(08 May 2016, 5:42 pm)citaro5284 wrote Bit on the warm side for walking the day like!

Not half! I'm feeling a bit rosy cheeked after a bit too much sun on my typically blue white skin.

My biggest disbelief of the day was that a woman with a good decade and stone on me was all set to go down the steep rocky incline that had almost finished me off - in a pair of slip on moccasins with no grip whatsoever. I did try to warn her against it, but she gave me a blank look.

We passed another woman, a little later on, walking down the road, accompanying a couple of kids, with high heels on her own feet. Clearly thought that looking "elegant" (big bag on the crook of her arm) was more important than even being able to do the easiest walks or going into the house.

Other women do baffle me, sometimes.

(05 May 2016, 1:38 pm)James101 wrote Has anybody ever come across an underground railway that isn't a dismal place to be?!

The Berlin underground is nice, bright, colourful and orange!


Well it was last time I used it.

(05 May 2016, 9:10 pm)citaro5284 wrote Too right, l love The Vic Line!

That's the one with all the William morris pics, isn't it? (Haven't been on that line for 20 years - had a sleep since then)

As I've had a fair few questions and insights about it, I'm going to tell you what occured with my train journey from Liverpool to Darlington today.

Before even getting on the train I had some problems, the screens in Liverpool Lime Street Rail Station were telling me that my train was leaving from Platform 9 when in actual fact, it was leaving from platform 5. Then the screen on platform 5 was saying something different to what should be displayed.

Just after 11am, I boarded my train home which was the 11:11 TransPennine Express service to Newcastle. Got so far out of Liverpool Lime Street Rail Station but we then came to a halt, we weren't moving for a few minutes then we got a announcement to say that another train had broken down on the line, we then awaited further infomation. 5-10 minutes later we were moving again, however we were now being diverted with us now serving Manchester Piccadilly instead of Manchester Victoria.

As we got towards Manchester, we got another announcement saying that we were nowing stopping at Manchester Oxford Road and serving Manchester Victoria and that we would be joining with another train, I didn't hear the rest of the announcement. After about 10 minutes here, we left and went so far back down the line and sat for about 5-10 minutes.

We were then informed about problems on the line but again I could barely hear the announcements, all I could get was we would now not be stopping at Huddersfield and but we were stopping at Dewsbury. I was not really certain what exactly was going on but was given bits of info over Facebook as to what was going on. After leaving Manchester, the train slowed right down with us making slow progress.

We were advised that the other train we joined with would be heading to Scarborough and we would be continuing onto Newcastle, however as we left Leeds it became apparent that this was looking not to be happening anymore as upon departure from Leeds we got a announcement saying that it was the (whatever time) service to Scarborough and it was uncertain what would be happening to the passengers travelling on the Newcastle service. As we were approaching York we got a announcement to say that the service would now be terminating at York and were given details of onwards travel with us wanting to head to Newcastle being advised to get a certain CrossCountry service to reach Newcastle and passengers for Scarborough being advised to go to another platform. A member of TPE staff on the platform with the terminated service then advised us that the TransPennine arriving on Platform 9 was heading to Newcastle, so as we were on Platform 10, this required some sprinting through the tunnels underneath to catch the train from Platform 9, annoyingly after being on a train for so long, my left knee was killing, so I had to do a rather strange run to catch the train. Had to stand from York to Darlington with some woman with a annoying american or canadian accent being stood right next to me in front of the doors which with me feeling drained was like nails down a chalkboard.

We finally arrived into Darlington at around 15:25, we were originally due to arrive at around 13:40, so we were 1 hour and 45 minutes late arriving into Darlington, meaning just shy of 4 and a half hours straight on trains apart from the 5 or so minutes in York.

Got home just after 16:15 after getting a Northern service home from Darlington.

Thanks for reading, safe to say I'm claming Delay, Repay for this journey. Felt absolutley drained.

Trains were:
TPE - 185138: Liverpool - York
TPE - 185144: York - Darlington

Feel your pain Jimmi. I suffer TPE quite a lot

Even without disruption TPE services are crazily busy York south (and westwards)

It's only going to get worse until 2018 I guess.

(19 Nov 2016, 10:24 pm)Ambassador wrote Feel your pain Jimmi. I suffer TPE quite a lot

Even without disruption TPE services are crazily busy York south (and westwards)

It's only going to get worse until 2018 I guess.

I try to book VTEC or failing that CrossCountry if I'm heading to York or Leeds but sometimes it does come down to whichever journey is most convenient and cheapest.

I've have stood on TPE services a few times, sometimes through choice though. I do wish TPE had trains with greater capacity than the 185's. Must say, apart from being a bit small, I do actually quite like the 185's.

Last time I used TPE to Leeds back in the summer (booked them as they had a deal on), they made us change trains at York (Liverpool bound) to another TPE train which appeared to be originally heading to Middlesbrough.

(19 Nov 2016, 10:35 pm)MJimmi wrote I try to book VTEC or failing that CrossCountry if I'm heading to York or Leeds but sometimes it does come down to whichever journey is most convenient and cheapest.

I've have stood on TPE services a few times, sometimes through choice though. I do wish TPE had trains with greater capacity than the 185's. Must say, apart from being a bit small, I do actually quite like the 185's.

Last time I used TPE to Leeds back in the summer (booked them as they had a deal on), they made us change trains at York (Liverpool bound) to another TPE train which appeared to be originally heading to Middlesbrough.

The new fleet in 2018 should alleviate but it'll  be interesting to see what they do with 185s, the are a powerful unit.

I travel to Manchester weekly for work so i use TPE, luckily I've a clockwork schedule and book in advance in First Class. It's worth it for the peace and quiet and lack of people standing and whacking your face.

Hi need a bit of advice from people. We are looking to go to London in the Easter holidays, but as every time we've been my Auntie has lived there so we stayed there but she's not there anymore. So does anyone have any recommendations as to where to stay which isn't far from central London, and accessible by car? Cheers

(21 Jan 2017, 5:49 pm)Tom wrote Hi need a bit of advice from people. We are looking to go to London in the Easter holidays, but as every time we've been my Auntie has lived there so we stayed there but she's not there anymore. So does anyone have any recommendations as to where to stay which isn't far from central London, and accessible by car? Cheers

I always find the hotels around the docks cheaper than many places (unless events are on at the Excel. The DLR stops there too.

(21 Jan 2017, 6:02 pm)Andreos1 wrote I always find the hotels around the docks cheaper than many places (unless events are on at the Excel. The DLR stops there too.

Ah right cheers, will have a look. Custom House looks decently priced.

Having not managed to get many rail miles under my belt recently, a recent work trip gave me the chance to get more than a few ticks in the box and complete my Monopoly set!

The main objective was to use the Chiltern service beyond Bicester Village on the newly opened extension and also get use Marlyebone for the first time.

Marylebone is one of the few termini that has escaped me, with the tube being more practical on jaunts to and from that part of the world.
It's a nice little station and a bit of calm and tranquillity compared to others.
My 168/2 was also a pleasant surprise. Although I prefer loco's to multiple units, the layout and lack of airline seating made up for it.
The journey was quick and smooth (particularly on the new section), punctuated by what sounded like the United Nations announcing Bicester Village, rather than the standard announcer.

The last time I used a Cotswold line service  (and the times I had seen the allocation), it was a 180. A nice little bonus to the trip was the appearance of a 43. 
With the 43 being an irregular caller at Durham, it's always nice to get one without having to go out of my way.
Reading station is always a nice experience, with the roar an omni-present sound (for now)... However this guy wasn't stopping at Reading on this trip, despite the appearance of 43002.

A little blast on the bus network when I was down there, gave me a chance to remind myself about the Stagecoach Gold offering. It is a while since I used the bus network in that part of the world, in particular Stagecoach. I was limited to the S1 and 10 plate E400's. Having had the chance to compare that seating to similar seating up here, there is only one winner and they're not the seats up here.
Previous trips had left me non-plussed, possibly due to a lack of pleather seating in the NE to compare to - at the time.
However, having sampled the seating up here on a range of operators/routes since and reminded myself of the Gold seating, I do think the angle, height, pitch and comfiness of the Gold services is more my cup of tea.
Wifi wasn't working again. Yet to have wifi on the Gold services.

Having had the expected 3hr trip on 91 from Durham to KX, I knew my ticket type would give me the flexibility of one of the quicker 'top o the hour' services north. It was just a case of trying to work out what time I would get to KX and which service I would get. The 1400 to Aberdeen was the next train north (so a smile slowly started to emerge).
I'd hit on lucky and worked my along the platform to board a set powered by 43308.
A nice long blast with a power car I hadn't had before. It was now just a case of enjoying it and deciding where I was going to get off and change.

Normally a football away day is spent heading somewhere in the car or on a coach.
I've only managed to get some gricing/football related action on a handful of occasions.

A trip to Stoke and a very reasonable priced hotel/train combo proved irresistible. Opportunities to tick stock, get some untouched track marked off as well as adding another football stadium to the done list!

£55 Family Railcard/Split-ticketing and some flexibility with tickets enabled us to jump on a late-running XC Class 43 as far as Darlington. 
Making use of the warmth there and then a short connection at York between a VTEC Class 91 and TPX Class 185, we made our way to Picadilly.
Connections were tight, but we made our Class 390 with time to spare. Using the stairs and over-bridge enabled us to avoid the queues at the barriers.

I had never been on a Class 390 (always stuck with a Class 221 on anything on the WCML) before and instantly I felt the space within the carriage. I much prefer intercity type coaching stock to anything resembling commuter-type.
However, the lack of views out of the window was noticeable.
The ride was smooth, but the journey depressing. I love passing the time looking out of the window. Not much of that went on on the trip South!
Half an hour later, we arrived in Stoke. New stock and new track. Brill.

Guided to a pub by police, time passed (with tremendous beers) before two Stanton's deckers arrived to transport us to the ground.
An Alx400 and an Omnidekka still in its NCT Go2 livery.
Ending up on the Omnidekka, it was clear it wasn't just the outside that remained untouched.
Maps of the NCT network, seating and coving adverts all remained.

I won't bore you with any details about the match, food etc.

So heading back, we got to the station an hour ahead of time, just as a Class 390 arrived heading towards Picadilly.
We jumped on it, found a seat with a view and realised that this one called at Macclesfield, so was a little slower.

From Pic, it was a 185 to York and a 220 for the last leg.

In an ideal world, I would have tried to get home from Stoke via Derby and cover more new track.
That's just being greedy though.

On another note, I thought back to the 'mapping' thread I started a while back.
I did plan on doing something with it, but may just head there and update my list for now.
If anyone else wants to add to/create there's for a future project, feel free.
http://northeastbuses.co.uk/forum/showth...hp?tid=610&pid=11856#pid11856

Last Saturday, I decided to do something a little bit different and got myself a South Pennines Day Ranger and travelled around on trains (although a few buses were used in the day), here's the review.

0719 8 Newton Aycliffe - Darlington (Arriva North East: 1509)
Nice start to the day, more commonly lumbered with the Sapphire 1/5/5A StreetLite's these days so it was nice to have a Pulsar instead.

0759 York (Virgin Trains East Coast: 91105)
Nice journey down in the quiet carriage, busy but not too busy.

0838 CityZap Leeds (Transdev York: 3611)
Gave the York to Leeds stretch of the day to Transdev, 3611 often seems to provide me with the journey through to Leeds, this one ain't too bad, slower journey than normal due to speed restrictions due to replacement of barriers.

0956 Huddersfield (Northern: 153360 +153315)
153 pairing to begin with (153360 at the front) which pleased me as the only other time I've had a 153, it was a East Midlands Trains example although it was paired with a 158 but sat in the 158 end on that journey.

1050 Bradford Interchange (Northern: 150149 + 144017)
Right pee about this, actually departed 16 minutes late, the main aim of the day was for me to catch a 144 and was pleased to have finally bagged one (albeit paired with a 150). Nice quiet journey as I think most of the passengers who boarded sat in the 150 end.

1200 Huddersfield (Northern: 150114)
A yet to be refurbished 150, I previously had not been a fan of these but I actually enjoyed this trip, apart from being held up somewhere for about 10 minutes.

1313 Barnsley (Northern: 158790)
I had been informed that this route was pretty much guaranteed to be a 144 and sure enough a 158 was allocated instead, nice journey but a tad busy by the time we got towards Barnsley.

1424 Sheffield (Northern: 144008)
After a quick chippy break, it was another 144 but only two coaches this time and it was a rather busy trip and was absolutely baking on this with the sun shining down on my face but a otherwise enjoyable journey.

1540 Stockport (East Midlands Trains: 158847 + 156403)
Was originally going to catch a Northern service to Manchester Piccadilly but unsure what happened to that trip, instead caught this and sat in the 156 end, some lovely views are on offer on this line would throughly recommend doing it, was originally going to travel to Manchester Piccadilly but we were delayed due to signalling problems around Manchester Piccadilly, so I bailed at Stockport to keep on schedule.

1654 Sheffield (East Midlands Trains:158863)
A pretty busy trip, I stood in the part where the doors are and was not the best trip, quite warm in this part of the train, probably should have stood in the aisle which is air conditioned but instead got dripped on from the roof leaking water, I've had better trips but I've had much worse trips though.

1750 Leeds (Northern: 158860)
Took this route back to Leeds because I thought that a CrossCountry Voyager would be less fun and more busy. First time I've been through Wakefield Kirkgate Station but have alighted and travelled through Wakefield Westgate a few times now.

1915 843 York (Transdev Yorkshire Coastliner: 3636)
Back onto buses, this journey is marked as being a B9 booked journey on the timetable but chucked up a B5 instead which pleased me as my phone needed charging. I don't mind these but think I would still sooner have a B9.

2032 Darlington (CrossCountry: unknown Voyager)
Travelled back to Darlington in style in First Class as the price difference between first and standard was only pennies, so might as well reap the extra legroom and complimentary drinks.

2115 7 Newton Aycliffe (Arriva North East:1611)
Don't ask me how but I somehow managed to get off the train and run to Feethams in 5 minutes, a journey which Google Maps claims is a 8 minute walk and that doesn't include the time it takes to get out of the station itself. Had a feeling that I would end up on a StreetLite as the Pulsar's have been off lately and E400's on evening 7's are a no, no! supposedly due to the cost of replacing the windows in the E400's, of course there's been issues with windows being put out in Darlington, especially in recent months. Just about every seat taken on this journey upon departure from Darlington.

Hope you enjoyed this insight of how I spent my Saturday.

First time I have written a none bus related outing however it still has a transport theme so hopefully interesting. Not in the North East but thought it worth sharing as its quite a unique experience in the UK.

When on a family holiday to Chester last week, I visited a number of different places including Llandudno in North Wales. This is a popular seaside destination with the usual activities found but also some things a bit different.

Of particular interest is my visit to the Great Orme Tramway. This is a tram that opened in 1902 and carries people up to the summit of the Great Orme, the trams used today are the same as in 1902 having been fully restored so visitors can enjoy the journey on a vintage tram. This is the only cable hauled tram in the UK.

When we arrived at Victoria Station (lowest level) we were greeted by a large queue however this passed fairly quickly as trams were operating at a peak time 10 minute frequency rather than the usual 20 minute frequency. Return tickets cost £8.10 for an adult which I don't think is too bad when you consider the unique experience and costs associated with restoring and maintaining the tram cars. 

We boarded the first tram (car number 4) which would take us to the halfway point. Each tram holds 48 people and as it was the school holidays, all seats were taken but no matter where you sat, there was still a great view. On our way to halfway I noticed a large number of houses on the slope, there was a narrow steep road which certainly did not look fun to drive up. As we got higher the houses slowly disappeared and the views over the bay improved.

At halfway point there is a small museum which tells you about the history of mining in the area and some information about the trams, you can also see the large tram motors.

After a brief stop at halfway we boarded tram car 6 to the summit, views were really great on this ride, the roads became fewer and we were amongst sheep fields as we approached the top.

When we got to the top, the first thing I noticed was the temperature. At sea level it was fairly warm but got steadily colder as we got higher. Most people were prepared for this with coats and hats but unfortunately I wasn't so it was quite chilly with just a T shirt. This was on a summers day so I can only imagine the temperature at winter (I later found out this is used as a ski resort during winter months).

Views from the top are stunning not only just of Llandudno but also surrounding areas, it was cloudy when I was there and even then views were great so during clear skies it must be even better.

After visiting the cafe area and taking some photos, we queued up for the tram ride back down, this time tram car 7 on the upper section and tram car 5 on the lower section. Each section needs 2 cars during peak frequency.

There are many ways to reach the summit of the Great Orme, these include walking, cycling, cable car or even the Arriva 26 bus route but I think that in this case the tram wins.

Overall I really enjoyed this experience. I would recommend if anyone is in the area. Just remember whatever the weather at sea level, always take a coat!

Thanks for reading

Great Orme Tramway - Llandudno by Pulsar Photos, on Flickr

(28 Aug 2018, 8:01 pm)Pulsar wrote Great Orme Tramway - Llandudno by Pulsar Photos, on Flickr

I love the backdrop in that photo. Cracking shot!

(28 Aug 2018, 8:15 pm)Adrian wrote I love the backdrop in that photo. Cracking shot!

Thank you

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teess...s-17467754

A canny read. I know it's non bus related and the Pacers are... 

Enjoy anyway.