Saturday 13th February 2016

My outing from today, on a North East Explorer:

08:35 X21 6035 Chester-le-Street Corals to Gateshead Interchange
I'd arranged to meet fellow forum member Jimmi in Newcastle, catch the 09:30 X20 up to Ashington, and have a day out in the Northumberland area before returning to Newcastle via Blyth, Whitley Bay, North Shields and Wallsend. I made the usual twenty minute walk into Chester-le-Street, arriving on the Front Street for around 08:15. I'd decided to catch the 08:28 X21 service through to Newcastle; in hopes of another Pronto President, before they are removed from the service when the Streetdecks arrive. 6035 was my chariot, running a few minutes late and with no more than five passengers already on board. I sat at the back, and all of a sudden, we stopped outside of Chester-le-Street depot. I saw Ben Stoves was leaving the depot with 5401 as we passed. The driver told us that we were waiting for some water to be added to the coolant, and within a few minutes, the engine died. About five minutes of silent waiting ensued, before the driver got back in his cab and started 6035 up again. He thrashed it down the A1(M), taking a few shortcuts to get us to Gateshead as quick as possible, as we were dreadfully late, but upon arrival at Gateshead Interchange, the driver got out of his cab and asked us all to alight here and get on another bus. He was one of the older members of staff at Crook, I think he may have worked for OK Travel.

09:04 21 6067 Gateshead Interchange to Newcastle Eldon Square
I conversed with the driver of 6035 briefly about the new buses, and he told me when they would be on the road. After departing his company, he parked up in the layovers, and I headed to find another bus through to Newcastle. Angel Hybrid 6067 was the first to appear, so I decided to catch that. One of the leading drivers at Chester-le-Street was at the wheel. The engine sounded incredibly rough, which was quite unusual, as I think the Hybrids are usually spot on. Think it may have been in limp mode as it was going very slowly. I can still vividly remember how much of a novelty these were when they entered service in October 2012, with the plush headrests, free WiFi and Next Stop Announcements (although the lattermost quickly became something of a liberty); all of which are now expected by customers upon hearing news of brand new buses.

09:23 X20 7413 Newcastle Haymarket to Ashington Bus Station
I walked across to Haymarket, floated around the stand for the X20, and Jimmi soon arrived, as arranged. We were initially going to stay in the Durham area today, to bash some of the Lowlanders, but decided to do something else instead. Ex-London and recent entry into service 7413 was our vehicle for the run up to Ashington. Fortunately, we managed to seat ourselves at the front upstairs, Jimmi took the nearside while I sat above the driver on the offside. Another forum member boarded this run, and sat downstairs, later alighting at Regent Centre. This was my first experience of one of these, and I have to say I thought it was quite decent. Didn't have any issues getting up to speed on the motorway, and it was very smooth, with few rattles. The internal refurbishment was quite nice too, in my opinion. When we got to Ashington, we jumped ship for a few photos.

10:30 1 1791 Ashington Bus Station to Blyth Bus Station
7415, an example identical to the vehicle we had just been on, was parked up in the layover, out of service, so we took a few photos of it. Blyth's 1791 soon appeared, with the 10:32 service 1 to Blyth, so we decided to catch this across rather than stick around in the slowly deteriorating weather. The driver was incredibly pleasant and greeted me as I boarded. We sat at the back for this journey, this MPD was very fast and had no issues with acceleration, but I find that can be a common trait of some MPDs. One thing that must be note, however, is how busy this run got. Standing room only at more than one point. I think a full-time allocation of Pulsars would be more suitable than MPDs. After an alright journey from Ashington, we arrived into Blyth at 11:10.

11:24 308 7808 Blyth Bus Station to Whitley Bay Town Centre
Following some photos at Blyth, where we caught another of the ex-London B7TLs amongst various other MAX Geminis and Coastliner Hybrids, we boarded 7808 on the 11:27 308 service, intent on travelling as far as Whitley Bay before alighting there for some photos. A passenger had spilled some strange substance all over the front of the upper saloon, so we sat behind the stairs. I've had only two experiences of the Hybrids on the 308 before; both of which were from Newcastle to Blyth (although I bailed at Whitley Bay on the second occasion – as I was feeling suicidal with the stop-start nature of the route and how hot it was). The bus left Blyth with a very small load, and the journey to Whitley Bay was excellent, with very few stops and the pleasant scenery out to sea providing a splendid backdrop. We passed citaro5284 at Seaton Sluice; he was on his way to the fish and chips shop on one of his usual Saturday jaunts.

12:24 17 4915 Whitley Bay Town Centre to North Shields Town Centre
We photographed a few Coastliner Hybrids and Cobalt Clipper B9TLs while we were in Whitley Bay, and we decided to catch the 12:16 17 service to North Shields, in hopes of a native Volvo B10BLE. Thankfully, our luck was in, as, although it was running late and that was not great in the downpour at the time, 4915 appeared. I led Jimmi to the back, to allow us to experience the full thrash. As per usual, a fantastic journey, I needed 4915 for haulage (one of the few B10s required!) so this was another bonus. Alighted in North Shields, where we got some photos of it, and then looked around helplessly in a vain attempt to locate the stand for the 1 to Gateshead/Wrekenton. 

13:08 1 5274/5269 North Shields Town Centre to Wallsend The Forum
Eventually, we managed to find the bus stop we were looking for, with the help of Google Maps. Before long, I sighted a red OmniCity coming along in the distance, operating the 13:09 1 service from that stop. We managed to secure the seats at the emergency exit, where the legroom is plentiful. Was a smooth journey, and was only disrupted when we arrived at Percy Main, where the driver got out of his cab and informed us of a vehicle switchover. Coaster branded 5269 was our replacement, and it was much colder than 5274, which wasn't great given how bad it was outside. Nevertheless, it provided an enjoyable journey up until Wallsend, where we chose to alight.

13:58 12 19388 Wallsend Interchange to Newcastle Blackett Street
We walked through the hail (which was actually physically painful) and down into the interchange. Blyth's 7458, a unique vehicle within the Arriva fleet, was parked up out of service, in between duties on the Metro Replacement 900 service. I had a desire to bash it, but decided against it when I saw a Metro coming in, and loads of people descending into the interchange to catch it. Photographed 549, the oldest MPD branded for the North Tyne Links, and would have had 554 as well, but the driver shook his finger at us as if to tell us we weren't allowed, so we didn't bother. He smiled as if to say thank you as he exited the interchange, which seemed quite odd, but most likely just out of appreciation for us not taking his photo. Presumably he's on Yewtree's hitlist. Caught Stagecoach Enviro400 19388 on the 12 to Newcastle, which was an enjoyable and fast journey.

14:36 33 110 Newcastle Pilgrim Street to Regent Centre Interchange
We saw Kingsley's Cadet 110 as we turned onto John Dobson Street, and as I needed a photo as well as a ride on it since it's arrival in the Kingsley's fleet a few months ago, I decided it was a good idea to bash this across to Regent Centre. On Pilgrim Street, it turned the corner and I got a photograph of it before crossing over and joining Jimmi on board, double checking that Explorers were valid with the driver, to be flagged on by him. I noticed a few internal differences from when it was with Go North East. The nice Allison gearbox made easy work of the undemanding route up to Regent Centre, passing through Jesmond, one of the nicest suburbs of Newcastle. It didn't sound the same as when it was with Go North East, a bit rougher and poorly-kept, but it did the job. Was nice to have 110 cleared for photo and haulage.

15:10 X14 4659 Regent Centre Interchange to Newcastle Haymarket
After jumping off 110, Jimmi and I got some photos at Regent Centre, observing Sapphire 7527 take a load from the Sapphire behind, with the Sapphire behind it then spinning around on a run to Newbiggin. We received a middle finger from an OAP on a Pulsar; I swiftly returned it. I noticed a MAX OmniCity was coming in, and as I needed one of the Ashington-based examples for haulage, I decided we'd catch that back to Newcastle. The loading on it was about half full, but we managed to sit together, at the seats before the quadrant on the offside. Was quite an enjoyable journey, and within ten minutes, we arrived back into Haymarket. 

15:28 21 3962 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace
We went to get some shots of buses on Percy Street, and I noticed Ben Stoves, who I spent the morning with last Saturday, was driving Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 3962 on a 21 for Durham, so Jimmi and I decided to catch this back. Ben greeted me as I boarded, and I stood at the front to talk to him while Jimmi headed upstairs. I noticed 3962 had some new seating installed; it looked incredibly smart as the previous Civic V3 seating had become very shabby and tatty over time. Ben mentioned that Biglugs had boarded 5401 on his 50 earlier in the day, from Concord to Boldon ASDA. He told me that he was driving 14s and X22s tomorrow morning, followed by the 28 and the 34A in the afternoon, but I had stuff on, although I may have otherwise joined him for some photos en-route. Upon arrival in Chester-le-Street, I jumped off for a photo of him driving, as did Jimmi, although Jimmi headed to Tesco, so I thanked him for his company and we parted ways. When we got to my local stop, Ben held on for a moment, and allowed me to cross over and get a photo of 3962 there, which came out quite well. As I was about to start my long walk home, I was most surprised to see MurdnunoC was parked up in a van, I went to converse with him for a while, and he informed me that he was waiting there on purpose as he suspected I would get off a bus there at around 16:00. I'm too predictable, that's for sure. Will make sure of something else next time!

It was a great Explorer overall; I certainly enjoyed myself and amassed a good amount of photos. New haulages include: 7413, 1791, 7808, 4915, 5269, 19388, 110 and 4659. Thanks to Jimmi for his company. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thank you for reading.

R852 PRG