Saturday 12th September 2015

Yesterday, I had a great day out on a Get Around day ticket, priced at £3.75. Originally, I was planning around a railtour that was due through Durham Railway Station just after noon, the Durham & Beamish Open Air Museum I think it was called. When I saw that the expected haulage was a Class 66, 67 or 90, I decided to scrap the idea as it was nothing special. After some contemplation, I decided I'd head through to Hexham and have a walk down to the Go North East depot there for photos of the coaches.

#21 – Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station – (08:56 --- 09:42) – Go North East 3965 – Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 1 – ''Angel''
Having woken to an 08:00 alarm, I prepared myself as usual, and left my house at 08:30. Listened to my music as I walked the familiar route into Chester-le-Street town centre, before coming to a stop at the Black Horse bus stop on Front Street. I was waiting for the 08:43 service, the 08:49 from the bottom of Front Street, but as the time crept towards 08:50, I decided I'd walk all the way to the bottom and catch the 08:57 from there. The 08:49 is a run that comes from Durham (I think), while the 08:57 is a ''bus from depot'' situation; it's allocated a Volvo B7TL Gemini, either 3962 or 3965. As soon as I reached the bus stop, I saw it turning onto Front Street from Picktree Lane, then swinging around the U-turn at the bottom and coming to a standstill. John Westmoorland was driving, I've never actually said a word to the guy but he does seem like a careful and pleasant driver, also an enthusiast. May as well introduce myself the next time I see him at a rally. We departed with a a light load consisting of just myself and a few people downstairs; my favoured seat just above the driver didn't look particularly clean, the padding was all worn down, but I nevertheless chose to sit there. As the bus filled up on the journey to Newcastle, I kept my eyes peeled for any dodgy destination blinds on any of the ''Angels''; one or two seemed to be having issues following a recent software update, so citaro5284 could see which buses needed attention.

#X85 – Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station to Hexham Bus Station – (10:06 --- 10:56) – Go North East 5231 – Scania L94UB/Wright Solar – ''Tynedale Express''
Before long, we were pulling into Eldon Square; so I thanked John as I alighted and had a look at what was in the bus station. A Stagecoach ALX300 was present on one of the Throckley express services (X82?) while a ''TEN'' Gemini 2 was on it's stand. On the advice of citaro5284, I made my way to the small Costa that is located in Eldon Square. My favourite place to sit in this Costa is at the bench area; with the high chairs, from here, I can see everything coming in and out of the bus station. It's perfect for reporting rare workings, but I opted not to do this... I enjoyed a small Hot Chocolate to sit in with, which I drank in the space of about fifteen minutes, leaving Costa at 10:00. citaro5284 informed me that 5231 would be operating the 10:10 X85 service that I was aiming to catch. I've little experience of the ''Tynedale Express'' services, I can remember travelling on them to Hexham and back when they were first introduced, then once when I was with Adam, on the X84 from Corbridge to Newcastle. Two foreign women were also queueing for this service, I was actually expecting it to be rather busy but fortunately, we left Newcastle on-time and with no more than fifteen passengers. I abused the free WiFi that was on offer, and listened to my music from time to time. What got my attention were the brilliant noises being produced by the ZF gearbox in this machine; every time I hear a good ZF, I am reminded of the DAF SB220GS/Plaxton Prestiges that once roamed the streets. Arrival in Hexham was prompt, and after photographing spare 5229 in the layover at the top of the bus station, I began walking towards the depot.

#10 – Hexham Bus Station to MetroCentre Transport Interchange – (11:26 --- 12:39) – Go North East 6078 – Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2 – ''TEN''
As I'd already walked the route on Google Streetview last night, I knew the direction I was travelling in; I could see the depot from a distance, with a red double decker seeming to be parked up outside. After walking closer, I identified it as Riverside's 3964; it must have finished last night on a Hexham-board, and thus spent the night at the depot. Three coaches were present in the yard, but the poor weather conditions meant I didn't get very good photos; 7087 came out well enough so I uploaded it to Flickr. As I had a little peak in the depot itself, 5210 was on the pits receiving some maintenance while a ''Tynedale Links'' MPD was present towards the back, withdrawn 524 was also present, being cannibalised for spare parts, presumably to feed the now many MPDs at Hexham. Two employees were present; an engineer and presumably either a driver or a leading driver, they both acknowledged my presence and made the effort to say hello to me, which was nice. The walk back up to the town centre was quick; I passed 618, now fitted with high-back coach-style seating which looks quite comfortable, on one of the services to Acomb (682?), before sighting a ''TEN'' Gemini 2 in the bus station, picking up passengers. Fortunately, I just made it. My favoured front seat was taken by a mother and her child, so I ended up sat towards the back upstairs. Although the WiFi worked well, and my phone was charged to nearly full-percentage with the plug sockets, I couldn't enjoy the scenery at all because of the poor weather steaming up the windows. From Prudhoe onwards; the bus started to fill up, with passengers boarding at every stop. A few alighted at Blaydon, but the journey was by now just boring and depressing; the MetroCentre couldn't have come sooner. 

#46 – MetroCentre Transport Interchange to Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station – (12:41 --- 13:07) – Go North East 6127 – Scania N94UD/East Lancs OmniDekka – ''Corporate''
I inhaled the fresh air after alighting 6078, relieved to be off. citaro5284 used to enjoy catching the 602 from Newcastle to Hexham, when it was operated by Northumbria Motor Services, when he first started working for Go-Ahead Northern and obtained his staff pass, so I was sad to say that I didn't enjoy it. It was my first time using the ''TEN'' from Hexham to the MetroCentre; at least I've now got the whole route cleared and don't have to think about it any more. I imagine it would be so much nicer on a sunny afternoon, where the loadings are light and the scenery is viewable. In hindsight, I think I just wasn't using it at the right time, when it was busy and raining outside. It's a recipe for a miserable journey. Every cloud has a silver lining though... I was overjoyed when I saw an OmniDekka approaching, so I decided to go with it. Originally, I suspected it was a late-running X43 but it was proven to be operating ''Red Kite'' service 46 to Newcastle. Two people were sat downstairs and a family were sat at the front upstairs. I perched myself behind the staircase; but one of the little girls was irritating me. She kept going ''Make way for'' – then a Prince or Princess. Gimp. 6127 was a winner for me so I was quite pleased; my most travelled on OmniDekka seems to be 6128. As we stood on Percy Street, I saw Gary Devlin was standing getting some photos, so I decided to go over and talk to him for a while.

#X31 – Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station to Stanley Bus Station – (13:24 --- 14:09) – Go North East 3830 – Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine 2 – ''Yellow Bus''
During the ten or so minutes I was stood there, I got some photos of Arriva Pulsars and Stagecoach ALX300s. Steven Hodgson also came over to the island. It seemed they were both waiting for Streetdeck 9119 on the ''Cobalt Clipper'' routes. As I looked back over to Percy Street; I saw the unmistakable sight of a ''Yellow Bus'' Olympian. You can imagine I was over the moon about it; my last ride on an Olympian was two round-trips on the Stanley circulars towards the end of the summer holidays, I thought at the time that that could be my last adventure on an Olympian, with their days creeping onto services other than scholars being rare and few between. I stood waiting for it, realising that it was on the X31 to Lanchester and running nearly ten minutes late. Luckily for me, it was 3830; along with 3831, I feel this is one of the better examples we have left. Rather than head upstairs to my usual spot on an Olympian, I chose to sit downstairs on the nearside, at the back; so I could get the full experience from the power of the Olympian engine. The loading was very light, so I decided I'd get a five minute recording of the monstrous engine (I can sense a lot of facepalms...). Luckily I did then, as a small family boarded in Gateshead and sat at the back as well. They jumped ship in Sunniside. From Tanfield onwards, I had the lower deck all to myself. We flew up the banks and climbs that stood in front of us, 3830 had no issues at all. Taking advantage of the lower deck being empty, I went and sat down in the seat that I used to sit in on 3825, when it was always allocated to my scholars; the single seat facing the staircase. It was somewhat nostalgic. As we approached Stanley Bus Station, I was seriously thinking about staying on until Lanchester, but I reminded myself that I had other things to do, so I alighted.

#78 – Stanley Bus Station to Pelton Church – (14:25 --- 14:50) – Go North East 5397 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid – ''Coast & Country''
As I always tend to do when I'm in the area, I had a look outside of the bus station. Civil war seems to have broken out recently; with the South Moor rebels taking the Front Street shop-by-shop, while the East Stanley army attempt to push them back. Following a safe trip to Greggs for my lunch (a Ham & Cheese baguette – nom), I returned to the bus station for 14:20. Hovered around the stand for the ''Coast & Country'' services to Sunderland, then at 14:25, I saw a branded Streetlite coming in, so prepared to board. A queue of about five passengers had formed for the 14:30 to Sunderland; I sat on the nearside (which was unusual for me; nine times out of ten I sit on the offside). The plug socket worked well as soon as the driver turned the engine on and applied some power, but the WiFi did not play the game. It's frustrating when you can't use one of the features being advertised, meaning I have to eat into my precious mobile data. Standard Streetlite journey; boring and uninspiring. As we reached the top of the village of Pelton, I pressed the bell to alight at the bus stop directly outside of the church. I located my grandparent's grave, as I have done many times before, and paid my respects before walking back out to catch the 15:00 ''Coast & Country'' 8 service down to Chester-le-Street. 

#8 – Pelton Church to Chester-le-Street South Burns – (15:03 --- 15:10) – Go North East 5395 – Wright Streetlite DF/Wright Streetlite Micro-Hybrid – ''Coast & Country''
The rain turned really violent as I was in the graveyard, so opted to seek shelter in the bus stop until the bus was due. Running a few minutes late, I saw a ''Coast & Country'' Streetlite approaching from a distance, so got my Virgin West Coast ticket wallet that I acquired from Sean last Saturday (makes a nice addition to the fleet) and boarded 5395, showing the driver my Get Around and my Key Card and then taking my seat on the offside, just above the step. I can handle short journeys on the Streetlites, but anything over fifteen minutes and I'm ready to commit. As we passed the Pelton Schools bus stop; we saw two police officers were standing in there sheltering in the rain, with a police van pulling up behind us to pick them up. The driver shouted back to us all that they must have been scared of the rain, which generated a few chuckles. 

I walked home from there and was back in the house for 15:45. It was a good outing overall. Thanks for reading.

R852 PRG