An eventful day out!

The day started off very well! Dave turned up with Leyland Olympian C417 HJN which was a great change from the usual Trident on the service. Though along Witsand Bay it did seem that everything was against us getting to the other end! Firstly this Bradford's lorry was unloading building materials completely blocking the road. This was then not helped by a rubbish lorry queueing up the other side! Though after a few minutes we navigated our way through. Secondly was this tractor parked very obscurely which was a challenge to get past. And then this forklift/tractor got in the way as well!

After all this was passed we had a good thrash down to Antony and arrived on time. At Torpoint we had a driver change to Jamie Limb, just about the best driver the depot has these days! (no I'm not just saying that Jamie). ON the trip he told me that my beloved C412 HJN had "Come to a grinding halt" on route yesterday though was back in service today operating the usual 81s driven by Andy this morning. C417 was driven superbly upto the station where I disembarked to meet Mr Rawlings. Though he had been delayed because of an early running 44C (which is successfully missed!)

When we were together we got into the station to get the tickets! The Devon Day Ranger is what we always go for now offering all day travel across the Devon rail network including branch lines for just £5. We even got our names printed on them as you can see!! We made our way upto Newton Abbot, then onto Exeter. To Exemouth and then back to Exeter. From Exeter upto Axminister. Then Axminister all the way back down to Newton Abbot. The Newton Abbot back to Plymouth.

Several interesting things were seen along the way! Firstly was that Countrybus now own a 54 plate accessible Mercedes Vario which has now seemed to have replaced the Accessible Mercedes 811 previously seen on this route in Newton Abbot, I haven't yet got a picture though will get one in the near future!

Next was Abbot Coach Travel's Scania Izitar S21 ACT seen at Newton Abbot. Another very impressive Tri Axle coach.

Next interesting thing was in Exeter. I hadn't seen this before, though seems to have been in Exeter for a little while now. This was J139 HMT a Northern Counties bodied Scania N113. I must say it did sound gorgeous when it was leaving the station.

Then in Axminister was Ex Arriva Dennis Lance L819 NWY with Alexander Strider bodywork now owned by Axe Valley.

And there was this, S675 AAE operated by First Somerset and Avon. This bus had just come from Taunton. A journey of around 1hr 20mins.

And to finish it all off was well more challenging the first expected. Our train had been held at Exeter for a late CrossCountry service meaning we were delayed by around 10 minutes. Though it doesn't sound like much it made all the difference when we got to Plymouth. I dashed out of the station to try and get a bus into Royal Parade as fast as possible. Though a 1 turned up just 5 minutes before my 34 left! He terminated at Exeter Viaduct which didn't help me at all. Having o run from there to the 34 stop in only 1 minute. Though before I even got there it seemed that the bus had already departed towards the ferry. 81C arrived in Cawsand too late from me and was not due for a while. So my only option and 3rd fall back (after the 2 34s) was to get a 3 and run from the Brewery Tap down to the ferry. Though even this failed. 38015 turned up late and we were delayed further as this was not a low floor vehicle. This then meant a 30min wait in Admirals Hard for the ferry to depart! But at least the other side there was a 500 to London waiting for me to get me to Cawsand!!

So all in all a very interesting day out!!