Saturday 2nd January 2016

My first outing of 2016, which I decided would be an Explorer. 

08:09 X12 1441 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
To commence the outing, I decided to catch the same northbound X12 that I usually do if heading in that direction on a Saturday; the 08:07 from Chester-le-Street, and the 08:45 arrival into Eldon Square Bus Station. As it is a Stockton run; the allocation is typically one of 1441-1443, and today I was landed with the eldest of that batch, 1441. As I boarded, I noted that the driver was seemingly in a world of his own, and made no eye contact with me and began to fill out a defect card while I stood there waiting to be served. Once I did finally receive my Explorer, I made my way towards the rear of the vehicle, taking a seat on the nearside (usually go for the offside). The driver mounted a couple of kerbs and was generally just a bit crap, he seemed to enjoy speeding up and then braking harshly. Nevertheless, he got the bus into Eldon Square on time. Wasn't impressed by his driving abilities, even though I don't hold a licence and can't really compare, I can criticise.

08:58 X10 6048 Newcastle Eldon Square to Middlesbrough Bus Station
Despite only having an outing down on Teesside a few weeks ago, with Adrian and Sean, I agreed to head down and meet with Scott (tyresmoke) to do a round trip on the 28 (Middlesbrough-Nunthorpe), as he was the only member of our social circle that I'd yet to meet in person or go on a jolly with - for the record, citaro5284 isn't doing well in that respect, with only Dan and I ticked off. After doing a few loops around Eldon Square to kill boredom; I witnessed 6048 coming out of the layovers, and made my way to the top stand in the bus station. A very small queue had formed, and I was fortunate enough to grab the seat above the driver for the journey. Believe it or not; I had not used neither the X9/X10 nor the X7 until today, so it was something I was looking forward to. Despite the awful weather, consisting of rain and wind on the A19, we got to Stockton a few minutes early, and the driver assisted a couple of people in explaining how the X93, X9/X10 and X12 work with tachographs, and how they wouldn't need to change buses in Whitby for the X93 down to Scarborough. Stayed on until Middlesbrough so that I could get the full route cleared; 6048 did alright, but the poor state of these buses is pretty evident, as was demonstrated on this example.

10:40 X67 4656 Middlesbrough Bus Station to Stockton High Street
Following about fifteen minutes of photos at Middlesbrough, during which time I saw Scott going out on his first run on the 28 (the 10:25 departure from Middlesbrough - with 10-reg VDL Pulsar 1446 in his command), I decided to catch something across to Stockton for some photos there. I had the choice between Scania OmniCity 4656 and a ''Zones'' E300, and despite being in need of one of the latter for haulage, I decided to catch the X67 as looked so much quieter. Driver seemed quite pleasant and smiled at me as I boarded; one other gentleman was on board, and sat in the forward seating in the saloon. Made my way towards the back, and sat in the offside quadrant for the appealing legroom. I've done this journey once before, albeit on one of the refurbished 09-plate Pulsars, so it was different traction completely. Still need to clear the Darlington-Stockton section of the routes. Following a journey lasting no more than fifteen minutes, we arrived in Stockton. Quite liked 4656, it was certainly a smooth runner and appeared to have been well looked after.

11:20 36 27245 Stockton High Street to Middlesbrough Bus Station
Spent just shy of half an hour getting some photos in Stockton; managed to tick off a few ''Dots'' and ''Zones'' Enviro300s, including the rare working of the former vehicle operating the latter route, also got a wave and a smile from the driver of 22019, which in turn put a smile on my face. Just prior to waiting for the next 36/37/38 service through to Middlesbrough, a man walked past me (he evidently had some disabilities) telling me to ''f*** off over to the bus station if I was going to take photos of buses''; in response to which I then just threw him in his place, before he waddled off and then I saw a 36 coming along. To my delight; it was ''Dotty'' 27245. Although it was pretty full upon departure, I managed to secure a well-positioned seat and relaxed into the nice padded seating. Now with one ''Dot'' cleared for haulage, I happily arrived back in Middlesbrough for 11:40.

11:43 28 1446 Middlesbrough Bus Station to Middlesbrough Bus Station via Nunthorpe
After strolling over to Stand 6, perfectly timed for Scott's arrival into the bus station, I joined the queue and boarded 1446, quickly grabbing the seat located directly behind the driver's cab and briefly engaging in conversation with Scott before our departure. He'd described 1446 as a ''limpy'' Pulsar earlier that morning when he'd found out he was paired with this one for his two runs on the 28 in the late morning, his personal favourite seems to be the spare ''Sapphire'' Pulsar as he drove it on it's first or second day in service I believe. The number of passengers rose on our way out of the town centre, but soon dropped into the single digits when we hit a housing estate. Upon reaching the terminus; we got off for some photos and then cleaned the interior before turning around with the 12:28 Middlesbrough-bound service. I personally thought it was a pretty good bus, but obviously I don't ride nor drive Pulsars as much as Scott will, so I can't give a very good opinion or distinguish them. However, in my opinion at least; I think it's all down to the person driving the bus.

13:10 X7 5333 Middlesbrough Bus Station to Stockton High Street
Once 1446 had unloaded, I said goodbye to Scott and thanked him for the little excursion, before he headed over to the layover bays for a driver changeover to take place. I watched from a distance as he was then picked up in the staff van, and then a ''Wear Tees Express'' Citaro caught my eye, which I decided to wait for, and then catch over to Stockton (again!) and hopefully connect onto the 13:50 X12 to Durham after a short while getting more photos in Stockton. Watched it pull into the stand; I was the sole passenger to board, and was for the entirety of my journey. The driver was incredibly pleasant and had impeccable manners, the epitome of the ideal bus driver. As we pulled out of the bus station - WOW. The ZF gearbox in this was amazing, I absolutely love a healthy-sounding ZF, allowing me to recall memories of the DAF-engined Prestiges. Was very impressed by the mechanical and internal quality of this Citaro, and somewhat didn't wish to disembark.

13:55 X12 7626 Stockton High Street to Durham Bus Station
Having landed on Stockton High Street for the second time today, I was excited to see Stagecarriage's R833 OVN turning around at the top of the High Street. Driving it was Si Smart, who kindly stopped the vehicle for a few seconds and allowed me to get a few shots before pulling away with a thumbs up. Would be nice if Stagecarriage could possibly do an ''Olympian Farewell'', or something similar, given how enthusiast-friendly a company they seem (which is no surprise, given that the owner is an enthusiast and a member of this forum anyway) and the number of Olympians they have in their fleet. Running a couple of minutes late, 7626 appeared with the X12 for Durham. This one has been cleared for quite a few miles by this point in time, so it wasn't anything special. Still currently need 7609, 7610 and 7618 for haulage. Not a massive fan of the DB300s; the seating is tolerable and they're alright when they're going at a decent speed (never been on one that has topped 50mph sadly), but other than that, I just find them boring. As I'd done Stockton-Durham before, it wasn't a new route to me at all, so wasn't of much interest.

15:12 X24 7620 Durham Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Black Horse
Got some photos around Durham Bus Station; including one of David Turner driving 1477 on his last shift, which I later found out after he approached me and we had a brief conversation, and I promised to forward him a copy. ''Sun FM'' branded 6099 appeared on the 20/20A, and as I still needed a photo of that livery, I headed to the exit of the bus station to get one. Headed into the bus station at 15:05 to allow plenty of time to catch the 15:10 X24 home. At 15:10 it hadn't shown, due to the driver seemingly faffing on, but on the plus side, it was a rare working of 7620. Driver had his foot to the floor for the whole journey, and given that he was doing well for time, I decided to ask him to wait a moment after I'd alighted so I could cross over and get a photograph. When I made this request; he looked at me stunned and in amazement, before telling me that he was already running late. Not due at Corals until 15:28, and the current time at this moment was 15:25. Couldn't be bothered to argue the toss with him so just gave him a glare and walked home. 

Another good outing; was nice to do a round trip with Scott on 1446, and then got a good number of photographs. Next Explorer will be at some point later in January - thinking of doing a B10 bash next Saturday. Thanks for reading.

R852 PRG