Yesterday I was in Plymouth. I had been thinking for a while about going in to Laira Bridge depot to see how the retoration of LFJ 844W was going in the hands of the 'Western National Preservalition Group'. I had been told that she would be re-appolstered, re-pannaled, have a new clutch and be re-painted into the old Western National livery of cream, blue, red. To my shock when I walked into the depot they had done appsolutly nothing except take out the blinds and do a bodg job on the bodywork with just cover sheets of metal. She had been away for nearly a year now and I was expecting a lot more than what looked like it had been done in an afternoon. And after all this loyal service all her life she deserves more. I was even expecting her to ba at the Last Bristol VR Running in Penzance in December or this years Plymouth Hoe rally but at this rate it won't be ready for about 2-3 years let alone months.
Well I don't know much about her history and would like to so anyone who knows anything more about the history, the restoration project or has driven in her in the past please e-mail me ( laurencemayhew@btinternet.com ). Well she started out in 1981 and had been made for the Western National Omnibus company. Two years later she was moved down to Western National and baced at Torpoint depot where she was converted for use on the Torpoint ferries. She lived a hard life there where she was pushed hard on routes like 81B and 81A. Where she also developed a very high pitched wine like the other buses at the depot and more so that normal VRs. She was then renumbered in 1999 from 1200 to 38844. In this time somewhere between 2000 and 2004 she was moved to Plymouth for a short period and then came back to Torpoint in early 2005. She was then one of the last Bristol VRs left in Torpoint and Plymouth along with LFJ 846W and LFJ 847W. Then people srated wondering which would be next to go. Many sucpected it would be LFJ 844W because she was in the poorest condition but early one Tuesday morning I was LFJ 847W on route 81B going to Cremyll when she started to lose drive, became difficult to get in gear and was overheating. She krept up Fourlanesend hill at about 1 mile an hour. We then rested at the top of the hill for five minites to let her cool down. We then got as far as we could but at the bottom of Southdown hill she finnally gave up the ghost and I suppose that was the deciding factor so about two weeks on she left. That left LFJ 844W and LFJ 846W. It then seemed obvious that LFJ 844W would be the next go but in May suprisingly LFJ 846W went and so LFJ 844W was the last Bristol VR left at Torpoint and in Plymouth. She then hung on until August when she left. Now for nearly 3/4 of a year she still sits in her little corner of Laira Bridge depot just waiting for the day she is used again and if that doesn't happen she's mine.
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