(10 Nov 2014, 8:04 pm)Marcus wrote But it is possible, isn't it?

(10 Nov 2014, 8:09 pm)Tom wrote Possible, but unlikely. 

I seem to recall seeing Olympians on the X30 or X31? the previous few times I've been in Newcastle. Those service numbers definitely ring a bell, and you cant really mistake a bright yellow bus

All of Stanley's services can be allocated Olympians apart from the Limes.
Id personally say your best bet for them would be weekends and Diamonds. Thats where they usually are. Dont withdraw the other services out though!

(10 Nov 2014, 7:27 pm)mb134 wrote Could it have been one of the ex-GNE Leylands? Think I remember seeing a photo of them down there... They were absolute beasts as well!

I've never been on a GNE Olympian (except 7203/4/5 when they were transferred to Arriva, so technically still not a GNE one as such) but they're all pretty special. In my opinion the Palatine 2 bodywork looks nicer and more modern than some of the current stuff...

If only they were low floor...

Something I mentioned in the GNE - Latest thread earlier.

I was on service X22 from Durham to the MetroCentre this morning and at almost every stop between Durham Bus Station and Chester-Le-Street, Front Street someone flagged down the X22 and the driver either had to pull into the stop or slow right down and then speed up again as people were flagging the bus down and many of them naturally assumed because it was a Northern President that it was operating service 21.

So my question is, do people actually read the destination screens on Presidents operating service X22?

(28 Nov 2014, 7:35 pm)Jimmi wrote So my question is, do people actually read the destination screens on Presidents operating service X22?

Or, do people read destination screens at all?
I was on service X21 last weekend (branded vehicle), and after the Angel of the North, people put their hands out at almost every single stop... Obviously, the driver didn't bother stopping...

(28 Nov 2014, 7:35 pm)Jimmi wrote Something I mentioned in the GNE - Latest thread earlier.

I was on service X22 from Durham to the MetroCentre this morning and at almost every stop between Durham Bus Station and Chester-Le-Street, Front Street someone flagged down the X22 and the driver either had to pull into the stop or slow right down and then speed up again as people were flagging the bus down and many of them naturally assumed because it was a Northern President that it was operating service 21.

So my question is, do people actually read the destination screens on Presidents operating service X22?

I recall something like this about two years ago, but Service X21, rather than Service X22.

There was an elderly gentleman who flagged a Service X21 (with 6038 as the vehicle), and asked if it went to Birtley. I remember the look on the driver's face was priceless, and he said he went straight onto the motorway. He then told him it said X21 on the destination screen, and the old man told him he flagged him down because the bus looked exactly the same to those on Service 21.

I felt quite sorry for him, so I made sure he got on the next Angel that passed.

Or, do people read destination screens at all?

 I was on service X21 last weekend (branded vehicle), and after the Angel of the North, people put their hands out at almost every single stop... Obviously, the driver didn't bother stopping...

someone put their hand out for the X21 in Birtley this morning.

There was an elderly gentleman who flagged a Service X21 (with 6038 as the vehicle), and asked if it went to Birtley. I remember the look on the driver's face was priceless, and he said he went straight onto the motorway. He then told him it said X21 on the destination screen, and the old man told him he flagged him down because the bus looked exactly the same to those on Service 21.

I wonder how many people will get confused when the X2 becomes a MAX route next year as from the front it looks like the same colour as the Pronto brand.

Out of interest - how did everyone's interest in this hobby begin?

Was it purely because you were bored, or something from childhood, etc?

Mine started when my grandad used to take me into town and back when I was little.

I think my interest in this hobby began as I often rode buses round my way.

When I was a kid round my way we had: Dart's, Optare Metrorider's, Optare Vectra's, Optare Delta's, Leyland Lynx's, Lowlander's and various bodied Olympians - mostly ECW Olympians. Those were the days most Arriva routes I use now are Pulsar operated.

(28 Nov 2014, 9:32 pm)Jimmi wrote I think my interest in this hobby began as I often rode buses round my way.

When I was a kid round my way we had: Dart's, Optare Metrorider's, Optare Vectra's, Optare Delta's, Leyland Lynx's, Lowlander's and various bodied Olympians - mostly ECW Olympians. Those were the days most Arriva routes I use now are Pulsar operated.

To be honest, the reason 4852 (1998 - 2014) was my favourite bus was because I always remember when my grandad used to magically make the bus stop with his hand, he'd tell me to go and sit down while he put his card on the reader, he would make a note of the fleet number and reg and write it down. I suppose it was just one of those things he did for the sake of it.

Anyway, when my interest got serious a few years back, he told me he used to write down the fleet numbers of the buses we rode together in a little diary. He found it about a week later, and we had a good look through it.

Believe it or not, we rode 4852 over 150 times during those few years we spent together when I was little! A few honourable mentions ought to go to 4855, with 90-odd runs, and 4905, with about 75 runs. The rest were very random, but mostly the remainder of the vehicles associated with the Lime. That was just the 778, though.

We used to get a service back up which was normally a DAF. He made notes of all of these too, and we had 4864 about 70-odd times. It was always random though - although mainly a DAF, we would sometimes get a Delta or a National, the latter being very rare, and once or twice I saw a Lynx!

My grandad had been doing this well before I was born (2000), and the famous 4710 was noted down about 40-odd times!

It's one of my most prized possessions; that little notebook! It's one of the only things I can remember him by, a little leather miner's association diary with a bunch of numbers written in it. He would be 80 today.

Spoilt as a kid. Had days out with the grandparents on the 26 from Barley Mow - nearly always a toss up between a Metrobus or Atlantean of some type.
Trips out on the 551, 725/726 which was generally a VR or Metrobus and the 777 which was a National.

People pay good money to ride the restored versions and I was regularly getting on nearly new vehicles for a 5p fare!

Sitting above the driver upstairs, peering down the porthole, at the bottom of High St West in Gateshead - as the driver took the opportunity to change the blinds.
Great stuff.

edit: Seeing your post Marcus, it would have been my Grandads birthday today too.

(28 Nov 2014, 9:47 pm)Andreos1 wrote Spoilt as a kid. Had days out with the grandparents on the 26 from Barley Mow - nearly always a toss up between a Metrobus or Atlantean of some type.
Trips out on the 551, 725/726 which was generally a VR or Metrobus and the 777 which was a National.

People pay good money to ride the restored versions and I was regularly getting on nearly new vehicles for a 5p fare!

Sitting above the driver upstairs, peering down the porthole, at the bottom of High St West in Gateshead - as the driver took the opportunity to change the blinds.
Great stuff.

I've got to admit, I take my parents for granted.

They don't mind me going out on Saturdays to do whatever I like, and they would do anything for me. I've gotta admit, this year's Christmas List is tiny, though!

In hindsight, I never really took my grandad seriously enough. I'll always remember waking up on that Monday morning, going to school, coming home, and being told he hadn't woken up that morning. It's something you never forget.

During the summer, when we were tidying out his house, I found that little diary, and kept it, otherwise it would have been chucked. The little thing tells me so much, and I've got so many memories as I flick through it, always running to the back seats and sitting in the middle when he wanted to sit and chat to his friends in the reserved seats!

What I would do for a 5 minute conversation with him!

You have a year headstart on my eldest and he doesn't realise how lucky he is - his Grandparents have a few years in them yet and still has one Great Grandma (one of my Grandparents).

At least you admit you take your folks for granted. He doesn't.

Completely forgot about the trips on the Metro (prior to de-reg and seeing buses at the bottom of High St West), going on the TWPTE Atlanteans/Fleetlines in the town (see photos from Teesside open day and the seating/wall covering patterns) and getting onto the roof at the airport - to see all three planes a day (if we were lucky), cos it wasn't busy then.

The first experience of one of the Busway C reg Oly's was heading to the match with my next door neighbour and his Dad from his Grandmas house at Two Ball Lonnen - the 12?
They were great vehicles too but started to see off the Atlanteans and Fleetlines.

I've always had a strong enthusiasm for buses. My parents have always said that when I was a toddler and stuck in my pram, I would always shout "What's that?" whenever I saw a bus.

I regularly had trips out on the bus (and/or Metro) as a youngster, mainly with my parents (more so my mam as she can't drive) or my grandparents. My grandparents used to take me and my cousins out on random day trips, whether it was to places like Gateshead, Newcastle, the Metrocentre, Cullercoats, Whitley Bay, South Shields.... the list goes on.

Where I live up high on the hills of Eighton Banks and the surrounding area of Wrekenton, we had a lot more services than what we have now. Back in the days, serving Wrekenton was the 24/A, 27/A, 51/52, 56/A, 77, 88, 89, 187/188, the infamous 638, 721, 725/726, 777, X2, X3, X4, X5, X85, X90, X94.... there may be more.

All of which saw a whole variety of vehicles. Deltas, Sigmas, Solos, Nationals, Olympians, Spectras, Prestiges, Dashes, Darts, SPDs, the Alexander PS, Lynxes, Excels, Metrobuses.... the list is endless.

Good old memories

#memorylane
#flashback

(28 Nov 2014, 9:44 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote To be honest, the reason 4852 (1998 - 2014) was my favourite bus was because I always remember when my grandad used to magically make the bus stop with his hand, he'd tell me to go and sit down while he put his card on the reader, he would make a note of the fleet number and reg and write it down. I suppose it was just one of those things he did for the sake of it.

Anyway, when my interest got serious a few years back, he told me he used to write down the fleet numbers of the buses we rode together in a little diary. He found it about a week later, and we had a good look through it.

Believe it or not, we rode 4852 over 150 times during those few years we spent together when I was little! A few honourable mentions ought to go to 4855, with 90-odd runs, and 4905, with about 75 runs. The rest were very random, but mostly the remainder of the vehicles associated with the Lime. That was just the 778, though.

We used to get a service back up which was normally a DAF. He made notes of all of these too, and we had 4864 about 70-odd times. It was always random though - although mainly a DAF, we would sometimes get a Delta or a National, the latter being very rare, and once or twice I saw a Lynx!

My grandad had been doing this well before I was born (2000), and the famous 4710 was noted down about 40-odd times!

It's one of my most prized possessions; that little notebook! It's one of the only things I can remember him by, a little leather miner's association diary with a bunch of numbers written in it. He would be 80 today.

To pick a few bits from that, maybes your granddad recorded it, not only as a hobby, but doing it for you, so that when got older you could look back and see it as a record of memories with him, so that you could look at those pages and recall your happiest memories together

(28 Nov 2014, 9:52 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote I've got to admit, I take my parents for granted.

They don't mind me going out on Saturdays to do whatever I like, and they would do anything for me. I've gotta admit, this year's Christmas List is tiny, though!

In hindsight, I never really took my grandad seriously enough. I'll always remember waking up on that Monday morning, going to school, coming home, and being told he hadn't woken up that morning. It's something you never forget.

During the summer, when we were tidying out his house, I found that little diary, and kept it, otherwise it would have been chucked. The little thing tells me so much, and I've got so many memories as I flick through it, always running to the back seats and sitting in the middle when he wanted to sit and chat to his friends in the reserved seats!

What I would do for a 5 minute conversation with him!

We all take our parents for granted, anyone who says they dont is a liar, we always have and always will.

When my granddad was alive, I never appreciated them, as I had been in a constant battle with my nana, I thought they were idiots for putting so much money into my education, probably somewhere close to 20 large from '91 to '95, and they hated the fact I went into Care, she could not understand why I was there, I used to accuse her of reverse snobbery, claiming to be working class while attempting achieve her goals through me, did not work of course...I was lucky in the fact me and her called a truce in September 2002, she died 2 days later.

I was close to my granddad after we lost my nan, we put a digital set top box in the house for him and most days on my way home from College I would go round to see him, I hold onto the silliest little memories, I would ring him knowing that when I got there, the kettle would be boiled, the biscuits would be out, and we would sit down and watch UKTV History, talk about the war, talk about his time in the RAF and his time in the Met Police, talk about football...He was the most intelligent person I have ever known, he is only person I know who was never religious to read the Bible, when I became a born again Christian I was advised to read the bible in small chunks, he read it from Genesis to Revelation...He also had a Mormon Bible, stuff from Jehovahs Witnesses, and possibly even looked through the Qu'ran and Torah ...

Like you, I would give anything for another 5 minutes, I was probably no more than 50 feet from him when he died, he was in a side ward in Sunderland Royal, I was in the doctors office next door, I say he knew what was happening and sent me out on purpose to protect me, and when someone came outside to get me, put it this way, I would have beat Usain Bolt over the 150-200 metres

Enough of the morbid talk now, he was one of the funniest people I know and his opinions were great, some of his craic was great.

My nan wanted to go see Titanic at the Cinema, she asked if he fancied it, he simply said 'Dont need to I will tell you what happens...The Ship sinks' that was the end of that
At his best mates 50th Birthday, there was a karaoke on, I got up to sing, they left the room thinking I would heap shame on the family, when infact I got the best reception of the night, later on that night he was that drunk my nan made him sleep in a chair at the bottom of the stairs, if he could not manage it on his own, then he had to suffer...

He would always remind me '2 guarantees in David...Death and Taxes'

He was a cantankerous old sod, morbid and a borderline alcoholic before he died, he would send me or my mam out for at least 3 bottles of Scotch a week, and we never went to the same shop more than once in a week, we didnt want people thinking me and my mother were alcoholics, I was already on the road to alcoholism and drug addiction...

But yeah, he was a good bloke and without him, I would not be as intelligent as I am

Anyway, essay over Sir

Probably more so what general customers wouldn't ordinarily think about:
http://www.daily-news-online.co.uk/10-th...s-drivers/

Note #5... Greg in Weardale may disagree?

(04 Jan 2015, 7:17 pm)Dan wrote Probably more so what general customers wouldn't ordinarily think about:
http://www.daily-news-online.co.uk/10-th...s-drivers/

Note #5... Greg in Weardale may disagree?

#5 is pretty much the follow up about any comment to do with service 21 running in twos on here.

#4 I'd say drivers to tend to get more acknowledgment here in the North East than most other places probably would, especially if the driver is polite too, but I'd hate to be a driver and not be acknowledged by most passengers. When I board the bus I take my earphones out and say thank you when I get on the bus and then again when I get off.

(04 Jan 2015, 7:31 pm)Jimmi wrote #5 is pretty much the follow up about any comment to do with service 21 running in twos on here.

#4 I'd say drivers to tend to get more acknowledgment here in the North East than most other places probably would, especially if the driver is polite too, but I'd hate to be a driver and not be acknowledged by most passengers. When I board the bus I take my earphones out and say thank you when I get on the bus and then again when I get off.

I always say 'hi' when I get on, and I normally get one back.

I was surprised by quite a lot of things on there - but I think everyone is so paranoid down in London that they'll probably think it's some sort of scam to get them to ride the bus and see how many people actually acknowledge the driver in any way.

Just a thought...where do you tend to sit on a bus?

For me it can depend. If it's a decker - front seats upstairs. If they're taken, at the back upstairs, don't like the idea of sitting downstairs with the OAPs.

On a single decker, I tend to hit the front seats at the very front, not the 'reserved' ones for the OAPs. If they're taken, the back. Although in the past I have had a few looks from OAPs for sitting in those ones at the front. It's amazing how unnerving they can make you feel.

What about anyone else?

(13 Jan 2015, 7:20 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Just a thought...where do you tend to sit on a bus?

For me it can depend. If it's a decker - front seats upstairs. If they're taken, at the back upstairs, don't like the idea of sitting downstairs with the OAPs.

On a single decker, I tend to hit the front seats at the very front, not the 'reserved' ones for the OAPs. If they're taken, the back. Although in the past I have had a few looks from OAPs for sitting in those ones at the front. It's amazing how unnerving they can make you feel.

What about anyone else?

If I find you on Sapphire X21 when I'm on it sitting in them seats, I will not be happy.

#getoffmysapphire
#sitintheback
#seatwars
#hashtagsonNEB

(13 Jan 2015, 7:20 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Just a thought...where do you tend to sit on a bus?

For me it can depend. If it's a decker - front seats upstairs. If they're taken, at the back upstairs, don't like the idea of sitting downstairs with the OAPs.

On a single decker, I tend to hit the front seats at the very front, not the 'reserved' ones for the OAPs. If they're taken, the back. Although in the past I have had a few looks from OAPs for sitting in those ones at the front. It's amazing how unnerving they can make you feel.

What about anyone else?

It depends on the type of bus and passengers and which seats are available.

On double deckers I usually sit at the front (I did on the 81 today so I could get a front row seat for some scenic views).

On single deckers I usually sit above the step about mid way down the bus (dependent on model). Although I used to sit in the single priority seats on the 7 to college on a morning as not many OAPS would get on this journey.

(13 Jan 2015, 7:20 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Just a thought...where do you tend to sit on a bus?

For me it can depend. If it's a decker - front seats upstairs. If they're taken, at the back upstairs, don't like the idea of sitting downstairs with the OAPs.

On a single decker, I tend to hit the front seats at the very front, not the 'reserved' ones for the OAPs. If they're taken, the back. Although in the past I have had a few looks from OAPs for sitting in those ones at the front. It's amazing how unnerving they can make you feel.

What about anyone else?

For me, it just depends what type of bus it is. I'm 6ft 3 and have canny long legs, so limited legroom is a common problem on buses, meaning I mainly go for areas that have decent legroom. For example, on the Gemini 2s, I tend to sit upstairs on the door side (is that the nearside? I always get them mixed up) as that, even though it sounds strange, has a bit more legroom compared to the driver's side.

On a Versa, it tends to be above the rear-wheel arch on the door side, or in the very back corner beside the emergency exit door, which has the most legroom.

An OmniCity tends to be in the areas what I like to call "the quadrant", where there's two seats facing forwards and two facing backwards. The same goes for Solars, Renowns and Citaros. Lolynes meanwhile is just anywhere upstairs.

(13 Jan 2015, 7:20 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Just a thought...where do you tend to sit on a bus?

For me it can depend. If it's a decker - front seats upstairs. If they're taken, at the back upstairs, don't like the idea of sitting downstairs with the OAPs.

On a single decker, I tend to hit the front seats at the very front, not the 'reserved' ones for the OAPs. If they're taken, the back. Although in the past I have had a few looks from OAPs for sitting in those ones at the front. It's amazing how unnerving they can make you feel.

What about anyone else?

Depends for me really:
If I'm by myself on a double decker I'll sit downstairs preferably on the right hand side. Or the front two (next to the door, behind the glass pane) on an E400.
However if it's a longer journey, upstairs as I prefer it  (The reason I like downstairs is because it's generally warmer)
If I'm with people on a double decker, wherever they do, normally at the front upstairs though.


If it's a single decker I'll sit at the back if I can, again because it's warmer.

Not a lot of people are aware of this...

(13 Jan 2015, 7:50 pm)ArrivaNE_7522 wrote Not a lot of people are aware of this...

Sit down at the first available seat...the OAPs won't agree with that one!

I generally avoided one type of seat - always thought the first seat up the step, was poor for legroom. The Nationals and Lynxes were bad if I remember right, due to the position of the metal railing.
The seat behind was poor on a National, due to the location of the wheel arch positioned between the two rows.

Loylnes are bad at the front upstairs.

Always prefer the facing seats on a single decker.

The old deckers had seats backing onto the window in a bench style that I liked.

Back in the day, it was always the back seats, decker or not.

Depends on bus, but I always sit on the nearside. Used to love the bench seats at the front though, sideways facing.

For me I always sit right at the Back in the Corner (Door Side) on a Single Decker, and if someone is sitting there when I get on they get nothing but hackies throughout the Journey for stealing my Seat, ill then sit where ever I can fit my lanky legs, Double Deckers I just sit anywhere Upstairs.

Getting up early on a morning... haha