Glanville Cleansing

Glanville Cleansing is a small company based just outside of Plymouth and operates a small fleet of specialist highway cleansing vehicles. This Volvo FL7 is seen just outside McDonalds in Plymouth.
May be a slight gap in new postings for s day or two as my camera has just died and I am waiting for the new one to be delivered!

didbygraham

Volvo B6 Wright

For some reason a batch of these Volvo B6 with Wright bodywork were transferred to First Devon & Cornwall from South Yorkshire a few years ago. They are similar in appearance to the newer Volvo / Wrights which FDC had from new - although there have been none since. Many of these went onto the Red Line route from Saltash to Plymouth, although not many of them carry route branding. They are not bad looking buses but they are known as the 'Clatterboxes' as they rattle like mad and are very noisy compared to the Darts.

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Leyland Lynx

When I took this picture a few days ago I didn't appreciate that this is the last Leyland Lynx left working for First Devon & Cornwall. It originated with Bristol a year after Western National bought theirs. These have always been fast buses and have a good capacity so seem ideal for this route. Not sure how much longer this one will stay down here as many of these across First Group are being sent 'up North' for use as Training Buses.


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Gdynia Way

This picture shows Laira Bus Depot circa 1980. Just behind the bus depot there is a road which runs across the picture from top right to top left. This is Gdynia Way. It is now part of the main route into Plymouth and forms a bypass of the old Embankment Road route into the City.
It runs along an old railway track which was originally part of the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway and was linked to the Tramway which has been featured already in this blog.
The area in this picture has changed a lot since this picture was taken. The bus depot has now gone and is left as a large wasteland - a new retail park is planned. The bottom left there is now a new road running into Cattedown and a new footpath follows the path of the railway track which runs along the river bottom right. The large warehouse buildings opposite the bus depot have been replaced by typical bland retail units.
The reason I was thinking of this area today is because Gdynia Way was partially closed for road works so that all traffic was diverted up through the old Embankment Road route. This had two lanes of traffic being merged into one lane and then being squeezed through the traffic lights which have always been set to give priority to the traffic coming up through Laira Bridge. A bus ride into the City Centre which normally takes 30 minutes took nearly two hours! Dont know who was responsible for the roadworks or the traffic management - but they should be sacked!
This photo is not one of mine but comes from Stephen Johnsons site where many other fascinating aerial photos from this period can be viewed - its well worth alook!



didbygraham

T J Brent

TJ Brent Ltd was until recently a large civil engineering company owned by South West Water's Parent company. It still is a large civil engineering company which covers a large area of the South and West but is now owned by the May-Gurney group. A large fleet of Ford Transit vans is run but there are larger lorries, such as this Iveco Euro Cargo Heavy Tipper.

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Plymouth Citybus 176

For years Plymouth Citybus would regularly buy about 10 to 15 Double Decker buses at a time. All this came to and end in 1981 with the last batch of Atlanteans. Three Olympians were tried but did not last long. Then in 1984 a real surprise with the arrival of 2 Volvo Citybus double deck coaches. They were not followed by more double deckers until two H registered coaches arrived. Since then only single deckers have been bought - although quite a few second-hand Volvo Citybuses have been bought to replace Atlanteans in recent years. The two original Volvos are still going strong with 176 being caught on camera this morning. It seems odd to think that these are over 20 years old now!

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Devon Fire Brigade

A rare chance to get a photograph of this one tonight at Derriford so I took it! Mercedes Unimog All-Terrain specialist Rescue Vehicle of Devon Fire Brigade. I was thinking it was time to feature the Fire Brigade as well...
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First Solo

It was wet and wild this morning on the way to work but in spite of that I was able to get some good photos - as long as I stayed under the shelter! Optare Solo W806PAF is number 53006 in the First Devon & Cornwall fleet. These are very handy little buses and can appear on just about any route in Plymouth and beyond.
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Plymouth City Council

Plymouth City Council operate a Bulk Waste Collection service using a small fleet of these very useful DAF 45 high sided tippers. Back in the early 1980's the Bedford TL was the favoured truck followed by a spell of buying Ford Cargo trucks during the second half of the 1980's. By the early 1990's Plymouth had moved to Leyland -DAF for most of its larger truck requirements and this has continued to be the case ever since. Current new trucks are mostly based around the DAF LF truck range.
V985ETT is allocated fleet number 027.005 and is a DAF 45.150 new in November 1999 and is seen at the bottom of Keswick Crescent, Estover

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Tamar Link Buses continued

Still with Tamar Link services, we see VRT 38847 LFJ847W at work on the 81B. This route is too tight for the new double deckers so we still get to see these wonderful but ancient buses. In the summer they really do need the capacity that these double deckers provide. It remains to be seen what happens and how long these VRTs will hang on for.

didbygraham

Tamar Link buses

The final Tamar Link picture for today. S764RNE is a low floor Dennis Dart MPD
Interestingly this bus started life with Springfield Coachways of Wigan being used on a tendered service (664/674) which when Springfield folded, First Manchester acquired both the vehicles and the service. After re-tendering of the route, the vehicle then moved to First PMT at Chester. Not quite sure when it arrived down here but it was a couple of years ago I think. It has just been painted in the Tamar Link pink livery although here it is operating on a local Plymouth service which goes nowhere near Torpoint. This morning it was running to Ivybridge which is in the opposite direction leaving Plymouth. Makes you wonder why they bother painting it up if they cant get it on the right route.

Tanar Link

Another Tamar Link bus, this time a Mercedes Vario 50307, S407GUB which has not been named yet. Typical of First Devon & Cornwall it is not working the service it is painted up for. You can actually see Torpoint from Stoke but its the wrong side of the river.
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Swan

Trident WA54OLN named "Swan" arrives in full Tamar Link livery on the correct route. This livery is certainly eye catching - it seems to be the product of a designer with a bag of magic mushrooms and a compass. These buses were launched back in February

A load of rubbish...

A nice shot of a Dennis Elite Phoenix Refuse Compaction Vehicle (RCV) belonging to Plymouth City Council on one of its Trade Waste rounds. Plymouth has been buying three or four new refuse trucks each year and has a fairly modern fleet at the moment with many of these attractive Dennis vehicles along with various other DAF and Seddon Atkinson based lorries. I have been interested in these trucks for quite a few years now and have seen how these vehicles have changed over the years. If you are interested in seeing more then the book below is well recommended as a pictorial record.

The problem with taxis - part two

And here we see the Citybus answer to the taxi problem - Advertise them. Yes thats right. Plymouth Citybus have painted this Dart into advertising livery to promote the use of a local Taxi company. Don't bother to wait for the bus - get a taxi instead. you know it makes sense. If the last bus passenger could close the doors behind them...

The problem with taxis part One

This was meant for posting yesterday but I was not on line so instead we have two pictures tonight on the same theme. We see here a photo taken outside the main hospital reception / bus stopping area which shows the traffic chaos caused by a taxi parked for several minutes in the middle of the road stopping any of the buses getting past. You can see four buses stuck behind it - my bus was actually the sixth bus in the line, up out of sight to the left. Of course Plymouth Citybus have a strategy for dealing with these **** taxi drivers...

P444TCV

P444TCV is a standard Dennis Dart Plaxton low floor bus for First Devon & Cornwall. Seen here in 'Barbie Coach' Rail-Link livery with Green Line branding. The route branding being a good idea in theory but in practice FDC don't make the best of it. This bus actually is on the Blue Line in this picture. These are very comfortable buses and sadly we will probably be losing it soon as many of these have gone to First Eastern Counties in exchange for the air conditioned ex Hong Kong Darts as featured in this blog recently. So far none of these have received any route branding but this may be a temporary measure as there does seem to be a new standard of route branding being applied across First Group at the moment.

Plymouth Citybus Atlantean

The last of a large fleet of Leyland Atlanteans are kept for school runs. TTT162X is typical of the batch which are kept in excellent condition. This has just come off the 118 school bus run and is returning the Milehouse depot. I don't normally get to see them at all so was lucky this morning that I had time to hang around and take the picture when I saw that it was approaching Derriford Roundabout and so was likely heading in my direction. With East Lancs bodywork these are still good looking buses.

Blue Line Darts

First Devon & Cornwall operate quite a lot of low floor Dennis Darts like this one, 42462 R462CCV. This illustrates the route branding carried by some of these buses. What makes it more unusual is that the bus is actually on the route it is branded for - FDC seem unable to manage this half the time. Several of these Darts have been sent to Eastern Counties in exchange for the air conditioned Darts as seen on an earlier blog.
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Lee Moor Tramway - Leigham section part 2

From the photo just posted if you continue walking up the hill you eventually come to this tunnel entrance. It is vandalised a bit now and the track level seems to be raised a bit from the earliest photos I have seen of this entrance. The tunnel itself was one of the earliest rail tunnels in the country. It was 620 yards long, 8 feet 6 inches wide, and 9 feet 6 inches high. This line was finally discontinued as late as 1960 with most of the line being lifted by 1962.
For more on the history of this fascinating little line I can recomend the book below. It is the definative history of the line.

The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway and the Lee Moor Tramway

Lee Moor Tramway - Leigham section part 1

From the modern transit of the previous few days posts I go way back in time to one of the earliest tramway routes. The Lee Moor Tramway which made its way from Plymouth Sutton Harbour, to Marsh Mills and then uphill all the way up onto Dartmoor. The line opened in 1823 from Crabtree, in Plymouth to near Princetown on Dartmoor. the extension to Sutton Harbour was opened a while later. At its peak the line was more than 25 miles. I have been looking into this route and aim to walk it where possible. Today I walked part of the Leigham section. I will eventually have more pictures and details on my new web site I am planning but for now here is a photo looking up towards Leigham having come in from the Crabtree end of the short section of track that is still visible. This is now a footpath through the woods, just down from a modern housing estate. Also visible in this picture are some of the flag stones which the track was laid onto. These are still there in one or two places and apart from the path itself are one of the very few reminders of the history behind this 'footpath'. My wife and son can be seen on the path waiting for me to finish taking pictures!

Westcountry Ambulance new Renault

I know its a bit of a cop out but tonight all I have is another Westcountry Ambulance Renault Master. This one appeared yesterday at the same location as the other one. By tonight both of these had moved on, with at least one new ambulance now being parked in the main Ambulance Depot which is just behind the building on the left of this view.

Mobile Theatre Unit

We have what can best be described as a mobile hospital parked in a car park outside Derriford Hospital in Plymouth. The Mobile Theatre unit is seen here - the whole thing contracts and is transported by this impressive Volvo unit. The unit is provided by Vanguard HealthCare and there are more photos and even some video clips off these vehicles in operation on their web site. The hospital unit is operated by NetCare UK. It currently performs eye surgery.

New Ambulance

Not a brilliant photo I am afraid, but here is my first sighting of brand new Renault Master Ambulance for the Westcounty Ambulance NHS Trust fleet (registration WA05DYT). This is the first one I have noticed in the new standard yellow based livery. This is the result of European legislation which requires all ambulances to be yellow. Typical European interference which does nothing to improve matters in my view. These ambulances were much better in the white based livery with the day glow green and yellow 'battenbug' markings as carried on this ambulance - but rather lost in the putrid yellow of the vehicle itself. Still, it was a nice suprise to see it sat outside the Plymouth Ambulance Station which is next to Plymouths Derriford Hospital
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Citybus Citybus

After yesterdays blog saying how boring the Plymouth Citybus fleet is tonight I redress the balance and show that Citybus do have some interesting buses in their fleet! On the way home from work tonight we were given the rare treat of a double decker. Our steed was fleet number 188 F605GVO which was one of several in advertising livery, painted in Black for Larry Speare Furniture Store, a long time advertiser on Plymouth buses. For me at least this was a treat. For any passengers who were not bus enthusiasts then there is little pleasure for them. For one thing they stink inside! Dont know why but these buses all stink inside. Anyway, I couldnt find a photo of 188 itself so here is sister bus 183 seen when freshly painted into Citybus livery on display on Plymouth Hoe a few years ago.

Plymouth Citybus

Back to work again today after two weeks off. At least with the school holidays the bus ride was nice and quiet and the bus was on time for a change. My ride today to Plymouth Citybus 41 Registration number X141CDV which is pictured here back in October 2002. It was one of three buses new in September 1999 to Plymouth Citybus. The really interesting bit is that it was purchased with the help of a grant as part of the regeneration of Plymouth Cattedown area. It even has some lettering at the rear of the bus to this point. I know its not really that interesting but in a standardised fleet like Plymouth Citybus, you have to take whatever bit of excitement you can get.

Plymouth City Council

Its a damp dull Sunday in Plymouth so I thought I would post this photo today. Plymouth City Council are running this Applied 525 green-machine street sweeper wich is seen here at Bretonside Bus Station. This particular machine may be on hire only as it is not listed in the councils own fleet listing. Plymouth City Council takes no pride in its bus station as it is a dingy depressing place. Its ok for photography though as its open but not a good place to wait at night for a coach. Having said that the councils own plans see the station being closed and coaches having to pick up from Royal Parade so even less facilities for passengers will be available. Progress?

Took a trip to onto Dartmoor today and followed one of First Devon & Cornwalls air conditioned Darts which was on the 86 service to Barnstable. These originated in Hong Kong and are currently spread across First Group but it seems all are destined to arrive here over the next few months. The picture taken a few days ago shows 42784 S684SNG which has joined us from First Eastern Counties.

FDC Repaint

First Devon and Cornwall still operate this ancient Mercedes 'bread van' which is registered J143SJT. Seen here just leaving the main Plymouth bus depot this week it has just been treated to a new repaint into the latest barbie livery. This is a real suprise as most of the rest of this batch have been sold along with many other newer minibuses. Normally this would mean that its likely that this bus will be around for some time yet, but this is First Group - so anything could happen.