Devon General 503RUO Restored

Ten years after it was the Trust’s first acquisition, 1964 Willowbrook-bodied AEC Regent V 503 RUO made its public debut on Sunday 4^th June, following the completion of its restoration.

The bus carried a party of Devon General Society members and their guests on a Torbay Trams and Trains Tour, visiting sites with historic links to Torquay Tramways, and the Dartmouth Steam Railway’s base at Churston.

Graham Bailey, DGOT’s chairman, said “We are incredibly grateful to Sam Merrifield and our small team of volunteers for completing 503’s restoration, which has been a challenging process at times.”

© Martin White – image supplied by DGOT

Just catching up on some older emails!

Devon General Remembered

DGOT buses at Devon General Remembered event in Tiverton

Four buses from the Devon General Omnibus Trust’s collection took part in the ‘Devon General Remembered’ running day at Tiverton on Sunday 5th September 2021. The event was organised by the Devon General Society.

Making its public debut was 1957 Weymann-bodied AEC Reliance VDV 798, the restoration of which had only been completed a few days earlier. The event was also the first opportunity for the Trust’s 1953 AEC ‘Light Six’ ETT 995 to carry members of the public since its acquisition earlier in the year. Completing the DGOT’s line-up were its 1952 AEC Regent III NTT 661 and 1957 AEC Regent V VDV 817.

Peter Murnaghan, DGOT’s chairman, said “We are incredibly grateful to our volunteer Sam Merrifield for leading 798’s four-year restoration and for pulling out all the stops to get the bus ready in time. In total our buses carried over 500 passengers during the day, bringing back some great memories of the Devon General services in and around Tiverton.”

All photos © Russell Ayre used with permission

Devon General Omnibus Trust Light Six

Devon General Omnibus Trust acquires unique ‘Light Six’

The Devon General Omnibus Trust is delighted to announce that, following a successful fundraising appeal, it has added a fifth bus to its collection: Devon General ‘Light Six’ ETT 995.

ETT 995 (fleet number DR705) is a unique vehicle from the heyday of Devon General. It features the chassis frame from a 1937 AEC Regent, the running units from a 1938 AEC Regal, and a 1953 body by Saunders-Roe. The bus has been restored to an extremely high standard by its former owner, Steve Cope.

Trust chairman Peter Murnaghan said, “We are very grateful to Steve for the opportunity to acquire DR705, and to the seventy people who generously donated to our fundraising appeal”.

The Light Sixes emerged from Devon General’s need for extra double-deckers during the boom times of the 1950s. The company’s workshops married mechanical running units from twenty of its pre-war AEC Regal single-deckers with reconditioned AEC Regent chassis, and fitted them with new, lightweight double-deck bodies.

The result was a bus with an unladen weight of around six tons -- hence the title ‘Light Six’. Nineteen had Weymann bodies, but DR705 was bodied by Saunders-Roe and weighed just 5 tons 19 cwt. -- making it Devon General’s lightest double-decker. The Light Sixes ran on the busy Service 12 Newton Abbot – Torquay – Brixham route until replaced by Leyland Atlanteans.

Peter Murnaghan added, “We hope to display DR705 at the Mid Devon Show at Tiverton on Saturday 24th July 2021, along with other buses from our collection”.

Congratulations to all involved – this is great news!

Celebration Weekend

Two bus stations closing this summer

Devon General Omnibus Trust working together with Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group

The bus and coach stations at Paris Street in Exeter and Bretonside in Plymouth are both due to close this summer.  To celebrate the heyday of coaching, the Devon General Omnibus Trust has organised a cavalcade of historic coaches between the two sites.

On Saturday 16th July, up to twenty old buses and coaches will leave Exeter coach station at 1030, bound for Bretonside in Plymouth.  They will travel along the traditional route that was used before the A38 South Devon Expressway was opened in 1975.  They will pass through the Devon countryside and remind passengers and bystanders of a bygone era when luxury coach travel took place at a more sedate pace, when people weren't in such a hurry.

The coaches will leave Exeter via Countess Wear and Matford to join the A38 for the climb up Haldon Hill.  They will turn off to follow the old road through Chudleigh (around 1100) and Bickington, through Ashburton (around 1120) and Buckfastleigh, and through South Brent (around 1140) and Ivybridge.

At Smithaleigh, they will pause to regroup into a convoy for the final leg into Plymouth, where they will be met by a Civic party at Bretonside at around 1230.

Chairman of the Devon General Omnibus Trust, Peter Murnaghan said “ It is a very sad day to be saying goodbye to not just one long established bus and coach station in the South West, but two in the same year.  We recognise that travel patterns change over time and these two sites need to be replaced, but they hold happy memories for many thousands of holidaymakers and local travellers over the years, who have caught coaches from Exeter and Plymouth.  We thought that we must mark this unique moment in our history with a run of heritage coaches between the two cities”.

The coaches are privately owned and restored, but members of the public may buy a programme at Exeter before departure and ask permission of the drivers to travel on the cavalcade.  Many of the coaches will be staying in Plymouth for a rally the next day, so it will not be possible to return on the historic coaches.  Any passengers would need to make their own way back to Exeter on normal bus or train services.

In Plymouth, a number of heritage bus services will be running on routes around the city on Saturday afternoon and a major transport rally, organised by the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group will be taking place at The George park & ride car park on the following day, Sunday 17th July.

The Devon General Omnibus Trust would welcome readers' photographs of the old coaches passing through the Devon villages during the morning run.  See their website www.dgot.co.uk for contact details.

Thanks to Peter Murnaghan for supplying photos, of just a few of the buses and coaches that should be attending these events.