Ain't done one of these in a while, so...
0800 7 Newton Aycliffe - Durham North Road (ANE 7540)
I seem to be becoming a regular on this run on my weekday outings. Pretty uneventful journey really but annoyingly the traffic at DurhamGate made me miss the X12 again, also didn't help having to go through Durham Bus Station to drop us off on the temporary stop on North Road owing to roadworks as this is a Framwellgate Moor journey.
0906 X21 Gateshead Interchange (GNE 6305)
Got stuck with the X21 since I missed the X12. I didn't mind the StreetDeck's when they first entered service but I have started to develop a hatred for them as having had these from Durham to Newcastle far too frequently recently I have become bored of them but worse still the panel above the back window upstairs shakes like hell and gives you a pounding headache and worse still where did I end up sat on this journey? Yep, at the back upstairs, never thought I'd be happy to get off a bus at Gateshead Interchange!
1025 X1 Washington Galleries (GNE 6055)
As I wanted the Optare MetroDecker demonstrator, I saw what was on a few of the X1 runs in both directions before concluding that it will be somewhere en-route to Newcastle, so as I didn't want to stand waiting for it in the same spot for up to 2 hours, I jumped on 6055 to Washington Galleries. MetroDecker passed us in Wrekenton so worked out the times from there for a photo. An unfortunate thing that happened in this journey was something happened to the lid on my water bottle and it soaked my jeans.
1129 X1 Hetton Road (GNE 6052)
After getting some IndiGo Solo's which I didn't know where going to be out today, I got this to my chosen photo spot, fortunately a less eventful journey than the last. Got off along Hetton Road in the Houghton-le-Spring area to photograph 9099 which was on the run behind 6052, didn't go quite to plan as I got the position of the sun all wrong but was brilliant on the other side of the road but passing traffic made things tricky but got a good shot of 9099 (with some editing) also managed to get Arriva's MAX 7423 on the ED2 to East Durham College (Peterlee Campus). Here's my photo of 9099: https://flic.kr/p/MRPt9N
1221 X1 Newcastle Eldon Square (GNE 9099)
Impressions on this, I actually quite like it! Yes it feels and looks a bit plastic inside but the performance on the A roads on the route actually wasn't bad at all and this was pretty rattle and shake free certainly compared to 6305 this morning at least, I think I actually prefer this to a StreetDeck although I can't see GNE going for them unfortunately.
1403 X36 Sunderland (GNE 5214)
After a break in Newcastle (not a massive fan of the place personally), I then headed to Sunderland opting for the X36 so I wasn't getting another B9 and replicating a fair chunk of the X1 route again. This has to be one of the better Solar's I have been on recently, mind still shook like mad over the speed humps and terrible road surfaces on this route.
1520 X21/21 Newton Aycliffe (ANE 4813)
Managed to photograph 628 on the 2A but nearly missed it as I was expecting it to appear on the 700 but had been re-allocated to the 2A at some point in the day. I then headed home on 4813 which pleased me because of its more comfortable seats, performance and of course WiFi that works. Photo of 628: https://flic.kr/p/MJP2ej
1650 5 Home (ANE 1425)
Just managed to catch this for a short hop home rather than walking.
Thanks for reading, no idea when the next review will be.
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