National Express 1

National Express WX51AJY is a typical example of the standard coach now in use by First Devon & Cornwall. With several in the fleet new to FDC and quite a few brought in from First Coaches, Bristol including this one which arrived down here in January this year.
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Rare visitor

Quick trip into town and managed to catch a fairly rare visitor to Plymouth. F384FYS is a Volvo B10M Plaxton Bus which was new in November 1988 to Strathclyde PTE as its AS2. Sister vehicleF385FYS also found its way to FDC back in April 2003.
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Green Line

Another picture from the Bus Rally on Plymouth Hoe - only this time its not a local bus!
Seen above is First Cymru Dart CU53AVN in Barbie 'Rail Link' livery with Green Line branding. I post this to compare First Devon & Cornwalls version which seems to be gradually dwindling out of use. P444TCV pictured below back in May 2005. This bus has since been painted into standard Barbie livery.

Previous Posting: PlymothianTransit.com: P444TCV

First Routemasters

The main event today was the bus rally on Plymouth Hoe. The weather was certainly a lot better than Saturday! With a great collection of buses new and old it was a good day spent on the Hoe. The full collection of photos can be seen here.
Above we see all three of First Devon & Cornwall's Routemaster fleet. These buses are used for general hire, promotional work and even hired out for weddings. Opinion is divided on the green one. Although its more in keeping with the local area than the red ones it just looks fake! That said I am sure they are going to be popular with general 'non-anorak' passengers!
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ftr

The 23rd July was the "Running Day" of the Plymouth Bus Rally organised by First Devon & Cornwall. It was not brilliant weather but it didn't spoil the show with a good selection of buses to ride on covering several different routes around Plymouth. Highlight for me was the first prototype of First's new "ftr" built around a Volvo chassis by Wrights. This was a very special bus and it certainly gave a quality ride. In the right conditions this bus will be a winner for First Group. Cant quite see it happening in Plymouth though - far to good for us I am afraid!
see my fotopic album for more pictures of the event - including more of the ftr.


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05 - Texaco

The final 05 for now is another Texaco tanker. CU05CRF is brand new for OJ Williams.


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05 - Texaco

Todays '05' is this Texaco tanker DK05LYF.

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05 Reg - NYK Logistics

A few 05 reg vehicles to follow for the next few days with this smart Volvo of NYK Logistics seen entering Plymouth this month

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May Gurney?

I have been puzzled by the ownership of a sizeable fleet of new vans which have been appearing in Plymouth recently - mostly large white high roofed vans like this one. I am now fairly certain that they belong to May Gurney - who recently have taken over TJ Brent. I know that they were looking at rebranding the fleet into a new livery of white with orange/ yellow logos. I am sure that these vans will soon gain the new logos. Of course I could end up being wrong!
(I was right!)

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Heltor

A few days ago I posted V998EDV operated by Heltor for Jet. Here we see sister V997EDV also operated by Heltor this time with an anonymous tipper trailer.
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BP

In BP livery is this smart ERF operated by Excel TankFreight
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OJ Williams

OJ Williams with bases in the Westcountry and in South Wales operate a fleet of vehicles for Texaco
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Shell

Shell operate this DAF CF out of Plymouth. EU53WUK
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Heltor - Jet

The first of a selection of local fuel tankers seen in Plymouth. Heltor is a local firm who run tankers for Jet.
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FDC Volvo

Seen early in the morning sitting at Bretonside is YJ51PZZ a one-off Volvo Wright bus acquired when almost brand new from First York. Branded for the Red Line Saltash service.
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Trathens

Seen on National Express duties is Trathens Van Hool double deck coach LSK512. Most of the Nat Express DD fleet are Neoplan Skyliners. Trathens are just about the only company which runs double deckers on National Express these days. They were also the pioneers of the service with deregulation back in the 1980's when they placed Skyliners into service competing with National Express.



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Citybus new livery - the 2nd repaint

After waiting for ages Citybus have finally got round to a second bus in the new livery. Dart 42 pictured above follows on from Dart 41. Dart 43 is still in the old livery. I managed to speak to the Manager of Citybus who confirmed that this livery was designed for the new Mercedes Citaro buses due later this year but they liked it so much they have decided to adopt it across the fleet. They were really keen to get rid of the grey - about time too!

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FDC Lynx

One of the better 'hand-me-downs' that have come from South Wales over the years to First Devon & Cornwall is this Leyland Lynx 2. It still carries the 'select' registration K10BMS for Brewers Motor Services who it was new to. Its a very handy bus with large capacity and a good turn of speed.
An excellent book - if you can still find it is the Leyland Lynx Handbook - see the link below



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Transforming Travel

First Transforming Travel
Yeah right!

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First D&C STRIKE

This might seem like a normal First Coach - and it is really, but today it was unusual as it, along with sister coach T105JBC were the only First buses out and about apart from a few school buses. First D&C drivers were on strike and it seemed to be solid across the whole company. I spent the day in Stagecoach Devon teritory instead!
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Plymouth City Centre Company

I have been after this one for ages! In full City Centre Company red livery is brand new Applied "Green Machine 525" sweeper SN05GPJ.

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Citybus school buses

Citybus are slowly repainting some of their Volvo double deckers in this bright yellow Student Link livery. 185 F602GVO is seen above. Below is 196 F51ACL in the earlier bright orange livery used for Plymouth CFE contract routes.






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First Devon & Cornwall Training

With the recent posting of Plymouth Citybus' training coach I was glad to get a new shot of First D&C's training Bristol VRT UAR595W. Seen in Bretonside today.


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Kings Heavy Transport

Kings Heavy Transport WX04FNK seen with an impressive load passing along Embankment Road. The company website is well worth visiting for some great pictures of their fleet and even a few videos.


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Plymouth Citycoach Training

JSK 261 is one of the oldest coaches in the Plymouth Citycoach fleet and is often used for training new drivers although still available for other duties as needed so is not painted up for driver training. Fleet number 340.

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3rd July 2005: Westcountry Ambulance

WJ52ZSN is a standard ambulance for Westcountry Ambulance NHS Trust based on the Renault Master van chassis. Many of these bodies were built by Papworth.





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2nd July 2005: Devon Fire Brigade

Devon Fire Brigade have this brand new MAN Driver Training Vehicle WA05EZM. Generaly they have used old appliances for training purposes in the past.




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Sky

Last week I posted a Sky TV van in Sky Sports livery. Well, I have now got another one on camera. LS04LXJ is in livery for the Animal Planet channel.

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