I drove this bus in service for Devon General at Tiverton, Devon in 1983 - also drove her fleetmate No 1250 (VOD 120K). Glad to see that she still exists.
Thanks for this, reminds me of rides on WN LHs in Somerset many years ago. Shame most modern buses all sound the same, unlike 70s/ 80s when you could put me on a bus blindfold and I could tell what I was on (LH, VR, RE, National)
@e37405 yes she is indeed, I am extremely happy with her, she does not show many of the usual B6 problems, so hopefully she has a long career ahead of her in preservation whilst owned by me.
love it, more please. Enjoy the vids of VRs (and REs, and LHs and Nationals and...) but most are taken inside the bus. My abiding memory of VRs is from when I lived in Worthing in the late 70s and used to enjoy the gruff exhaust note as they pulled away.
VR's remind me of my dads mad years on the busses. He used to work for Solent Blue Line, they were blue/yellow. 1 of the fleets VR's were Turbo, it was very nippy for a DDecker as it had a new turbo charger installed. The drivers were always begging in the office to get the keys for it. Dad had it once - drove it like a bat out of hell - Huge mammoth could actually blast off most cars at the lights when it was empty seated. It was so nippy to drive it was comical. Used to throw your head back!
I remember these used to be used near me under the TMS name, they were quite fast and really harsh engine sound and often crunched through the gears, do they use 5 cylinder gardners?
Indeed, all mine, search for LFJ862W on youtube and you will see various vids of it on here, the blue one next to it is an ECW bodied Leyland Olympian.
You have your own bus??? Mate, if that's true then I am envious! I love the VR's - don't know what it is about them....maybe just takes me back to my childhood. I'm in the process of re-building my own model collection (can't afford a full size one!!!) as I lost or damaged most of the ones I had as a boy. I'm having to re-acquaint myself with a few of the makes and models - can you confirm what the the dark blue 'Leyland' bus is by the side of your VR? Cheers, and thanks for the video.
A Gardner, but it just sounds very sweet indeed, it might just sound slightly different as the video on youtube is compressed slightly, but it is definately a Gardner and a lovely sounding one at that!!!
Well its not a static video for a start, hence you can hear the engine and gearbox working, also I was the only one on my bus at the time so had to rest the camera on its side, but judging by some of the videos here on youtube I would say this is a relatively normal video!!!!
Sounds good, send me your email addy and I will send you an entry form if you like, we are trying to make the Bristol VR the star attraction, at this years event, James.
Well she will be around this summer, although she is on loan to a fellow preservationist for 12 months, long story, but she will be at Weymouth Rally in June, with me driving! The padlock on the front, visual working deterrent, works for me, no one breaks in to her these days, was broken into once though, before the padlock was put on!!
I really want a ride on your vehicle. I saw it once in a preserved buses magazine when they did a feature on it, and I saw the real thing in Exeter Bus Station coach area back in 2004. It had a funny padlock thingy on the door. Very nice bus, looks absolutely great and sounds good too.
Very nice! Brings back happy memories of travelling on VOD125K (WN1255) with the Western National Preservation Group years ago. I look forward to seeing her on the Rally circuit.
