Saturday 12th March 2016

Had an enjoyable outing today, using a North East Explorer ticket.

07:57 X21 6303 Chester-le-Street Corals to Newcastle Eldon Square
My day began with an alarm at 07:00. Leaving my house at 07:30, I made a leisurely walk into Chester-le-Street, arriving at 07:50ish. Didn't have to wait long before the 07:59 X21, the first of the day from Bishop Auckland all the way through to Newcastle, and it soon appeared in the form of 6303, which was to be my first of the new Streetdecks that I could clear for haulage. My favourite of the drivers at Crook was at the wheel, and we exchanged greetings as I boarded, before I received my Explorer from him and ascended the staircase. Thankfully, the front seats upstairs on the offside were available, so I took a seat there. Legroom was fantastic, and the plug sockets and WiFi worked perfectly. I had noticed, as the bus had pulled into the bus stop, that the fans were blaring, loud enough for me to hear them upstairs still. Therefore, it came as no surprise that the driver stopped outside of Chester-le-Street depot while some engineers tended to the problem. A few minutes passed before we were on our way again, and the journey through to Newcastle flew past from that point onwards. Definitely a massive improvement on the Pronto B7TLs, and as I disembarked, I asked the driver what he thought of the Streetdecks; he expressed his liking for them.

08:43 685 27141 Newcastle Eldon Square to Hexham Bus Station
As I made my way up to Percy Street, I photographed 6083 on TENs and 6118 on the 47, before I looked down and saw Stagecoach in Cumbria's 27141 coming into the uppermost stand. A trip to Hexham for some photos of the loaned vehicles from Optare, and some final photos of the MPDs before they are replaced on the local Hexham services in the near future was needed, so I decided to catch this across to Hexham. The queue was very short, but it moved incredibly slowly due to some OAPs faffing on with their bus passes. In the corner of my eye, I saw another forum member, to my left. Took a seat at the back row, on the offside, and we departed on-time. I knew that 27141, as well as sibling 27142, had high-back seating and WiFi, but I didn't realise there was an addition of seatbelts as well. Spent the majority of the journey listening to some music through my earphones, but I didn't manage to catch forty winks at any point, despite being quite tired. When Hexham came into view, I noticed the building work on the new bus station appeared to be well underway.

10:30 85 4662 Hexham Bus Station to Newcastle Eldon Square
After assisting a disabled gentleman in getting off 27141, I thanked the driver and watched him depart on his way to Carlisle, somewhere I intend to visit in the near future. I've heard it's a pretty dire place. My luck seemed to be in, as within the first ten minutes; I photographed both 9106 and 9105 on the 683 and 682 respectively. Then, I managed to shoot 557 and 558 (both of which were required), and the former had enthusiast and driver Mark Westgarth at the wheel. He stopped for a few minutes to talk to me, and seemed very nice, even offering to tell me where any of the things I was after in particular were at. Sadly, 9104, the most recent addition, was on the 681/185 runs. Following a successful visit to Hexham, I boarded Jesmond-based 4662 on the 10:27 85 back to Newcastle. Managed to bag the quadrant on the offside, next to the emergency door. I'm of the understanding that the OmniCities on the 85/685 are widely disliked by many enthusiasts, but I honestly couldn't see anything wrong with 4662. It was quick off the mark, provided some nice thrash, and the seats were relatively comfortable.

11:33 6 6126 Newcastle Eldon Square to Metrocentre Interchange
While I had been returning to Newcastle on 4662, one of my friends at Chester-le-Street depot, Ben Stoves, informed me that he was to be the 14:32 900 Metro Replacement service from North Shields to Four Lane Ends. I knew he was starting his shift in the afternoon, hence the journey to Hexham in the morning, but this later start than expected gave me some more time to play with. When I alighted 4662 in Eldon Square, I contemplated a trip to Blaydon and back on the 11, in hopes of two B10BLEs, but I then noticed OmniDekka 6126 coming in with the 11:35 service 6 for Stanley. I still needed 6126 for haulage, so I decided to catch it across to the Metrocentre (boring, I know) for the new haulage. Contrary to what I typically do with an OmniDekka ride, which is to sit upstairs, I sat downstairs. Until then, I had not seen just how poor the legroom is at the very back row of one, and, as I'm 6 foot tall, I struggled to get in, so opted for the offside quadrant instead. A pleasant journey across to the Metrocentre, I still find an OmniDekka ride to be appealing, even though their novelty has long worn off.

12:04 6 6009 Metrocentre Interchange to Newcastle Eldon Square
After I alighted 6126 in the interchange, I floated around for about ten minutes. 8266 arrived with the 12:00 S1 circular service, and I had an urge to bash it, with it's seats recently re-trimmed into the standard ''Go'' moquette. However, I saw a President coming in with an inbound 6. My hopes for up for one of the native Plaxton-bodied Tridents, but alas, I was landed with 6009; a clapped-out ex-London B7TL. I made my way to the rear of the lower saloon for this journey, sitting on the nearside as opposed to the usual offside, for a change of scenery. Not much to say about this journey really, although I have to say I think 6009 is one of the poorer ex-London Presidents. 

12:47 310 6114 Newcastle Haymarket to North Shields Town Centre
Upon return to Newcastle, I wandered across to the Haymarket, intent on catching the next Cobalt Clipper 310 up to North Shields. It turned out that I had only just missed one, so I paced up and down the bus station for about ten minutes, until the next one came in. 6114 was my chariot; I was somewhat peeved to see the young child, and presumably his grandfather, take the front seats above the driver. However, I ended up looking like I was having a stroke with my failed attempt to later contain my laughter, when the young boy randomly turned around to him and yelled ''I will f*** you up''. He must have been no younger than six. What are the current generation coming to...? I was pleased to find that the plug sockets worked perfectly on 6114, and I therefore managed to charge my phone up for the journey to North Shields. I noticed that the queue for the 900 was colossal, which worried me, as no replacement buses appeared at all for the first fifteen minutes that I was there.

14:30 900 6036 North Shields Town Centre to Four Lane Ends Interchange
Ben brought ancillary van 1020 from Chester-le-Street depot, and proceeded to park it in the layover area. We spent about twenty minutes talking, before we headed up to Railway Terrace. 6036 was the haulage for this little jolly (and, at the time that I'm writing this, he will still be jollying in!). Not my favourite, but not my least favourite of the Presidents allocated to Chester-le-Street. My previous experience of Metro Replacements put me off very much, it was during the Heworth-Monument closures at some point last May, I think. My train from Sunderland was terminated at Brockley Whins, meaning we were all stood in a housing estate for about twenty minutes until the 901 arrived, followed by a further twenty minute wait at Heworth for a 900 through to Newcastle! Was an absolute farce. Thankfully, this journey passed without any real issues, although I'd say that the time of the day and the route contributed to that fact. When we arrived at Four Lane Ends at about 15:35, I thanked Ben and then he proceeded to head over to the layover bays, while I awaited the next Arriva service back to Newcastle.

15:40 55 2848 Four Lane Ends Interchange to Newcastle Haymarket
This came in the form of the 15:38 55 service, running a couple of minutes late and in the hands of Optare Solo 2848. I noted that the driver was being mentored by an evidently more senior driver, sadly, this new starter appeared to be very rough on the brakes and too quick with the accelerator; the two of which can make a nasty combination in terms of passenger comfort. I heard other passengers voice their discomfort when the brakes were slammed on, and further to this, the chassis of the Solo felt like it was scraping off of the road. A sound that I only really associate with the Solos and Lowlanders based at Belmont. On the upside, the hasty driving got us into Haymarket on-time, despite the original loss of time when I boarded. Aside from that, it was an enjoyable journey, albeit mainly because I rarely use any of Arriva's Optare Solos.

16:05 X21 6302 Newcastle Eldon Square to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace
As the time was 15:55 when I checked my watch, I decided to head to ''Cling-on Corner'' (*shudders*) for a shot of the 16:09 when it came in. In front of the Streetdeck in the queue on Percy Street, was 'sentenced' President 6024, coming in with a 6 for Stanley. I recalled seeing a Northern OmniDekka when I was in North Shields, and it must be said, it's quite poor that a branded vehicle is doing Metro Replacements while a vehicle branded for a now non-existant brand, and supposed to be confined to scholars services only, was in it's place. Luckily, the X21 that was also entering was winner 6302 (for both photograph and haulage!). I then descended down into the bus station and boarded, but this time, I sat at the back downstairs. I like how the seats at the back are more moulded to the rear of the vehicle than those in the Streetlites, which are incredibly uncomfortable. I enjoyed listening to the whistling Voith retarder whenever we slowed down, and the rattle-free environment provided a great journey back to Chester-le-Street, where I alighted at my nearest stop.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable day out. My first impressions of the Streetdecks are overly positive, and I'm looking forward to riding and photographing more of them in the near future. Thanks for reading, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

R852 PRG