Merry Christmas

I'd like to wish all of my visitors a very Merry Christmas and I wish everyone all the best for 2013. Thank you for your continued support throughout the year - I've really enjoyed posting to the blog and having various discussions, even if I have found it difficult to post regularly for the last month or so. 

Merry Christmas

Sunday Lost Scenes - Sunday 4th November

As I'm on a bit of an Olympian theme at the moment, here's another one...

First Devon & Cornwall 30065 - A167VFM - Bude Strand - 5th August 2006

Today, the only route that First Devon & Cornwall operate into North Cornwall is route 76/76A. The route is operated by Plymouth depot and primarily sees Volvo B6BLEs make the trip up to Bude via Saltash, Callington and Launceston. It is now First's only route in Bude after the X9 was given up earlier this year.

Back track 6 and a half years ago, and First operated many routes into Bude - the route to Plymouth was the X8, supported by the X9 to Exeter, the 128 town service, the 285 to Holsworthy and the 319 to Hartland. 

There was a regular early Saturday morning departure from Bude which was always booked to be an Olympian. I woke up and managed to grab the shot, and on Saturday 5th August it was former PMT DOG A167VFM. It was the only one of these that I ever caught in service with Devon & Cornwall - we had two at Hoeford depot (30050 and 30056) too.I remember this bus being immaculate. The presentation was excellent. It had recently received the willow leaf First livery, which was just being rolled out across the whole fleet as opposed to simply the best low floor buses. 

I'm not sure if Olympians get up to Bude much on the 76 these days - if they do, send me a link to a photo because I'd like to see it.

An unexpected return home

In 1996, Southampton Citybus received 6 Volvo Olympians from stock dealership, to upgrade services in the city from Leyland Atlanteans. In 2003, having passed into First ownership, all 6 moved to First Devon & Cornwall, to upgrade their X80 (Plymouth - Paignton and Torquay). I thought I'd lost the chance to photograph them again when they moved up to Manchester two years later. However, as a result of Olympic cascades, P295KPX has unexpectedly returned home to Hampshire.

Ok, so not exactly *home* because 34295 has entered service at Hoeford rather than Southampton. Incidentally, it was never allocated to Empress Road, having left Portswood long before the new depot was even dreamed up. It is quite a smart bus externally - some panels could do with a quick brush up (such as the front black grills) but all in all she looks good.

I'm not sure why, but she seems to be spending an awful lot of time in Stubbington at the moment, on routes 33, 34 and 35. She has made it to Portsmouth too- and has been photographed on the circuit routes 17 and 18. These buses left just before I started photographing widely - I've only got photos of sisters P293KPX and P296KPX from 2003, and these are lost in the depths of fotopic at the moment... still not long until "J" comes around on the username download!

I'm not sure how long she will be around for, or whether more are coming. Sources within First are publicly stating they want around 7 or 8 low floor double deckers for the X4 (Portsmouth - Southampton), although I'm sure Volvo Olympians aren't what was envisaged.

The Hampshire Olympian allocation are as follows:

At Southampton - 34079, 34128, 34129, 34130

At Hoeford - 34016, 34017, 34022, 34059, 34060, 34071, 34295, with 34033 on site VOR

Sunday Lost Scenes - Sunday 28th October

With BlueStar soon to receive brand new double deckers for route 1 (Winchester - Southampton), I thought we'd remember what went before...

Solent Blue Line 732 - H732DDL - Fryern Hill - 29th February 2008

The Scania Omnicity double deckers for route 1 arrived towards the end of the year, but at the start of 2008 route 1 was an eclectic mix of all types of Solent Blue Line buses. The intended operation was to use the Volvo B7TLs, but in reality anything including Tridents, Volvo and Leyland Olympians, Volvo B10B single decks or Mercedes-Benz Citaros could operate on the routes. The sight of 732 trundling between Southampton and Winchester was not a rare sight. 

With BlueStar's allocations now fairly established, I look back to 2008 and realise that I did not make the most of the variety that was on offer to the bus enthusiast. The 7 Scania Omnicities are rarely off route, and you seldom find anything else on route 1. This is excellent for BlueStar's image, meaning that the service is always of consistent quality and reliable for the customer.

I'm not sure what the new deckers for route 1 will be at the turn of they year. I've heard Enviro400s mentioned but that was just a rumour. The 58-plate Scania Omnicities will, apparently, then move onto route 2, cascading the Volvo B7TLs to school services. I'll hope to bring you photos of these buses when they arrive.

Sunday Lost Scenes - Sunday 21st October

Today's Sunday Lost Scenes come from Plymouth in summer 2009...

Plymouth Citybus 132 - M132HOD - Plymouth (Brentonside Bus Station) - 10th August 2009

Back in 2009, I made my one and only visit to Plymouth. As I am located in Hampshire, Plymouth is just that bit too far for a day trip, meaning that I haven't been back since. For 2013, Plymouth is high up on my to-do list, especially with the Go Ahead growth and First uncertainty.

We go back to what feels like a quieter year here. Plymouth Citybus were still under the ownership of the council, and First's Ugobus initiative was in its infant stages, run with Darts and Volvo B6BLEs. Citybus still operated a number of Merc 709Ds and step entrance Darts, where First's fleet was actually looking pretty good - with the Olympians tucked away for the summer, the fleet was 95%-ish low floor on the day of my visit. 

How times have changed. Plymouth Citybus have since removed all step entrance buses from regular service work, where First have been developing the age profile of Plymouth's fleet by introducing Leyland Olympians. One wonders what is going on behind the scenes at First in Plymouth, as surely the recently redistributed North Devon Tridents would have gone straight to Plymouth instead of Southampton. Furthermore, Darts are now being repainted in white rather than the new livery. Something appears to be imminent - whether it is, or whether the bus users will have to put up with more Leyland Olympians remains to be seen.

Go Ahead Tridents in new lands

Two of Go Ahead's premier companies - the Oxford Bus Company and Brighton & Hove - have been cascading some of their older Dennis Tridents around the more recently acquired companies. This post specifically focuses in on a couple of Tridents at Thames Travel.

First up, we have former Brighton & Hove 806 - T806RFG - now number 915 with Thames Travel. It is pictured outside Reading railway station - the large scale developments and rebuilding work at the station can be seen in the background. It is one of three Tridents of the same type acquired from the Sussex fleet. 915 is pictured on the X39, an express route connecting Oxford and Reading. The service is hourly and takes just over an hour most of the time. Weekday loadings have steadily increased over the past few years, which brings greater capacity to the corridor.

Secondly, we have 109 (T109DBW) - one of a large batch of Dennis Tridents acquired by the Oxford Bus Company for park and ride routes. These buses have an interestingly coloured interior! 109 retains the two-tone base of the Oxford Park & Ride livery, but has Thames Travel blue at the bottom. It is an example of the two local Go Ahead companies working together. As well as this, four Mercedes-Benz Citaros moved to Thames Travel along with the X2 route. Therefore, the Didcot - Oxford corridor is now operated by Thames Travel - the Citaros look great in this livery too.

Thames Travel is a particularly interesting company. Something changes on every visit to the area. If you would like any more information on Thames Travel or bus services in that area, please visit the excellent Bus Zone website.