The America's Cup

Lets have a look at it from a bus spotter's perspective! Nipped into Plymouth today to see what was going on in Plymouth as regards to the Cup, presuming to find Bretonside adorned with a motley collection of coaches carrying people on a trip to Plymouth to watch the cup. I was somewhat mistaken. Only 3 coaches on private hire were in Bretonside, 2 from Seawards, and 1 from Mid Devon Coaches. Maybe there was somewhere else that they were parking them, but there certainly wasn't much to see at Bretonside! 

So moving on, understandably the 25 was going to be a busy route for the day seeing as it circum navigates the Hoe and the Barbican, so there was a larger '51' reg Dart on today, rather than the norm of an MPD. 

While we're with PCB, there were also B7 deckers running around displaying 'Not in Service' throughout the afternoon carrying people. Whether these were linked to the event I'm not sure, but it seemed to make some sort of sense. 

Moving on, Plymouth Discovery Tours are using their Leyland Leopard to run a shuttle service from the 'base camp' down at Millbay Docks, where all the boats are being kept, along with all the facilities, down to the Barbican and the Hoe for the spectators. A very reasonable £1 is being charged for the trip, running every 15 minutes throughout the 10 day event. Its great to see the Leopard in front line service working hard, with so many enjoying the trip! A proper bus. 


And finally, something you might not have expected! Recognise this Mercedes 814? You should. This is actually Target Travel's WCR 819, previously T360 EJM. This is the luxury Merc you may have seen buzzing around Plymouth from time to time. The coach is fitted with very large luxury seating, tables, and if memory serves me, even some on board refreshment facilities. The Merc has had some America's Cup vinyls applied to her, along with new wheel trips to make her look the part. Very smart indeed! Personally, I think this Autobus bodywork on the Vario looks even better than the more common Plaxton Cheetah bodywork more usually found on the smarter looking 814s. 


So plenty going on if you're not interested in the sailing!