I left my house at 09:10, aiming to be in Chester-le-Street for 09:30-09:35, in order to safely catch the 09:40. While the walk from where I live to the town centre was, as usual, very quiet, when I did reach Front Street, I had to weave my way through hundreds of cricket fans, all making their way up the street in order to get to the cricket ground. When I did reach the bottom of Front Street, I noticed the 09:34 78 to Sunderland was absolutely packed with cricket fans; it appeared every seat was taken. While I watched it depart, I made my way to the stand at the very bottom, in the direction of Newcastle, where the X25 departs from. After a couple of minutes of waiting, I saw a red Wright Solar come into sight, on the X25 to Newcastle. This was 4927, which I later found out was Adam's most travelled on Solar. I have to say, I enjoyed my ride on this; the engine made a rather melodious noise, and it was very smooth. The driver was a pleasant guy, too, and to further this, the bus never carried above 10 passengers throughout the whole journey. I'm guessing I picked the right time, as the runs after this usually have standees by Wrekenton. Adam boarded at his local, and we conversed throughout the whole ride to the terminus of Eldon Square, by which point, we were the only two passengers. The others alighted on John Dobson Street and Blackett Street.
As we'd browsed the forum on the bus, we'd noticed Jimmi's comments about his ''MAX'' X12 ruining his plan for the day. Adam joked that he could be on 7627, which was behind us on the descent into Eldon Square. Behind that, was ''Toon Link'' branded Renown 5148, the bus that had avoided me last week. The driver dropped us off at the very bottom ''drop-off'' stand in Eldon Square, as he had ran to time for the whole journey. Walking up, we noticed Jimmi getting off the X12, so I introduced him to Adam. We spoke for no more than a minute, before we parted ways, and Adam and I boarded 5148; departing moments after sitting down at the very back. This was on the 31 service, so we decided to alight at the MetroCentre, and see what came through. As we crossed the Redheugh Bridge, there were some fantastic kickdowns, as no traffic got in our way; so we just soared across the Tyne, reaching the MetroCentre on time. I enjoyed the ride on this, certainly a smooth vehicle; to the average person, I don't think there is anything that leads on the age of this machine. Aside from a Stagecoach 100, there were no other Go North East buses in service when we boarded, I let Adam pick our next journey. The next thing to appear was ''TEN'' branded Volvo B9TL 6072, heading to Newcastle. We decided to board this, then wait for any Olympians or OmniDekkas that happened to pass through. As expected, this B9 was extremely smooth, and the other luxuries that go with them were working fine, providing a pleasant journey. Not many passengers either, while we sat at the rear upstairs.
When we arrived back into Newcastle, Adam told me he needed to make a quick trip to Boots, as he needed to pick something up. This wasn't a problem, and after hunting it down in the massive store in Eldon Square, we got back to the bus station for 11:30. A trip to Costa ensued, I had a Hot Chocolate and Adam had a Mocha; we sat in. citaro5284 had dropped me some information, that an Olympian was out on the ''Diamond'' services. Rather than stick around for it to show, we decided we'd have a ride on some of the ''Cobalt Clippers''. Then, as we waited for a 309/310, citaro5284 messaged me again, saying it had been taken out of service at Stanley, and was making it's way onto X43. I checked the time, it was 12:10; the X43 was due at the MetroCentre at 12:30, so we scuttled back across to Eldon Square from Haymarket.
We came to the conclusion that we weren't going to make it at the MetroCentre, but then noticed an OmniDekka was coming in on the X30/X31, due out at 12:15. I knew this would get to Stanley for just before 13:00, when the X43 would also get to Stanley. It was a risky connection, but it was worth it in the end. Adam and I boarded 6128, on the X30; this was to be my second OmniDekka. Like I expected, this machine handled the route without any problems; flying up banks and maintaining the smoothness that a customer expects. Not many rattles or squeaks at all, I think these will do very well on the demanding Newcastle-Stanley/Consett express routes. It certainly kept to timetable... Which then allowed us to connect onto the X43. As 3822 was running quite late, 3832 was brought out of the layover, and onto the X43 to ensure the 13:00 got away on-time. We bailed from 6128, and joined the end of the queue to board the X43. Leaving on-schedule, we headed upstairs for the journey. A family occupied the front seats, a young chavvy couple towards the rear and another chav at the back, with the two of us behind the staircase. As always, it's a treat to ride an Olympian, especially now; as with the arrival of the OmniDekkas, fewer and fewer seem to be out and about... However, the internal condition of 3832 wasn't up to much. It rattled pretty violently when going down banks, the only thing I can compare some of the shakes too was 4843 last week. Nevertheless, it sounded smooth, and the speeds that it achieved when going down said banks were decent, too. During this journey, I was informed that ''Drifter'' 5372 was out on the 36, an incredibly rare occurrence. I asked my good friend citaro5284 if he knew where it was, and he got back to me, saying it was working the 14:15 out of Chester-le-Street. When the X43 got to the MetroCentre, at 13:30ish, I thought that we had missed the X22, thus meaning we couldn't catch it up. However, we saw Adam Y when we alighted; he said he knew where I would be, as apparently, ''I am so predictable''. I introduced him to Adam; then, as I looked to the bus bridge, I saw a red President crossing. I immediately thought that it must have been the X22. Luck was on my side, as it was indeed working the X22, albeit about 10 minutes late. Praise the lord!
Adam Y asked if it was okay for him to tag along, to which Adam and I had no problem with, ''the more the merrier''. The three of us boarded 6036, the vehicle operating this run. Sitting in the middle of the upper deck, there was about a decent amount of passengers on this; I would say between 15 and 20. As we were discussing various things for the journey, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Just an average B7. Thankfully, because of this, we arrived in Chester-le-Street with enough time to photograph and catch 5372, on the 36. I got my photo, before we headed up to the 36/78 bus stop, boarding it moments after it had turned around at South Burns. We decided to have a quick trip on this to the Emirates Cricket Ground, to see what was there. I noticed two Tridents, 3868 and 3876, were parked up in the coach park, while a selection of coaches were too. The two Adams waited patiently, while I got my photos, before we headed back to the Chester-le-Street-bound stop for the 36. We missed this, as it was running about 3-4 minutes early. Otherwise, we would have caught it. Standing around for the next 78, at 14:43. Adam Y offered us some reading material, in the form of some old Tyne and Wear PTE handbooks, containing timetables, maps and routes. I have to say, while I only flicked through them, they were very interesting. I also came across a timetable for the Sunderland-Consett services in another book, which was quite interesting to read through. Before long, a ''Coast & Country'' 78 came into sight. Adam and I took the back seats, while Adam Y sat in front of me. I heard the Next Stop Announcements, which were very loud and clear; ideal for the service, although I'm not sure I'd want them at 06:00 on a morning. When we got back into Chester-le-Street, we alighted at South Burns. On Front Street, we had seen ''Lambton Worm'' Versa 8302 come through with a Waldridge Park-bound 34, and as Adam had never been on one of these branded vehicles, we crossed over and boarded.
The passenger numbers were okay, when we left the bottom of Chester-le-Street I counted 15. We had the back seats again, so just discussed the forum and various other things. One thing of note, was when Adam Y stumbled across a thread by Davie, entitled ''Me and Durham''... No comment. Although, I will say, it should be ''Durham and I'', if you wish to be grammatically correct. Anyway, as the ''Lambton Worm'' 34/34A are both clockwise and anti-clockwise; a lot of people get on and off throughout the Waldridge Park section of the route. Whereas the Urpeth Grange section is the same for both the 34/34A, using the Ouston/Urpeth Grange area to turn around in a loop. It's a bit confusing, if you're unfamiliar with the area. The driver did stop the bus at stops once or twice, as he was ahead of schedule; which he kept to for the whole journey. 8302, which was our vehicle for this run, was actually quite good. I love the ''space''-like look of the Optare Versa; it stands out as very futuristic when compared to other rectangle/box shaped vehicles. The reason I think the driver was stopping so much, was because the route really doesn't go anywhere where traffic is a massive problem. There are exceptions of course, although I imagine it won't be the same at peak times. Once we'd pulled back into Chester-le-Street, we alighted at the bottom of Front Street, before I said goodbye to Adam and Adam Y, thanking them for the company. I quickly made a trip to Gregg's, before boarding the first bus I could see up to the Black Horse (then a walk home from there!). This was spare Streetlite 5409 on the 34; the journey was so short I really can't make any comments. Passenger numbers weren't beyond 10.
I made a start on writing this review, before heading back out again at 18:00ish for photos of the Cricket Shuttles. There were 6 buses in total; 6127, a Plaxton President and 4 Lolynes (3804, 3865, 3876 and 3878), four of which I got photographs. The other two (3865 and the President) were too close to the bus in front to get a shot. A log of the day is below;
09:40 #X25 – Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square Bus Station – GNE 4927
10:26 #31 – Newcastle Eldon Square Bus Station to MetroCentre Transport Interchange – GNE 5148
10:50 #10B – MetroCentre Transport Interchange to Newcastle Eldon Square Bus Station – GNE 6072
12:15 #X30 – Newcastle Eldon Square Bus Station to Stanley Bus Station – GNE 6128
13:00 #X43 – Stanley Bus Station to MetroCentre Transport Interchange – GNE 3832
13:36 #X22 – MetroCentre Transport Interchange to Chester-le-Street Red Lion – GNE 6036
14:13 #36 – Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Chester-le-Street Durham County Cricket Ground – GNE 5372
14:43 #78 – Chester-le-Street Durham County Cricket Ground to Chester-le-Street South Burns – GNE 5406
14:51 #34 – Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Waldridge Park (and return) – GNE 8302
15:21 #34 – Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Chester-le-Street Black Horse – GNE 5409
In coming weeks, I am looking to broaden my horizons and step out of my comfort zone. I'm probably going to get into Teesside one weekend, hopefully covering Darlington, Middlesbrough and Stockton; then hopefully a trip up into Northumberland, for Blyth and Ashington. I notice my reviews must seem to be getting a bit repetitive, so I'm aiming to go further afield and explore a bit more. Tomorrow morning, I'll be heading through to the Fathers Day Rally, at Howlands Park and Ride, specifically for photos and a ride on 4710; so expect a much shorter review tomorrow evening, probably in that respective thread. Thanks to Adam Y and Adam for the company today; I enjoyed our little outing. Once more, thanks for reading, and enjoy your weekend.
Marcus