Hope everybody had a good Christmas. As I did last Tuesday, today, I embarked on another North East Explorer.
07:53 GNE X21 6303 Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace to Newcastle Eldon Square
The first bus of the day was the 0830 arrival into Eldon Square; the 0753 from my local bus stop on the Durham-Newcastle stretch. As it was a Saturday service from Go North East, this trip was the first X21 of the day. This morning, it was in the hands of 6303. This was the first of the seven Wright StreetDecks that I claimed haulage on, back on Saturday 12th March, during their first week of service on the X21, on the exact same journey as I had it on on this occasion. To be honest, I was expecting a pretty busy bus when I boarded at my stop, along with three other passengers, but when I made my way upstairs, I found it was almost totally deserted. One thing I still like about the StreetDecks is the consistency in charging sockets working. While the WiFi can be a bit hit and miss, with it sometimes working faultlessly and sometimes being a pain; the sockets tend to mostly work, and I struggle to recount an occasion where they haven't.
08:41 SC&NL 685 27142 Newcastle Eldon Square to Hexham Bus Station
The service terminated at Eldon Square and I alighted here, with the intention of catching the 0845 685 service to Hexham, so I could check out the recently opened bus station, which replaced an older building that had been present in the town centre since 1933, but was sadly no longer capable of coping with the heavy bus traffic and congestion. I will definitely remember it as a quaint, traditional structure. Another recent introduction is the ''Cross Pennine'' brand on service 85/685 (Newcastle-Carlisle), with three Stagecoach vehicles; two Enviro300s and one Solo SR, and a few Arriva Omnicities, sporting the rather smart livery. To try and kill two birds with one stone, I caught the 685 over. This morning, the first Stagecoach-operated journey to leave Eldon Square was in the hands of 27141. I found the vehicle to be alright; seating was comfortable, but the low traffic and passenger numbers meant the driver just restricted it to trundling along the route to keep to time.
10:05 GNE 74 670 Hexham Bus Station to Newcastle Eldon Square
Spent about twenty minutes looking around the new bus station and getting photographs of vehicles leaving. I noticed the 74 coming into the bus station, with Optare Solo SR 670 (required for haulage!) being the allocated vehicle and decided I would catch this back across to Newcastle. Following a driver changeover, I boarded at bang-on 1000 and patiently waited for the departure. This was the first time I used the 74, and it has to be said, the scenery is brilliant on this route. The country lane running and timetable allows one to see how quick off the mark Solos can be, and I also noted we passed several horses along the desolate roads, with the friendly driver waving to their riders. Will definitely be doing the 74 at some point in 2017. I was the only passenger until the Ponteland area; rather than face a wait in Ponteland for a Stagecoach X78 service, I decided to carry on with 670 to Newcastle, where I would meet Adrian around 1145.
11:59 SNE 62 10638 Newcastle Blackett Street to Chapel House
As 670 was waiting to descend Prudhoe Place and into Eldon Square, I noticed a couple of police officers were directing traffic due to severe congestion. Took a good five minutes to get into the bus station. Adrian notified me that he had 6142 on the X1, so I headed up to Percy Street for a photograph, seeing one of my driver friends from Chester-le-Street with 4957 on the Waggonway, conversing across the road before chatting in the bus station while he was waiting to depart. After meeting with Adrian, I was again momentarily distracted when I saw another friend in the cab of 3965, who thanked me for the photo of him I had had printed and dropped in the mail for him on Christmas Eve. With that done, we headed out to Blackett Street with the aim of catching a 62 to Chapel House and a 40 back, to get an MMC and a Hybrid. 10638 was our chariot, with a pretty light loading of passengers, and everything working as it should. I remain a huge fan of the Enviro400MMC.
12:38 SNE 40 12072 Chapel House to Newcastle Blackett Street
We realised we were at the terminus of the 62 when the driver turned the vehicle off, so we quickly alighted. I attempted a photo, but was faced with the poor light due to the position of the sun, so returned to the bus stop to stand with Adrian. Our plan was to catch the 40 back to the city centre then look for an Enviro200MMC on the 30/31. As stated in my last review, where I travelled on an E400H on the 39 from Walker to Newcastle, I am a fan of these Hybrids. They're in pretty good condition given they will be six years of age in 2017. It is just a shame that the 39 and 40 serve some absolute dire places, meaning you sort of have to surrender your dignity for some half-decent modern-age haulage. The service filled up pretty quickly shortly after leaving Chapel House, and at the risk of being controversial, I think Adrian and I may have been the only White people sat in the downstairs saloon...!
13:17 SNE 30 26063 Newcastle Pilgrim Street to Whickham View to Newcastle Grainger Street
Now back in Newcastle, we jumped off 12072 at Blackett Street, making a quick walk across to Pilgrim Street for a 30/31 towards Whickham View/Montagu Estate respectively. While this outing was not the outing dedicated to getting photographs of the E200MMCs, which I do intend to do at some point in January or February, with the E400MMCs thrown into the mix too for some variety; it was decided that it would be a poor choice to not have a ride on at least one of them while we had the opportunity. This wasn't the busiest journey, but it wasn't quiet either. Aside from the USB ports not playing ball, I was highly impressed by this example, 26063. With a similar mechanical set-up to the Wright StreetLite, and a direct competitor as well, I couldn't really notice any difference in the sounds, except for the absence of a rattling emergency exit door! Bodywork was very sturdy, and the vehicle overall just seemed to be very well-built.
14:25 SNE 38 19670 Newcastle Pilgrim Street to Freeman Hospital
While we were on the 30, I had planned to alight at Whickham View and then catch a 38 to the Freeman Hospital, I didn't actually notice the turning circle for Whickham View at any point along the route. I blame my lack of attention, I was enjoying the E200MMC too much. When Adrian pointed out that we were back in Newcastle, I realised we could still catch a 38 from there, but chose to alight on Grainger Street after sitting there for a few minutes doing nothing. We grabbed a quick bite to eat before making our way round to Pilgrim Street, noticing heavy congestion on Market Street as we walked there. 19670 was our bus to the Freeman, a nice vehicle that was quite fast when let loose on an open road, we took a seat at the back downstairs. I have to admit that, in terms of ease to use between notable locations, the 38 is probably one of my favourite Stagecoach routes. We began leap-frogging our next intended target, the 54, close to the Freeman, which had me on edge...
14:53 ANE 54 4523 Freeman Hospital to Newcastle Haymarket
As I had noticed the Cramlington-bound 54 departing just ahead of us on 19670, we reviewed the timetables in the hope that a Stagecoach service would be following quickly behind us, to take us to Four Lane Ends, so that we could stick to the plan and get another Enviro400MMC in for haulage on a 62/63 move back to the city centre. Adrian had no issues mocking me for my clear inability to read a Nexus timetable (being a County Durham resident and all that), and we established we had just missed an 18 as well. Rather than face a wait until 1514 for the next Arriva 54, we crossed the road for something back to Newcastle. Quite luckily, we managed to catch Volvo B10BLE 4523. Having travelled on this example earlier in the month, ironically, on the 54 between the Freeman and Newcastle, I had high expectations because I recalled it having a very melodious gearbox. I wasn't disappointed, will definitely miss these when they go. A more 'in-depth' bash of them may be in order.
15:14 ANE 43 7468 Newcastle Haymarket to Regent Centre
Arrival back into Haymarket was at 1507, and one of my plans had been to catch the Nexus-secured 33 service up to Gosforth the long way round, then get another Stagecoach Enviro200MMC on the 30/31 back to the city centre. However, I knew that the 33 departed from Pilgrim Street on a half-hourly basis at xx:07 and xx:37 minutes past each hour, so rather than walk there and get photos to kill time, Adrian suggested we caught something up to Regent Centre. 7468, an ex-London DAF DB250RS/Alexander ALX400, was waiting to depart with a 43 to Cramlington, and as we both quite like this vehicle type, we chose to catch that. Passenger numbers were decent, with the lower deck being pretty much fully occupied. One trait of the DAF ALX400s that I quite like is the sideways-facing seats downstairs, they're just a bit different to what I am used to. I don't think they're present on the Volvo B7TLs cascaded north earlier this year, but then again, I've only been on one.
15:39 T&WM 4008+4084 Regent Centre to Heworth
We attempted some photos at Regent Centre after we alighted, but the low light conditions made it quite difficult. After debating where to head next, we decided to make our way to Heworth, then catch a Go North East 82 to Concord, followed by an 85/86 to Washington, where we would part ways. As we had not made a journey on the Metro on this day, we decided to catch the next service to Heworth from Regent Centre so we could get a decent-length run on the Metro in. When we got down to the platform, which was void of any other intending passengers, to find we had a wait of eight minutes until the next train. When it rolled to a stop, with 4004 leading and 4084 on the rear, we opted to sit in 4084 as it looked to be quieter. Managed to secure two seats facing each other in the middle of the body of the carriage. The train got very busy all of a sudden at Gateshead, but we didn't have to suffer it for long as Heworth was only a few minutes away.
16:17 GNE 82 682 Heworth Metro to Concord Bus Station
With dusk now slowly creeping across the sky above, we made our way outside for some photos. I find the dusk to be frustrating because grainy photos seem more common; low-light conditions tend to be a bit of a bane in my life when it comes to photographs, I prefer complete light or pitch black, just so I know for sure what sort of settings I should be shooting in. Our plan was to catch the 1617 82 service to Concord, then an 85/86 to Washington, so I could hopefully tick off a winner ex-Thames Solo. When it showed up, the driver in the cab was a new starter, being mentored by a young woman with red hair, who I overheard telling him about the ups and downs of being a depot mentor. Much like 670 earlier in the day, 682 had a pretty decent ride quality, although it was, unfortunately, a 'dud' for haulage. Passenger numbers remained pretty much the same throughout this journey; no more than half a dozen on board.
16:52 GNE 86 705 Concord Bus Station to Washington Galleries
By now pretty much pitch black, we alighted in Concord Bus Station with the intention of catching another indiGo service, an 85 or 86, across to Washington, to try and get another M880 Solo for haulage. I reviewed the timetable; there was an 85 due at 16:38, with the 86 behind it expected to depart at 16:52. The 16:38 service never turned up, but during our wait, we observed a driver bringing 5249 from Washington depot to change over with 5259, only to find out there wasn't a need to swap the vehicles over! 705 eventually turned up with the 16:52 86, which I rolled my eyes at, as it was the sole example of the original-bodied Solos acquired earlier in the year that I had already been on! The driver seemed nice enough, making the effort to exchange with passengers. I don't mind these Solos, they aren't as nippy as the Solo SRs, but do the job they're destined for pretty well, I suppose.
17:18 GNE 8 5396 Washington Galleries to Chester-le-Street South Burns
Adrian carried on with 705, while I alighted at the Galleries. It was 17:05, and after reviewing the timetables, I had a fifteen-minute wait until my bus back to Chester-le-Street, the 17:21 number 8, was expected. At Stand A, a disorderly queue for the X1 and 4, both due before the 8, had formed. To my appeasement, the X1 came in the form of 6141, which I still needed a photograph of. May I offer my sincerest apologies that it is a bus station shot - I'm ashamed of myself... https://www.flickr.com/photos/142814434@...ed-public/. I eventually saw the distinct white destination blind on a StreetLite coming along the road, so prepared to board. The vehicle was 5396, a mega dud, but not a bad bus overall. Plug socket was working without any issues, which was refreshing for a StreetLite! Got back to Chester-le-Street at 17:40, at which point I alighted and began to make my way home.
In summary, it was a thoroughly enjoyable outing. With thirteen journies, it took quite a while longer than I expected to get this published. Hope you all enjoyed reading. As it's unlikely I'll be out properly again until the New Year, I'd like to wish all readers all the best for 2017.
R852 PRG