Rotating allocations today from Stockton:
22013 was on 36 (running board 3609) before being swapped for 22471 and then replacing 24115 on another 36 (running board 3605)
24114 replaced 22208 on the 52/58
Today saw the closure of Stockton High Street ahead of the 25th Stockton International Riverside Festival starting on Thursday. As a result, services are operating from slightly different stands and some along slightly different routes this week:
Service 13: Normal Stand at the North End of the High Street towards Middlesbrough, Stand 16 towards Salters Lane, operating via Prince Regent Street
Service 35: No change to stand
Service 36/37/38: Normal Stand at the North End of the High Street towards Hartlepool/North Tees Hospital/Norton Glebe, Stand 21 towards Park End/James Cook Hospital, operating via Prince Regent Street, also serving Yarm Road
Service 52: Normal Stand at the North End of the High Street
Service 58: Normal Stand at the North End of the High Street
Service 59: Normal Stand at the North End of the High Street
Service 61: Stand 16 towards Elton Park
59/61 both coming in on 61s and also going out on 61s to avoid the outgoing 61s to have to run down to the Riverside Roundabout to turn round to head back towards Elton Park
Next Saturday will operate as followed between 12 and 1 (Festival Parade):
Service 13 (towards Salters Lane): Southbound stop on Prince Regent Street
Service 13 (towards Middlesbrough): Northbound stop on Prince Regent Street
Service 35: Northbound stop on Prince Regent Street
Service 36/37/38 (towards Norton): From Thornaby Station, will operate via Teesdale, Church Road to Bishopton Lane serving all stop and using the stop opposite Argos on Bishopton Lane as its main town stop (was supposed to happen like this last year but they ended up all running via Prince Regent Street)
Service 36/37/38 (towards Park End): Will call at the stop outside Argos then via Church Road and Teesdale to Thornaby Station
Service 52: Bizarrely, the 52 is supposed to head to Billingham from the stop opposite Argos on Bishopton Lane (despite it coming in from Hardwick as a 58 along Bishopton Lane to the stop outside Argos
Service 58: Even more bizarrely than the 52, the 58 is supposed to use the stop outside Argos on Bishopton Lane, despite heading out of town in the other direction
Service 59: Northbound stop on Prince Regent Street
Service 61: Southbound stop on Prince Regent Street
13/61 run out via Bridge Road and Riverside roundabout. 35 runs light via Prince Regent St same as 52/58's.
ALX300's on 36 today included 22020 and 22454
With all due respect, is this level of detail really required?
I mean, after all this is a discussion forum. From what I've seen this thread has 1 contributer, and an occasional poster. If other members feel anything like I do, they will be refraining from posting for
1. fear of getting in the way of the monologue
2. a feeling of pointlessness, that thirr (probably genuinely interesting info) will get overlooked and swallowed up in the excessive posting.
I'm probably overstepping the mark, but there's been quite a few occasions when I've wanted to contribute and then thought "why bother?". I would be grateful if the moderators could have a think and give me a response.
The way I personally view this is as such:-
To have a member feeling that, for whatever reason, they cannot contribute to a thread is unfair to that member and, in the case that they are able to contribute constructive and/or interesting information, also to other members who make take interest in just reading the thread. At the same time though, I don't feel it appropriate on a public forum to rigidly dictate what members can or cannot post as long as whatever is posted, remains within the boundaries of the forum guidelines.
Thus, a compromise is the only reasonable resolution in such a situation. Perhaps said excessive posting can be watered down somewhat but at the same time, members may have to become accustomed to reading information which, to them, is unnecessary and/or simply not interesting. I'll also leave it as food for thought that if other information/contributions were posted, it may break up and reduce other excessive posting in itself... I'll continue to monitor the thread but otherwise, at this stage, things will be allowed to roll onwards.
The amount of information being posted shouldn't be a problem, but more the actual information. Temporary bus stops are useful if any forum members would be visiting the area, but a simple link to the Stagecoach page would be better than pasting all of the information in, otherwise as mbonwick says, really interesting information can get lost in amongst pages of not really interesting information.
The main problem I'm seeing at the moment, probably what mbonwick was referring to, is posting where driver changes will be taking place. Stagecoach do not publish running/duty boards for external use, as they can pose a security risk to the driver. If an angered member of the public had access to them, or the information contained on them, after being refused travel, they'd be able to track when and where the driver won't be behind the defence screen.
(31/07/2012 14:25)cumbria0902150 Wrote: [ -> ]The amount of information being posted shouldn't be a problem, but more the actual information. Temporary bus stops are useful if any forum members would be visiting the area, but a simple link to the Stagecoach page would be better than pasting all of the information in, otherwise as mbonwick says, really interesting information can get lost in amongst pages of not really interesting information.
The main problem I'm seeing at the moment, probably what mbonwick was referring to, is posting where driver changes will be taking place. Stagecoach do not publish running/duty boards for external use, as they can pose a security risk to the driver. If an angered member of the public had access to them, or the information contained on them, after being refused travel, they'd be able to track when and where the driver won't be behind the defence screen.
First off, I did post a link to the Stagecoach website for the details regarding the closure of Middlesbrough Bus Station. However, as there is no such page for the Riverside Festival as far as I know, I summerised the Stagecoach information from the main information on Connect Tees Valley.
As for the posting of where the driver changes are taking place this week, the whole reason for that is, to change drivers services are operating along roads that normally they don't serve or don't even normal see bus services. In the case of the 13 towards Salters Lane and the 61s, where they change, those two services normally don't serve. As for that, most passengers know where driver changes take place anyway as most Stagecoach services in Stockton change drivers with passengers on-board. Middlesbrough is normally exclusively in the Bus Station so what you've describe can never happen.
(31/07/2012 17:38)kuyoyo Wrote: [ -> ]Middlesbrough is normally exclusively in the Bus Station so what you've describe can never happen.
I must take exception to this - just because a driver change happens at a bus station, doesn't mean they aren't at risk of assault. Personally I have seen a near assault at Lancaster Bus Station during a driver change, FWIW.
A well known phrase springs to mind "People said said the
Titanic was unsinkable, and just look what happened to it...."
Just to clarify, we'd prefer it if driver change-over points weren't published for reasons given above by cumbria0902150. Posts containing such information have had it edited out in accordance with this.
B10BLEs 21103/5 (P603/5 JBU) has returned to South Shields from Stockton, 21103 having not seen service there.
The debranding of Stockton-based MAN ALX300 22064 is almost complete with just a few bits of the offside stickers to be removed. It is currently parked in the 'dead line' in the depot, as it apparently will not start.
And the chaos of the Riverside festival in Stockton hit home today, with most services running late for the majority of the day. Several 36s termainted short in Middlesbrough rather than running to Park End. At one point, the 2 35s were running round Wolviston Court together and later were running 10 minutes apart which resulted in a vehicle swap which saw Olympian 16837 go out on the half past the hour runs at half 3, replacing 21144 which sat in Stockton for 25 minutes before going out at 4 to replace 21104 which then ended up on 59/61.