Devon Coastal Run

Sunday saw myself and a friend take a trip aboard WHOTT's Bristol VR VDV 137S, also known as Victory, when she was being used by Devon General.

The day started off at one of the Exeter Park and Ride sites, with 937 (VDV 137S) AEC Relliance 960 HTT, and AEC Regent CTT 518C. John Doige was the driver for the day, and my can he drive a VR! I must say it was an absolutely fantastic thrash along the roads of Devon, and the VR was in fine fettle. I hadn't been on the bus for 2 years, but they've worked some magic on her over at Knowstone, and she is quite a rocket now!

The jouney took us from Exeter, along the coast through Starcross and Dawlish etc to end up at Teignmouth. A stop at Teignmouth then took us right down towards Newton Abbot, Torquay, Brixham and Totnes. Then it was inland to Buckfastleigh where we made another stop at the South Devon Railway. After this we proceeded on to Bovey Tracey which would be the final gathering point.

I will try to put a video together of the bus in action in the near future.

Caradon Riviera Tours' LUI 9955

Seen here is Caradon Riviera Tours' Leyland (Tiger?) LUI 9955, seen here at the top of Fourlanesend Hill. Its wonderful to still see this 30(ish) year old coach still being used daily, here being used on a private hire trip to Woodland's Adventure Park. She still works hard here and I'm sure will keep pounding on for a long while to come. She did sound and look very healthy, especially for her age, I wish I was one of the lucky people who had had a chance of riding on this yesterday! This bus also made an appearence at the Winkleigh Bus Rally last year!

FDC to drop 181

The route currently operated by FDC from Torpoint to Liskeard is the 181. This was started just over a year ago now and has been run by Varios. Because of the route structure, this has meant that A-Line Travel opted to change they're route to serve St Germans and Kernow Mill etc instead of the old route via Downderry etc which the 181 serves.

Though is has now been announced that 181 will be dropped by FDC and a form has been sent to A-Line Travel to operate the route as '281' if they would like. This is only in the early stages though Jim seems fairly keen on the idea.

Though to my knowledge 281 is the route that Liskeard and District operate between Crafthole and Polperro. Maybe this will have a number change, but it seems strange to do this when it has been established for a fair amount of time. Maybe it was simply a 'typo' on the piece of paper!

This would mean that A-Line would operate on Saturdays for the first time in its history, as that is what the new tender will require. Previously A-Line has only operated buses on Monday to Friday, and this will remain the same for routes 80/A/B.

This does also mean that Mercedes 709 M152 LPL might be brought back out again, and seen in service! A-Line will need to either use her, or to purchase a new bus, and seeing as M152 is currently sitting there, without a use, it seems logical to get her back on the road, as said by driver Steve.

Will be very interesting to see what happens in the coming months, the tender shall start in September if A-Line is to take the route over! PTOTPA will keep you informed.

WNPG fleet

This picture of he WNPG fleet a new years ago is from Derrick Cuff's compilation.

As you can see the 2 series 3 VRs were not part of the fleet at this time, and technically neither is the Bristol Loddekka which was on loan to WNPG to run the herritage service!

All of these buses have now been forced out of the First Devon and Cornwall depot at The Ride and now take residence in several different locations across Devon and Cornwall, including Loddiswell and Liskeard.

The LH VOD 125K is still awaiting a refit to bring her back to former glory, so is currently out of action. The SU is currently serviceable. 1056 OTA 290G has now been re-painted for the new season, though she is still in dry storage because of leaking from the windows. The Loddekka is back with her owner.

Over the years

This picture here from Derrick Cuff is of Torpoint Dennis Trident 32760 when she was brand new and being readied for service at Torpoint! These were revolutionary times as you all know, and as I've said many a time, days that we all miss.

It is now funny to think that these have been with us for 5 years now and I thought this was a good opportunity to have a comparison of how they look now. Obviously you can see that the pink is somewhat faded compared to when they were new. Though it is not shown on this picture they have also lost the yellow bubble that used to be on the nearside top deck. These 2 pictures are of the same bus this being 32760 WA54 OLR.

Tridents at Torpoint have also been somewhat unreliable in the last year or 2. Even today I have heard stories of them quite literally falling apart or breaking down in one way or another, and old Olympians having to be sent out to take their place. Personally I have no problem with this, also it adds a bit of drama to it all. But its not really what you would expect of a bus of just 5 years old. They just aren't made like they used to!

PCB 34

I pass service 34 every morning on the way to school and this is just a few observations I have made over the months.

As i'm sure your aware of the service does have special route branded buses, these being the 3 '56' reg Enviro 200s. There also used to be a Mercedes 709 which used to operate just infront of the bus to Derriford, which would terminate at Milehouse but this has now ceased as with many of these 'short' services, which were first put in place because of bad timings with the Cremyll Ferry departures and arrivals.

Recently punctually on the route has been much improved and this is why only the 1 bus operates on most services now. Though bus types used on the service, at least on the particular one I see do vary. It is now quite normal to see one of the '08' reg Enviros on the 34, and also one of the newer Darts. But today was a little reminder of the past, this being M127 HOD. Step Darts used to be the staple bus for the route, but now obviously have been replaced by the newer vehicles. It was much nicer to see a good strong steppy on there for a change, the sound is just that bit nicer compared to the Enviros! I do wonder why it is a common occurrence to see one of the '56' Enviros on services such as 41/2 though. The buses were funded and bought just for the route, and yet they are often used on other PCB routes. I'm sure the users are not complaining having an even nicer bus on route, though it does seem to destroy the point of having the buses route branded, as in many cases nowadays.

Blast from the past

Today, as Torpoint will soon start another chapter in the depot's life, I post these pictures very kindly from Mr Derrick Cuff taken back when Torpoint was near totally VR operated. First picture is of the Welsh VR BEP 966V. She was new to the South Wales Transport company and was then the last VR moved to Torpoint in 1990. Tony Body at the wheel here, seen in Bretonside on old route 80! Also remanisiant of the times when buses ran through Devonport, right past my school. When I first joined the school a couple of the VRs still did this route and I used to love spending lunch times looking out for them if and when they came past. Yes even in 2005 I have VR memories which I can tell!

Secondly is of LFJ 843W new to Western National, and was amonsgst the longest serving of the VRs at Torpoint. Again seen here with Tony Body! And you can see by the smile on his face that times were great!!

The whole K reg batch of Volvo Olympians are now in the area and I'm sure it won't be long til the last 2 C reg Olympians are replaced. The last reminder of the Gardner era is nearly at an end.

Stories on the buses

A feature I may start to include on the blog is of interesting stories that I here on the buses from drivers, and my god they do say some fascinating things once in a while.

To kick of the series is Steve of A-Lines story of when he used to work at People's Provincial in Gosport, driving a whole fleet of Leyland Nationals. He's said that he hated driving these and thats what made him move later on to work at Southdown in Portsmouth. Though he recalls one time when he was sitting in a traffic queue at the lights in the town centre of Gosport, driving a particularly clapped out National. A convertible car pulled up towards the back of the bus, with 2 young, beech blond birds (girls) in. As the lights changed, the young Steve however much he dreaded it, put pedal to the metal, and the National billowed out black smoke all over the car, and into the girl's faces, he said that looking back in his rear view mirror he couldn't even see the car, dowsed by the fumes from the National. And as they went past, Steve got a very powerful look from the 2 girls!

Trip to Penzance

Saturday saw myself and Louis Rawlings have a trip down to Penzance! But first, the whole point of the trip was to photograph what is seen about. 2 DRS Class 37s, these being 37194 and 37087. There was a very large number of spotters that came out in Plymouth alone to see these 2 beasts, and the chance to see a class 40 only around half an hour behind was very attractive for the enthusiast! While down there one spotter, decided to walk across the 2 rails to get to the other platform which didn't go down will with staff at the station, who then called the Transport Police to attend! Some of the enthusiasts there were understandably annoyed at his actions! In the words of one man "Spoiling it for all of us".

It was then down to Penzance on the Class 43 behind it, a plesent trip is the baking hot sun, down the Cornish mainline.

On arrival Louis was off to photograph the trains while I proceeded to my roaming grounds at Penzance bus station. There was a fantastic array of vehicles on Saturday, it was nearly like being back in time, very few low floor vehicles used, infact in the 3 hours I was down there I only saw 2 Darts and 2 B7s and 2 Solos. Olympians really were dominating the seafront as can be seen in the photograph, along with the odd Volvo Citybus operating Open Top route 300. There were many Royale Olympians dominating the scene, alone with a standard Volvo Citybus. Though the highlight for me was two Alexander duel door Leyland Olympians, these being A102 FSA and B112 MSO. Not forgetting ECW Leyland Olympian A753 VAF also becoming a rare sight, and likely won't be around for much longer. And the last interesting thing was newly arrived from Bristol K623 LAE, a Northern Counties Leyland Olympian. A fantastic scene, the station was frantic! Moreso by the fact that the main streets in Penzance were closed because of a procession going through the town, making the town centre gridlocked.

Pictures here also show both 37s and the Class 40, this being 40145 together in Penzance, so not only were be back in time in terms of buses, but also with trains! A wonderful sight I must say. The film of the 37s leaving Penzance will soon be uploaded to youtube, some proper clagging from the beasts!

A full selection of photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/11717981@N02/

Bertie back on the road...

... well was! A-Line Travel R651 YCR also known as Bertie returned to the road yesterday after around a week out of service, with new injectors now fitted. She was running the best I've seen her ever run and even started on the button, though her alturnator has now packed up and is again out of service, meaning X891 YGU (the only bus not yet named) takes over the 80s while the Transit runs X891's school duty. Hopefully she will return to the road soon.

As a quick note these are the names given to the A-Line fleet

Mercedes Vario R651 YCR is Bertie
Volvo B10M E920 EAY is Ellie
Scania JIL 3755 is Vanessa
Mercedes 709 M152 LPL is Milly (though she is un-operational)

so anyone got any ideas for X891 YGU?

C412 in for the chop?

C412 HJN was today spotted by Louis Rawlings operating on UGOBUS service 2!! A main stream route usually operated by the much more modern Darts and B6s with the low floor capabilities. This comes as K802 ORL has again returned to Torpoint from Callington. Therefore this seems likely that this may now turn into a permanent transfer with the extra buses now in the local fleet, meaning that this may just be the end for C412. Then again she may simply be in for maintenance and be back soon! We'll have to wait and see!

Van Hool problems

Picture from Derrick Cuff here is A-Line Travel's Van Hool bodied Scania, broken down in Crafthole. The bus was replacing also out of service R651 YCR. The Van Hool is still having problems with the fuel system having a 'fuel bug' which keeps clogging up the fuel system. Sadly this cannot be helped and is hard to treat.

The Vario is at the moment being seen to because of the fuel system, as air is still escaping meaning that the system is not fully pressurised.

Cremyll, come Picadilly Circus!

The day started off with Jim on the X reg, as the R reg was unserviceable though today passed her MOT so will likely return to service, next week.

We did not take the same route diversion as of yesterday, Jim risked taking the Vario round the back roads of Millbrook, avoiding New Road. In the old Ivecos he said that this would be been easy as pie, being able to take them through the 'shortcut' though the Vario had to continue much further up until reaching the mini roundabout at the opposite end of New Road, avoiding Millbrook Quay. This was captured on film and this will be put onto Youtube in the very near future.

Coming back towards the quay, we met Steve with C412 HJN coming round the bend from Anderton. This school service is usually operated by a Trident, though an Olympian has to be used to navigate Anderton, to provide the service. Though talking to some students from the school, many saw this as a day off, and didn't go to school, as they though there would be no service!! There was also Carl on the other school run, also going via Anderton, seen here with C413 HJN

Strangely, shortly after departing Cremyll on the ferry, a service 81C displaying Cremyll, operated by a Trident turned up. This bus was not due for another hour, and the school bus to Torpoint had already left, so not sure what this bus was doing.

On returning to Cremyll, I was greeted with this magnificent sight. Leyland Olympian C412 HJN, and Mercedes Varios X891 YGU, and S529 RWP. X891 would operate the service ran this morning in reverse. C412 HJN would wait in Cremyll for S529 RWP to take passengers down to Millbrook, then pick up people from Torpoint, drop them back to Cremyll and then swap to C412 for the journey to Torpoint.

Pictures here show the route diversion from outside the bus, you can see this silly people parked his van right in the path of Cuffy, making if very difficult to negotiate.

On returning to Cremyll, there was this 'wonderful' sight, 3 Mercedes Varios all lined up, and kindly all of the drivers posed for the camera. From left to right, A-Line Travel X891 YGU with driver Derrick Cuff, FDC S529 RWP with driver Tony Body, FDC S547 RWP with driver Patrick Hunt.

Sadly this will be the only day of shuttle operation, and there will simply be no buses other then A-Line serving Millbrook. But what an exciting day its been!

Ex- Bristol bus hits the streets of Plymouth

Today saw K625 LAE an Ex-Bristol Leyland Olympian, take to service on the 3, normaly covered by a Dart of B6!! I apolgise for the quality of the picture but it did jump out at me! I was stunned to see this here!! On further investigation I have found there there are now at least 2 in service in Plymouth. I'm guessing that these 2 and K801 and K802 ORL will be transfered to Torpoint in the near future meaning that the remaining C reg Leyland Olympians can be taken out of service. Very nice to see some proper buses on the route for a change!!

First Devon and Cornwall...come Western National

Today there has been major route diversion for buses traveling to Millbrook. The road along by the chemist, the main road into Millbrook, has collapsed. On Monday there was a severe hole that was created in the road though as the picture illustrates this was simply patched over. Though today a much larger span of the road collapsed making it un-passable for vechicles. This has meant that buses to and from Cremyll have had to come over the hill at Fourlanesend, and along Maker, then down through Anderton covering the old Western National route, right down to Millbrook and Insworke. It then turns around as normal in Insworke and comes back down to Anderton and then to Cremyll.

Though First buses these days never cover this route, today exceptions were made and once again the road was buzzing with bus activity. A-Line was running X891 YGU, and First at the time of me being there had sent Leyland Olympian C413 HJN down this way, also joined by Mercedes Vario 52519. I'm not yet sure if a Trident had made the journey as this was the reason buses stopped going down this road, in 2005.

So it is likely that 81C will be seeing a considerable amount of smaller vehicles, likely mainly Olympian and Vario operated, when this will likely continue tomorow. It the opotunity comes, I'm definately having a trip.

Snap on Sunday

Just a quicky today, I apolgise for few posts recently but exams have sadly had to take priority. In a few weeks normal service will resume.

The picture here, was taken in Camborne yesterday, was gorgeous weather up until about 15 mins after this was taken. The picture shows 43022 taken from the road, heading down the line to Penzance.

A-Line news

R651 YCR is off the road again while having attension made to the starting/fuel system on the bus. This has been a problem with the bus since she was purchased a year ago, and even now, there are still problems which are seeming very hard to rectify. Therefore X891 YGU has been operating the services the R reg would usually, and the Transit has been hard at work on the school run, which the X reg would usually operate.

Arrivals and Departures

I think it would be fitting to start with the bad news first. Two buses from Torpoint have bitten the dust this week. Firstly is S412 GUB. Which was quite a surprise seeing that she only had a refit a few months ago, and had been one of the best Varios at Torpoint. She was also the last one in the fleet not to have an electric blind fitted, quite rare by standards of today. Therefore covering is just more and more Varios.

The next, news that was unknown to me until today is that Ex-Torpoint Leyland Olympian A167 VFM has now been sold for scrap! She was used at Torpoint in late 2006 and early 2007. She was then moved down to Penzance on 27th July of 2007. She had therefore also been noted on many Truro routes, and up as far as Bude on some occasions. The last news I had was that she was being used in her old haunt at Barnstaple as a driver trainer, though news points that she has now been sold for scrap. I great shame as she was one of the nicest Olympians I have ever traveled on.

It has also been reported that though, C417 HJN is on long term absence she is still down on the books. This means that she may still return to service though there is major work needing to be carried out for this to be possible. This would include a gearbox change and likely a lot more things underneath the surface, which I doubt FDC would be willing to do at this moment in time.

Though on the upside very kindly, a Callington Driver updated me on the condition of K801 ORL. She is currently still being used on Callington route 76 and 76A, though has now been fitted with a ferrylift ready for Torpoint. This means that the 2 sisters are together again, though not quite where they should be!

Goodnight and Hello

As was thought, C417 HJN, 34817, 4017 has now been withdrawn from the First Devon and Cornwall Fleet. She is to my knowledge now parked up in Plymouth, awaiting the tow I presume. This leaves just 2 Leyland Olympians. The race is on, which will keep going, and which will fall out.

Looking at there past 34812 has been more prone to minor breakdowns which she has even demonstrated in recent weeks, 34813 has always been the most reliable of the original 4, though she has a weaker engine that 412. But its anyone's game at the moment.

On a brighter note the replacement bus is now in Plymouth. K801 ORL has been spotted by Cuffy on Plymouth duties and therefore it can't be long at all until the ferrylift is fitted and she's in Torpoint, taking up 34817's spot in the depot.

A tribute video will be made, in due course, R.I.P C417 HJN

Trip to Truro

Today saw myself take a trip down to Truro for the 3rd time. The day started off along with Jim on the 7:07 down to Cremyll. After disembarking from the 7:30 Cremyll ferry I decided to walk into Plymouth to 'save time'. I estimated the walk as 10 minutes though it turned out more like 20! leaving my pushed for time when I finally got on the 1A at 8:00am. Though the connection was smooth and I was soon on my way to Truro on the 08:20, though until Liskeard I had to stand on the packed class 150/3.

On reaching Truro it was a very good connection down into the bus station on a Volvo B7. Sadly though by a matter of minutes I missed Leyland Olympian A754 VAF going out on service. Therefore I did a bit of spotting for a while. Was quite interesting to see how many ex-Plymouth buses have now migrated there. Mercedes Varios 52534 and 52535 are the latest Vario additions. 52534 had spent some time at Torpoint before this. There was also the 3 Marshall Varios, 52596/7/8 all being used. There were also several of the P reg Dennis Darts that were originally bought to run the 14 and 18 that the B7s now run. There was also Hopeley's Volvo Olympian on hand, along with some Royal Olympians from FDC, along with an array of Solos or Darts. Not forgeting the 2 D reg Volvo Citybus' aswell.

After this time A754 VAF had returned from her trip to Camborne and I jumped at the opotunity. Unusually, she was being used on the 18 to Penzance! Again routes that are usually operated by the B7s, so quite a treat for the traveler's on the run today! Though the 24 year old Leyland did struggle and bit. After all these years on Cornish roads she is a bit tired I must say, but still much more comfortable and faster than the B7s, and no I'm not making that up. They just don't make them like they used to! The run back from Redruth (thats as far as I went) was on a B7 and it was just so dull and slow compared to the ride I had had on the Limp.

ON return to Truro I made my way towards the coach park. But whats that I could hear! An unmistakeable whine coming from the roundabout, and sure enough, YRC 125M swung round onto the road! The grabbed the camera and took some pictures frantically before it was gone. But there was no worry. The driver pulled over and said "So your a bus spotter then hey! Hop on and come for a ride if you like". What luck I thought! Was a superb driver both in character and in skill and the trip was fantastic. Was also interesting to hear that there have been many offers to buy the bus in recent months, though the owner has been reluctant to sell because of the reliablility and sutibilility of this fine Series 2 Bristol VR. The turning point in Malpas looks even tighter when your actually there, though life wasn't made and easier for the driver because of a parked car where we should have been able to swing the VR round. Though after a couple of attempts we slotted in nicely.

The return trip back to Plymouth was fairly uneventful. Though for the last leg on the Vario, we had Mr Cuff at the wheel, showing off his new loud speaker! Was great to have him back for the day, and shame we now have to wait another 2 weeks for this experience.

Pictures and videos of the day will shortly be avalible on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11717981@N02/

and Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/bristolvrboy

Derrick Cuff leaves again

Last week saw A-line/Carmel driver Derrick Cuff leave the bus industry full time to take up a job as a van driver at Brown's Food Service's in Exeter. Picture shows him at work in his '08' Ford Transit van. But don't worry he'll be at A-Line every 2 weeks on a Friday.

To see the 2nd tribute video and Cuffy's funny moments please visit the links below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBMdBCNj2Tk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CYxQS6xFs8&feature=related

Coach Variety

Yesterday saw quite a turn out of interesting coaches at Bretonside. First was this brand new '09' plate National Holiday's liveried Setra this being NH09 ORH. I think I'm right in saying that this must have been the new fleet's first trip to Plymouth, as the 45 new coaches only arrived last week. Though if I'm honest at the time I didn't even notice it was a brand new coach! It blended in a bit too well with the other 3 National Holiday coaches there, all vintage compared to this.

Next was this brightly liveried Van Hool bodied VDL, from Sanders holidays. This brought a great viberence into the sea of white that was in the bus station before this arrived!

Next was this Volvo B12B, from Paul S Winson. This again was a very smartly painted bus, with the nice American style horns on top this really did look the part! One of the nicest liveries I've seen for a long time in my opinion. Excluding the Van Hool 5 minutes before!

And lastly was this tri axle Neoplan, from Germany. This was a change from the normal British coaches that crowd the bus station.

Snap on Sunday! (on Tuesday!)

As I didn't do one on Sunday I'll do it today! This picture was taken on Saturday, late evening showing Mercedes Varios S412 GUB and S529 RWP outside the depot at Torpoint. Varios have been particually dominant at Torpoint recently because of the double deck shortage. We are still 2 deckers down, these being 34002 and 34817, and therefore 2 Varios are being drafted in. Though as Jamie Limb found out today, these seem to be imcapable of doing a morning's work without breaking down (twice!)

A visit from Torbay!

The Torbay/Paignton sightseeing Daimler Fleetline, JTD 395P was seen today at Plymouth Citybus, likely in for a MOT before the new season starts. She was seen in service on the Torbay football celebration route where the team rode on top of her through Torbay.

Shopper bus is revealed in Torpoint

While the old Somerfield store in Torpoint is being revamped into a Sainsburys, Plymouth Citycoach are offering this shopper bus from outside the store in Torpoint to there store at Armarda Way in Plymouth. This is a free service and runs at 10:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Though if I'm honest they haven't really thought it throught. The bus leaves at 10:30, just intime to miss the ferry meaning a 15 minute wait. By the time you get there its 11:15ish and then you only have 40 minutes max to do your shopping before it returns to Torpoint! 81 offers exactly the same service to and from the same place and the people that used the service (old ladies) could use that for free aswell!

Is it not obvious?

I have seen this in several locations today including Royal Parade, the bus station and at Torpoint depot asking the drivers to turn off the engine to lower noise polution. But wouldn't this be more aplicable to saving fuel. Buses idle for a long time in some locations and surely this is more beneficial than the noise polution. Infact I enjoy the idling sound! Especially when its an Olympian!