Saturday 23rd January 2016
#X25 - Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square Bus Station - Go North East 3878
#X88 - Newcastle Eldon Square Bus Station to Newcastle Etal Lane - Stagecoach North East 22024
#X88 - Newcastle Etal Road to Newcastle Eldon Square Bus Station - Stagecoach North East 22024
#309 - Newcastle St. Mary's Place to Battle Hill Drive - Go North East 6102
#41 - Battle Hill Drive to Wallsend Metro Interchange - Go North East 566
#40 - Wallsend Metro Interchange to Newcastle Blackett Street - Stagecoach North East 12072
#27 - Newcastle Market Street to Heworth Metro Interchange - Go North East 5167
#4 - Heworth Metro Interchange to Concord Bus Station - Go North East 5360
#4 - Concord Bus Station to Washington Galleries Bus Station - Go North East 5364
#50 - Washington Galleries Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Red Lion - Go North East 5258
#21 - Chester-le-Street Red Lion to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace - Go North East 3875
Left my house shortly after 08:00, and landed on the Front Street by 08:25. Annoyingly, I missed a photo of ''Sapphire'' 7521 on the 08:26 X12 to Durham, which is a Belmont run and commences from Birtley. I reached the foot of the Front Street and began taking some photos as I usually do, and observed 4929 arrive on the 08:40 Newcastle-bound X25. It soon became apparent that a passenger had taken ill, as an elderly man was slumped over in one of the forward seats, and an ambulance soon arrived. Crook's 6038, presumably at Chester-le-Street for maintenance, soon appeared with one of the Leading Drivers at the wheel, who took over the situation and allowed the driver of the 08:40, by this point in time running about fifteen minutes late, run light through to Newcastle and commence the journey from there as the 09:25 to Langley Park. Nothing else was out of the ordinary, until Lolyne 3878, my personal favourite of the handful left at Chester-le-Street depot, came into view with the 09:10 to Newcastle. Boarded and asked for an Explorer, the driver was quite pleasant, and then we set off on time. Superb journey behind one of the few vehicles in the active fleet that have spent their entire career at Chester-le-Street.
I met Adrian in Eldon Square Bus Station, after he arrived on ''Red Arrows'' 6053. He decided that our first move should be ALX300 22024 on the X88 to wherever, so we boarded that. After about ten minutes, we decided to alight at a place called Etal Lane. Managed to get a photo of similar 22078 heading in the opposite direction during our time there, and then caught 22024 back to Newcastle after it had terminated and turned around for the return journey. In my opinion, the sound made by the beastly German MAN engine in the ALX300s is fantastic. We opted to alight at the Barras Bridge and then walked over to the Five Swans for a Wetherspoons breakfast. It was nice and quiet, and we both enjoyed a breakfast before continuing with our outing. Next, we caught ''Cobalt Clipper'' 6102 on the 309 to Battle Hill Drive. Sat downstairs and watched the journey go by, before spending a while at Battle Hill, getting various photos, and then moved onto ''North Tyne Links'' MPD 566 on the 41 to Wallsend. I enjoy a ride on an MPD, providing they are in decent condition, as they have a warm feeling to them, especially the unrefurbished examples; the same logic applies to the Lolynes, with the examples in original condition being more favourable in my eyes.
Upon arrival in Wallsend, we got some photos of the soon-to-be-binned MPDs, and Renown 4912 on the 17 (complete with the driver muttering some expletives under his breath at us). Got a nice photo but it was just a shame about the worthless sod sat at the wheel. Adrian had never tried one of Walkergate's Hybrid Enviro400s before, so we caught 12072 on the 40 to Newcastle. I'd never rated the Hybrid Enviro400s highly before, due to my previous experiences of them being crowded and in traffic, meaning I couldn't see them working at their best ability. We were on a very lightly loaded run, meaning we got to see 12072 flying along the route at a great speed. My opinion on them has definitely changed. After we arrived on Blackett Street, we walked down to Market Street for some photos, where I saw 5167 operating the next 27 to South Shields, so decided to bash it across to Heworth where we could get some photos, including hopefully one of the repainted ''Loop'' Solars.
We managed to get some good shots at Heworth, and headed down to the railway station to photograph Inverness-bound 1S13, operated by 43367 ''Deltic 50'' and 43310. Next up was ''Connections4'' Citaro 5360, initially to Washington Galleries, but we decided to bail at Concord for a photo of repainted ''Red Arrow'' 6003 on the 82. After this was accomplished, we boarded 5364 for the onwards journey to Washington, where we parted ways and I caught the 15:39 50 service back to Chester-le-Street, in the hands of 5258 and one of the newer drivers at Chester-le-Street. According to one of my friends who works in the engineering department at the depot, 5258 is regarded as the most reliable bus in the depot, reportedly having never broken down since it's arrival at the depot in early 2014. Was a smooth journey, despite the driver taking an incorrect turn, having wrongly assumed he was on the 8, as opposed to the 50. When I arrived back in Chester-le-Street, I got a photo of 3869, which was parked up doing absolutely nothing, and then was surprised to see Lolyne 3875 appear with the next 21 for Durham, so I photographed that before boarding it as the 16:00 to Durham, alighting shortly afterwards at my local stop, walking home for 16:30.
Was an enjoyable outing all in all, despite not really milking the Explorer to the best of my ability, as what we covered could have easily been done on a Get Around. Nevertheless, I accumulated a good number of photographs, and managed two rides on both 3878 and 3875, which I was very happy about as, as I've explained before, I have a thing for the Lolynes. Thanks for reading.
R852 PRG