Monday 11 October 2010

1200 rides again!

What a fantastic sight! LFJ 844W rides the Torpoint Ferry once again after 4 years away from the water. A big thanks to Western Greyhound MD Mark Howarth for letting me use these wonderful photos of not only 844 but Tally Ho! LH, KJD 413P as well. This would have likely been her first trip across the Tamar on the ferry. 


But back to the main topic, I'm sure 1200 would have turned plenty of heads on the journey. An FDC Dart also joined the duo on the crossing so if I can find out who was driving, I'll ask his opinion on it! Who knows it may be someone who remembers driving 1200 back in her days at Torpoint. 1200 also had time to stop off for a visit to her old depot on Trevol Road. Unfortunately a good photo couldn't be taken due to positioning, but I'm sure it was quite a sight seeing her back among the Tridents that saw her withdrawal. 


As the picture nicely shows 844 boarded the ferry with ease without the use of a ferrylift fitted to today's buses. With the body modifications and modified springs the VR boarded the ferry with ease. Its not uncommon for Tridents to scrape the ground even with the ferry lift activated, but this just shows the versatility of the VR. 


I do hope I'll be able to witness a similar offering sometime in the future, LFJ 847W has been promised a trip across the ferry in the coming years so we'll watch out for that one. Restoration of 847 is still ongoing, but what a sight it would be to see the sisters paired up on the ferry again. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely magnificent to see 1200 on the ferry again - it's just a crying shame that it wasn't on one of the more appropriate, older ferries - but you can't have everything!

Laurence Mayhew said...

True true it would have been so fitting to have the two reunited but 1200 was actually one of the lucky 3 which survived long enough to ride the newer ferries in service. The livery of course doesn't match the era but I'm happy to let thats slip! The older ferries were also easier to take photos on...