(24 Apr 2016, 12:21 pm)NK53 TKT wrote I had a short outing on Tuesday during the late afternoon after school to get to my Grandma's:
52 15:08 
15:24 Haymarket ANE 4519

X9 15:30 Eldon Square
15:48 Heworth GNE 6044

82 15:54 Heworth
16:12 Concord GNE 604

85 16:23 Concord
16:39 Washington Galleries GNE 8262

X1 16:49 Washington Galleries
17:25 Eldon Square GNE 6050

74 17:35 Eldon Square
18:10 Darras Hall Edge Hill GNE 635

(23 Apr 2016, 9:49 pm)BusLoverMum wrote How was Bishop? It's been bonkers in previous years, by all accounts, but I have a feeling that the hail and snow may have kept some people indoors. We'd originally planned for today to make the trip to Shildon we didn't other with last week, because of lousy weather (more snow!) then go home via Bishop. We got cold and rained on in Darlo, though, so big'un decided we needed to head to teesside. I made the excuse to take the X12 to Newcastle (had considered buying tickets for the GNE X10 that was in, but it was already full by the time we got to the stand) and pick up some more OCC coffee there.

(24 Apr 2016, 1:30 pm)TEN 6083 wrote Fairly busy, got there at half 11 and stayed for an hour but went the wrong way and got half way up the road before realising mistake so had to walk all the way back (first time have been to Bishop), bought some items on the stalls. Lots of crowds there, especially at the castle. Just started raining once was on the X21 coming back. On the way back from Middlesbrough for The 500 Group Bus Rally at the Transporter Bridge. Busy down there as well, review will be posted once I get home.

(24 Apr 2016, 2:51 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Stopped him just in time before he messed up the destination!

(24 Apr 2016, 2:53 pm)citaro5284 wrote Nowt wrong with playing with the destinations, but roller blinds are not as good as brand new LED ones 

(26 Apr 2016, 3:23 pm)Jimmi wrote Better late than never, here's my review from my trip to Saturday:

0705 7 Newton Aycliffe - Durham Bus Station (ANE 7535)
Standard fare for my outings to start on the 7 to Durham. Pretty uneventful journey really, took my seat at the front upstairs and had the upstairs to myself for the full journey, of course being 7535 the charging points didn't work

0824 Durham - Berwick (Virgin Trains East Coast: 43367/43299)
43367 was at the front for this journey with me being booked in coach B which is the quiet coach although the seat reservation card had not being placed in my booked seat but thankfully no-one was sat in it so I took my "reserved" seat. This was supposedly the quiet carriage but it was anything but, people were talking between themselves which was a little irritating but I became really annoyed when we rolled into Newcastle and two people boarded, one of them had a loud annoying voice and said annoying stupid things, first he started shouting to the person he was with that "I CAN'T GO BACKWARDS, I'LL BE SICK" and them started looking for other seats on the train eventually they sat opposite me and for the remainder of my journey he said the most stupid things in his irritating voice, wanted to turn round them to shut the hell up! This carriage had been refurbished, it had a nice interior and the seats were very comfortable.

In Berwick I snapped a few buses most of which belonged to Perryman's including Wrightbus demonstrator StreetLite SN65 OLV which I guess is a loan but there was also some stuff from Arriva, Glen Valley Tours and Travelsure who currently have Holmeswood Coaches Solo YJ56 WTZ. Got a few shots around Berwick before heading back to the rail station to catch my next bus...

1110 267 Berwick Rail Station - Wooler Bus Station (Glen Valley Tours: NA52 NJX)
This Solo provided me with my next leg of the day to Wooler. Although this Solo is now 13 years old it seemed pretty nice internally with most of the seats being high backed fabric seats with seatbelts but there was strangely two Civic 2 seats at the front. This bus despite its age performed rather well especially on the A66, seems just about every Solo I ride is better than the Arriva 08/58 reg examples which I ain't so fond of especially the white Solo at Jesmond. This was quite a nice route with it taking in some nice picturesque villages and some A roads for some thrashing. This was a quiet journey with two other passengers boarding in Berwick and one more boarding not far from Wooler. I then had a cold boring wait for my next bus...

1300 473 Wooler Bus Station - Alnwick Bus Station (Glen Valley Tours: YJ60 KGZ)
Next journey was a Solo SR, was a very steady away journey and the driver/bus was slow and other motorists were not amused by this with overtakes and horns being hooked at the driver. Nice route but the slow speeds made the journey drag on. The Solo SR was quite a nice bus though.

1422 472 Alnwick Bus Station - Amble Fourways (Travelsure: EU06 KOW)
Few shady looking characters hanging round so I stood just outside the bus station to get some photos. Saw Travelsure Solo MX10 DXP on the 418 with some smoke coming from the back wheels but it shortly went back out on the 418, also their lack of screens irritated me, saw this MPD pull onto the stand and couldn't see anything on the screens so I had to confirm whether it was the 472 to Amble which of course it was, so I took my place at the back. Pretty standard MPD journey, was okay but nowt special. Got off in Amble and saw that it did have a destination on the screen but it was quite dim. Annoyingly I just missed MAX X18 branded E400 on the X20 to Newcastle for a photo, managed a few other snaps in Amble before jumping on my next bus.

1535 X18 Amble Fourways - Morpeth Bus Station (ANE 7533)
Next journey was Arriva's MAX X18 branded Enviro 400, took my place at the front upstairs which sadly isn't as spacious as the Sapphire 7 branded examples. Of course there was some interesting scenery although this journey stopped at HMP Northumberland which provided something extra into the journey. Before long we arrived in Morpeth but there was a fair bit of traffic round Morrisons in Morpeth but we arrived on-time. Snapped a few things including the Glen Valley Tours service 710 to Wooler. Thought about catching the 44 but later discovered the last journey was at around 15:44, so that was out so I just went for the next X14.

1637 X14 Morpeth Bus Station - Newcastle Haymarket Bus Station (ANE 7475)
Fortunately for extra variety I got ALX400 7475 for this journey, was not a bad motor this, quite like the seats on this bus as it has a fair bit padding. Quite a busy journey into Newcastle.

1725 45 Newcastle Eldon Square - MetroCentre Bus Station (GNE 54??)
For a different route home to the boring route through Gateshead and Low Fell I decided to head home via the MetroCentre. On this journey one passenger was arguing with the driver over how long a day ticket is valid for. Pretty uneventful journey to the MetroCentre, unfortunately it became eventful at the MetroCentre as a group of kids all tried to board the bus as I was getting off and the surge saw me lose my footing and my foot ended up between the bus and the pavement so I tripped over and I pulled a muscle in my neck so I was stood waiting for my next bus in pain worrying that I had done some serious damage to my neck (it seems fine now).

1755 X24 MetroCentre Bus Station - Durham Bus Station (ANE 7609)
Boarded this still under the impression that something was wrong with my neck. Fortunately it was a quiet journey which I needed after the incident. Would have been a better journey if a Lowlander was on but sadly 7609 is the go to allocation when the X12 has a full MAX X12 branded Gemini allocation.

1845 7 Durham Bus Station - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 151?)
Forgot which example this was I'm afraid. Nothing to say about this journey really as it was uneventful. Was just thankful I was heading home.

So a outing with some good things and bad things. Hopefully my next outing won't have any incidents, not sure what and where the next outing will be although I will be attending the MetroCentre Rally on Sunday.

Thanks for reading.

(27 Apr 2016, 5:30 pm)Andreos1 wrote I won't quote all of your post - but your mention of the X9/10 seats reminded me of the graffiti moquette that one of them has.
Upstairs, above the driver.

(30 Apr 2016, 3:37 pm)NK53 TKT wrote I went for a short outing today in the west of Newcastle:
Q3 11:05 Great Park
11:31 Newgate Street GNE 8313

39 11:40 Monument
12:00 A69 stop before Lemington Road Ends SNE 12082

13 12:12 A69 stop before Lemington Road Ends
12:36 Throckley Roundabout ANE 2871

X84 12:43 Throckley Roundabout
12:50 Denton Burn Library GNE 5231

11 12:59 Denton Burn Library
13:20 Pilgrim Street SNE 22031

Q3 13:33 Market Street
14:01 Great Park

A decent outing with nothing really new but can I just say some of the roads the 13 go down are probably too small for a car
Also 22031 is the worst ALX300 in the Stagecoach fleet by far

(30 Apr 2016, 3:42 pm)BusLoverMum wrote You might have passed us. We were stood on market Street waiting for the elusive 97 until about 13:35

(30 Apr 2016, 3:44 pm)NK53 TKT wrote What time were you on Market Street from?

(30 Apr 2016, 3:47 pm)BusLoverMum wrote From about quarter past. We gave up when it started pickling down. The 97a we jumped on was apparently 40 minutes late.

(02 May 2016, 5:34 pm)Jimmi wrote This Saturday I'll be venturing to Sheffield. Just booked my train tickets

Main aim for the day is to catch Optare Metrodecker demonstrator YJ16DFG which is on trial at First South Yorkshire.

Here's hoping for the heat wave we are apparently supposed to be getting.

(02 May 2016, 8:00 pm)northern156 wrote Trams as well, Jimmi?

(02 May 2016, 8:28 pm)Jimmi wrote We'll see... Proves how little I know about the transport scene in Sheffield, I had to do an image search to see what they look like!

Hopefully I'll be back on track with my Flickr uploads by then, was hoping to upload more shots from yesterday but I decided to catch up on everyone else's uploads from the last two days which took around 3 hours to view so I sure as hell can't be arsed uploading any now!

(03 May 2016, 12:23 pm)Charles41 wrote Here’s my trip on Saturday, it was a marvellous day out…

Arriva Trident 7514 08.33 service X15 Newcastle-Belford

Bus departed on time, I’d put on my big coat as it felt cold when I left the house. I soon regretted it as the day warmed up. This was a lively thrash up to Alnwick. The bus was busy with tourists and employees of Alnwick castle and gardens heading to work. I had a seat upstairs and had to listen to some obnoxious tattooed pr*c* being horrible to his little daughter who was about five years old. The scenery was good on the Morpeth to Alnwick section. At Alnwick most of the passengers alighted and I grabbed the seat above the driver. After a change of drivers we passed through beautiful scenery on the way to Belford. The snow covered Cheviots were particularly impressive.

At Belford I alighted at the edge of village and walked over the fields to Travelsure’s yard. The Patterson family had no objection to me looking round and I was able to get some great photos of the 20 vehicles in the yard. An interesting find was an 18 year old LDV minibus parked right at the back out of use. There as also a K prefix registered Dart in the yard which would appear to be preserved. Travelsure’s newer coaches look very impressive in their various liveries. Also spotted were the firm’s two recently acquired Solos which wear all over white.

I thanked the Pattersons for letting me look round and headed to Barons Minibuses on the nearby industrial estate. Their unit was locked up but later in the day I spotted their two Ford Transits in Alnwick. I then made my way back over fields of sheep to Belford passing the impressive Belford Hall which has been converted into flats. This used to be the home of the Atkinson-Clark family who owned the entire village and all the land around it. At Belford I visited community transport operator Bell View Community Trust who have a small fleet of two VW Crafters and a Mercedes Vito. I hadn’t spotted and of their vehicles before so this was a good find. Next I walked around the corner to the local school. This has a small minibus fleet consisting of a Fiat Ducato and a Ford Transit. The vehicles were easily spotted from the street. Time was getting on so I headed back to the market square where a small crafts fair was taking place.

Arriva Trident 7514 11.33 service X15 Belford to Alnwick Lionheart Enterprise Park

7514 arrived on time on it’s return trip from Berwick. This bus was lightly used and I sat upstairs. A deaf old man was listening to Radio 1 on a transistor radio (yes they still exist!). He seemed to like Cake By The Ocean as he turned it up to full blast when the song came on! We seemed to be back in Alnwick in no time at all, the weather was getting better and better. We stopped at Warrenford on way. Like Belford, this also used to be an estate village. The nearby mansion of Twizell Hall has been in possession of the Maling family for a number of generations. The family made their fortune as glass makers on Wearside.

Alnwick bus station was busy on arrival with Travelsure, Glen Valley and Spirit Buses all being present in addition to Arriva. I was pleased to see a good loading at the Spirit Buses stand. They now have a guided tour on their Alwinton circular route. If you haven’t tried out this run yet I strongly recommend it for the breath-taking views. You can buy day tickets for Spirit Buses which are great value. After a brief halt at Alnwick we were soon on our way again. I alighted at the edge of town with the old guy still engrossed in his transistor!

A short walk brought me to Rothbury Motors. Their manager was happy to let me look around and take photos of the 19 vehicles present. Again I was able to get cracking photos. This fleet has expanded recently and they have a very smart contingent of Bovas. A rare vehicle here is a 60 seat Turkish manufactured BMC which is painted yellow and used for school contracts. Withdrawn stock present was a Ford Transit and Mercedes 811D. After thanking the staff I walked into Alnwick. On way I passed Spirit Buses’ Enviro 200 named Sprit of Alwinton and was able to get some good photos of it.

Next I visited Howard Snaith’s Alnwick operating centre but this was empty and appeared to be no longer in use. This location used to be really busy before the Snaiths lost their Northumberland County Council schools contracts. I decided to check out Gardiners-NMC garage which had 3 DAFs parked up. There were no staff present so I left promptly without taking any photos. A short walk from here brought me to community bus operator North East Equality and Diversity Limited (NEED). This charity has a number of transport contracts with local voluntary organisations. Their yard had 6 minibuses and 2 mid buses present. I was able to photograph these from the perimeter. The car park of the new Aldi is also a good spot as it overlooks the yard.

Directly opposite NEED’s yard is Kitsons Windows & Conservatories. The Kennedy family park their vehicles here. Two members of this family hold separate o-licences. The yard is visible from the adjacent old railway line which is now a public footpath. Their smart Mercedes 1323L was present on this visit. I then had a look at Alnwick’s small ambulance station and was pleased to find a new WAS bodied Renault Master which is used on patient transport duties. I was able to get some good photos of this and the other Renault Master parked outside.

Barter Books was my next port of call. I did not have much time on this visit but found a good bargain. This was Ian Allan’s 1985 Municipals and PTEs fleet list which I picked up for £3.60. This book is fascinating as it gives details of the fleets of long departed local operators such as Hartlepool and Darlington Borough Transport and Tyne & Wear PTE prior to de-regulation of the bus industry. It is sad to see so many local council-owned bus operators have now folded in face of competition. Darlington Borough Transport makes a great case-study of the downside of de-regulation. Hartlepool Borough Council interestingly still hold a PSV o-licence and park their vehicles in the old municipal bus garage. Most of their fleet is now used on welfare and community work.

After leaving Barter Books I went and had my packed lunch at Farmers Folly. This monument has an interesting history. The Duke of Northumberland (who owns a large swathe of Alnwick and the surrounding countryside) did not raise his tenant farmers’ rents during the Napoleonic Wars which were times of economic hardship. To show their gratitude the local farmers clubbed together and paid for the monument to be constructed. The Duke therefore decided that the farmers could afford to pay more and raised their rents after all! I’ll let you decide the moral of the story…

Arriva Enviro 7530 14.02 service X18 Alnwick – Amble

I caught this at Alnwick bus station after getting some OK photos and looking around the town. Alnwick also had a market on but it was a lot bigger than Belford’s. In the town I spotted a Van Hool bodied Volvo belonging to Gillingham of Catchgate. This vehicle was painted blue and grey as opposed to the usual yellow for Gillingham’s vehicles. The journey to Amble was a great ride through beautiful countryside. There are lovely views of Alnmouth and Warkworth Castle. I’d recommend this route at any time of the year. I could hear a steam train at the Aln Valley Railway but did not see it.

At Amble I walked to the industrial estate. Here I spotted one of the Craigg family’s vehicles (a Volvo B10M). The Craiggs used to be one of largest independent bus and coach operators in Northumberland. Their garage was at nearby Radcliffe, they also had a bus operation in Ashington which traded as Wansbeck Motor Services. They sold out in the 1990s to Northumbria Motor Services (now Arriva) I believe. The Radcliffe yard is now an agricultural merchant’s premises. A branch of the family continues as Craiggs Travel with a five vehicle coach fleet.

My main objective however was Longstaffs Travel Limited. They have a large garage on the edge of the industrial estate. This firm is also expanding and now have an o-licence for 8 vehicles. Six vehicles were present on this visit including two impressive Neoplans. I was able to photograph these through the perimeter fence as the yard was locked up. A brisk walk brought me back into Amble town centre just in time for my next bus. Here the Curse of Arriva stuck as it was 15 minutes late.

Arriva Enviro 7529 15.36 service X18 Amble – Newcastle

This service turned up at 15.51 just as I debating to return to Newcastle via Ashington on the X20. It was lightly used, the driver was surly and gave no apology or explanation for the late running. He was determined to make up time and thrashed his was along the country roads. It was a rather bumpy ride as we battered our way across the Northumbrian countryside from one former mining village to another. We passed the former Longstaffs yard at Broomhill which is now a small housing estate. The scars of open cast coal mining are beginning to heal and the route from Amble to Morpeth is a lot more pleasant than when I was a child. Another ten years and it should be a very nice journey. We arrived in Morpeth 10 minutes late and took a few passengers. The driver did not wait long at the stand.

From Morpeth to Newcastle our driver went hell for leather, by god he was going to make that 10 minutes up. We hurtled down the A1 at breakneck speed overtaking cars, buses and lorries. It was a non-stop thrash-fest until we got to the roundabout at North Gosforth. From then it was straight into town with brief stops near the rugby ground and Regent Centre. We arrived 3 minutes late at Haymarket after a last ditch charge towards the Civic Centre overtaking Stagecoach, GNE and other Arriva vehicles. I have to admit it was bloody good fun!

At Haymarket the match was coming out and everyone looked relieved, 1-0 win against Crystal Palace. I made my way through the throng of supporters and walked home to clear my head. I bet Benitez could get the X18 to run on time! It was a great day and it felt amazing to be back on the road again.

Hope you enjoyed the review.

Charles…