Saturday 29th October 2016

Had a thoroughly enjoyable day in Edinburgh in the company of Adrian, Sean and citaro5284, and the time has come for me to publish the review. 

07:43 1S02 91132 Newcastle Central Station to Edinburgh Waverley Station
I was picked up by citaro5284 at 0645, making a detour to Heworth in order to collect Adrian, before arriving at Central Station for about 0715. After Sean joined us, we headed to our platform for our train north. 91132 was identified as the locomotive as it rolled to a halt; I am a fan of the 91s, and I'll miss them when they're eventually withdrawn in the coming future. As this one was a winner, I'm now one closer to having them all ticked off for haulage. It would be nice if I could get all thirty-one of them before then. Our table of four was in the centre of coach E, and we were entertained during the journey by the guard, named Sean, who kept cracking jokes and practised a magic act. Brilliant guy, thought it was worth tweeting VTEC in hopes he would receive some praise. This set was unrefurbished, potentially the last journey I will make on an unrefurbished Mk4 set.

10:39 Tram 263 Princes Street Tram Stop to Gyle Centre Tram Stop
After alighting the train, which was terminating at Waverley, Sean led us out of the station and into the adjacent Wetherspoons. I sampled the Scottish Breakfast, I've had nicer breakfasts at other Wetherspoons, particularly at the one near the station in York, but this did the job and filled me up. Exited the Wetherspoons and made our way along Princes Street to the nearest tram stop. Rather than get our day tickets on a bus, we just got them from the machines here. The material from which the ticket is produced feels a lot longer lasting than your average bus ticket, too. My second time on one of the Edinburgh Trams, and I was just as impressed as I was the first time. Very comfortable to ride. There were two guards on this, one of which was being trained; the other, his mentor. 

11:13 22 338 Gyle Centre Shopping Centre to Princes Street
We alighted the tram (263) at Gyle Centre after travelling a few stops, in order to make a strategic move and head to Ocean Terminal. The plan was to get a 22 back to Princes Street and then tick off a Volvo 7900 by heading to Easter Road and catching a 35 onwards to Ocean Terminal, hopefully an Omnicity double decker. I've used the 22 before and sampled the B9TLs on there. To me, the B9TL is the modern day Olympian; fast, powerful and comfortable, with marks from drivers alike for drive quality. Slowly started to pick up passengers heading into the city centre, and the upper saloon where we decided to sit quickly became about half full. There was a driver changeover at a bus stop along the route, comparable to how Percy Main do their changeovers, with the depot nearby and drivers commuting using an ancillary van. Got to Princes Street and walked down to the bus stop for the 1 service.

11:54 1 5 Princes Street to Easter Road
First time I have sampled one of these 7900 things, and I was very impressed. Number 5 is a 14-plate, so coming up to three years of age, and there was barely a rattle from the bodywork. How many Streetlites, aged a year and a half, aren't complete bone shakers? Much like our Volvo B5LHs on the Angel and Coastliner, the stop-start hybrid engine meant that we would pull away from stops in full electric mode before full diesel came in. That distinct sound is one that I have become very much accustomed to since late 2012 when 6056-6070 were introduced on the 21, and it is one that I really like. I would be more than happy to sample another of these modern-age beasts again at some point in the future. Alighted at the terminus to find we had an eighteen minute wait for the 35 to Ocean Terminal, so citaro5284 and Sean took a wander while Adrian and I got some photos on Easter Road.

12:33 35 629 Easter Road to Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre
After observing yet another 1 terminate and turn around to head to Clermiston, we saw another one in the distance, but trailing behind a President this time. I was very happy about this, as I have always had a soft for the President bodywork, irrespective of the chassis. From seeing the Trident Presidents on the 21/21A/21B as a young one, and being drawn to their front panels, which looked to display a 'happy' facial expression, to seeing a batch of V-LGC B7TLs migrate north from London; I have always had a soft spot for the bodywork. The downstairs saloon was quite full so we ventured upstairs, only to find it was even more so up there! One table was present on the nearside towards the front, which seemed a little pointless, as there were no other tables anywhere else on the bus. 

13:36 34 563 Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre to Princes Street
Upon arrival at Ocean Terminal, we disembarked from 629 and headed into the shopping centre for a sit down and a bite to eat. The allocation to the 34 is Volvo B5TL/Wright Gemini 3s, although with the modernised body now sold with StreetDecks. I remember trying one last time I was in Edinburgh, for the depot open day last year (564), and found it to be very good. With the usual power of a Volvo and the glazed windows on the roof, these are definitely a decent ride. One thing we noticed on this journey is that all Lothian Buses have free WiFi available, but plug sockets are absent. 

14:17 14 763 Waverley Bridge to Craigmillar Castle
We alighted 563 on Princes Street, and Sean began leading us across the Waverley Bridge to visit the 'old town'. Me being me, I assumed he had something else in mind, but then we noticed a 14 for Greendykes was imminently due, so stuck around for it. Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 763, a 56-reg example, was our steed. My goodness, the kickdowns from the Voith gearbox in this were something else entirely. Whenever pulling away from a junction, the surge of power and scream of the Voith accelerating was fantastic. Not usually a Voith fan, due to be 'raised on' ZF Ecomat, but I cannot deny that they're musical and fascinating things to listen to. We alighted near Craigmillar Castle and crossed the road for the next thing back to the city centre.

14:40 14 643 Craigmillar Castle to Waverley Bridge
Turned out to be another 14 service; I was pleased to see that we were about to treated to our second President of the day, number 643. citaro5284 made his way upstairs while Adrian, Sean and I sat downstairs. Same mechanical figuration as 629 earlier on, although it seemed to be a bit more gutsy. A guy boarded along the route and I can't help but think he milked the disabled card. One thing I noticed on this journey that further amplified my own consensus about cities such as Edinburgh is you always get a flow of passengers boarding and alighting a service; buses rarely seem to run around carrying fresh air only, exclusion can perhaps be given to a ''leap frogger'', which we observed earlier on when we had 563 on the 34 from Ocean Terminal.

15:01 5 957 Waverley Bridge to Piershill Square East
No sooner had we alighted 643 on Waverley Bridge, with just under two hours before our train, the 1700 off Edinburgh (1E24), Sean suggested we catch a 5 a few stops out of the city centre and then catch something else back, providing we were on a busy corridor. The ride was 957; an 11-plate Volvo B9TL with Wright Gemini 2 bodywork, we were amazed to see Jimmi of all people shortly after we departed! Complete coincidence. After about ten minutes, we decided to alight at Piershill Square East and catch the next thing back to Waverley Bridge or Princes Street.

15:22 5 958 Piershill Square East to Waverley Bridge
The next bus in fleet-number order was our return journey for the 5, no different to 957 really; the clagging noise produced by the manifold gasket being on its way out, much like the Volvo B9TLs on the X9/X10. A 26 had come along just beforehand, but the heavy loading put us off boarding, and with another 5 following imminently, we decided to just go with this. Sat at the rear of the downstairs saloon and picked up quite a few passengers on the way back into the city centre. While the 26 would have dropped us off at Princes Street, we didn't mind the walk back from Waverley Bridge, that was until Sean dragged us to a 'winner Spoons'! Got there for 1600 and had to quickly drink before heading back to the station, arriving just after 1630. Sean and I went to photograph 90047 and 67021 while Adrian and citaro5284 headed straight to our waiting train on Platform 9.

17:00 1E24 91107 Edinburgh Waverley Station to Newcastle Central Station
Another winner for haulage! We were booked into First Class for our return journey, the set of coaches were refurbished as well so I got to sample the refurbished First Class. Our coach, M, was quite quiet, with about ten other passengers in total, spread out over the coach. Departure from Waverley was punctual, with refreshments quickly being served, but not before the Scottish guard came through our coach, lacking manners and inspecting tickets as closely as possible. He made the same announcement three times in fifteen minutes, each filled with irrelevant drivel, guessing he likes the sound of his own voice. Other than that, the journey south was quite enjoyable. Upon return to Newcastle at 1828, I got a quick photo of 91107 and its nameplate, ''Skyfall'', at the top of Platform 4 before heading outside to meet my dad; arriving home at bang-on 1900. 

All in all, a fantastic day out. My thanks to those who joined me. Hope you enjoyed this review.

R852 PRG