(25 Feb 2015, 9:34 pm)Jimmi wrote Seem as everyone seems to like in depth outing write ups, here's mine for today.To be honest I did South Shields to Lambton on 5259 Yesterday afternoon when the weather took a turn for the worst, and it was a nice smooth ride which I really enjoyed, as for the other Omnicities on the 50 they are also usually quite smooth also, must just be poor Road Surface.
0842 7 Newton Aycliffe - Durham (ANE 1516)
Typical Sapphire 7 journey, I was bored out of my mind from how long it takes to get to Durham so as ever I spent most of the journey browsing the web using the free WiFi.
1000 64 Durham County Hospital - Aykley Heads (ANE 1322)
Only a short journey so not much to report on this one, think I spent most of this journey watching the CCTV screen which shows the interior and exterior.
1037 21 Framwellgate Moor - Chester-le-Street South Burns (GNE 3962)
gtom isn't the only one who can't seem to ride a hybrid on the 21anyway, quite fast down the A167, few slight annoying noises but still alright ride, also for once I managed to connect to the WiFi (I blame my phone for when I can't connect).
1152 50 Chester-le-Street - Washington Galleries Bus Station (GNE 5260)
As ever being an Omnicity I felt all the bumps in the road but it wasn't too bad for this short journey.
1234 50 Washington Galleries - South Shields (GNE 5256)
My lord this journey was awful! again the bus shook like hell every time it went over a pot hole or terrible road surfaces and then we got stuck in traffic getting into South Shields, was happy to be off! Can't say I'm in a hurry to do the 50 route again.
1404 20A South Shields - Sunderland Joplings (GNE unsure but I think it was 5213)
Oh god I thought my ride on the 50 was bad, this was arguably worse! the roads in the South Shields and Sunderland areas are a state so like 5256 the bus was shaking like hell especially at the South Shields end of the route, thankfully it got a bit smoother when we got closer to Sunderland.
1537 22 Sunderland Park Lane - Dalton Park (ANE 1470)
As ever with the 22 I'm sure you all want to know how many passengers were on-board - think it probably carried around 15 passengers whilst I was on it. Anyway pretty quiet journey although again the roads weren't very smooth but was less painful than the 20A/50 journeys but I didn't enjoy this journey too much as I had a bit of a headache.
1631 22 Dalton Park - Peterlee Moorcock (ANE 1469)
Thankfully this turning up about 3 minutes late meant that after I got my shot of 6039 on the 265 I was able to jump straight on this instead of walking for the 23, I think it was probably late because the driver was driving pretty slow, this slow ride meant when it got into Peterlee Bus Station late and I got to see the 21 reversing off the standso because not many passengers boarded I decided to risk jumping off at the Moorcock in the hope of catching the 21 there as the 22 runs a shorter route through Peterlee than the 21. This journey was actually pretty busy!
1653 21 Peterlee Moorcock - Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre (ANE 4814)
Well the risk paid off, just after I jumped off the 22 this came round, had a feeling it hadn't gone as there was a good few people stood waiting at the stop so because it was rather busy I decided to sit on the seat behind the drivers cab, as ever it was a pretty decent journey and I am really starting to warm to these ex demo EcoCity's and are a great improvement in passenger comfort over the previous Solos which were allocated. As we were going past Tesco, Newton Aycliffe I saw service 5 but because the nearest bell was practically half way down the bus stop I ended up asking the driver to stop at the stop but either he didn't hear me or choose to ignore me, so this p***ed me off, so after we got past the next stop I had to walk right down the bus to press the bell which made me look a right tit.
Mad dash to Pease Way Surgery
1748 5 Pease Way Surgery - home (ANE 1508)
As ever you can count on the 5 running 10 minutes late! not much to report here as it was pretty short, I wanted this because I didn't want to walk home because it was getting dark and I don't like walking home in the dark, also I really couldn't be bothered so I was glad I caught this.
Hope you enjoyed reading this.
Click here to see my photos from today.
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