I am working my way through a load of photo CDs to sort out my archives so will be running a new series of photo posts from the archives as I come across them! We start with a couple of photos of YJ51PZZ
First Devon & Cornwall 4624 April 2003 in as new Barbie livery
Two years later in September 2005 it now carries fleet number 40570 and the red Over ground branding that First tried for a while.The whole effect rather spoilt by the advert.
Two Volvos on the 1s for First. One nice
one less so
66883 was seen 28th February 2010 whilst just two years later 48265 was probably more the norm, April 2012 Both on Royal Parade.
First Devon & Cornwall. Remember them?
With the mostly modern fleet that Stagecoach are running in town its easy to forget what a motley selection of buses First ran in Plymouth. However there were times when some quite impressive buses were running for First…
69077 was one of quite a number of these Volvo B7RLEs that were brought in to compete with Plymouth Citybus. Very nice they were too! Sadly they didn't stay that long and soon First were back in decline. These buses were off elsewhere within the First empire. Some at least have ended up back in Glasgow and a few of them are now appearing in the new look SimpliCity branding for the 9 9A Hillington - Cardonald - Ibrox - City Centre route.
©MOD571P
Thanks to Donald for allowing me to use his excellent photo.
You do wonder, if First had stayed the course in Plymouth what would they be running right now?
Is the giant starting to wake up?
When Stagecoach came in and took over the ailing First operation in Plymouth there were many people here to commented that it would quickly see off competition from Plymouth Citybus and put them back in their place. The reality was very different with SC seemingly happy to stick to their main key routes and leave the rest to Citybus. Citybus for their part scaled back their incursions into Devon and have put their efforts into the Cornish side of the Tamar.
The timetables changes just announced by Stagecoach for September hint at a change in policy though…
Key benefits of the changes are:
Many of the changes are possible because of the new bus priority infrastructure in and around Derriford Hospital. This means we can run all of our 1, 100 and 101 bus services via the Hospital. There will be buses up to every 7-8 minutes between the Hospital and city centre and buses up to every 15 minutes between Hospital and The George and Milehouse Park & Ride sites. There will also be a direct all day service between Plymouth Station and Derriford Hospital.
All 1 service buses will now run every 15 minutes on the same route from Tavistock through Marjons, Derriford Hospital and Mutley to the city centre. Anyone travelling from Tavistock to the railway station can change at the Hospital and board either the 100 or 101 which will go from the same stop. Alternatively, they can continue their journey on the 1 and walk the short distance from Mayflower Street.
In Plymstock, there will be buses up to every 5 minutes to the city centre. Mount Batten will have a new service – the 2B – which will run up to every 20 minutes between Royal Parade and Mount Batten. Both the 2 and 2A will run to Elburton which doubles the frequency to this part of the City and gives more cross-city connections to Plymouth Station, St Budeaux and Saltash.
In partnership with City College Plymouth, we are also taking over operation of route 36 between the College’s Kings Road Campus and the City Centre. The timetable will include more journeys into the evening for students taking part in activities, study and training after the core teaching hours and the general public are also welcome to use this service.
This will bring competition on the Derriford corridor back to pretty much what it was back in Firsts day with the 7s along with some of the Tavistock runs. Stagecoach have always been cheapest but the infrequent buses may have put people off committing to season tickets. It will be interesting to watch when all this kicks off. I am sure there is enough custom for both companies along this section - but I would not be surprised to see some additional marketing by Citybus prior to these changes in September!
Citybus were never that bothered by the competition from First at the time, but Stagecoach run a very different approach to their Plymouth fleet than First ever did…
With the sad passing of Roger Moore, a small picture set of our own (00)7 route:
© Jos Van Hemert July 1982 - the classic 7 buses.
© Jos Van Hemert July 1991 Leyland Lynx
September 2006
March 2007
January 2010 
June 2012
September 2012
Hopefully these pics will leave you stirred, but not shaken.
RIP Sir Roger Moore
As First Kernow transforms itself it has been having a clear-out of older stock including quite a few transfers from the Plymouth fleet.
Buses known to have gone to the bit tin opener in the sky include these five former Plymouth Tridents
32715 Shears, Northam July 2016 
32751 Shears, Northam July 2016
32752 Shears, Northam July 2016
32802 Shears, Northam July 2016
32803 Shears, Northam July 2016
Source PSVCircle New sheet 919
A very proud owner! My favourite ride of the day
I will miss these, just a little bit anyway
Dwarfed by the majestic bridges at Saltash Passage. The 6 and 7 routes were the ones I grew up with and went to school on. It was the Bristol FLFs and then the nice new VRs which led to me becoming a bus spotter.
A faithful friend… and a dog
Not always the best of friends but Plymouth Citybus and First / Western National did manage to get on for most of the time.
Classic bus in a classic bus station – soon to be no more.
The last two generation's of Ferry bus
Southern imposter, but very welcome anyway
Thats me in the front window!
Torpoint wont be the same
Line up of First (plus one!)
Somehow the ugobus brand managed to survive right till the end. A brand launched with so much promise but then left to wither away.
A time to reflect on what was and what could have been
There wont be that many photos of First buses and Yellow Flash together as they were only overlapping for one week. Plymouth certainly has colourful buses. It remains to be seen if Stagecoach bring quite as much colour as First did. 
Lovely line up for the last ever First run to Torpoint
THE END.
Well that was a weekend to remember. Western National / First Devon, Plymouth Torpoint and Tavistock are no more. Stagecoach are now running the street of Plymouth, albeit on just a few routes (at the moment). The official send off was an excellent Celebration of the Buses of Plymouth. Here are just a few photos of the day from me as a taster:
It was nice that this old girl was still around on the final day
Its sights like this that we will miss so much...
This week is going to very much a photo special with lots more photos from the weekend, the last few days of First and also the first few days of Stagecoach. With the whole new Stagecoach fleet incoming we will have a lot to cover. As always, if you have any interesting photos from the weekend, and this coming week and want to send them in, or pass me a link if they are on Flickr / facebook please let me know (dbg@plymothiantransit.com)and I will try to include as many as possible this week. I am also intending to get a few Stagecoach photos this week if the weather is kind at lunchtime.
Its good to get back to the buses!
A further sign that the takeover by Stagecoach is getting nearer
You would have thought they could have found a slightly bigger fleet name though? I believe this is the one which also now carries full Stagecoach Devon legal lettering
As you can see its now getting very busy in Devon. Most of the details below are notices for changes on weekend 20th September when most services supported by Devon Country Council are altered in some way or cut back completely. (See below). As for the few service changes due over the next two seeks, these are mostly specials for the Fireworks event in Plymouth.
Cornwall and Devon Transit Index
VOSA (DT013)
VOSA (DT013)
VOSA (DT013)
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
VOSA New
VOSA (amended before the service starts!)
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
New Registration
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA new registration
NEW VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA Registration
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
New VOSA
VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
New VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
VOSA
VOSA Cancellation
VOSA Reg
New VOSA
VOSA
VOSA (DT013)
VOSA (DT013)
VOSA
Vosa new reg
VOSA
VOSA
Well thats enough to be getting on with for now. That’s a lot of timetables to find and new maps to create over the coming weeks. Next week we get all the Cornish timetables changes due for the end of September too!
Proposed reductions in public transport services in Devon will be implemented from 20 September, the County Council has confirmed. Devon County Council’s Cabinet has approved proposals for a number of bus services across the county to save £1.76 million. Following a countywide consultation and additional comments from the Place Scrutiny Committee, more than half of the 400,000 passenger trips per year originally proposed to be reduced, have been retained. The agreed measures affect just under 170,000 passenger trips a year, out of a total 4.5 million annual passenger trips on all Devon’s supported services.
“Officers have considered the points raised throughout this process, and they have continued to look at options with our transport providers and whether Community Transport and the wider community can play a role in future provision. We remain committed not to leave any communities entirely isolated, and we have maintained at least weekly bus services or community-based Ring & Ride and social car schemes throughout our rural areas.”
Among additional changes agreed by Cabinet in the amended proposals, was Service 381 which serves Ottery St Mary. This was originally proposed for complete withdrawal but will continue on an interim basis for two days a week while discussions are held with the local community transport association. Crediton Town Bus Service Service 607 will continue two days a week while a possible community transport replacement is explored. Service 347 from Cheriton Fitzpaine to Crediton will operate four days a week instead of being reduced to two days a week. As an alternative to withdrawal of the entire evening service of the Service 86, from Tavistock to Plymouth, one late journey each way will continue. Service 15X from Bideford to Atlantic Village will be replaced by an entirely commercial service. The Barnstaple Town Service 8/10 has been amended to take in Sunset Heights three times daily, and Service 309 will divert via Bicton Street. Discussions are being held with the local community transport association about taking on Service 33/34/35/36 in the Ilfracombe area.
See more at: https://www.devonnewscentre.info/public-transport-budget-to-be-implemented/#sthash.NvbvBY6l.dpuf
The better members of the local fleet are being repainted into Olympia livery, with no fleetnames, ready for transfer into Kernow in September.
Quite a few Double Deckers are away for Rail Replacement work in Somerset so a few singledeckers have been drafted in from Kernow and Somerset fleets. Richard Smith has caught a few on camera so here we have five First Photos…
The new Enviro 400s for Plymouth Citybus are due in Plymouth over the coming weeks ready for service at the start of September. The first of these have been noted in Scotland with registration numbers
WJ65BYN WJ65BYO WJ65BYP WJ65BYR
Its nice to see local registration numbers being used when so many are now just reg’d in Scotland or Yorkshire these days.
