A754 VAF | Leyland Olympian | Fleet No. 34754 (ex 1807/1754)

In 2009 we successfully acquired from First Devon & Cornwall, former Western National 'Bristol' Leyland Olympian, A754 VAF in Barbie 2 livery and displaying fleet number 34754.

This was a very important 'save' for the CBPS as it is the last vehicle from the initial batch of 8, first introduced in Plymouth in November 1983, to come out of service in Cornwall. Unfortunately sister vehicles, 34751/2/5 (A751/2/5 VAF) were not so lucky and were scrapped leaving 34753 (A753 VAF) which had a few years with Cornwall Fire and Rescue at RAF Portreath and 34750 (A750 VAF), which had become an 'open-topper', stored in North Devon for many years. The CBPS was offered 34750 but unfortunately, we were not in a position to take it on so 34750 and 34753 have not survived.  .

This Olympian has a Gardner diesel engine as per the specification in 1983 and not a Cummins, as was later used and is built on one of the last chassis's to emerge from the Bristol factory before closure.

Originally numbered 1807, she is fitted with high back coach seats, as were all of the batch and was based at the Laira depot in Plymouth. From quite early on they were all painted green and white and wore the Western National version of 'Citybus' livery for use on the Plymouth Joint Services network.

In 1986, the Olympians ran into Cornwall when they carried National Express livery on service X1 Plymouth to Penzance. A picture of our Olympian, 34754, in this livery can be found in 'Royal Blue Days' by Colin Morris. Two Olympians were loaned for use on Service 57 St Ives -Newquay summer only services for a couple of years before they were eventually transferred to Cornwall except for 1809/10 (A756/7 VAF) which moved elsewhere to another First Group area.

During this time, renumbering took place and 1807 became 1754 before First's individual numbering system was adopted when she finally became 34754. Since being acquired, she was kept on the road and in April 2012, she passed her MOT just before our Running Day at Penzance. A very popular vehicle with enthusiasts but she was looking 'tatty' so it was decided that 34754 needed some attention. The lower deck panels were in a poor condition, a damaged rear bumper, side roof dents to name but a few things led to her being taken off the road for attention.

Currently 34754 is under going these repairs in preparation for a re-paint into something a bit different. When this is complete she will again carry her original fleet number 1807 but with limited resources, all of us will have to be patient.