(29 Jul 2014, 7:41 pm)Tom wrote What did you have on the way back?

Apologies.

The Coast & Castles Lowlander Tony mentioned in the ANE Rare Workings thread - from Berwick Rail Station to Regents Centre.

Couldn't tell you which Metro, but it was a refurbished one.

Apologies for the long post....

Managed to persuade my parents to give the bus a try to reach Skegness town yesterday as opposed to the car. It went as follows:

- 12:38 3 Butlin's - Skegness Lumley Road (Stagecoach 26121 (X851 HFE), DAF SB220/East Lancs Myllennium)

- 15:05 3 Skegness Bus Stn - Butlin's (Stagecoach 17677 (WOI 3002), Dennis Trident/Alexander ALX400 open-top).

Have to give a lot of praise to Stagecoach for their open-top service 3 (Skegness - Ingoldmells Anchor Lane). Some of you will already be familiar with the recent refurbishment and rebranding of the ALX400s used on the service. The new branding sees the service now named The Seasiders, featuring six characters with seaside themed names (Candy, Rocky, Pierre, Salty, Shelly and Sandy), which have connected with the public and tourists superbly.

When an open-topper pulls up at the stand at the bus station, a Stagecoach employee goes down the queue giving all the kids a badge featuring the character they're about to travel on, which had children talking about the buses. My brothers ended up with one each. I'll photo it and upload it on here in due course.

Also noticed when we were getting off, a family were waiting to get on, and they asked the driver whether another open-topper was close behind as they had already travelled on Shelly and wanted to travel on all six of them.

Have many decided to get tickets to head up to the Lothian open doors day then?

(02 Aug 2014, 6:40 pm)aureolin wrote Have many decided to get tickets to head up to the Lothian open doors day then?

Decided not to go in the end - would rather spend my birthday doing nothing. 

(02 Aug 2014, 6:40 pm)aureolin wrote Have many decided to get tickets to head up to the Lothian open doors day then?

Hoping to find out that I will definitely be free at some point next week then hopefully get the tickets too.

Going to start making a few more trips out over the next few weeks, and start taking a few more photos.

#17 1114 Rosehill to Wallsend Interchange 1131 - GNE 5155
#22 1137 Wallsend Interchange to Market St 1201 - SNE 17027
#21 1225 Eldon Square to Birtley 1255 - GNE 3965
#X22 1310 Birtley to Metrocentre 1324 - GNE 3872
#X66 1445 Metrocentre to Gateshead 1455 - GNE 9120
#28 1458 Gateshead to Eldon Square 1508 - GNE 4958
#12 1545 Blackett Street to Wallsend 1614 - SNE 17028
#17 1640 Wallsend to Rosehill 1652 - GNE 5156
(Sounded like a Dyson and was oddly 15+ minutes late for no reason according to the driver!)

Anyone planning on going to the Tram and Transport Rally up by Nissan on Sunday, Thinking I might pop along and see if it's any good.

(06 Aug 2014, 5:23 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Anyone planning on going to the Tram and Transport Rally up by Nissan on Sunday, Thinking I might pop along and see if it's any good.

I'm in two minds. I've been a bit downbeat about rallies lately, as I've felt it's tended to be the same vehicles turning up event after event. As I can't find a line up for this rally, and it's a fiver in, I'm yet to be convinced.

(06 Aug 2014, 6:02 pm)aureolin wrote I'm in two minds. I've been a bit downbeat about rallies lately, as I've felt it's tended to be the same vehicles turning up event after event. As I can't find a line up for this rally, and it's a fiver in, I'm yet to be convinced.

Reckon I'll do the news and then find myself somewhere else to go..!

(06 Aug 2014, 6:02 pm)aureolin wrote I'm in two minds. I've been a bit downbeat about rallies lately, as I've felt it's tended to be the same vehicles turning up event after event. As I can't find a line up for this rally, and it's a fiver in, I'm yet to be convinced.

I think a Fiver in is a Bit steep if I am Honest, As for the Vehicles on Show I can't find anything on that either, from looking Online in the Past Hour. And I have to agree with the point you make about the same vehicles turning up event after event, I have only been to the MetroCentre Rally this Year, whereas Last Year I went to MetroCentre/Durham/Tyne Tees Run and Seaburn.

From a Personal Opinion I think it would be better to merge Durham/Tyne Tees Run and Seaburn as one Rally, From looking online Durham was awful This Year with very few Vehicles in Attendence, and Seaburn is the same Every Year.

(06 Aug 2014, 6:07 pm)Dan wrote

Reckon I'll do the news and then find myself somewhere else to go..!

To be fair if you get over there early enough, you could catch all the Vehicles as they came in, and in turn save a Fiver.

(06 Aug 2014, 6:02 pm)aureolin wrote I'm in two minds. I've been a bit downbeat about rallies lately, as I've felt it's tended to be the same vehicles turning up event after event. As I can't find a line up for this rally, and it's a fiver in, I'm yet to be convinced.

I won't be going as I think £5 is a bit steep and I have zero clue where its on at.

I'm going to Split Festival in Sunderland on Sunday.

I'd happily pay £5 if I knew what was going to be there, and more importantly, noticed something that I hadn't seen before or for a while, on that said list. I'm not into paying £5 for a lucky dip though. If I wanted to do that, I'd stick a football coupon on.

I've been going to rallies for a good few years now, although only photographing at the last couple. 2014 (so far) has had to have been the more dire year I've experienced so far as far as North East rallies go. I'm hoping Seaburn will provide something a bit different, but I won't hold my breath.

I'm not knocking the effort that goes into planning and organising these rallies at all, but I think the organisers perhaps need to review, otherwise folk will eventually only go to the first rally of every season and not bother with the rest, knowing they're likely to see the same vehicles all throughout that season. I found it quite surprising at the NEBPT rally that the GNE stuff looked to be getting a lot more attention than anything else. To be honest, it's probably a great thing that they brought 14 buses, as it would have looked pretty bare if they hadn't.

I forgot this rally was on this Sunday.

I may pop along but the £5 fee might persuade me otherwise. For me, rallies take up about 30-45 mins of my time before I get bored. Unlike other enthusiasts I cannot spend an entire day at this type of event so paying £5 does put me off. However, this is an event which I haven't previously attended (and I have nothing planned for Sunday) so I'll admit it's tempting.

I guess it's up to how I feel on the day!

Today:

0651 Metro - Stadium of Light to Heworth - Metrocar 4030
0718 X10 - Heworth to Middlesbrough - GNE 6045
0850 X93 - Middlesbrough to Scarborough - ANE 7491
1215 X93 - Scarborough to Whitby - ANE 4655
1350 X93 - Whitby to Middlesbrough - ANE 4651
1510 X7 - Middlesbrough to Sunderland - GNE 5335
1640 35A - Sunderland to Barnes - GNE 5301
1713 13 - Barnes to City Centre - SNE 28003
1722 9 - City Centre to Newcastle Road - GNE 5159

(06 Aug 2014, 7:37 pm)AdamY wrote I forgot this rally was on this Sunday.

I may pop along but the £5 fee might persuade me otherwise. For me, rallies take up about 30-45 mins of my time before I get bored. Unlike other enthusiasts I cannot spend an entire day at this type of event so paying £5 does put me off. However, this is an event which I haven't previously attended (and I have nothing planned for Sunday) so I'll admit it's tempting.

I guess it's up to how I feel on the day!

I am guessing visitors will also be able to see the aircraft on display (no idea what state it is in), so the show may offer visitors a little bit more than the usual.

(09 Aug 2014, 6:08 am)Dan wrote Today:

0651 Metro - Stadium of Light to Heworth - Metrocar 4030
0718 X10 - Heworth to Middlesbrough - GNE 6045
0850 X93 - Middlesbrough to Scarborough - ANE 7491
1215 X93 - Scarborough to Whitby - ANE 4655
1350 X93 - Whitby to Middlesbrough - ANE 4651
1510 X7 - Middlesbrough to Sunderland - GNE 5335
1640 35A - Sunderland to Barnes - GNE 5301
1713 13 - Barnes to City Centre - SNE 28003
1722 9 - City Centre to Newcastle Road - GNE 5159

Certainly getting about Dan if nothing else all 3 main operators used in 1 day.

(09 Aug 2014, 4:33 pm)citaro5284 wrote Certainly getting about Dan if nothing else all 3 main operators used in 1 day.

Cover a canny few miles, me!

(09 Aug 2014, 6:08 am)Dan wrote Today:

0651 Metro - Stadium of Light to Heworth - Metrocar 4030
0718 X10 - Heworth to Middlesbrough - GNE 6045
0850 X93 - Middlesbrough to Scarborough - ANE 7491
1215 X93 - Scarborough to Whitby - ANE 4655
1350 X93 - Whitby to Middlesbrough - ANE 4651
1510 X7 - Middlesbrough to Sunderland - GNE 5335
1640 35A - Sunderland to Barnes - GNE 5301
1713 13 - Barnes to City Centre - SNE 28003
1722 9 - City Centre to Newcastle Road - GNE 5159

How long did you stay in Scarborough for? Get to see much out there?

I'm fancying it myself in two weeks, as I've got a week off for August bank holiday. I'll probably do the X93 too if it's bearable for that length of time.

(09 Aug 2014, 7:30 pm)aureolin wrote How long did you stay in Scarborough for? Get to see much out there?

I'm fancying it myself in two weeks, as I've got a week off for August bank holiday. I'll probably do the X93 too if it's bearable for that length of time.

An hour and a bit; in which time, I took 20 photographs. I could have easily taken more, but I spent about ten minutes waiting for the X93 to pull back out again, five minutes in the station for a toilet break and for a photo, then I went to the shop to get myself something to eat and drink... Was only wanting to catch the new 14-reg E200s, and I managed to get a good photo of one and a not-so-good photo of another.

I keep meaning to go there for longer so I can go to the seafront as I did a couple of years ago on a coach trip, but it's just a pain as I always like to get around as much as possible - with the journey time being so long, so you can't really afford to go there for quite a while and then go to other places too. I'm also notorious for getting bored easily - so try and avoid staying in one place for too long.

I'm wondering whether to do a trip to Scarborough or not as its the summer holidays and I'm not really sure I'd want to spend over 2 hours on a bus with screaming children. May go the week the schools go back.

May also go to Whitby when Sapphire is launched on the 5/5A then again for the X3/X3A/X4

(09 Aug 2014, 7:43 pm)Dan wrote An hour and a bit; in which time, I took 20 photographs. I could have easily taken more, but I spent about ten minutes waiting for the X93 to pull back out again, five minutes in the station for a toilet break and for a photo, then I went to the shop to get myself something to eat and drink... Was only wanting to catch the new 14-reg E200s, and I managed to get a good photo of one and a not-so-good photo of another.

I keep meaning to go there for longer so I can go to the seafront as I did a couple of years ago on a coach trip, but it's just a pain as I always like to get around as much as possible - with the journey time being so long, so you can't really afford to go there for quite a while and then go to other places too. I'm also notorious for getting bored easily - so try and avoid staying in one place for too long.

I'm the same. I hate standing around the same places. I might do train there, and bus back via Whitby.

(09 Aug 2014, 7:52 pm)Jimmi wrote I'm wondering whether to do a trip to Scarborough or not as its the summer holidays and I'm not really sure I'd want to spend over 2 hours on a bus with screaming children. May go the week the schools go back.

May also go to Whitby when Sapphire is launched on the 5/5A then again for the X3/X3A/X4

That's what puts me off. 2 hours plus on a bus. The hour plus on the Durham X1/X2 is bad enough for me usually.

(09 Aug 2014, 7:59 pm)aureolin wrote I'm the same. I hate standing around the same places. I might do train there, and bus back via Whitby.

You can usually catch everything in Whitby in half an hour, I find.

You'll see the Coastal E200 on Whitby Town Services, one or two of the 94s, the Park and Ride, an X93, one of the sightseeing buses and a few coaches... That's Whitby in a nutshell, bus-wise.

Summer timetable is a lot better Middlesbrough - Whitby. The Scarborough end is still where the problem lies - none of the buses I saw departed there on time today, with most arriving 10 mins late.

(09 Aug 2014, 8:02 pm)aureolin wrote That's what puts me off. 2 hours plus on a bus. The hour plus on the Durham X1/X2 is bad enough for me usually.

I'm usually bored by the time I get to Middlesbrough, on my last trip to Scarborough a few months back I arrived almost an hour before and went for a look round CeX and That's Entertainment before heading back to the bus station for the X93.

(09 Aug 2014, 8:03 pm)Dan wrote You can usually catch everything in Whitby in half an hour, I find.

You'll see the Coastal E200 on Whitby Town Services, one or two of the 94s, the Park and Ride, an X93, one of the sightseeing buses and a few coaches... That's Whitby in a nutshell, bus-wise.

Summer timetable is a lot better Middlesbrough - Whitby. The Scarborough end is still where the problem lies - none of the buses I saw departed there on time today, with most arriving 10 mins late.

Yeah, not a great deal to see in Whitby.

Its Whitby Regatta this weekend so that may have had an affect on services.

(09 Aug 2014, 8:11 pm)Jimmi wrote Yeah, not a great deal to see in Whitby.

Its Whitby Regatta this weekend so that may have had an affect on services.

It really wasn't that busy this afternoon. Was quite a few coaches coming in and out but the traffic around the train/bus station was no worse than usual.

Couldn't quite work out why Arriva only had one of the two buses out on Park and Ride...

(09 Aug 2014, 8:15 pm)Dan wrote It really wasn't that busy this afternoon. Was quite a few coaches coming in and out but the traffic around the train/bus station was no worse than usual.

Couldn't quite work out why Arriva only had one of the two buses out on Park and Ride...

BIB: So I take it you didn't see the short X93 vehicles working the Park & Ride then, which has been happening regularly recently (considering there's meant to be 3 buses on the P&R now that 211 is there, but in typical Redcar fashion, their view is 211 at Whitby means an extra bus for the main depot rather than the intended 3rd vehicle for the P&R).

(09 Aug 2014, 10:32 pm)Kuyoyo wrote BIB: So I take it you didn't see the short X93 vehicles working the Park & Ride then, which has been happening regularly recently (considering there's meant to be 3 buses on the P&R now that 211 is there, but in typical Redcar fashion, their view is 211 at Whitby means an extra bus for the main depot rather than the intended 3rd vehicle for the P&R).

No, I didn't - if I had, I'd have noted it on the Rare and Odd Workings thread as I didn't realise that was meant to happen.
The Omni I got from Scarborough to Whitby sat on the main road out of service for about 5-10 mins and then sat in the station for another 10 mins prior to leaving out of service. It arrived in off the X93 on time, near enough, so shouldn't have been regulated.

There was only one bus on the Park and Ride (2827), which according to the app, was running about 13m late throughout the journey. It seemed to be carrying the load for two buses too, as it came into Whitby the first time around fully seated with what appeared to be full capacity standees too.