The joke's on me this time!

A-Line's Steve making a mockery of me! Very clever! 

Ivor hits the road!

A-Line's newest addition to the fleet, R260 GNJ, has been used in service for the first time today. This Iveco 59.12 from Heron of Crawley, affectionately known as 'Ivor' in the A-Line fleet, has been with A-Line since November, but has so far been relegated to the school runs only. Though due to the non-availability of both of the Mercedes Varios, she was pressed into service on the 80/A/B throughout the day. 


Some of you may remember that A-Line used to operate two other Ex-Southern Vectis Ivecos, J234 and J238 KDL, which were subsequently replaced with M152 LPL and later the two Varios. So its been quite a trip down memory lane for passengers on the service today. She is somewhat 'tired' in her appearance, though this has to be expected for a vehicle which is fast approaching its 400'000th mile since new in 1997. The engine certainly pulls well, though is understandably more sluggish when compared to the previous Ivecos, thanks to its heavier Marshall bodywork. The interior is certainly very smart with high back coach seats in very nice condition.I've also very much enjoyed the manual gearbox, its just so much smoother than the Alison automatics, along with it being much more interesting when observing the driving. Steve - who drove the bus to Trago today with his girlfriend on board was somewhat agitated by the fact that his usual very professional driving, was lacking today after not being used to the manual, especially it being his first time driving the Iveco. In his attempt to 'impress' her with his driving skills, he made a bit of a hash of the gears on multiple occasions! He couldn't complain enough about the Iveco, and in fact ended up kissing the X reg Vario, when he got passed it before working the evening 80s, along with shouting "I love you!" to Jim! 


So all in all a successful day with many compliments from the passengers on board, if not from the driver himself! But with the Iveco being able to do 20mpg (8 more than the Varios!), Ivor looks set to be at A-Line for a fair time into the future, and I certainly look forward to the next time both Varios break down! 

Snap on Sunday (On Monday)

In the few moments of sunlight we had on Saturday I managed to grab this photo of 34197, one of the Ex-Airbus Volvo Olympians, still playing her trade down in St Austell, working into Truro with the church in the background. These were brought down here several years ago now for use on the X80, though these have since been replaced by Dennis Tridents. The Olympians are still fantastic vehicles to ride on, the engines have always been very good on them and the high speed gearboxes sound wonderful! Amazingly these are actually disabled accessible thanks to a lift being installed to the step on the entrance to allow it to be lowered down to the curb and then raised up to floor height. A very simple but effective system, and its a shame that other high floor buses couldn't have had this fitted. I could just imagine a simple system like this prolonging the lives of many VRs, Olympians and Atlanteans. But I can only dream! 

Shake up at Citybus

I shall air my views on the new livery at PCB in due course when I get a photo, but for now we have some much more interesting news to deal with! 


Plymouth Citybus has just announced the service changes for April, seeing several major changes along with a few minor parts, in general tidying up of some routes. 


The biggest change comes with the loss of both services 46 and 47. These are both of course long and well established circular routes operating a lengthy service serving many different back roads on their way through St Budeaux, Ernesettle, Southway, Derriford, Estover, Leigham, and Mutley Plain. This has been described as a lifeline countless times by regular users and it is a shame that PCB have regrettably had to withdraw the service due to lack of funding from Plymouth City Council, which did look inevitable anyway. I must admit the times I've used the services while chasing step entrance Darts around the City, both routes have carried a fair load for the journey. Obviously though the numbers don't add up, and a reduced service now seems off the cards. Its not all bad on this front though. As a partial replacement; the new 27 is being introduced to cover the route between Deer Park and the City Centre, going cross town by then going down to Devonport and Stoke, terminating at the Torpoint Ferry.  Cross City routes never seemed to have worked particularly well in the past, which is of course why FDC took the decision to simplify the complex structure and simply start and end all routes on Royal Parade, which as we have seen, has worked wonders for passenger growth on many of the routes. I'm sure PCB will have done their homework on this though, but they certainly go through 2 areas of potentially heavy congestion, so hopefully timetables will have been written accordingly. 


The rest of the changes are generally a bit of 'housekeeping', apart from the 45 which will see its remaining section from Royal Parade to Cattedown cut. Of course last year we saw the Devonport section cut, but now the route will be totally removed, leaving the Solos available likely to see off the olde faithful 709s completely. 20 will be removed from Merrafield and will instead terminate in Mudge Way. The 42 will be brought into line with the Sunday only service missing out Leatfield Drive, because of traffic issues, hopefully improving the reliability of the service overall. 40D and 41D will also be withdrawn and replaced with standard 40 and 41s. 


So overall the potential impacts have been minimised by some careful planning, and cuts have of course been inevitable since the take over of Go Ahead, but I must admit, through all this moaning from passengers I will say I have been very pleased with how few reductions we have seen so far. Really they have done what they set out to do which is streamline the services to make them more efficient, introduce more low floor buses (more low floor deckers due soon!!), and generally modernise the company. Under another company we could have seen much worse, and Go Ahead certainly seem to have proven themselves as the bus company of choice for Plymouth! 

A new lease of life for Ex Plymouth Dart

It was very pleasing to find that Ex-Plymouth Dennis Dart, P411 MLA has been secured for preservation. While browsing through I came across this website from the Bromley Bus Preservation Group who now own the Dart and are restoring it to the condition it was once in while working for its original operator, Centrewest. Of course the Dart made regular appearances on a variety of different routes in the city. Its usual haunt was the old 91, but it was by no means uncommon to see it out on a variety of Ugobus tasks. Really good to see and the best of luck to the BBPG in keeping this bus running for many more to enjoy! Please click the link below to browse the bus' progress in preservation. 

http://www.thebbpg.co.uk/d41.htm

A-Line Coaches' new website

Following PCB, A-Line Coaches has now had its website professionally done by James Anderson at Reddex Designs. James is a student alongside myself at Devonport High School For Boys, and I must say, looking at his work he, he is very capable! He even won the Herald Young Entrepreneur of the year in 2010. The new website shows of many of A-Lines attributes and now looks very modern and up to date. Derrick Cuff hopes that this will bring much more trade into the company, which it has already been succeeding in doing. The photo galleries have also been added to show fleets past and present including my own and Derrick's photos throughout. 


Please don't hesitate to have a look at www.alinecoaches.co.uk 

Mayflower Link returns!

With thanks to Tom Pearce I can bring you these great photos of LR02 LYU, the first of this batch to be put into the new improved Mayflower Link livery. I did fear this would be lost, along with the T-LLC Trident's departure down south, but thankfully the livery is making a return. I must admit, against many people's views, I'm all for branding, as long as its done well. Of course the old Blue Line, Purple Line etc that used to be used in Plymouth did very little for the image and gave the public very little to take in and take note of. Tamar Link, the first 'proper' branding to be applied worked a treat. How in the world could you ignore a big pink brand new bus? It did the job perfectly even if the livery can be controversial, but weirdly, it does grow on you! 


The Mayflower Link 93 livery though has been by far my favorite branding that any company has used, let alone FDC. The colors are, simple but bold, and tie in perfectly with the scenery, through the medium of wave like blue streaks down the side and green underlay. Truly magnificent. There are some slight changed to the old livery in that the font for the main writing has changed slightly on the front panel. There is also the addition of more green to the rear, and the blue wave now continues right up the back of the bus to support a new ship logo, very smart indeed, though the green may be slightly excessive, though I'm sure it will look better with a bit of fading after a few months! I have included some photos of the older version of the livery below for comparison. 

Ex-Silverlink gets a repaint

With thanks to Stuart Broom, I am able to bring you these great photos of FGW's newly painted 150127. This is one of several that have entered work mainly from Exeter TMD, to begin to replace the Class 142s. Of course 142009 has been repainted and will join the Northern fleet after its spell down here at FGW. You will notice that this repaint has not seen the 'neon waves' with different Westcountry locations re-applied to these 150s, but which are still seen on out more 'native' 150s. I've been told this is mainly to keep costs down, and is due the fact that they used to get dirty quite easily, and therefore a darker base colour has simply been used throughout. 


Good news for travellers is that the 3+2 seating has been retained with their very nice high back seats. Though the legroom is somewhat compromised, at least your pretty much guaranteed a seat, where as on a Pacer, often there is only standing room available.  These have now been very nicely re-upholstered and the trains are looking very much fit for service, for the next stage of their lives.  

B7 shake up

Plymouth Citybus' Volvo B7s from London have been nearly solely used on the 26 since arrival, in competition with First on the 3. They have now also been moved onto operation on the 36 and 41A since the route was changed. The deckers did seem to have excessive capacity though, which the 26 often didn't need. This week there seems to have been a workings change, with Citaros that would normally be on the 43, appearing on the 26, along with Darts. The B7s are being used on the 43 as well as other routes on a trial basis. Amazingly as one of the photos shows, one was operating on the 46 today, normally used to step entrance Darts!! This does seem a pretty good decision. The 43 often struggles with overloading, with a lot of people packed into the Citaros! The deckers seem perfect for the route and I'm sure the users will be very pleased to keep them. Though the total capacity isn't actually vastly different (because of extra standing room on a Citaro) the B7s will provide a much more pleasant journey when the numbers do rise! Certainly a very good bit of planning from PCB if this continues. 

The collection is back!

Horray! Finally, after all these months of waiting, the computer is back online, with my full photo collection restored! How perfect. Somehow we've coped over the months, but I'm delighted to have the archives back to be able to draw on whether referencing something past, or indeed present! So what better way to celebrate, than a nice photo of C412 HJN, playing her trade back in 2008! How time flies....

A decker returns to the Hoe

In my living memory, I can't actually think of a time I have seen a decker operating on the 25. Of course deckers at one time would have been common on the Hoe, but of course, without the roof! This Volvo B7, PL51 LGW, was seen operating the service last Saturday, reviving the double deck operation. If only the old sight seeing open top tours could be brought back. 

Snap on Sunday

With thanks to one of my regular contributors I can bring you back to around 2005/6, years of large change at the depot. Of course the Tridents entered service in 2005, which saw off many of the VRs, leaving on LFJ 844/6/7W still running by the end of the year. K802 ORL joined the fleet in early 2006 and some great photos of her negotiating Hounster Hill can be seen. This itself is now from a bygone era. The old 80B used to run down here, but withdrawn in 2007. Buses did still work up the hill on school duties, though First then decided it was too dangerous, largely because the short 1 lane section leaving Millbrook is very tight for a Trident. You may also remember that C412 HJN failed to make it up the hill leaving Millbrook and pupils were forced to walk up the hill, leaving C412 light enough to power herself up the rest of the hill. K802 would have been the ideal bus for the service, with plenty of power, and being short enough to get round the corner with well, less trouble than the Tridents. K802 is seen after just arriving at the depot still retaining her old headlights and blind. 

These two photos show the 2 penultimate VRs, LFJ 844W of course being the last operating in South Devon. LFJ 847W is seen at Tregantle while 846 is seen conquering the very tight section around Anderton. This part of the route was withdrawn soon after being the Tridents were un-able to negotiate the tight corners. There was a limited services throughout 2006 where it was rostered that only Olympians, Varios, and the Dart would use this road, but of course inevitably Tridents did escape onto the certain duties and therefore the decision was made to route all services via Maker, when the 81C was set up in 2007. 

An interesting move

Well today from the top of Royal Parade I spotted K616 LAE about to go on service. Luckily enough I had some time before my 81C was due to whisk me home after a session of 11+ invigilating and therefore took the opportunity. I knew time was tight, so I did a light jog down to the stop where the driver could clearly see me approaching. He proceeded to then close the doors and check his mirrors, I thought oh well fair enough, I can't really blame him for that because it was my fault for not being prompt for the departure of the service. I therefore took and step back and was going to take a photo of the departure instead. Though interestingly when I produced the camera, he pulled back into the stop, and allowed me to board the service, apologising as I got on. 


This was quite an interesting move in that he felt threatened enough to pull back into the stop, in fear of getting in trouble. I feel he probably would have had a just case against me if I was going to do something like that, once he pulls off the stand he can totally ignore any waiting passengers, its no longer his responsibility as it could mean a dangerous manoeuvre to pick up the passenger wanting to board. Quite an interesting situation, not something I'd want to repeat, simply because it made me feel guilty to the effect that I'd held him to ransom with a photograph. 


Well anyway the offending photo is at the top, I wouldn't say the photo is clear enough to be able to identify the driver anyway, but I suppose it would have recorded the date and time along with the service and vehicle. Certainly interesting to see his reaction though, I wonder if other drivers would do the same? 

New Enviros for Exeter

With thanks to Kameron Allan I can bring you these photos of Stagecoach Devon's brand new 60 plate Enviro 200s. Interestingly, bucking the recent trend of buying Enviros with Scania chassis', these are fitted on top of the more standard Alexander Dennis chassis. In total it is rumoured that there could be up to 36 joining the fleet in total, as to what they are replacing it is not entirely clear, though speculation says is could be some of the Volvo Olympians. Though they are drastically different sizes the capacity is fairly similar because of the extra standing capacity available on the Enviro 200. Of course the Dennis version is a lower quality, but they are much easier to run and the public of course will notice no real difference other than that of the slightly different seating layout. 





Certainly good to see SCD investing in the fleet even in these tough times. It has also been announced that Exeter may enjoy a 4th Park and Ride in the near future, so we shall look out for that! This again can bring me back to what I have said previously about Stagecoach possibly being a better bet for the company that should have taken over PCB, seeing as Exeter is still enjoying a really high quality level of service from their main operator. 

Ticket Barrier Installation

First Great Western have recently been doing many station improvements across the South West's network including installing the new 'Help Points', putting in new real time screens and announcement systems, and other general improvements to continue the great work FGW have recently been doing. The latest thing though seems to be the addition of new ticket barriers to currently un-barriered stations. 

The two stations that are currently receiving the treatment both carry a lot of traffic, these being Exeter Central and Truro. Both of these are quite obvious candidates. Truro receives a lot of people from both ends of the county, and also contains the branch line to Falmouth. Before now people walked through the ticket hall to exit. The doors were fairly small though and at peak times the area would become bottle necked with passengers, so the addition of gates to the sides of the platforms seems a sensible idea. Fare evading can also be a problem in this area because of certain un-manned stations. This gives the ticket inspectors more work to do and therefore not all passengers can been physically checked or issued with tickets in their journey and therefore this of course results in loss revenue for the TOC. Though there is also an exit from the Pumpkin Cafe that goes out onto the main road past the station. If this new system is to work surely this is going to have to be boarded up, or people will simply escape through there. 

Exeter Central often has extra staff on hand at the exit to the station to check the tickets, so people don't necessarily get away with fare dodging that easily, but of course the addition of the barriers here I'm sure will be greatly appreciated as people hurry down the flights of steps to the platforms. Though as Mr Rawlings pointed out, there is again a second exit from Exeter Central, so again something will have to be done here before the barriers can see full effect. Whether they can close the exit entirely is questionable, so we shall have to see what happens! 

A review of the year

Firstly I'll start with an apology for the lack of posting this week. Unfortunately I've gone down with this bug again for the 2nd time in 3 weeks! Just what I need in the run up to my AS Level January exams, but that's life I suppose! 


Well, what a year for the blog. At the time of writing this little corner of the internet has received 41'000 views since I started about 3 1/2 years ago. Remarkably though, over half of these total views have been within this year alone. The numbers have been steadily rising throughout the year, peaking at 2'830 last month. Of course this is largely thanks to the constant support many of the transport blogs have received from DBG at Plymothian Transit, so I'd like to again publicly thank him for the success he has spread to us. 


Now lets try and sum up the year a bit. I'm going to to list each month, and give a short extract from my favourite or most interesting post from the 254 posts I have for some strange reason, spent my time writing this year! 


January: 
"Another Goodbye"
And this time comes the turn of the G-TWSs. These started life with Badgerline in Bristol and worked many of the routes in the area for many years, into the First Group era.
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-goodbye.html


February:
"57000 now in Devon"
With thanks to a friend I can bring you this photo of the sole Plaxton Primo with First Devon and Cornwall. This bus was used as a demo in its early life until Truronian bought it to use on their services.
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/02/57000-now-in-devon.html


March:
"Driver CPC"
The new Driver CPC laws have of course been causing a lot of controversy over past months, and two of the A-Line drivers have just taken part in their first training session. 
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/03/driver-cpc.html


April:
"Enviros hit Plymouth"
I was very lucky today in the fact that while waiting for my bus home this came along! My first spot of one of these '09' reg Enviros in service and I must admit they do stand out on the streets of Plymouth.
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/04/enviros-hit-plymouth.html
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/04/more-on-enviros.html


May:
"Happy Birthday 913!"
Here she is 913 DTT, making it all the way to 50 years old.  This weekend Terry Bennett joined with many other local enthusiasts to celebrate this momentous occasion with a trip on her old haunts around along the Devon coastal roads. 
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/05/happy-birthday-913.html


June:
"Enterprise Boats' Leyland Olympian"
Enterprise Boat's Ex Stagecoach Leyland Olympian, K660 UNH. Of course this has replaced the beloved Bristol VR on the route between Truro and Malpas.
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/06/enterprise-boats-leyland-olympian.html


July:
"Ilfracombe...and back!"
Well maybe I was slightly mad going from Cornwall to Ilfracombe and back in a day. I never really imagined it would take as long as it did! 
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/07/ilfracombe-and-back.html


August:
"Whitsand open top"
I heard a very interesting comment that Cremyll Cabs/Coaches were at one point looking to buy the AEC for use on a Whitsand Bay tour type service along the twisting roads of the Rame Peninsula.
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/08/whitsand-open-top.html


September:
"Another K reg Lives on"
With thanks to Matt McWheeney I can bring you this photo the 2nd PCB Dart that has made it to Halifax, this being K110 SFJ. Of course unlike L126 which had only recently been withdrawn, K110 has been out of action for a while now.
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/09/another-k-reg-lives-on.html


October:
"A sad passing"
Sad news to confirm today after K802 ORL has been confirmed withdrawn and awaiting disposal. 
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/10/sad-passing.html


November:
A-Line fleet updates
Now I must admit, this one is quite a beast! Behind this modern looking Van Hool bodywork is in fact A182 MNE, a 1984 Volvo B10M! 
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-coach-at-line.html
The first of the new buses to join A-Line Travel  Coaches this week was this Marshall bodied Iveco 59.12. 
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010/11/line-fleet-updates.html


December: 
Right well where to start. Plymouth chucked up some interesting workings today. Starting with FDC, no less than 3 Leyland Olympians...
http://ptotpa.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html


So that's it from me for this year. Thank you all very much for your continued support over the year, and I look forward to writing more informative posts over 2011! 

Merry Christmas from PTOTPA!

Well its a Merry Christmas today from PTOTPA. Thanks for all your support during the year, this being the blog's most sucessful yet. But I'll review that nearer the end of the year.


Hope you all have a great Christmas! For now bask in the glory of R651 YCR, trudging through snow against all odds!

A Christmas treat for Cremyll passengers!

Well lets have a change from buses, and instead a post on the Cremyll Ferry! Northern Belle has now returned to operation after her annual refit. This year it has seemed particularly quick, and Northern is looking spectacular again, ready for another season of hard graft. Its always a momentous day when the Northern returns to work, you get that little warm feeling, which is felt by all passengers, when you know your back in the hands of the best boat. 


A very pleasing addition to the Northern has come up on this refit. For many years we have 'suffered' in the cold while on-board Northern, due to the lack of heaters, combined with the temperature being radiated from the cold water surrounding the hull. Well this year, she has been fitted with heaters! Though this may seem small and insignificant, I'm quite frankly over the moon with it. Finally no more cold winter mornings crossings, it's just going to make my life that bit more pleasant. Well done Tamar Cruising! 

Christmas comes early for the bus spotter...

Well firstly I shall say I have been reliably informed that there is a Plymouth Citybus Dennis Dart out there, running around with the new logos applied to it. After a Mr Sheppard gave me the tip off I went hot on the heels of this mystery Dart, but unfortunately had no luck with finding it, so keep your eyes peeled for it in the near future! 

Right well where to start. Plymouth chucked up some interesting workings today. Starting with FDC, no less than 3 Leyland Olympians were out and about today, these being K615, K616 and K619 LAE. As luck would have it, all three were in Bretonside at one point, and allowed me to get this photo of the trio basking in the winter sunlight! Warms the cockles to think these have survived all these years never separated! 

That was about it from FDC, so onto Plymouth Citybus, there was a good mix of step entrance Darts out today, but no particularly interesting workings, other than L116 YOD escaping onto the 16 at one point. The rest were on the usual 46/47s and on the 152, so we won't dwell. 

I bumped into Mike Hudson who was out on the 23/4s today around Mount Gould. Of course usually these are operated with Dennis Dart MPDs, which Mike originally had out, but as luck may have it, he was forced to have a bus change, and all that was left, was a Mercedes 709! I can't say I've seen a 709 on the Mount Gould runs any time recently, so was good to see N284 PDV out playing her trade. No one particularly struggled with the steps, and she gave a, should I say thrilling, ride on the 24. I must admit, Mike is a very skilled driver, and really enabled me to see what she can do in the hands of a decent driver! Great work! 

And onto the last, but by no means least, in fact quite the opposite was amazing a Volvo B10M Citybus! Yes that's right, G615 OTV had miraculously escaped into service today. I haven't seen a Volvo out in service for a considerable amount of time, and to find her on a core service, used to Enviro 200s was quite a shock. Its true, she is a bit rough round the edges, and the passengers certainly seemed to make a point of that, but what a dream G615 is. I've never been on her until today, but this is a really really good example of a decent Citybus. Dare I say it, better than FDC's D-GHYs and E-BTAs. The gearbox made some lovely noises, and the engine still pulled really well. 34 is getting a bit of a reputation for regularly being 15 minutes late, I experience this first hand, but G615 managed to stay fairly close to the timetable, only running between 4 and 8 minutes late, when noted throughout the day. As silly as it sounds, though the physical movement of boarding the bus is longer, having the central pole separating the flow of passengers on and off the bus actually really speeds things up at busy points of the route. I shall leave you with the photos for now, but I shall get back with some videos of both Mike driving, and of the G reg in the near future. 

Carry on A-Line!

In the face of defeat, A-Line Coaches was the only company left running today on the Rame Peninsula. We haven't enjoyed a bus service since Saturday afternoon when FDC pulled out understandably, after the driver simply could not get any further! Sunday saw no running, and Monday the same. Tuesday has seen a test bus on the road in the form of 32762, but again, nothing has come of that after a crash earlier on today. A-Line didn't make it into service yesterday, simply because the bus couldn't make it out of the steep, untreated roads from St John, but forward thinking manager, Jim Goodard moved the bus up to a more main road, which meant the bus was available for service this morning! 

All services were run today, though as conditions in Cawsand worsened, Jim sensibly backed off and moved the terminus to Cawsand Scout Hut, rather than going down into the village to terminate. The photo above shows the normal terminus at Cawsand Triangle, covered with ice. 


The video I shall upload at a later date shows R651 YCR, with driver Steve Leigh negotiating the roads via Anderton from Cremyll to Millbrook. These were very icy and you will notice the bus simply sliding into the hedge, with no control. Steve skilfully negotiated this though, along with the various other obstacles on route. 

This video shows Steve pulling away from the temporary terminus at the Scout Hut, where again the ice was very apparent, where you can clearly see the wheels spinning on the ice. 

Cuffy also wanted me to post this new advert that he has produced for the company which I must admit is really smart, and of a high quality. It will appear in a local magazine soon to drum up some more business for the Private Hire section of the company which Derrick now operates. Please do visit www.alinecoaches.com if you haven't done so already, Cuffy regularly updates the site so is well worth a visit.