Saturday 5th December 2015

My outing from today:

08:06 X12 1442 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
Decided I would make this trip my last Explorer of the year; and I caught the 08:07 X12 service from Chester-le-Street to Newcastle. This is a Stockton run, meaning the allocation is an Arriva ''MAX'' Pulsar. 1442 turned up, which I was quite pleased with as 1442 is the only one of 1441-1443 that I hadn't yet made a journey on. As is standard, this service was lightly loaded with about fifteen passengers on board throughout. Always enjoy a ride on a Pulsar; and I feel the ''MAX'' specification examples are some of the best in the fleet. While these can reach up to 60mph when let loose on the fast stretches of the X12; the DB300 Geminis can usually only top 50mph. Sean was out and about doing the Tyne Valley diversions today, and I owed him a Wetherspoons breakfast after excessive use of the ''thumb'' in Facebook Messenger. His train was being held up at various signals, and he gave me a rough arrival time of 09:30.

08:40 46 2844 Newcastle Haymarket to Regent Centre Metro
Following arrival into Eldon Square at 08:35; I thanked the driver of 1442 and had a little look around in the bus station for anything of interest. As expected, it was quite quiet, so I decided to have a wander across to Haymarket. An Optare Solo caught my attention; it was left unattended in one of the stands, and I came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to be moving any time soon. Shortly afterwards; one of the 46-branded Jesmond examples came in with a 46 for Featherstone Grove, so I decided to have a little ride on that up to Regent Centre. It departed with myself as the only passenger; nice enough bus inside although a bit lame when getting up to a decent speed. 

08:51 Metro 4014+4080 Regent Centre to Haymarket
On arrival at Regent Centre, I decided I'd catch a Metro back to Newcastle. I descended the stairs that led down to the platform for South Hylton-bound trains, and noticed a fair few passengers were present, indicating that a service was due soon. Within thirty seconds; I heard the rumble of a Metro in the distance, and looked north to see one coming along. 4014 was leading, and looked quiet, so I naturally expected the second car to be just as deserted. It was equally as quiet, with roughly twenty people spread out across the entire carriage. Between Ilford Road and West Jesmond; I began to smell a strange burning smell. Other passengers picked up on it too, and I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was. After Jesmond; Haymarket was next, so I prepared to alight.

09:15 Metro 4053+4054 Monument to Wallsend
One of my few aims for today was a ride on a ''North Tyne Links'' MPD; which would require heading over towards Wallsend. I knew the quickest and simplest way to get there was to take the Metro from Monument to Wallsend; so I paced it towards Monument station. When I got to platform level, I saw that trains had been suspended in both directions between Jarrow and South Shields. Similar to the situation at Regent Centre, within a short period of thirty seconds, a Metro came into view. 4053 and 4054 were adjoined in this pair; was nice to see two cars in numerical consistency. The set arrived completely empty, and the fifteen or so people waiting for it were all spread across the two Metrocars; possibly the quietest journey I've ever made on the system. Towards Walkergate, we passed the Stagecoach depot; which was filled with stacks of Enviro400s, as well as a handful of ALX300s and a B10M driver trainer that I could see. Wallsend was the next station, so I jumped ship here.

09:34 41 567 Wallsend Metro Interchange to Battle Hill Drive
I walked down to the bus interchange from the Metro station; intent on a ride and a photograph of a ''North Tyne Links'' MPD. 567 was present in the bus station, with the driver standing outside having a cigarette, and Stagecoach's 22344 was stood with an 18 for Forest Hall. I got some photos of the two of them, and hovered around waiting for 567 to do something. In that time; dual-door 5154 appeared with a 17 to Whitley Bay, which I was incredibly tempted by. However, I knew what I had came here for, so I stuck with 567. Before long, the driver fired up the engines of the MPD, and set the destination for the 41 to Wallsend. Decided I would catch this around to Battle Hill Drive, and then go wherever from there. The refurbished interior of this little machine was very smart, and it was quite fast as well. Nice enough route, didn't pass anything of real interest, and within the space of twenty five minutes, we arrived at Battle Hill Drive.

10:03 306 1412 Battle Hill Drive to Newcastle Haymarket
Having thanked the driver and watched 567 speed off back to Wallsend, I waited for something else to come along. Following a brief wait, in which I saw a 306-branded Streetlite pass me heading to Whitley Bay, I saw the unmistakable sight of an original-liveried Arriva Wright Pulsar coming along with a 306 to Newcastle. It was something I couldn't turn down, so flagged it to a halt. Pulsars sporting this livery seem few and far between; with many either carrying the company corporate livery or ''Sapphire'' branding. After taking my seat, I noticed it still had it's original interior, which was very warm and vibrant in my opinion. Similar to 1442 earlier in the day, it was a very speedy machine and offered a comfortable journey. When passing Jesmond, I was disappointed to see Jesmond's B10BLE 4514 fly past us with a 52 to Cramlington. Almost all of the bus emptied on St. Mary's Place, but I continued on to the bus station, now intent on a Stagecoach ALX300.

10:33 X21 3872 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Red Lion
I walked through Haymarket bus station and through Eldon Square, emerging on the other side to see ''Work, Eat, Play'' branded 3872 making it's way up Blackett Street. The LED display in the front destination told me that it was operating the X21, so I double backed and returned to Eldon Square bus station to catch this somewhere. During the walk, I decided I would catch this to back to Chester-le-Street and wait for something of interest. The Lolynes are personal favourites of mine, purely for nostalgia purposes, so I always look forward to a ride on one. Took ages for the congestion in the bus station to allow 3872 to get to the stand; and when it did, I boarded and made my way upstairs. Ordinary journey up until we hit the A1(M), where the strong winds began to push the bus into other lanes. Luckily, the driver managed to keep control of 3872, and we exited the motorway safely. Was certainly quite scary being forced into other lanes, though. Upon arrival at Chester-le-Street, for the second time today, I looked around for anything interesting.

11:14 8 5399 Chester-le-Street South Burns to Washington Galleries
As my phone could have done with some charging, I decided to aim for a ''Coast & Country'' Streetlite somewhere. 5403 arrived with a Stanley-bound 8, but I decided to catch the imminently due Sunderland-bound 8. While they are still nothing on a good B10BLE; I have come to, regrettably to an extent, find the Streetlites more bearable than I initially did. The plug sockets and charging facility is an added bonus, but for me; sound is everything. They still sound whingey and annoying, but I can mute that with my earphones. Still, they're not on par with a Renown, but I have found I can tolerate them. Wouldn't want to spend an entire day on them, however. The Galleries came up on the Next Stop Announcements system, so I chose to alight here and find something else.

11:37 82 8255 Washington Galleries to Heworth Metro Interchange
Thought of catching the X1 through to Newcastle, but the queue had reached the bottom of the escalators and I couldn't be bothered with a packed bus. Then, after 5399 had departed, I saw a Heworth-bound 82 appear. Suspecting a Wright Merit; I was surprised to see it was 8255, one of the two surviving Cadets based at Washington now. Once more, I couldn't turn down this opportunity to ride this little guy so I boarded and made my way towards the back; sitting on the offside quadrant. Interior was quite dirty; with various pieces of litter scattered all over the floor, but the ''graffiti'' moquette seating was quite welcoming. 8255 was quite a speedy Cadet, in my somewhat limited experience of them, they've just trundled along at an average pace, but 8255 kept producing plenty of kickdowns throughout the route as the gearbox slipped on the faster stretches. Considered bailing at Concord, but I opted to stay on until Heworth and then see whatever took my fancy. What made it even better, was that I consequently managed to get a photo of 5169, still in it's ''Fab57'' livery, at Heworth. 

12:19 Metro 4036+4078 Heworth to Central Station
With some severe delays to the Tyne Valley line today, due to severe flooding and various other factors resulting in delayed and cancelled trains pretty much everywhere, I decided I'd have a little peak at Central Station to see what was there. Was just a few stations to Central from Heworth, so I just stood. An elderly gentleman who boarded at Gateshead Stadium was offered a seat by a young girl; he refused but thanked her, and a woman commented to him that the youth of today aren't all bad... Upon arrival at Central, I alighted and headed up to the railway station. 91111 was leaving with a Kings Cross-bound service, and I made my way across to the Thunderbird sidings. 67020 and 67026 were present, but were blocked by a Northern Rail 156 unit, which prevented a photo.

12:50 Metro 4016+4050 Central Station to Monument
Just a short one-stop hop to Monument from Central. I'm unsure why the station is announced as ''Central'', as visitors to the city could easily confuse this with the city centre, when in fact it is just the railway station. I certainly always call it ''Central Station'', unsure of others. Was a quick journey along to Monument, and marked my final Metro journey of the outing.

13:16 X31 5253 Newcastle Eldon Square to Stanley Bus Station
Ex-''Lime'' 4900 caught my attention operating the 53, so I caught up to it and stood outside of the doors in an attempt to get the driver's attention. He just shook his head at me, which was strange, as he was in service and had other passengers on board, and didn't move for another minute or two... I found myself hunting Stagecoach's ALX300s again, but gave up and decided to head back to Eldon Square to catch an X30 or X31 up to Stanley, then a 16/16A to Durham for the Christmas Market coaches. When I arrived at Eldon Square, I could see a ''Toon Link'' OmniCity on Percy Street, which came in on the X31 to Stanley. Sat at the nearside quadrant and put my earphones in, 5253 gave an extremely comfortable journey, and has to be one of the best OmniCities I've travelled on. 

14:00 16A 5287 Stanley Bus Station to Durham County Hall
After a spirited run up to Stanley, I arrived in the bus station to find ''Durham Diamond'' 5287 sat with a service to Durham. Naturally, rather than stick around, I opted to go with this. Done this route several times before, so it wasn't anything new to me. Aside from the new number, with all of my previous journeys being done under the 43/44/44A services, nothing was different. Recollecting back to when I used to give the Citaros a poor rating, I am now very fond of them and look forward to a journey on one. Thankfully, they will be around for many years to come, so we will still have some ''decent'' buses around. Very powerful Mercedes engine, as expected, and the vehicle didn't struggle at all with the route. In order to get some photos of the Christmas Market coaches at County Hall, I jumped off here and headed in to get some photos in the coach park. A variety of operators and coach types were present and I got a few shots before getting bored, and decided to head back to catch the next bus to the bus station in the city centre.

14:40 X12 1441 Durham County Hall to Durham Bus Station
Following a five minute wait in the wind, I was greeted with the sight of another Pulsar; my third today, and my second ''MAX'' example of the outing. Was just a short journey, the driver was a miserable sod who seemed completely unphased by anything. Only took a few minutes to get to the bus station, where I saw 7455 in the layover bays (it had passed me earlier on operating the X24, so I concluded that this was to be operating the 15:10 service). Opted to catch that home, allowing twenty minutes in Durham for some photos.

15:09 X24 7455 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Black Horse
Following a photo session, I headed into the bus station at 15:05 in order to catch the 15:10 X24. 7455 was still parked over in the layover bays, but it was soon moved and proceeded to do a loop of the bus station and returned with the destination set for the X24 to the MetroCentre. Was pleased to see that this had Civic V3 seating as opposed to dreadful Urban90s. Although it sounded rough when pulling out of it's stand in the bus station, it wasn't too bad when it got going, despite never getting above 45mph at all throughout my journey on it. Given my limited experience of the Lowlanders, I'm often willing to jump at the chance for a ride on one. I quite like them for a short journey such as Durham to Chester-le-Street, but I don't think I could tolerate them for any longer than that. I gather they were once used on the X18 as well...? Ouch. I alighted at the Black Horse and ended the day at this point, and walked home for 16:00. 

As usual, I had a great time out on an Explorer. I went in with no solid plan, and it provided a better outing on the whole as it allowed me to choose whatever and go with it. My next Explorer will be at some point in January, I've started to stop reviewing my Get Around adventures as there is never much of interest, but Explorers and outings further afield will always be given a review. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

R852 PRG