Welcome to Ron and Tons blog, a blog all about buses in the north-east and elsewhere. Paperbuses are made here and are real liveries or ones from the fictional company Durham District Services. Requests are also available by viewing the update on requests information below. Upcoming liveries and links for other SB Websites can be found on the Right Hand Column.

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~~Updates are published at 9:00am every Monday and Thursday~~

Arriva Durham has had a majorly DAF/VDL based fleet for quite a few years since the Scania OmniCity’s left, the only other vehicles were Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointers from London (some from Arriva Scotland West). These were always used on service 64 from the Arnison Centre to Sherburn Village despite it being a frequent and busy core cross-city service. That was until in December 2014 a batch of 10 Alexander-Dennis Enviro 200’s from London were refurbished and arrived at the depot to replace the Darts on the 64, the Plaxton Darts transferred to Darlington to allow the withdraw the native S reg examples. The E200’s are a great oddity in the fleet, it’s the first time a batch of single-decker Alexander-Dennis products have operated in the North East, they feature a very unusual application of the Arriva Livery and sport full Sapphire interior except with standard blue leather material with Sapphire features such as plug sockets and Wi-Fi. One of these is shown below, 1321 GN10 KWJ.

In 2005 the Durham Park and Ride began operation with Scarlet Band using ’55 plate Solo’s, this contract ended in 2010 when Arriva North East won the contract for the next 5 years. 10 more Optare Solo’s were used for the service of 8.8m length, this time they featured Arrivas standard interior with next-stop announcements. Earlier this year Arriva North East finished their 5 year contract and Scarlet Band gained back the contract and use a batch of 10 Optare Solo SR’s on ’64 plates. These are all 8.9m long and feature standard Civic Esteban seating without headrests and are all painted white. At the time of writing a new livery with competition was launched however this will wait until that topic gets uploaded. Below is YJ64 DYF in plain white livery:

The Lambton Worm is a brand used for service 34/34A running from Waldridge Park to Ouston and Urpeth Grange via Chester-le-Street. The Lambton Worm brand itself has been around for nearly 7 years now starting off as Service 71 from Chester-le-Street to Sunderland on S plate Super Pointer Darts until they got withdrawn themselves. The 71 was then cut completely and forms part of the modern-day 36; the Lambton Worm brand then made a return for services 34/34A which previously used no brand. DAF SB220 / Plaxton Prestiges were then branded up for the route until withdrawal. Then when the new Wright Streetlites arrived at Deptford for Drifter service 60, 4 of the Optare Versa’s transferred to Chester-le-Street depot for use on the 34/34A. They therefore received the same branding as used previously on the green paintwork already worn giving them a pleasing appearance. 8303 NK09 FVD is shown below on a 34 to Waldridge Park.

Go North East operate service 327 which runs in conjunction with the mini-cruise company DFDS Seaways from Newcastle Central Station to North Shields Dock to connect with the cruise. The cruise is branded to operate from Newcastle to Amsterdam so a link is required to take fellow cruisers to the heart of the city, this therefore operates every day at peak times using Dennis Tridents with Plaxton Presidents and East Lancs Lolyne bodywork. The livery simply consists of a colour covering most of the vehicle, the rest of it white and with a diagonal band on each side with an image promoting the cruise and suitable slogans alongside it. Each vehicle branded for it wears the same livery design, but with different images and colours. Plaxton President 3890 CU 6860 is shown wearing the pink variation of the livery:

Before the Sapphire and MAX brand were launched across the region a few route brandings were given to services operating out of Jesmond depot do work alongside some recent service changes. Service 46 which runs from Newcastle to Featherstone Grove via Gosforth and Regent Centre had been extended to operate via the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the General Hospital in Newcastle every 30 minutes on behalf of the NHS and Nexus. Alongside this, the 52 operates via Freeman Hospital, so this also gained branding for the route then finally the 553 also gained a brand which operates from Freeman Hospital to Regent Centre. The 52 and 53 interwork with vehicles operating the 52 route from Newcastle, Freeman Hospital, Four Lane Ends Interchange, Killingworth and Cramlington, then continuing as a 53 to North Shields via Killingworth, Forest Hall and Shiremoor. The service operates every 30 minutes using refurbished Volvo B10BLE / Alexander ALX300’s using the simple vinyls applied above the windows over the Arriva livery which is shown below:

Before the Sapphire and MAX brand were launched across the region a few route brandings were given to services operating out of Jesmond depot do work alongside some recent service changes. Service 46 which runs from Newcastle to Featherstone Grove via Gosforth and Regent Centre had been extended to operate via the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the General Hospital in Newcastle every 30 minutes on behalf of the NHS and Nexus. Alongside this, the 52 operates via Freeman Hospital, so this also gained branding for the route then finally the 553 also gained a brand which operates from Freeman Hospital to Regent Centre. 3 Optare Solo M950’s are branded for the 46 route although oddly, 2 wear vinlys on top of the existing livery with the final one wearing a new NHS style Silver and Blue livery with 46 destinations also. Both of which are shown below:

Before the Sapphire and MAX brand were launched across the region a few route brandings were given to services operating out of Jesmond depot do work alongside some recent service changes. Service 46 which runs from Newcastle to Featherstone Grove via Gosforth and Regent Centre had been extended to operate via the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the General Hospital in Newcastle every 30 minutes on behalf of the NHS and Nexus. Alongside this, the 52 operates via Freeman Hospital, so this also gained branding for the route then finally the 553 also gained a brand which operates from Freeman Hospital to Regent Centre. The 553 has one branded Optare Solo M950 which is painted in special NHS style Silver and Blue livery with the route destinations above the window in the Arriva standard way. 2846 YJ58 CAV is shown below:

As well as the MAX and Sapphire brand being introduced and spread across many services; there has also been an increase of the ‘Eco’ Livery. This was introduced in 2013 when the first MAN 18:270 EcoCity / Caeteno City Gold’s entered service in Darlington for town services 2, 11 and 12, followed by a further order of Volvo B5LH / Wright Gemini 2’s for the 308. The Eco brand itself is designed to advertise vehicles operating with green technology, such as a CNG or a hybrid vehicle. Therefore in 2014 a batch of a further 16 Wright Streetlite MAX 11.7m Micro-Hybrids; 5 for the 23, 3 for the 35 and 7 for the 306. Also following this order, the 3 MAN 18:270 EcoCity / Caeteno City Gold demonstrators were purchased by Arriva and gained the Eco livery and delivered to Darlington depot, where other EcoCity’s already operated. The 3 ex-Demonstrator EcoCity’s are allocated to the 21/X21 which runs from Darlington to Sunderland. The 21 operates from Darlington to Peterlee via Newton Aycliffe, Sedgefield and Peterlee, then running as a non-stop express to Sunderland as the X21 with a ‘Whoosh’ – the word used on the branding on the sides in the standard Eco way The 3 demonstrators are 4812 WX61 FXO (the white demonstrator), 4813 WX61 HSL (the dark blue demonstrator) and 4814 WX13 GHN which was also white. 4812 and 4813 are of the European standard having a flat floor to the rear with 4814 being of the British standard with steps and a raised rear section as seen on most standard UK buses. 4814 is shown below working a 21 to Peterlee.

 

As well as the MAX and Sapphire brand being introduced and spread across many services; there has also been an increase of the ‘Eco’ Livery. This was introduced in 2013 when the first MAN 18:270 EcoCity / Caeteno City Gold’s entered service in Darlington for town services 2, 11 and 12, followed by a further order of Volvo B5LH / Wright Gemini 2’s for the 308. The Eco brand itself is designed to advertise vehicles operating with green technology, such as a CNG or a hybrid vehicle. Therefore in 2014 a batch of a further 16 Wright Streetlite MAX 11.7m Micro-Hybrids; 5 for the 23, 3 for the 35 and 7 for the 306. Although these wear the Eco with them being fitted with ‘Micro-Hybrid’ technology; this recovers energy lost from braking to power the vehicle electrics and compressed air systems, saving up to 10% in fuel costs. Although the name itself is slightly misleading as the vehicles themselves are a standard diesel Streetlite drivetrain, as opposed to a small diesel engine and electric motor in normal hybrids. These are no different to the examples currently in Sapphire livery so it is unusual that they have painted into the Eco livery. The final batch of 7 are for the 306 which operates from Jesmond depot running up to every 15 minutes from Newcastle to Whitley Bay via the Coast Road, Battle Hill, North Shields and Tynemouth, the 306 then extends to Whitley Bay every 30 minutes. These are painted into the standard Eco livery but wearing route branding on the sides and rear for the route; these also carry the Coastliner logo used on the B5LH Gemini 2 Hybrids on the 308. 1589 NK64 EEG is shown below:

As well as the MAX and Sapphire brand being introduced and spread across many services; there has also been an increase of the ‘Eco’ Livery. This was introduced in 2013 when the first MAN 18:270 EcoCity / Caeteno City Gold’s entered service in Darlington for town services 2, 11 and 12, followed by a further order of Volvo B5LH / Wright Gemini 2’s for the 308. The Eco brand itself is designed to advertise vehicles operating with green technology, such as a CNG or a hybrid vehicle. Therefore in 2014 a batch of a further 16 Wright Streetlite MAX 11.7m Micro-Hybrids; 5 for the 23, 3 for the 35 and 7 for the 306. Although these wear the Eco with them being fitted with ‘Micro-Hybrid’ technology; this recovers energy lost from braking to power the vehicle electrics and compressed air systems, saving up to 10% in fuel costs. Although the name itself is slightly misleading as the vehicles themselves are a standard diesel Streetlite drivetrain, as opposed to a small diesel engine and electric motor in normal hybrids. These are no different to the examples currently in Sapphire livery so it is unusual that they have painted into the Eco livery. The second batch of 3 are for the 35 which operates from Ashington depot running up to every 15 minutes from Morpeth to Newbiggin via Pegswood, Ashington and North Seaton. Service 35A then does a short from Morpeth and then terminating beyond Ashington at Woodhorn. The vehicles are officially allocated to the 35 as there are 3 long diagrams with just 2 short ones and these do not interwork, this is unusual as it is an allocated mix of vehicles. These are painted into the standard Eco livery but wearing route branding on the sides and rear for the route. 1581 NK64 EEH is shown below: