(12 Jan 2023, 10:24 pm)OrangeArrow49 wrote So in real terms, the 685 hasn't been around that long and presumably has existed for the same amount of time as the equivalent 684?As far as I can remember, route number 685 came about when Tyne and Wear PTE brought in a significant change in route numbers, at about the time that the Metro started running around 1980, with services to the west of Newcastle and Gateshead being numbered 6xx. This applied mainly to the south of the Tyne, for example in Blaydon, Ryton, Winlaton, and Rowland's Gill, as well as what is now GNE service 10 to Hexham and Prudhoe (United 600 - 604).
Thank you for the info. Never knew about the 34/334 before the 685.
Just curious, who owned North Rider and what happened to them?
The post-deregulation TWPTE timetable shows the 685 along with the 686 (Newcastle - Wylam - Ovingham, equivalent to today's 684), and some variations where some late evening and Sunday services ran to Carlisle via the 686 route and were numbered 695 and 696.
I remember North Rider, but don't have any further information at the moment.
Further to my last post, the numbering of routes into 6xx format was earlier than I thought. On Timetable World there's a copy of the TWPTE timetable for 1977 in which the 685 appears, along with other services along and to the south of the A69. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's well worth keeping an eye on this website for new additions which help to answer queries about bus services in the past.