18 January 2012

Solo Repaint

First 53011 W811PAF

First Devon & Cornwall Optare Solo W811PAF is seen above when it carried the short lived, but smart Orange line branding for the 14. Amazing to think that was 9 years ago!

This bus more recently has carried a very bland livery for the Waitrose contract in Saltash as can be seen on Toms Flickr account HERE

Thanks to John Kowalski I can now report that it is back in standard Barbie livery, with the Waitrose contract livery now carried by newer Solo 53110. I assume it is equally bland.

Other livery news which may or may not be significant is the repainting of former Truronian coach 20556 TT04TRU in a dark blue livery with lighter blue skirt with silver First logos on the side. It could just be some sort of contract livery, or it could just be a hint of something more interesting…

Update: I have now seen more photos of this coach. It is a new scheme of dark blue with lighter blue skirt at the rear with a large stylised swirl of First Pink and light blues with a large Truronian fleetname with the flying f logo. If this is the new standard coach livery for First then its very welcome indeed.


Recommended Links

  • After several years of decline and with other operators in competition on all but one route, First Suffolk & Norfolk have announced that they are to close their six bus operation in Bury St Edmunds on 31st March 2012. Andys Bus Blog
  • Firthwood? Frithwood? Tomayto? Tomarto? Potayto? Potarto? Let's call the whole thing off! Public Transport Experience
  • It probably would’ve been unheard of 18 months ago in the days when First tended to hang on to its empire come what may. Yesterday, though, First announced that from 31st March it was to pull out of Bury St Edmunds Omnibuses
  • 2012 will mark the tenth anniversary of the Blackpool Dennis Trident. Fylde Bus Blog
  • Fewer people arrived at Omnibuses in 2011 by following a link from a website than from a blog. Even so, there were still 95 websites sending traffic Omnibuses’ way, almost double that of blog sites. Omnibuses
  • Gaggles of senior bus men and women left the Hilton Hotel to pick up their cars, hail taxis etc to return to their executive desks whilst fbb, clutching the award in his sweaty hand, queued up for a bus! Public Transport Experience
  • Exclusively here for my readers is a unique photograph of the first prototype New Bus for London LT1 after its London launch alongside its predecessor the Engineering Test Vehicle. Leon Daniels
  • The Link - also known as route 32 - operates between Newbury and Basingstoke, connecting the two towns at a frequency of every hour. It uses two buses, with an extra in the peaks. Southern England Bus Scene
  • That news is that Trent Barton is commercialising the soar-away Skylink service currently operating by Nottingham City Transport. With it comes the inevitable reaction from passengers who, from 25th March, will miss ou Omnibuses
  • Public Transport has improved out of all recognition in the last 50 years; but then, Dronfield has changed quite a bit as well. Public Transport Experience
  • They'd never admit it publicly, but the closure of the A4 Hammersmith Flyover immediately before the Christmas was an early present for First Great Western and London Underground A Transport of Delight
  • Over in Salford there’s a revised network to take into account; Arriva are losing out, whilst First seem to be gaining. Manchester Transport
  • So a partly positive picture of project "Zip", which, like so many similar schemes, is now looking a little tired and in need of refreshment; a bit like fbb after his marathon Zip Trip from Portsmouth. Public Transport Experience
  • The essence of the story was that London supplier Abellio had been to Poland to recruit 50 drivers. Reaction on the Daily Mail website attracted over 500 responses, many of which were what you might call predictable. Omnibuses

2 comments:

  1. You may have already noticed Graham, but Citybus 124, 127, 128, and 130 have all hit eBay for £999.00 each. Wonder if you get a discount for multiple purchases?..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Plus tyres and VAT so about £1500 each. Still a bargain. Make nice campers with the right conversion. Or stock cars maybe?

    ReplyDelete

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