THE GALLERY

Dennis Darts

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Scibus, the May 1996 rally organised by the Showbus team at the Wroughton site of the Science Museum, featured two Wadham Stringer (UVG) bodied Dennis Darts displaying the newly developed bus body. N219HBK was the first new full size acquisition for Red Rose Travel of Aylesbury and N607EBP displayed the new Provincial red livery which had just appeared following the takeover by FirstBus and the merging of its operations with Red Admiral and Blue Admiral in the Portsmouth area.

UVG Dart N219HBK in Tring High Street on the Tuesday and Saturday service to Leighton Buzzard.

Almost unrecognisable is this trio of burnt out Darts at the Red Rose depot fire in the early hours of Saturday November 3rd 2007. Nearest the camera is the Wadham Stringer/UVG Dennis Dart N219HBK. It was one of the first such buses to be built and was relatively rare as the bodywork was later adapted to the new Dart SLF low floor chassis which was launched the following year. Next in line was one of the pair of Caetano Slimbus Nimbus Darts new in 2006 and only recently back from the painters having lost its "dealer white" livery worn for over a year. The bus in which the fire started is furthest from the camera. It was the East Lancs Dart new to Davies Bros in South Wales, M260VEJ.

Luckily no bus was parked on the far side of M260VEJ, so the fire spread down the line in the direction of the wind. Arson was suspected with the arsonists believed to have hidden in the new yard in Stone, formerly Motts premises, and waited till the drivers and garage staff had departed around 1.30am. A ladder was found propped up against the perimeter security fencing which was assumed to be the perpetrators escape route. A passing motorist alerted the fire brigade around 2am and they arrived within 10 minutes. Ironically CCTV was due to be installed the Thursday before the blaze, but the installers were missing a vital component and completed the work on Monday!

Dennis Darts

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