Basildon is a location that I don't usually travel around on the buses as - I'll be honest - it's not the most scenic place and the buses aren't the most interesting. However, I had an incentive to visit there on the 7th July (the Basildon Model Railway Exhibition), so I took the opportunity to purchase a PlusBus ticket and go around on the buses for a rather pleasant morning out.
I took a lovely, cool, air-conditioned c2c Class 357 'Electrostar' to Laindon. I got 1/3 off by booking in advance. When booking, PlusBus looked like the best option, but I found out that PlusBus cannot be purchased from Laindon - you have to get a ticket to Basildon then exit the train early, as Basildon PlusBus stretches to Laindon. Routes 8 and 8A run to a stop around 5 minutes walk from James Hornsby School (the location for the Model Railway Exhibition) at a combined frequency of every 10 minutes. However, the 8 that was supposed to arrive at Laindon Station never turned up, so I had to wait around 20 minutes for a 3/4 minute bus ride... Oh well, I got there in the end!
 |
| You're late! |
After that 3/4 minute bus ride, I walked for around another 5 minutes to reach my destination - James Hornsby School, for the annual model railway exhibition. I only took one photo there, but I can say that it was a fantastic show with around 30 layouts and many stalls (one of which I purchased a Class 20 from, which has subsequently been fitted with DCC Sound!)
 |
| Mini tube! |
That was very good, but sweltering in the sports hall, where most of the layouts and traders were based. I exited, pleased with what I'd seen, and caught the half-hourly First Essex Route 9 from the stop on the other side of the road.
 |
| Just in time! |
That gave me a fairly unremarkable ride through some housing estates into Basildon Town Centre, where I alighted and discovered that the NIBSBuses (A company I hadn't done before) 1A was due to leave on its 4th and final trip of the day in about 5 minutes, so - PlusBus in hand - I dashed over to Stand K and hopped on MK08UZK, one of their short Solos, for the long-winded journey to Pitsea.
 |
| 28 minutes? What? |
The reason the journey takes so long (28 minutes, when the 5/8 can take as little as 10 or 15) is because it wriggles through many small housing estates and even has to do a reversing manoeuvre mid-route! There was one other passenger who alighted around 1/3 of the way, then it was just me for the rest of the journey through pointless twists and turns! This was not a 'nice' trip as such, but more 'interesting'. I had a choice when I got to Pitsea - take the Dart Pointer at the stop on the 22 or wait for another bus due soon on the 28. I opted for the 28 and it was a mistake. While I (unlike most others) have nothing against Streetlites, they're very warm buses and the air conditioning doesn't necessarily do much to counteract that. You can guess by now that the bus that turned up was the aforementioned Wright Streetlite.
 |
| Sweltering Streetlite... |
I decided to 'grin and bear it', as Basildon was not far away and I wanted to get home by now. We sped through Vange on the way back to the Bus Station, where I then took the short walk to the station and caught the lovely, air-conditioned c2c train back home. All in all, a nice little day out.
Happy travelling!
No comments:
Post a Comment