules so I can't tell you the words that were uttered although many of them were four letter words including THAT word, and they were sat right opposite me so when someone was going to jump off around Ashington I was going to disguise it as me jumping off and head downstairs unfortunately when I saw the stopping light on it hadn't gone off after stopping at the previous stop so that made me look a bit foolish, I sat at the back of the bus downstairs for the remainder of the journey.
On the X20 I saw Quaylink Q1/Q2 branded 8334 on the Q3 so I hopped off at Regent Centre for a photo, hung around 10-15 minutes and thankfully there was no sign of the Nexus bouncers anywhere. Headed back to Newcastle on Sapphire Enviro 400 7505 which in typical fashion for that batch, the WiFi didn't work.
Just managed to catch the X12 back to Durham with the recently transferred 7609 operating this journey and of course the WiFi didn't work! Sadly this journey was another that was carrying passengers that were irritating as... and they looked like the results of inbreeding. To make matters worse the traffic through Low Fell was horrendous, because of this we ended up arriving in Durham around 10 minutes late and in typical fashion I got to see my connecting 7 pulling out of Durham Bus Station, grrr!
So because I missed the 7 I had to wait for the next one which turned up over 15 minutes and because of late running 43 and 24's the 24 ended up on the 7's stand and the 7 ended up on the 24/43 etc. stand. Because of the 24 pulling onto the wrong stand everyone crowded right around me smashing themselves into me and my bag with my camera inside which did stress me out a bit. Because of the delay to the 7 the additional capacity of the Enviro 400's was certainly needed on this journey.
Well that outing got me some of my photo goals (photos are now on my Flickr, link is in my signature) but I had some terrible journeys yesterday's and really didn't enjoy waiting for nearly half an hour for the 7 in the magical wonderful place that is Durham Bus Station because of the traffic in Low Fell and really annoying passengers, so a mixed day out yesterday.
If you got this far, thanks for reading.
A side note, following my trip to Edinburgh back in September which I quite enjoyed, I am hoping to make more trips further afield, however due to gigs being announced sometimes at short notice, I can't really make any of these sorts of trips until around Easter sort of time once we get to festival season and there is more hours of daylight etc. In the future I hope to go to the likes of: Berwick, Leeds, Manchester and maybe the likes of Sheffield. I am heading to Manchester in January and April although these are for gigs. Any suggestions you may have are welcomed.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Charles41 - 23 Nov 2015
Good review Jimmi, I like the photos especially 6001. I do wish they'd get Ashington bus station sorted out sooner rather than later. It's really not customer friendly at the moment.
Berwick is great for a day out, there are some really good photo opportunities. I guess this would involve quite a journey from Newton Aycliffe and back though.
Keep up the reviews.
Charles
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jimmi - 23 Nov 2015
(23 Nov 2015, 2:40 pm)Charles41 wrote Good review Jimmi, I like the photos especially 6001. I do wish they'd get Ashington bus station sorted out sooner rather than later. It's really not customer friendly at the moment.
Berwick is great for a day out, there are some really good photo opportunities. I guess this would involve quite a journey from Newton Aycliffe and back though.
Keep up the reviews.
Charles
Thanks Charles
I was planning on heading up towards Berwick this year but sadly never got round to it, if I was to head to Berwick I would get the train up there from either Durham or Darlington and work my way back down on the buses.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - beefcake - 28 Nov 2015
Thought I'd try writing a review of todays journey, in which I travelled from Hartlepool to Gateshead for my nieces trampoling competition, across to Newcastle for a couple of hours, before returning back home in time for the football.
Bus 1: 0707 57A Hartlepool Winterbottom Avenue 'Richies Club' - Durham Bus Station ANE 2813
Got on the bus at my nearest Arriva stop, which was a 10 minute walk across the trading estate. Not really an eventful journey, but I have to admit I do enjoy travelling on the minibuses, as I feel they handle this route particularly well.
Bus 2: 0811 21 Durham Bus Station - Gateshead Durham Road/Shipcote Lane GNE 6065
Another fairly straightforward journey, made easier by the NSA's available on this service, although that didn't stop me almost getting off a stop too early. Thankfully, the driver helped me by advising me the correct stop to get off at.
Bus 3: 1044 Q1 Gateshead Leisure Centre - Newcastle Market Street GNE 8334
Decided on this bus over getting another 21 to sample another bus, and with my nieces now with me following the conclusion of the competition, it gave them a chance to see parts of the Quayside they'd never seen prior to today. Journey ran pretty much to time, with the driver only having to sit a couple of minutes in Gateshead. Upon getting off this bus, we went for something to eat, before going to see Fenwicks window and visit the Christmas market.
Bus 4: 1332 21 Newcastle Eldon Square - Gateshead Interchange GNE 6056
Having planned on getting the 1330 X9 direct to Peterlee, something occurred which meant that the service would be starting from Gateshead. Fortunately, the GNE CS Adviser was on hand to direct all passengers waiting for the X9 onto the 21 to connect with it in Gateshead.
Bus 5: 1340 X9 Gateshead Interchange - Peterlee Bus Station GNE 6048
Now on the bus I needed to get to Peterlee, having left a little over 5 minutes late due to having to connect off the 21. Another straightforward journey due to the nature of the route being mainly on the A19.
Bus 6: 1429 X35 Peterlee Bus Station - Hartlepool Mill House GNE 4937
Done this journey a fair few times, so had a pretty good idea of where I was on the route, despite sitting backwards for the entire journey. Plenty of clockwatching on this run due to having half an hour from boarding the bus to the football kicking off. Got off at Mill House at 1456, and managed to get to my seat in the ground as the game got underway.
Thanks for taking the time to read this
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - BusLoverMum - 28 Nov 2015
(28 Nov 2015, 10:56 pm)beefcake wrote Thought I'd try writing a review of todays journey, in which I travelled from Hartlepool to Gateshead for my nieces trampoling competition, across to Newcastle for a couple of hours, before returning back home in time for the football.Sounds like a nice, if hurried, day out. We've only done the Durham-Hartlepool route once. It's a really nice route, but with some bits that were a bit tight for the Pulsar that had been put on the service. (Three phone reception is also dire!) I can see how it would feel much better on a Solo.
Bus 1: 0707 57A Hartlepool Winterbottom Avenue 'Richies Club' - Durham Bus Station ANE 2813
Got on the bus at my nearest Arriva stop, which was a 10 minute walk across the trading estate. Not really an eventful journey, but I have to admit I do enjoy travelling on the minibuses, as I feel they handle this route particularly well.
Bus 2: 0811 21 Durham Bus Station - Gateshead Durham Road/Shipcote Lane GNE 6065
Another fairly straightforward journey, made easier by the NSA's available on this service, although that didn't stop me almost getting off a stop too early. Thankfully, the driver helped me by advising me the correct stop to get off at.
Bus 3: 1044 Q1 Gateshead Leisure Centre - Newcastle Market Street GNE 8334
Decided on this bus over getting another 21 to sample another bus, and with my nieces now with me following the conclusion of the competition, it gave them a chance to see parts of the Quayside they'd never seen prior to today. Journey ran pretty much to time, with the driver only having to sit a couple of minutes in Gateshead. Upon getting off this bus, we went for something to eat, before going to see Fenwicks window and visit the Christmas market.
Bus 4: 1332 21 Newcastle Eldon Square - Gateshead Interchange GNE 6056
Having planned on getting the 1330 X9 direct to Peterlee, something occurred which meant that the service would be starting from Gateshead. Fortunately, the GNE CS Adviser was on hand to direct all passengers waiting for the X9 onto the 21 to connect with it in Gateshead.
Bus 5: 1340 X9 Gateshead Interchange - Peterlee Bus Station GNE 6048
Now on the bus I needed to get to Peterlee, having left a little over 5 minutes late due to having to connect off the 21. Another straightforward journey due to the nature of the route being mainly on the A19.
Bus 6: 1429 X35 Peterlee Bus Station - Hartlepool Mill House GNE 4937
Done this journey a fair few times, so had a pretty good idea of where I was on the route, despite sitting backwards for the entire journey. Plenty of clockwatching on this run due to having half an hour from boarding the bus to the football kicking off. Got off at Mill House at 1456, and managed to get to my seat in the ground as the game got underway.
Thanks for taking the time to read this
TBH, getting off a stop early for Shipcote on the 21 doesn't give you too much of a walk, but it's nice to be in the right place if you're somewhere you don't know so well.
The X9 is great, if you can get a seat!
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jimmi - 28 Nov 2015
(28 Nov 2015, 11:18 pm)BusLoverMum wrote The X9 is great, if you can get a seat!
I always seem to enjoy a journey on the X9 more than the X10 for some reason, possibly because it goes right through Peterlee rather than just come off/on the slip road for the A19 and going down the A19 for around 45 solid minutes which is a bit boring. Was quite pleased it went over the Tees Flyover to reach Middlesbrough last night as I've not been over there from that end of the A19 before.
If you wanted a quiet X9 journey, you should have got the 16:00 journey (over 30 minutes late) from Middlesbrough last night, as the 16:30 X10 left before the X9 arrived so the X9 only picked up two passengers which made it a bit more difficult to get a photo especially in the dark, had to break a few rules to get that shot! Don't judge me, I've seen some of you other forum members do the same!
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jamie M - 28 Nov 2015
| Location | | Time | Total Freq.| Service | Destination |
+-----------------------+-------+-------+---------+---------------------------------+
| Newcastle Eldon Square: | 1135 | 00 | X21| TO DURHAM |
| Durham Bus Station : | 1225 | 50 | ARRIVES AT DURHAM |
| Durham Bus Station : | 1300 | 1hr25 | 15 A | TO CONSETT |
| Consett Bus Station : | 1410 | 2hr15 | ARRIVES AT CONSETT |
| Consett Bus Station : | 1420 | 2hr34 | 689 TO HEXHAM |
| Hexham Bus Station : | 1515 | 3hr19 | ARRIVES AT HEXHAM |
| Hexham Bus Station : | 1521 | 3hr25 | 10 | TO NEWCASTLE |
| Hexham Bus Station : | 1649 | 4hr53 | ARRIVES AT NEWCASTLE|
+-----------------------+-------+-------+---------+----------------------------------+
A whole 2 people on the 689. Me and the driver.
What a day.
EDIT: Table formatting messed up on pasting. - Hits head off desk after spending 30 minutes creating it -
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - beefcake - 29 Nov 2015
(28 Nov 2015, 11:18 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Sounds like a nice, if hurried, day out. We've only done the Durham-Hartlepool route once. It's a really nice route, but with some bits that were a bit tight for the Pulsar that had been put on the service. (Three phone reception is also dire!) I can see how it would feel much better on a Solo.
TBH, getting off a stop early for Shipcote on the 21 doesn't give you too much of a walk, but it's nice to be in the right place if you're somewhere you don't know so well.
The X9 is great, if you can get a seat!
I do have to admit, that it was more of a rush than I usually like when I'm out and about, but the girls were adamant that we were going to be back in time for the match as they didn't want to miss it, and to a similar extent neither did I.
The largest bus I've been on when using the 57A previously was one of the R-COO Darts, although I can imagine a pulsar being tight round there as my dad made similar remarks last time he used it.
I do like using the X9 to travel home, due to the speed of it getting to Peterlee for me to change buses to head home, so if I decide on that, I'm normally stood waiting 15 minutes before it's due in. Failing that, I'll get a Metro down to Park Lane and then travel back that way.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Adrian - 29 Nov 2015
(28 Nov 2015, 11:56 pm)Jamie M wrote A whole 2 people on the 689. Me and the driver.
It's worth anybody doing that route, if they haven't already! Fantastic views.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Davie - 29 Nov 2015
(29 Nov 2015, 10:51 am)Adrian wrote It's worth anybody doing that route, if they haven't already! Fantastic views.I agree, it is a beautiful route.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jimmi - 29 Nov 2015
(29 Nov 2015, 10:51 am)Adrian wrote It's worth anybody doing that route, if they haven't already! Fantastic views.
Still can't believe that I haven't done this route yet, might sample it over the Christmas break.
On Thursday I'm looking to head to Ripon once again although I am possibly thinking about also heading to Easingwold and Thirsk, hopefully Reliance Motor Services still have the B8RLE demonstrator.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Malarkey - 29 Nov 2015
Am I right in thinking if I wanted to go to Alpha Recovery for some Photos, I would have to get the X7/X8 to Camperdown, and walk back along Killingworth Way, or is there a Bus Stop closer to Alpha Recovery than what is shown on Google Maps, Furthermore what would be best bus to get Thorntons from Haymarket.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Dan - 29 Nov 2015
(29 Nov 2015, 6:50 pm)Malarkey wrote Am I right in thinking if I wanted to go to Alpha Recovery for some Photos, I would have to get the X7/X8 to Camperdown, and walk back along Killingworth Way, or is there a Bus Stop closer to Alpha Recovery than what is shown on Google Maps, Furthermore what would be best bus to get Thorntons from Haymarket.
Go North East service 17 and Arriva North East service 52 to Cramlington stop a bit closer than those Arriva services. The bus stop is on Weetslade Road, just after you cross the A189. Sometimes it can be quicker getting the Arriva X7/X8 services to Burradon Road, depending on where you're coming from.
The quickest bus to Thornton's from Newcastle is service X20. The bus stop is 'opp South Side' - it's the first stop after you come off the A189, and it's easy to identify as it's the first stop after you cross the River Wansbeck. You can also get services 35/35A to here: you could get one of the expresses up to Morpeth from Newcastle and then services 35/35A from there. This takes longer, but would provide you with a bit more variety!
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - omnicity4659 - 29 Nov 2015
Adam, do be careful about what your taking photos of at Thorntons, as they've lost contracts due to images of buses before they've been delivered being published online by enthusiasts. Also, be prepared to be told to go away.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Malarkey - 29 Nov 2015
(29 Nov 2015, 6:56 pm)Dan wrote Go North East service 17 and Arriva North East service 52 to Cramlington stop a bit closer than those Arriva services. The bus stop is on Weetslade Road, just after you cross the A189. Sometimes it can be quicker getting the Arriva X7/X8 services to Burradon Road, depending on where you're coming from.
The quickest bus to Thornton's from Newcastle is service X20. The bus stop is 'opp South Side' - it's the first stop after you come off the A189, and it's easy to identify as it's the first stop after you cross the River Wansbeck. You can also get services 35/35A to here: you could get one of the expresses up to Morpeth from Newcastle and then services 35/35A from there. This takes longer, but would provide you with a bit more variety!
I was planning on doing this tomorrow but it looks like its going to be chucking it down, might do it in the new year instead.
RE: Bus Related Outings and Reviews - Jimmi - 03 Dec 2015
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)
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).