Had another outing in the Lakes today, here's how it played out...
0640 7 Newton Aycliffe, Blue Bridge - Durham Bus Station (ANE 7537)
Different starting place than usual and much earlier than normal. Not the best start, arrived about 6 minutes late and was over 10 minutes late arriving into Durham but fortunately I had a fair bit of time before catching my connecting train...
0758 Durham Rail Station - Newcastle Central Station (Northern 142087)
The trend of late running continued here, as it arrived 15 minutes late owing to signal failure at Thornaby (this journey originated from Saltburn) so this made my quick walk a little pointless. Of course the late arrival meant more passengers, think just about every seat was taken upon departure from Durham and there was people standing all the way down the carriage upon departure from Chester-le-Street. Arrived at Central Station where I then alighted the train, only to pretty much immediately re-board it...
0824 Central Station - Carlisle (Northern 142087)
As I correctly predicted, the 08:24 departure to Carlisle did my previous run. Due to this having a bit of a layover before departure, it departed Newcastle on-time. This Pacer wasn't too bad actually and I managed to find a reasonably comfortable seat. Some good views on this line, I would recommend getting the train, better than spending 2+ hours on the 685 although that route does have it's charm, it is long though. Arrived into Carlisle Rail Station to discover it is pretty much a construction site at the moment. Headed round getting a few photos but something made me abandon my original plan...
1048 600 Carlisle - Cockermouth, Main Street (Stagecoach 16661)
Yep, I found a Volvo Olympian! Each ride on one of these could be my last (in passenger service at least) so I have to take every chance I get. I think this has to be the best Volvo Olympian I have ever been on, driver absolutely thrashed it on the A roads to Cockermouth, it went like a rocket and despite being pushed to the limit, there was very little rattles, for these reasons I will be sad to these exiled to the history books. This bus additionally had seatbelts. Although I don't regret opting for this, it would have been intresting to ride the coach that was operating the 554 I originally intended getting to Keswick.
1142 X5? Cockermouth - Keswick Bus Station (Stagecoach 28747)
Fortunately 16661 pulled in behind this in Cockermouth enabling a swift change, it also enabled me to get my first taste of Stagecoach Gold, I didn't see much because I sat in the seat behind the drivers cab which was surprisingly well padded. Disappointingly the WiFi didn't work. Arrived in Keswick at around 12:15, not long after my originally intended 554.
1238 77 Keswick - Chapelfield Cottage (Stagecoach 47921)
Someone from Stagecoach was issuing tickets to passengers whilst they waited at the bus stop for the 77 to arrive. 8 minutes late, we got Optare Solo SR 47921 for this journey. Quite a intresting little route this was with some tight roads and some cracking scenery. Not the best bus it has to be said, was a bit shaky. As we got to Seatoller I looked to see if there was a open top ALX400 on the 78 coming but there was no sign... Until we set off, I decided to alight the 77 at the next stop as I was a bit sick of being on that Solo.
1355 78 Chapelfield Cottage - Keswick (Stagecoach 17490)
Sat at the back upstairs and took in the air, which was nice and refreshing after over an hour on that Solo SR. Nice route with decent scenery and twisty roads.
1430 206 Keswick - Patterdale Hotel (Stagecoach 47722)
Old style Solo for this journey, nowt fantastic but it was pretty decent to ride on ride on, apart from the advert that had partially peeled off and was flapping around. Pretty quiet run, only a few passengers for the whole journey. Canny route for scenery as well. Alighted at Patterdale Hotel to wait for my next bus, but would it be the one I wanted?
1524 508 Patterdale Hotel - Penrith Bus Station (Stagecoach 17217)
...Nope! I wanted open top Volvo Olympian P534EFL (16534) but instead got a open top ALX400 instead. Me, a few others and a family boarded at Patterdale, not long after boarding the mother moved the family out of the open top section of the bus for fear of being hit by the branches, killjoy! At this point another family with young kids boarded and sat in the open top section and they had a blast, they were grabbing branches ducking from the branches and having a good time, as was I, sorry to the children who had to sit under the roof, it's not the same! Cracking route with some great scenery on offer, I'd highly recommend but only the runs that terminate at Patterdale Hotel use open top buses in high season only, the other journeys which continue to Windermere use Dart's.
1631 104 Penrith Bus Station - Carlisle, English Street (Stagecoach 22889)
Thought I was getting a ALX400 but disappointingly I got a E300, even more annoying when I saw a Volvo Olympian going the other way during this journey. Not a bad route this one to be honest.
1728 Carlisle - Newcastle Central Station (Northern 156443)
Went to get sausage and chips on the way to catching my train home but I dropped my sausage which really annoyed me, especially as it happened the last time I came to Carlisle as well! Not much to say about this journey as was rather tired by this point.
1935 Newcastle - Durham (CrossCountry)
Didn't catch the number of this. This was operating with two Voyagers but only used the Voyager at the rear, this was a bit of a prat about waiting and getting on this with the front being not in passenger use and at 19:30 we still had no clue what was going on until we got an announcement and staff going round advising us to head to the rear, had to guess which coach was which and such as the screens were saying "out of service" so I just sat anywhere.
2015 7 Durham Bus Station - Newton Aycliffe, Big Club W.M.C. (ANE 1513)
Standard 7 journey really, nothing to really add here.
Hope you enjoyed this review, I enjoyed this outing and will certainly be returning to the Lakes again at some point.
If you want a Volvo Olympian, I suggest heading over to Carlisle during these holidays as there was two out on the 600 today with me getting the beast that is 16661 and another one was on the 104 this afternoon.
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