This father day rally at Shildon has been absolutely fantastic. A great turn out of buses with a great mix with a few further visiting and locals like Shaws & Primrose. Nice few models on display as well.  Shuttles have been amazing as well alongside a Line of buses on a run to end it all off. A turn out of 20+ fits really well

Northern National Restoration Group seem to have now preserved Ex Go North East B7TL Gemini 3963 as that was on display down here

(21 Jun 2026, 2:33 pm)Nerd4321 wrote This father day rally at Shildon has been absolutely fantastic. A great turn out of buses with a great mix with a few further visiting and locals like Shaws & Primrose. Nice few models on display as well.  Shuttles have been amazing as well alongside a Line of buses on a run to end it all off. A turn out of 20+ fits really well
Northern National Restoration Group seem to have now preserved Ex Go North East B7TL Gemini 3963 as that was on display down here

I attended this event today and travelled up from Newcastle by train, arriving at Locomotion at 09:35, not a bad effort for a Sunday morning in my opinion!

I thought Aycliffe & District Bus Preservation Society, Graeme Scarlett and the volunteers, did a fantastic job organising the event, providing a great mix of preserved buses and coaches that don't usually appear at our local rallies. The tours were frequent, with a different vehicle departing every 20 minutes, and I managed trips on Black Prince's Optare Vecta, 73, and Northumbria Motor Services' Optare Delta, 251. It was particularly nice to see a Delta, Prisma and Vecta all together in one place.

I was also impressed with the selection of vehicles from Shaws of Durham and Primrose Coaches, all of which were presented to a very high standard.

Holding the event at Locomotion was an excellent choice, catering for both bus and railway enthusiasts. The only thing missing for me was a shuttle connection to Bishop Auckland, which would have allowed visitors to connect with the Weardale Railway and see Romic Group's visiting Class 43 HST set that was operating there today.

I ended up leaving around 2pm, as I'd photographed pretty much everything I wanted to, with the exception of NNRG's 3963, which unfortunately was positioned in such a way that it was difficult to get any decent photographs of. By that point, things had started to die down a little, and I didn't really fancy waiting another hour or so for the Cavalcade Road Run to round off the day.

Having missed my intended train back to Darlington, I instead took what can only be described as the "Magical Mystery Tour of Newton Aycliffe", otherwise known as Arriva Service 5, back to Darlington for my onward journey home!

Overall, a very enjoyable event, well organised, well attended, and one I'd certainly like to see return in the future.

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