Cairngorms & Aberdeen
Earlier in the year, Aberdeenshire & Moray Councils tendered the Heather Hopper (it's two words this year!) Service 501 from Ballater to Grantown-on-Spey. The 501 was timed to connect with buses to/from Aberdeen and Aviemore, for the adventurous. The finished timetable has been published, and it started on Monday past. Stagecoach Bluebird won the Aberdeenshire tendered run on the 501 using a "plain" bus, and D&E Coaches won their run on the 501 using a newish Optare Solo with bike access, and extending it commercially in service to/from Aberdeen. Stagecoach Bluebird also registered a commercial Service 502, from Aberdeen via Strathdon to Ballater, Glenshee, Pitlochry and Perth, with two overlapping buses from Perth to Ballater, and Pitlochry to Aberdeen. So I'd worked out how I could do a day around the 502 from Perth in the morning, and then continue back down the coast via Montrose back to Dundee at night. I also had a committment in Aberdeen to do as well, making it more worthwhile.
So, to do this, I left the house very early, for the 0740 54A Dundee - Perth. This was using Optare Solo 258 (schools were off) which is the one I got to work yesterday on the 13's! Of course, this is the start of the T In The Park weekend, and the Bus Station cafe were not missing a trick with posters all over! (When you've got food as good as they do, I guess it's allowed). The 502 was leaving from Mill Street, so I made my way up, and saw amongst other things, an Olympian on the 9, before recently-transferred-back-to-Bluebird-from-Fife Mercedes 40586 arrived to pick me up. I was the only passenger, well at least as far as Pitlochry, where an elderly Australian woman boarded the bus. She'd been told about this bus by the tourist office (good start, given that it began the previous Monday), and she wanted to go to Kirkmichael... if it had been the week before, there would have been no bus between these points, so she would have had to go via Dunkeld, or Perth, then changing at Blairgowrie. It transpires that her relatives lived in Kirkmichael years ago, and she's came over to try to find them... that does inspire you somewhat. As the bus rose out of Pitlochry on the bit of road that's not otherwise served by bus usually except for this new service, (well, until early 2007 - as one of the options for the Tarvie-Kirkmichael-Blairgowrie Service 71 may include two return trips on Saturday extend to/from Pitlochry... we shall see...)
When we got to the Spittal Of Glenshee Hotel, there is a break of about 50 minutes. Three Lochs & Glens coaches were getting ready to depart, blocking the "bus stop" (read - postbus), so the driver parked in the bottom car park. The Renault Kango Postbus arrived on Service 216 to/from Blairgowrie. Lots of scenery to nose around in, before the other bus arrived heading for Pitlochry. This is the one from Aberdeen depot, 40727. The two regular drivers chatted, as she (my driver) advised him (Aberdeen driver) to watch for the traveller getting back on at Kirkmichael (she had a return, after all - and two buses a day makes it more worthwhile). The hotel she is staying in was on the road from Pitlochry to Kirkmichael, meaning he could drop her off at the top of the hill, and save her the walk back.
We climbed up through Glenshee, with mobile phone coverage being surprisingly good, until we crossed the boundary into Aberdeenshire after passing the Cairnwell Ski Centre, where we lost it for about half an hour. After double-running the usual bus stop in Braemar, we got to Ballater. The driver advised me of the return pick-up time, but I thanked her and pointed out I was going back via the coast... yes, I know it was a bit of an odd combination, but there you are. D&E's 501 could be seen at Ballater - £9.00 single if anyone fancies travelling from Ballater to Inverness through (and you know, it could be done, and you could still get back to Dundee in time for lights out...) Anyway, waited for the 201 which was due to take me into Aberdeen, which was 20144. This took me into Aberdeen, where sights included 53215, a Buchan Link branded Profile on the 307 to Inverurie instead, and a look at the newly produced informative vinyls at Aberdeen Bus Station. In Union Street, I could see the new articulated Volvo B7's which featured interior route map vinyls on the exterior, beside the front door. These were of note as these were of a similar format to those used by First Gold Arrow in London when the Routemasters were on the 7 & 23. (I thought I had a pic of one of them, but not quite those that I was looking for). Of course, some management have moved from London to Aberdeen since...
Whilst most of the Aberdeen city bus stops have been replaced, one relic still exists in Union Street, outside St Nicholas Kirk. The stop includes the "Hop & Shop" circles and squares which were discontinued in the mid-90's (a red circle on a board in the windscreen meant the bus went end-to-end along Union Street, whereas a green square meant it went to the back door of the Bon-Accord Centre - as you can see, this started one Christmas), but also "90", which refers to the X90 from Laurencekirk provided by the now defunct bus operator Merlin's Ark. I walked via Union Street to Union Terrace, spotting 53209 also on Inverurie runs, but on Service 737 via the Airport, as well as Bain's of Oldmeldrum's Delta S306 KNW on their 305. I then had a go on one of the new lift-equipped Profiles. I feel the passengers in Fife (who are about to get some for the X24/X26 in late summer) aren't going to like the door arrangement, or the steps, but that's progress.
I then took First 61846 on the 19 back to town, and the board (a little out of date?) said it was £1.10 as far as Holburn Junction (the 1st stop in Holburn Street), which was good for me as I could grab food from a choice of nearby outlets, before getting a Stonehaven bus from there. No, "it's £1.20" said the driver. Another 10p dug out, and off we went. Guess they must be getting sick of that, and I'm sure it's not the only "abandoned" stop board like that.
I was going to go for the 1750 X7 to Stonehaven, but when I left Subway and headed around the corner, the 1740 107 came first. Both should effect a connection to the 103, but given that the A90 out of Aberdeen had roadworks, as well as an RTA (news taken from the local travel report), and that trains were being held up due to a COW on the line at Laurencekirk (I'll let you do your own punchline there), was there any way out? Well, the 107 was surpsingly smooth, and double-ran at Portlethen past Asda, because we couldn't get to the usual junction. For all my doom and gloom, 22361 actually got into Stonehaven a few minutes early. That's good. If I'd waited for the X7, which came in shortly after, I'd have got similar 22363, but Aberdeen had an older, non-easy-access Dart 32804 on one of their peak extra workings (and coach N151 XSA was spotted later too, after it came off the 325 but before it did the Citylink via the coast in the evening - did it?)
The plan here was to get the 103 at 1840 from Stonehaven to Laurencekirk, and it was 40939. This 103 is due to get into Laurencekirk (post office) at 1915, where I was planning on getting the Strathtay 29. Now, you are probably going ahead of me and saying "but doesn't the 29 leave at 1914?" Well, yes - but there is a note for the driver to await the arrival of the Bluebird bus from Stonehaven, and wait up to three minutes if needed. We got to Laurencekirk - no bus. (Later found this was due to the school holiday drivers board inadvertantly missed this off, for some reason). So, 40939 back to Stonehaven, but this is where buses start having longer gaps between them. I did the 2115 117 back down the coast to Montrose, with another MAN 22358. Because of the new route on the way out of Stonehaven, that bus just misses the Dundee one, so a little bit of time to spare and ingenuity in the meantime, saw me take Strathtay 151 on the last 47 town service of the night from Montrose garage from Montrose to Craigo and back, before getting on 607 on the 2145 Dundee - Montrose/Hillside Bridge 40A through working (from Montrose Station northwards) which then comes back down as the last 47 to Ferryden, then the last 40 back to Arbroath Depot. So, this one took me into the early hours of Saturday, and arriving at Arbroath - where the 0025 train towards Perth took me as far as Dundee, getting into Dundee at 0047.The ticket inspector couldn't be bothered leaving her cab, thus meaning I wasn't out of pocket!
So, end-to-end, just over 17 hours, 13 bus journeys for (£12 Explorer + £5.80 Rover =) £17.80. Don't even want to think about the mileage... a long day, but very enjoyable - even with the extra down-the-coast detour...
So, to do this, I left the house very early, for the 0740 54A Dundee - Perth. This was using Optare Solo 258 (schools were off) which is the one I got to work yesterday on the 13's! Of course, this is the start of the T In The Park weekend, and the Bus Station cafe were not missing a trick with posters all over! (When you've got food as good as they do, I guess it's allowed). The 502 was leaving from Mill Street, so I made my way up, and saw amongst other things, an Olympian on the 9, before recently-transferred-back-to-Bluebird-from-Fife Mercedes 40586 arrived to pick me up. I was the only passenger, well at least as far as Pitlochry, where an elderly Australian woman boarded the bus. She'd been told about this bus by the tourist office (good start, given that it began the previous Monday), and she wanted to go to Kirkmichael... if it had been the week before, there would have been no bus between these points, so she would have had to go via Dunkeld, or Perth, then changing at Blairgowrie. It transpires that her relatives lived in Kirkmichael years ago, and she's came over to try to find them... that does inspire you somewhat. As the bus rose out of Pitlochry on the bit of road that's not otherwise served by bus usually except for this new service, (well, until early 2007 - as one of the options for the Tarvie-Kirkmichael-Blairgowrie Service 71 may include two return trips on Saturday extend to/from Pitlochry... we shall see...)
When we got to the Spittal Of Glenshee Hotel, there is a break of about 50 minutes. Three Lochs & Glens coaches were getting ready to depart, blocking the "bus stop" (read - postbus), so the driver parked in the bottom car park. The Renault Kango Postbus arrived on Service 216 to/from Blairgowrie. Lots of scenery to nose around in, before the other bus arrived heading for Pitlochry. This is the one from Aberdeen depot, 40727. The two regular drivers chatted, as she (my driver) advised him (Aberdeen driver) to watch for the traveller getting back on at Kirkmichael (she had a return, after all - and two buses a day makes it more worthwhile). The hotel she is staying in was on the road from Pitlochry to Kirkmichael, meaning he could drop her off at the top of the hill, and save her the walk back.
We climbed up through Glenshee, with mobile phone coverage being surprisingly good, until we crossed the boundary into Aberdeenshire after passing the Cairnwell Ski Centre, where we lost it for about half an hour. After double-running the usual bus stop in Braemar, we got to Ballater. The driver advised me of the return pick-up time, but I thanked her and pointed out I was going back via the coast... yes, I know it was a bit of an odd combination, but there you are. D&E's 501 could be seen at Ballater - £9.00 single if anyone fancies travelling from Ballater to Inverness through (and you know, it could be done, and you could still get back to Dundee in time for lights out...) Anyway, waited for the 201 which was due to take me into Aberdeen, which was 20144. This took me into Aberdeen, where sights included 53215, a Buchan Link branded Profile on the 307 to Inverurie instead, and a look at the newly produced informative vinyls at Aberdeen Bus Station. In Union Street, I could see the new articulated Volvo B7's which featured interior route map vinyls on the exterior, beside the front door. These were of note as these were of a similar format to those used by First Gold Arrow in London when the Routemasters were on the 7 & 23. (I thought I had a pic of one of them, but not quite those that I was looking for). Of course, some management have moved from London to Aberdeen since...
Whilst most of the Aberdeen city bus stops have been replaced, one relic still exists in Union Street, outside St Nicholas Kirk. The stop includes the "Hop & Shop" circles and squares which were discontinued in the mid-90's (a red circle on a board in the windscreen meant the bus went end-to-end along Union Street, whereas a green square meant it went to the back door of the Bon-Accord Centre - as you can see, this started one Christmas), but also "90", which refers to the X90 from Laurencekirk provided by the now defunct bus operator Merlin's Ark. I walked via Union Street to Union Terrace, spotting 53209 also on Inverurie runs, but on Service 737 via the Airport, as well as Bain's of Oldmeldrum's Delta S306 KNW on their 305. I then had a go on one of the new lift-equipped Profiles. I feel the passengers in Fife (who are about to get some for the X24/X26 in late summer) aren't going to like the door arrangement, or the steps, but that's progress.
I then took First 61846 on the 19 back to town, and the board (a little out of date?) said it was £1.10 as far as Holburn Junction (the 1st stop in Holburn Street), which was good for me as I could grab food from a choice of nearby outlets, before getting a Stonehaven bus from there. No, "it's £1.20" said the driver. Another 10p dug out, and off we went. Guess they must be getting sick of that, and I'm sure it's not the only "abandoned" stop board like that.
I was going to go for the 1750 X7 to Stonehaven, but when I left Subway and headed around the corner, the 1740 107 came first. Both should effect a connection to the 103, but given that the A90 out of Aberdeen had roadworks, as well as an RTA (news taken from the local travel report), and that trains were being held up due to a COW on the line at Laurencekirk (I'll let you do your own punchline there), was there any way out? Well, the 107 was surpsingly smooth, and double-ran at Portlethen past Asda, because we couldn't get to the usual junction. For all my doom and gloom, 22361 actually got into Stonehaven a few minutes early. That's good. If I'd waited for the X7, which came in shortly after, I'd have got similar 22363, but Aberdeen had an older, non-easy-access Dart 32804 on one of their peak extra workings (and coach N151 XSA was spotted later too, after it came off the 325 but before it did the Citylink via the coast in the evening - did it?)
The plan here was to get the 103 at 1840 from Stonehaven to Laurencekirk, and it was 40939. This 103 is due to get into Laurencekirk (post office) at 1915, where I was planning on getting the Strathtay 29. Now, you are probably going ahead of me and saying "but doesn't the 29 leave at 1914?" Well, yes - but there is a note for the driver to await the arrival of the Bluebird bus from Stonehaven, and wait up to three minutes if needed. We got to Laurencekirk - no bus. (Later found this was due to the school holiday drivers board inadvertantly missed this off, for some reason). So, 40939 back to Stonehaven, but this is where buses start having longer gaps between them. I did the 2115 117 back down the coast to Montrose, with another MAN 22358. Because of the new route on the way out of Stonehaven, that bus just misses the Dundee one, so a little bit of time to spare and ingenuity in the meantime, saw me take Strathtay 151 on the last 47 town service of the night from Montrose garage from Montrose to Craigo and back, before getting on 607 on the 2145 Dundee - Montrose/Hillside Bridge 40A through working (from Montrose Station northwards) which then comes back down as the last 47 to Ferryden, then the last 40 back to Arbroath Depot. So, this one took me into the early hours of Saturday, and arriving at Arbroath - where the 0025 train towards Perth took me as far as Dundee, getting into Dundee at 0047.The ticket inspector couldn't be bothered leaving her cab, thus meaning I wasn't out of pocket!
So, end-to-end, just over 17 hours, 13 bus journeys for (£12 Explorer + £5.80 Rover =) £17.80. Don't even want to think about the mileage... a long day, but very enjoyable - even with the extra down-the-coast detour...
posted by Suzy Scott @ 23:10
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