Today I thought I'd go out and try and find the See it Do it Sunderland Merc 5303 for a photo.
0932 Newton Aycliffe - Ferryhill (ANE 1516)
Starting the day of with a Sapphire Pulsar. Didn't enjoy this journey much as the driver had his foot burried on the accelerator and left Chilton Wheatsheaf 3 minutes late.
1011 7 Ferryhill - Durham (ANE 1515)
Recently I've been splitting some of my trips to Durham at Ferryhill, not really sure why though. This journey arrived in Ferryhill with very few seats left and I hate having to sit next to randoms on the bus, thankfully I managed to get the single seat behind the drivers cab. I later discovered that the reason it was so busy was because it will was full of walkers who got off at the stop after the Coach and Horses pub which not many normally get on/off at so imagine my surprise to see about 20 people getting off! We arrived in Durham about a minute or two late.
1052 Durham - Houghton-le-Spring (GNE 5214)
Was originally going to get the 1042 20A but that journey was allocated 4992 which I am not the biggest fan of and have had it a few times recently so didn't fancy riding that again, and if by some miracle it isn't 4992 it's usually 5213 but thankfully 5214 turned up instead. Pretty standard journey on the 20 not the fastest bus in the world but still alright and wasn't too bad for rattles unlike some Solar's. The plan was originally to go to Sunderland to catch 5303 as I thought I'd have more chance of spotting it there, fortunately though just as we were entering Houghton I saw it just behind the 20 on the 35 to Boldon so I made sure to alight pretty sharpish. I got my photo of 5303 https://flic.kr/p/wUacty
1133 X1 Houghton-le-Spring - Hetton-le-Hole Interchange (GNE 6052)
As I got what I wanted I didn't see the point in carrying on to Sunderland so I ended up jumping on this. As we left Houghton I thought "oh **** I've got on the wrong X1!" was originally going to go to Washington then head back to Durham but rather than let on that I got on the wrong bus I styled it out by heading to Hetton-le-Hole Interchange. This turned out to be a good mistake as it meant I got a shot of Arriva North East 1762 on Nexus service 168. Went to Coopland's for four Sausage Rolls because it's four for a pound and I am greedy!
1202 X35 Hetton-le-Hole - Peterlee Bus Station (GNE 4955)
Decided I'd get this to Peterlee then get a 22/24 to Durham. Pretty friendly driver on this journey which was nice. Can't really think of much else to say about this journey as I kind of zoned out.
1220ish 24 Peterlee Bus Station - Shotton Colliery (ANE 15??)
Was hoping for an Enviro 400 or even a StreetLite but I got a 63 reg Pulsar, apologies I can't remember the fleet number or exact time I jumped on this. Didn't enjoy this journey as I was sat near the back and felt like I was in the holding penn for the Jeremy Kyle Show, one thing in particular that annoyed me was the lass sat behind me pressing her knees against the back of the seats, I hate this, I can excuse this if the person is tall but she wasn't, I moved to the outside seat but then she just started pressing her kness against this seat. I got a bit wound up so I got on the Arriva Live Map to see how long it would be until the next 22 to Durham and because the 24 was late it was just behind the 24 so I made the decision to abandon ship at a random stop in Shotton Colliery.
1256 22 Shotton Colliery - Durham Millburngate Bridge (ANE 1595)
Fortunately I only had about a minutes wait, can't say I'd fancy waiting here any longer than that! Again disappointed it wasn't an Enviro 400 but oh well, at least it wasn't another Pulsar, don't have anything against Pulsars but that's pretty much the only sort of bus I've had in the last week. Pretty disappointing that it was lacking Sapphire interior branding and the next stop announcements were just showing Sapphire and promotional stuff, I know 1595 is the spare StreetLite but still. Not too bad for rattles this one thankfully, certainly better than Red Kite 5412 which I had on the 45 last week! Oh Durham is quieter with the Millburngate Bridge roadworks, yeah right! Try and ride any of the services that go through Gilesgate this would have arrived in Durham Bus Station over 15 minutes late the traffic was that bad, I know it's fine on the X12 route and on Millburngate Bridge itself but the traffic through Gilesgate is horrendous!
Whilst on the 22 I saw a post in the Arriva Rare Workings thread saying that MAX Omnicity 4657 was on the 7, so I waited for that to turn up, unfortunately it turned up over 15 minutes late and even more disappointingly the driver changed the screen to "Not In Service" before arriving in Durham which kind of ruined my photo. Then annoyingly according to the screens in Durham Bus Station the 1422 7 left over 30 seconds early resulting in me just missing it.
1437 7 Durham - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 7540)
I was at the front of the queue but some ignorant chavy arse and his kids came onto the 7 stand via the outside of the bus station! This meant I didn't get the front seat on an Enviro once again! The kids were sitting on the handrails above the panel for the LED screen, so it's a good job the bus didn't have to break sharply or they may have gone straight through the window. Not a great deal else to say.
After heading home for a few minutes I went back out for a shot of 4657 on service 7.
So a mixed day today then.
Thanks for reading, I may head to the GNE See it Do it event on Friday at Barnes Park, Sunderland as I haven't been to one of Go North East's events recently. If I do go I'm likely to be there early.
Bus Related Outings and Reviews