On the buses on the radio

Over the last 3 weeks radio presenter Vic Morgen has been covered by my personal favorite presenter David Sheppard. He is a fellow bus spotter and is very willing to have a little chat about buses on his show between 10pm and 1am on BBC Radio Devon. Well worth a listen.

He also owns a bus which I will post on which one it is soon! Unless anyone knows better which they probably do!

Picture of the X80 as he told the listeners about a very interesting expierience on the X80 he had on Friday.

More news on C409 HJN

The first word came to be on Saturday on my trip upto Exeter and Taunton with Louis. As there was very few things of interest on this trip I thought I'd bypass it and consentrate on the interesting bit of the weekend.

When we were waiting for a train in Exeter we had a call from friend Mike Hudson. He advised us that C409 HJN was up for sale and was aparently only £450. As you know I am very parcial to a Leyland Olympian and have always wanted to own one of the Torpoint Olympians. These were this one and C412 HJN being my other favorite though to my knowledge this one was a much more reliable bus.

So this led me straight onto e-mailing a few contacts that evening. These included and couple of employees of FDC and FDC themselves to see what would result and how I could purchase it. Simon Coates replied on Sunday morning advising me of a man to contact. He also said he would find out as much information as possible so was a fantastic help. As I was doing this bad news was to find its way into my inbox. C409 HJN had been withdrawn not because it was old but because of a corroded chassis which was getting very fragile. A great shame seeing this bus was the best mechanically, had a very good interior and had a new engine fitted only around 7 months previous.

SO sadly this meant I wouldn't be a bus owner at the age of 14. However much I would love to own C409 HJN I hate to think how difficult and expensive it would be to try and rectify a problem like this.

Derrick Cuff has told me that he has shown interest in the bus though so there may be a life for her yet. PTOTPA will keep you updated on what happens to her in the near future. But my sights are now set on C412 HJN. Question now is, how long will the rest last at Torpoint?

PTOTPA VIDEOS!

Over the past couple of days I have had very little news to report on! Though Saturday will see a trip to Exeter and Taunton so hopefully some things of interest will be seen there!

Therefore this post is about 3 videos I have made over the past couple of days all avalible on youtube on the following links :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDstEWZwBxY - This video showcases what PTOTPA has to offer including buses, ferries and trains in the area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma__0hP5-14 - This video is my tribute to driver Derrick Cuff including all picture and videos of his time as a PCV driver in the Plymouth area

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZJ-ExCO3Zs - This video showcases events that have been visited and will report on in the coming future including Penzance, Weymouth, Kingsbridge, Westpoint and Bristol. Many more should be enjoyed in the near future.

Comments are welcome on all of these videos. I hope you enjoy them! More will come soon and you will be notified of this through the blog!

200th post! (well nearly)

My 200th post was actually the last one but I didn't realise so we shall comemorate 200 posts on this blog!

I shall do this by opening the floor to you. What do you want to see on this blog in the future. Any susgesstions at all are open to you, please leave them as a comment or e-mail the blog at ptotpa@hotmail.com

I have also commemorated it by making a brand new promotional video now avalible on the link below. Hope you enjoy it!

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

END OF AN ERA!

Today saw the final EVER PCV driving day for the legend that is Mr Derrick Cuff. His last day saw him working for A-Line Travel on the 80s to St Germans, Trago and the evening runs to Cremyll. He has worked on the buses for a decade now working for several different bus companies along the way including First Devon and Cornwall, Target Travel, Carmel Coaches, DAC, and I'm sure a few others along the way. But now he has finished his PCV carear at local company A-Line Travel driving Mercedes Vario X891 YGU. Not the nicest bus to finish your carear in, but what a brilliant route to leave on. Where it all started was at Torpoint and Plymouth depots and therefore seems very fitting for his last day to be on part of the old 81B route.

Derrick is now moving on to being a train station cleaner across the south west between Penzance and Weston Super Mare, so look out for him! You might just see him cleaning your local station. He will also be covering the branch lines so it is a very wide area to cover!

Good luck to him in his new job. But it will never be the same without "CUFFY!" around.

Class 37 visits Plymouth!

Louis and I took a trip into Plymouth station today for most of the day. Though the most exciting bit was nearer the end of the day. Around 10 train spotters turned up to witness DRS's Class 37, 37605 pull into Plymouth from its trip all the way from Derby. The beast even arrived 30 minutes early so none of us were ready when she roled not so gracfully into Plymouth. More astonishing was that she was 7 minutes late to start with. Show how good these old girls still are!

She is currently parked up in Platform 2 at Plymouth where Gunnislake trains rest until needed. The unit is down here for route training duties. Its last day here will be Thursday. Tomorow she will be doing the following:

PLYMOUTH (Dock 4) depart 19:45

Gunnislake 20:28 - 20:33 (Reverse)

Plymouth (Platform 5) 21:16 - 21:25 (Reverse)

Liskeard 21:55 - 22:00 (Reverse)

Looe 22:28 - 22:56 (Reverse)

Liskeard 23:22 - 23:27 (Reverse)

PLYMOUTH (Dock 4) arrive 23:53.

She will leave Plymouth on Thursday for her run back up the country. I will try to find out timings for you if possible.

Troubles on 32760

On return home from todays events which I will post about later we boarded the ferry as normal. Though as we pulled into position: WHAT! that Trident is facing the wrong way! There was then after looking properly also a First Support Van on the ferry facing the wrong way! The fitter was underneath the bus at the time with driver Eddy watching as he worked. He attempted to start it up on the crossing though it failed. So I'm not sure how many journies back and forth it made. What I wonder is did it have to pay each time!!

More to come on the days events shortly.

Brittany Ferries' new ship Arrives!

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. This is due to it being the last week of term and a lot of coursework etc has had to be handed in. So with a quiet week forthcoming hopefully it will bring plenty of posting!

SO as promised and right on time Brittany Ferries' new ship MV Amorique has started operation on the Plymouth to Roscoff route. This began on February 10th and the picture shown is of her on her maiden voyage. She did leave late as the crew are not yet fully acquainted with their new vessel though the boat apparently set a new record of time for this journey. Though I know this to be wrong as the high speed Catamaran has done it much faster than this.

This ship is very modern and high tech inside and looks cutting edge from the outside. I lot of time, effort and money looks like it has gone into the ship and I am sure that she'll be good to us for many years in the future.

Hopefully a better picture can be posted soon taken in the daylight though I had to try and take a picture on her maiden voyage however bad the quality may be!

Trip to Truro

Today saw myself and Louis Rawlings take a trip down to the capital of Cornwall, Truro. Though as usual living where I do the fun started far before we got to Truro!

I caught the 8:45 81C from Cawsand which was due into Plymouth Rail Station at 9:51, 7 minutes before the train down to Truro. Though this started off badly. The bus turned up at 8:54 because of a lorry blocking the road in Millbrook which was not the best of starts. Though by the time we got to the Torpoint ferry we were on time. Though what wasn't expected was the ferry leaving 5 minutes late. That meant we arrived in Devon late. This was then not helped at all by roadworks on Stoke hill and I was starting to get worried. People joining the bus in Stoke delayed us further and we arrived at the station at 9:55, 4 minutes late. I met Louis and we rushed into the Station. Darting towards the fast ticket machine we saw it was out of use. We then went straight to a booth where the ticket buying process was very swift. We then ran out towards the Platforms with the aid of the nice ticket barrier man. From across at Platform 3 came a cry "Do you want the Penzance train" we shouted "Yes please!" So thanks to the very nice train dispatcher we made the train. Without him we would have had no hope so thank you very much!

When we reached Truro we had the aim or trying to track down 2 ex-Torpoint buses. These being 30065 which left the depot a while ago now and also 34809 which has left during the course of this week. The trip into Truro Centre was made on one of the 56 reg Volvo B7s. When we got to the Bus Station we were simpley inundated with Darts, and 1 B7. Pretty boring considering the amount of G reg Olympians we saw last time along with some Alexander Royale Olympians. Though when G905TWS turned up we jumped at the chance of a ride to St Austall. This was a very enjoyable and fast ride, the Olympian ran very well. ON the journey we also spotted Western Greyhound's brand new 58 reg Optare Solo (older style). Sadly we didn't get a picture though.

On return we went and got a quick pasty and then did a bit of spotting. A couple more example of G reg Olympian turned up though again 30065 failed to show as it didn't last time aswell, along with 34809. A great shame!

Though this did make me think. Why if Torpoint's buses are being transferred to there are they not using them?And therefore why does Torpoint therefore get left with no spare buses at all. We have even got 2 on loan from Plymouth depot in the form of Varios 52519 and 52559 (I think). Why not send these buses back here if they are not in use down there! The Vario's can't cope with volume and after the withdrawal/suspension of 50306 and 50301 also needing a major overhaul things are set to get worse. Tridents are also starting to gather problems thick and fast and this again leads me to Torpoint really needing its maintenance facilities and staff which I'm sure would help with some of these problems.

Pictures of today can be seen on my flickr site link below:

http://flickr.com/photos/11717981@N02/

93 Bus Crash!

Today at around 11:30 Ex-London Dennis Trident 32812 was in a fatal accident on route from Dartmouth to Plymouth. I will leave the Hearld and BBC to explain it to you on the links below. The bus is pictured above still in tact just 4 days before the crash.

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/man-seriously-hurt-bus-crash/article-670413-detail/article.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7869771.stm

A day out with Louis (Part 5)

Though it was a while ago I though I had to do a blog on this bit!

Well the fifth part of the day was to take a trip on the 11 with bus driver Paul Revell. Though the first event of this part was on Royal Parade! While waiting for the 11 talking to Paul and Louis the 11 came in behind me, mounted the curb and hit me! Was not bad but if I had been an elderly person etc something much more serious could have happened!

So we joined Paul and went round on 2 rotations in Dennis Dart 42753 (S753 SNG). Though when we boarded the bus the centre console had copalped so we could see no warning lights. ON the second rotation coming down past Toys R Us we went over a small pot hole in the road, the dash colapsed further and a warning alarm came on! We stopped the bus before Royal Parade to inspect the bus. The emergency door was fine there was no fire so the problem was not found. After resetting the system the alarm still went off. We drove the bus upto Royal Parade to let teh passengers off and radioed control. They told us to do checks we had already done again and this again resulted in no luck. After around 15mins they told us to take the bus down to Bretonside and to swap it with Optare Solo 53012. This we did, though as there were no spacing this meant leaving the Dart in the road to get the Solo out, then to get back in the Dart, park the dart and get back in the Solo. We then rushed upto Royal Parade where the 11 behind us had already left and Paul drove to make up time. By the 4th rotation he had caught up all the 20mins lost and booked off duty on time! What fun a bus driver can have!

Bus bay being retarmaced

Today saw 2 tipper trucks, 2 road rollers, a van, and the all important tarmac laying vechical decend on Cremyll. None of the bus companies were warned about there being re-surfacing going on today and this did cause some problems for Olympians and Tridents turning in Cremyll, even in a Vario it was a challenge. It also seemed like they were trying to get it done in one day with the amount of machinery and men there and it being the weekend but only the staff car parking bit was actually completed in the day. So a lot of wasted effort I think was made bringing all the machines down when they were all gone by 4pm. Will be interesting to see when they return!!

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, they were taken with the phone!

A day out with Louis (Part 4)

The next thing on the list well non bus related was having a nice pasty!

Then it was off to see driver Mike Hudson who had just pulled in on a 39, driving Optare Solo 53007 in place of the more usual Vario on route. There was also a man from the council on the bus doing a survey on how many people used the bus, where they were going and why they were there. So we confused him a lot. The question was "Where are you going", we're going to Royal Parade, "But your in Royal Parade", yeh we're going to Southway and back "So your getting off at Southway" no we're getting off at Royal Parade. And this went on until we came to the right conclution!

After that the trip was largely uneventful but was interesting to know that Mike's VR (XDV 608S has now been sold on to someone at the Plymouth Citybus Preservation group.

More to come

A day out with Louis (Part 3)

Here are a few interesting coach pictures from Saturday. A few interesting things turned up and there seems to be an increasing number of tri-axel coaches around.

R.I.T 34809

News has come to me of the absence of an Olympian at Torpoint. C409 HJN has now left Torpoint and has moved into further retirement in Truro. 34809 was the first Olympian to be tranfered to Torpoint back in 2005 when LFJ 847W came to the end of her working life. She has been a very reliable and brilliant edition to the depot and I am very sad she has gone.

More recently she has become what I would call the best Olympian at the depot. With 34812 spending all its time off the road, 34813 becoming unreliable and 34817 the same, 34809 has been hardest working of the lot. A great shame she was the one that has gone.

So therefore this looks like the end for the Olympian's life at Torpoint and very likely soon to be the end of there working life. To think this time 4 years ago they were the newbys in town, now I can't imageine Torpoint without them.

The film shows her departing Cawsand on one of her last weeks of service, film is quite fitting seeing her disapear from our bus scene.

R.I.T 34809
(Rest in Truro)

A day out with Louis (Part 2)

Continuing the story from Saturday.

The next event of the trip was when we reached the Torpoint ferry. I got off to take photos of the buses disembarking. Unusually there were 4 different buses on the ferry. These being 2 MOD Volvo B10Ms, a Dennis Trident and a Mercedes Vario. Though when 50306 went to start up a huge cloud of smoke arose. The picture was taken about 10 seconds after the startup so I'll leave you to imagine what it was like at first!! The video below also shows the other 3 buses coming up the ramp and more fumes coming out the back of the Vario. You will also notice the suspension is somewhere lower than usual. Does show that this one is pretty shot and likely at the end of its life unless a major overhaul is undertaken, similar to the other 2 Torpoint Varios which have already had this overhaul.

Trident troubles

Talking to driver Tony Body yeseterday, it came aparent that since the buses have been working in Torpoint they have been more mistreated and used in different ways.

32760 and 32759 were seen in Plymouth because of differnet parts going wrong. Obviously the work would usually have been carried out in Torpoint though the 2 were sent to Plymouth. As another of the Plymouth Tridents were already off the road parts were taken from 32760 to get it back on the road. later when 32759 was brought in and more parts were taken from 32760. So it seems like the bus is already being cababalised even though it is perfectly roadworthy and only 4 years old!

Poor old 812

Breaking news has come to me that my favorite Leyland Olympian C412 HJN has again broken down. I saw her with driver Tony Body at around 6:30 this evening at the Torpoint ferry on a run to Crafthole. But it was quite literally Crafthole. When Tony went to pull off again the drive belt snapped and left him stranded in the pooring rain with a leaking bus which was immobile. As there are no fitters at Torpoint now a support van was sent out from Plymouth. As they don't bother with spare parts for Olympians anymore therefore a drive belt from another bus had to be used. This can only therefore be temporarily to "Limp" her back to the depot. She is now awaiting a new drive train. All of the Olympians have recently been becoming very unreliable and they do seem to have finally well are coming to the end of there working lives. If i'm honest as I have always thought drivers do really need to learn the ropes when it comes to driving an elderly bus like that. Drivers espeically the newer ones just do not know how to treat an Olympian anymore. I could literally count on one hand the drivers who can still 'drive' at Torpoint, including Tony Body, Mike Jacobs and Johnny Walker (soon to retire).

Trip with Louis will be continued in a quiet gap possibley 2 days.

A day out with Louis (Part 1)

Hello!

Saturday saw myself and good friend Louis Rawlings take a trip out as usual, but this time staying in the local area! And we never though you could have so much fun in a day in Plymouth!

My days started out catching the 8:45 81C from Cawsand. Sadly it was a Trident but was the best one at least (32758). It didn't take long for troubles to start though. Coming towards Witsand bay holiday camp, 10 minutes into my journey we came across an Ambulence. I know it has every right to park where it was but if I'm honest it was inconsiderate parking as you can see in the picutre. If he had parked just a few feet further back, driver Terry could have threaded her through with no problem. But after an unsucessful attempt we reversed back and waited. After going down to the beech wear I alearted local "1st responder" Brian he came up and explained the situation to terry. Terry then convayed this information to the passengers saying that a young boy had, had a heart attack on Witsand bay and the crew of the ambulence were too busy. Brian could not move the Ambulence because of scrict rules.

A few passengers cam eup with alturnatives while we sat there. Such things arose as "Can you bring another bus from the depot. The responce was that no other buses were avalible (though 52557 was sitting in the depot) and that no other drivers were avalible. Another idea was reversing back down and going via Millbrook like the old 80B used to do back in the good old days!!! Though Terry rejected this after declaring it too dangerous to perform a reversing monover. Another idea was when the bus bound for Cremyll arrived we could switch to that one alturnate buses taking alturnate passengers either side of the Ambulence. Though there was not a bus for another 45 minutes. Therefore this meant a wait of around 45minutes until the Ambulence was moved and we could proceed.

Terry therefore drove at a fast pace to try and make up time, also shouting to the passengers "Is there anyone for Great Park". No was the responce and as 40002 had just turned up that way Terry took the desistion to miss it out to make up time. By the time we reached the ferry we had caught up around 40 minutes and missed our feryr by around 5. Therefore after trying to hard we lost another 10 minutes after waiting for the next ferry.

Something to be learnt from the expierience though was while terry was trying to contact control to let them know he would be delayed there was no one in control, and no one at Torpoint depot. This meant terry having to ring up the fitter at plymouth to let them know the situation. really control should be managed at all times the buses are out though this is rarely the case.

Luckily Louis was also late after oversleeping and his 11 not turning up!! Ahh buses these days!!

More to come tomorow!

A-Line update

To start with I have to correct myself on the new routes. The 80 is how I said though 80A is a Cawsand to St Germans service and 80B is a St Germans to Trago Service. I have done this with a driver now and the route is very well timetabled and is very convienient for the users meaning they can go and do shopping in multiple destinations.

The school contracts were also slightly wrong. Because of timings the Torpoint Narkus is actually Antony-Narkus with FDC providing the link between Torpoint and Antony. And there is actually a Cremyll, Cawsand, Witsand bay school service and is not seperate as stated before.

This has also meant that sadly M152 LPL has not been brought out of retirement. The picture shows her current state in A-Line's depot and she will sadly very likely not be used in service again. School buses are operated by either of the 2 coaches and the Narkus is operated by X891 YGU, leaving R651 YCR to operate the services.

E920 EAY has now had branding put onto her in the smart new A-Line livery as seen on the Varios. I will hopefully get a picture of this soon.

And lastly welcome to new driver Steve who now drives many of the afternoon 80s and is soon to start the 80As and Bs aswell, so good luck to him.

More news to come when it happens.