(02 Feb 2015, 4:06 pm)MrFozz wrote I will never forget when Lech Kaczyński(President of Poland) was killed in an airplane crash in 2010, some of the Polish drivers at Deptford were allowed to come into work on the day of his funeral or the day after as if they were dressed to go to the funeral, Black Tie, White Shirt, Black Trousers, which I actually thought was thoughtful of GNE to let those drivers mourn him in a respectful...One of my mates who drove for GNE said 'If you did not any better, you would think they were Eastern European mobsters'...

I have always found the Polish/Eastern European drivers to be friendly, more than some British drivers, at one time there seemed to be loads of foreigners driving around Sunderland and Co. Durham and quite a few went back to Poland/Eastern Europe leaving only a few round about 2010/11...

Will never forget going for a drink in Sunderland the day they won promotion in 2007 against Burnley, me and my mate had a couple of Burnley tagging along on the bus with us, when we started a chant off, the foreign bus driver started to get worried, he was German I think, I could see him getting worried and looking a bit on edge, he kept glancing at his radio as if he was going to call for some kind of backup, until me and my friend told him the Burnley lads were our guests and not rivals wanting to fight each other

HAPPY DAYS

(03 Feb 2015, 7:30 am)leestransportphotos wrote If Gateshead loose tonight then we'll have a free Saturday so this would be what if like to do -

56 - Wrekenton to Sunderland
20 - Sunderland to South Shields
27 - South Shields to Jarrow
9 - Jarrow to North Shields
9 - North Shields to Sunderland
20 - Sunderland to DURHAM!!!
21 Durham to Gateshead
Anything that goes to Wrekenton

(03 Feb 2015, 7:30 am)leestransportphotos wrote If Gateshead loose tonight then we'll have a free Saturday so this would be what if like to do -

56 - Wrekenton to Sunderland
20 - Sunderland to South Shields
27 - South Shields to Jarrow
9 - Jarrow to North Shields
9 - North Shields to Sunderland
20 - Sunderland to DURHAM!!!
21 Durham to Gateshead
Anything that goes to Wrekenton

(03 Feb 2015, 4:04 pm)leestransportphotos wrote Lots of consideration coming in for me then mate!!!???!

(03 Feb 2015, 4:32 pm)Robert wrote Oh for god sake, do you 2 have to go everywhere together? I know its nice to have a little companian but if they people have other plans then they have other plans. 1 day without him wont hurt...

(03 Feb 2015, 5:03 pm)Racer_Experience wrote when i go bus spotting i either do it on my own or if they happen to be in the same place i am there joining in eg Wednesdays excluding tomorrow am usually with Kevin Barass as we both have the £1 meal deal if am in Sunderland i bring my best buddy Paul or rare times my best bud Ryan (his uncle works for GNE)

(03 Feb 2015, 5:03 pm)Racer_Experience wrote when i go bus spotting i either do it on my own or if they happen to be in the same place i am there joining in eg Wednesdays excluding tomorrow am usually with Kevin Barass as we both have the £1 meal deal if am in Sunderland i bring my best buddy Paul or rare times my best bud Ryan (his uncle works for GNE)

(03 Feb 2015, 5:03 pm)Racer_Experience wrote when i go bus spotting i either do it on my own or if they happen to be in the same place i am there joining in eg Wednesdays excluding tomorrow am usually with Kevin Barass as we both have the £1 meal deal if am in Sunderland i bring my best buddy Paul or rare times my best bud Ryan (his uncle works for GNE)

(03 Feb 2015, 4:36 pm)leestransportphotos wrote Areet, calm down! It was actually a sarcastic comment

(04 Feb 2015, 7:09 pm)Adam wrote I get most Wednesday's off uni, but still needed to go to the uni library this morning to get some academic theory into a reflective report I was writing. I done that and had a trip out afterwards as my parents were at work, my brothers were at school and my friends were either asleep, ill, in lecture or like me, off on Wednesday's.

08:17 #X1 (missed my X25!) Wrekenton - Newcastle John Dobson Street (6049)
10:05 #X21 Newcastle Eldon Square - Chester-le-Street (6024)
11:15 #36 Chester-le-Street - Houghton-le-Spring (5299)
11:47 #238 Houghton-le-Spring - Seaham (636)
12:18 #X7 Seaham - Sunderland (4924)
12:42 #20A Sunderland - South Shields (3982)
13:15 #27 South Shields - Jarrow (5313)
14:01 #9 Jarrow - North Shields (5247)
14:20 #310 North Shields - Newcastle Haymarket
15:15 #X31 Newcastle Eldon Square - Gateshead (3802)
15:45 #X1 Gateshead - Wrekenton (6054)

(04 Feb 2015, 8:03 pm)Tom wrote Wow! A Omnicity on the 9!!

Sounds like a good trip

(04 Feb 2015, 8:21 pm)Dan wrote Think I saw 5274 on this morning, too. Sadly had a dual-door Volvo B10BLE on the way back home this evening though (not 5165 on the plus side!)

The 9 had no Omnis allocated the other day - three were on the Coaster, and one was on the 19.

(04 Feb 2015, 8:23 pm)Tom wrote Yeah, I often use the 9 through the tunnel and it is always a B10BLE. Can't remember the last time I had a Omni on there. But it is one of the nicer ones normally (4912/4913). 

(04 Feb 2015, 8:25 pm)Dan wrote No - those two are in my bad books after the journey I had on one of them the other day! What a mistake that was - the indicator buzzing noise going off every 30 seconds. Ugh.

(04 Feb 2015, 8:25 pm)Dan wrote No - those two are in my bad books after the journey I had on one of them the other day! What a mistake that was - the indicator buzzing noise going off every 30 seconds. Ugh.

(05 Feb 2015, 7:25 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Can't decide what to do on Saturday - I'm back to normal now following a brief bit of sickness. So I'll be fine to go out, fingers crossed, I'll be back to school tomorrow.

I was planning on having a Durham-Bishop Auckland-Darlington-Middlesbrough-Stockton-Durham adventure, but now I'm considering another trip on the 36 to Houghton, something from Houghton to Sunderland, then possibly the 9 to North Shields then a 310 to Newcastle, see what I fancy after that. Would look like;

#36 - My House to Houghton
(09:50 --- 10:14)
#20A - Houghton to Sunderland
(10:16 --- 10:42)
#9 - Sunderland to North Shields
(10:49 --- 11:44)
#310 - North Shields to Newcastle
(12:05 --- 12:49)

(05 Feb 2015, 8:14 pm)Tom wrote I wouldn't advise doing the whole 9 route, especially as it'll be a dual door renown more than likely.
The 310 route is quite rough around Meadowell too. 

(05 Feb 2015, 8:15 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Adam seemed to survive the 310 the other day...and he survived the FPF!

(05 Feb 2015, 8:16 pm)Tom wrote The 310 is all right, but the 306 is much nicer.

The 9 is a pretty boring route too, especially with the renowns as they are pretty horrible. 

(05 Feb 2015, 8:19 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote 4852 would have handled it with a breeze!

(05 Feb 2015, 8:20 pm)Tom wrote I think any bus can handle it

It's just horrible unless you get a Lolyne or something. 

(05 Feb 2015, 8:25 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Do you know if the 10:49 dep. from Park Lane is a Percy Main run? Never used the service before, but I remember reading somewhere on the forum that Percy Main and Deptford share the service or something? If it's a Percy Main run, well, I could have a Cobalt Clipper!

(05 Feb 2015, 8:32 pm)Michael wrote Every time iv'e seen the 9, there's either no one on or very few, not sure how its still running every 15 mins between Sunderland and Jarrow

(05 Feb 2015, 8:35 pm)Tom wrote The issue with the 9 is that there never is actually a 15 minutes frequency.
A lot of the time the Percy Main run at 10+ minutes late, so it defeats the objective of having it every 15 minutes.