Good news from Project R114:
We are pleased to announce that we have secured Dennis Dart Pointer 2 R114OFJ for preservation today. Being the first Pointer 2 to enter service with Plymouth Citybus, on Sunday 17th May 1998, it carries the start of a 20+ year long history of them in the fleet.
While we haven't settled on a long term plan for it we will be aiming to run it at a couple of events during this summer, with more info to follow.
© Project R114 Group
You can follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/R114OFJ
and I hope to include any further updates here too.
Thanks for permission to post their photos here:
I have used a bit of Photoshop magic here to remove the car that was in the way – I think its done a pretty good job really!
and from its days in Plymouth one of mine from October 2014.
and lastly from 2007 still sporting its awful dull original livery
It will be interesting to see how this project progresses. Good look team!
I loved the interior on these on the Pointer 1's even towards retirement the original moquette looked smart and tidy.
ReplyDeletePointer 2 and sadly this was completely refurbed by Berry's so returning the interior to the original will take time
DeleteGood look? Typo! But I hope they keep its red and white livery, much better than Go-Ahead corporate all over red, in my opinion. I actually didn't mind the red white and light grey either, at least it was better than the black. (Only Wilts & Dorset got red white and black right for me, especially on their Optare Spectras). Just my 2p-worth. Oh yes, and good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree never had an issue with the grey skirt as the fleet all looked tidy and professional. When they tried to make Darts look like Citaros with some having black and some just having the skirt painted red is when it all started going wrong.
DeleteNever received Go Ahead liveries so will be safe to say that wont happen! The berry's livery is an adaption of the old livery so already halfway there!
DeleteBrilliant buses . Loved driving them . Built for Job .
ReplyDeleteCitybus have updated their LED displays to the Citybus font. Looks quite good
ReplyDelete@anon 13/06 23:15 - what’s the ‘CityBus font’?
Deletecheck any of their marketing
DeleteOnly a select few buses have received it for now and it may still not be a permanent change
Delete468 is one of them
Delete468 will be the only one certain to keep it as it's under the private hire fleet which is overseen by a different person than the main sets - the ones on the service fleet is a trial of sorts
DeleteAny pictures of this? I saw one of the 06 enviros with a dot matrix that linked the citybus website on it - reminded me of the older buses like the Citaros before the takeover of Go-Southwest.
DeleteAnyone know other buses to have it?
Delete579 has it
Deletespotted 579 out of service passing Home Park towards Manadon at 20past 6 this morning - wasn't expecting to see it on one of the "newest" buses in the fleet... quite sad really when in reality buses from 2019 are the newest in the fleet (minus the GCB fleet of 70 plates but I wouldn't really count that)
ReplyDeleteBut even if you do discount the 70 plates (a substantial fleet quite a few in Plymouth so unfair to discount them really) the 2019 buses are still the newest in the region. Stagecoach havent had anything new for ages - and those they were getting seem to have been moved elsewhere. The governments policy to award some areas millions for new electric buses whilst leaving others with nothing has distorted the markets with places like Oxford being able to replace almost the whole fleet. Unless Plymouth (or Devon / Cornwall) gets significant new money for electric buses anytime soon I dont suppose we will get many new buses for a while. There could though be some decent mid life buses floating about within the group as places like oxford get flooded with new buses. As much as I would love to see new buses in Plymouth, I dont think we can complain that much for the last few years.
DeleteThere's so much bus swapping going on again within Go Ahead. GSC have done lots of swapping recently from London, Bluestar and SV. GSW gaining Brighton and London buses. If GSW actually spent money on refurbishing their buses, like GSC, it would certainly make them seriously more appealing than the tired looking fleet they have now. Even the 63/65 plates look run down.
DeleteI agree with the 63/65 statement - the Ecocity’s are also pretty tired looking as half of them have missing liveries.
DeleteI’m not involved in the bus scene out of Plymouth so thats a fair comment but when I’ve been out of area you always see a lot more variety - even with other Go fleets - Bournemouth for example
It would be easier if Go Ahead just set a standard interior (Similar to East Yorkshire/Go North East Xlines) for the entire group.
DeleteThere is no CityBus with fleet number 579. Do you mean 569 or 576?
ReplyDeleteTesting my memory now as I didn't grab a photo - must have been 569
Deletepretty sure messing around with a LED display doesn't cost a lot of money...
DeleteThe problem that occured as GSW was that they made a decision (a poor one) to aim to be solely ADL based. They got rid of some of the nicest buses they've ever had in the Wright Eclipse body 100-109 - only to end up with ex Brighton Scanias, ex GNE Solos, which are still parked up in Milehouse, ex London ADL single & double decks, it's just been really poor. Yes, the guys at Milehouse do a great job with the door conversions, but still, they need to up their game and spend some money on their buses to make them feel more pleasant. It feels very hand-me-down and very cheap! Just because Plymouth might not see new buses any time soon, doesn't mean they should skimp out on the details (like the Scanias which are desperately in need of a refit)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with that - the single door conversions are amazing in terms of how seemless the conversions look but otherwise yes pretty much most of the fleet looks stupidly tired.
DeleteThe 08 enviros are equally tired inside as well - such a shame as they're really nice buses (and the outdated screens which have not kept up with the times and have corrupted HDD's.
Let alone 478 and 488 which look just look silly with the half-hearted paint job and obvious signs of them being ex-London.
I was quite suprised when PCB fully wrapped the ex Brighton Scania's - I'd love to know their decision making behind that - as even when we first "got" them back in 2020 we knew they were well past their best.
Totally agree with the interiors - you see some buses up north that aren't even considered luxury that have tables and vinyl flooring like you'd see in a nice kitchen or on a train - operating "short routes" - not even like the Stagecoach 1/1A out to Tavi - they cover simple routes like the 60 or 42 - I know contrasting routes but still the same concept.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the number for that Stagecoach Southwest are putting in the windscreens of their buses
ReplyDeleteVehicle running numbers, temporary trial by a depot controller who's come over from London where this is common practice - For example, the 122 has four buses with vehicle numbers 1221, 1222, 1223 and 1224.
DeleteThanks
Delete