Yelloway TDK 687J at Torquay - Saturday 30 Oct 1971

Saturday 30 October 1971 - Operation of the summer Rochdale to Torquay ‘Devonian’ service was between 1 May and 30 October each year southbound and between 2 May to 31 October northbound. On the last day of operation of the 1971 summer season timetable I took a ride from Rochdale to Torquay to see what the route was all about. Conveniently the 30th was a Saturday and the 31st a Sunday and I was weekend off. The vehicle was TDK 687J, new 3 June 1971, driven by Derek Cheetham. The ‘service coach’ on the daily scheduled run was usually one of those new that year and the drivers were of ‘Leading Driver’ or ‘Senior Leading Driver’ grade. I took this series of pictures over the two days of the ride out. '687', a Plaxton Panorama Elite bodied AEC Reliance (naturally!) is seen at Lymington Road coach station in Torquay at the end of its almost 300 mile run taking 11 hours.