(15 Aug 2022, 11:43 am)tcts24 wrote It was the "Super 6" Dart's that saw off the RE's. Stockton got those new replacing Lynx's for Hartlepool in November '97. Hartlepool got 5 new Dart's in '96, P457-61EEF but yea, they wern't about long before heading to Darlington. The Lynx's survived up to 2004 being replaced by the new 2004 Dart's.

As for buses struggling on Tees Road, the only one's I've had bother with are the limp mode ADL's. The MAN's are absolutely fine. The only issue is there's 2 of them we can't turn the engine off at Middlesbrough Bus Station because the injectors are shot and they wont start again.

That’s not quite right.  The last RE run in November 1997 but the super six darts didn’t enter service till Spring 1999. The Lynx’s where brought in to replace the remaining RE. The super six darts in affect replaced the leyland national as they went the same time the super six was launched with the majority of Falcon also gone by that point. The last falcon managed to survive till the Autumn of 2000 when the step entrance darts entered service.  The lynx’s got withdrawn in Late 2003 but same went to Stockton with others been turned into driver training buses. The Newcastle B10B replaced them. The service 1 didn’t get the Darts till Spring 2004 and it definitely the step entrance darts. One step entrance dart did come back in 2007 mainly doing the 5/7/7A/12 services but that went with the Volvos in 2008 when the Manviros entered service.  
some of the Volvos went to Newcastle with some going to Stockton.  

As a passenger have heard quite a few man’s struggle along the Tees Road. My understanding was that was why if possible they were never hardly used on the Middlesbrough 1s and why the Darts where kept on it for so long and why it’s still mostly the 59 and 11 plate enviros doing it.  It’s not surprising that  there’s at least 2 what can’t be turned off at Middlesbrough so what happens then if you get the 10 minute layover with it ?  Apparently they was a rumour as well that they were banned from doing the 527 and 15/4A in the past as well because they would have have got stuck at the turning point at Ensign Court.