Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

that's good news,hopefully see it about soon.

(18/09/2020 23:32)bus401 Wrote: [ -> ]that's good news,hopefully see it about soon.

Thank you. 0305 returned to its hometown of Southport yesterday for the first time in over 20 years as part of the Merseyside preserved bus cavalcade. A great day out and lovely to see the resplendent 0277 and recently preserved 0308 also in attendance.

0306 was receiving some engine attention when we were there on Friday, so I assume it too has been sold on. That would mean 0271, 0275, 0277, 0288, 0299, 0301, 0302, 0305, 0306, 0307 and 0308 are all currently in preservation: a remarkable 11 of the original 36.

Pity they are not used in everyday service again, they were decent buses with comfortable seats.

N306 CLV returned home late this evening, reported faultless drive on the long journey north.

List updated 21/09/2020

271 Preserved, Wirral area
272 Scrapped
273 Scrapped
274 Scrapped
275 Preserved, Wirral area
276 Buckley Belles, Oldham
277 Preserved, NWVRT- Silver Service Livery
278 Scrapped
279 Cotswold Gliding Club - Mobile Control Tower
281 Scrapped
282 Scrapped
283 Scrapped
284 Scrapped
285 Scrapped
286 Scrapped
287 Ambassador Travel, Widnes (RIG 6288)
288 Presidential, Bootle (MTL Livery)
289 Scrapped
290 Scrapped
291 Scrapped - Spares donated to multiple preserved vehicles
292 Scrapped
293 Unknown - Last seen for sale on ebay/facebook, showing as SORN
294 Unknown - Sold from South Glos for conversion to Cafe (?)
295 Lankford Travel, Rushden
296 Scrapped
297 Unknown - Last seen parked near St Helens but not heard of since, showing as SORN
298 ??Decker Bus, Peterborough in all over vinyl for Peterborough Regional College- possibly still there (VIL 8682)
299 Presidential, Bootle (MTL Livery)
301 Preserved, Merseyside area
302 Preserved, North West
303 Scrapped
304 Scrapped
305 Preserved, Merseyside area
306 Preserved, Wirral area
307 Preserved, Wirral area
308 Preserved, North West

Which Palatine IIs were new to Southport[was normally allocated to the old 284] distinguishable from the Laird Street Palatine IIs by the lower deck rear window, as Laird Street Palatine IIs never had the lower deck rear window fitted?

303/4/5 were the ones new to Southport.

283 and 286 were also delivered to Southport initially , always destined for Laird St but delivered in unbranded MTL livery on trial in Southport to determine if they wanted any different spec i think, one of the things they brought up was that they wanted back windows, hence 303/4/5 having them fitted.

Not sure if fitted from new or an after thought but the Southport 3 had assault screens fitted whereas the Laird St ones didn't. None of the Laird St ones gained assault screens until they transferred to other depots across Merseyside around 2008, those that stayed home until the end never got them

0287 (now registered RIG6288) has been for sale on eBay over the last few days for £4.5K, although the listing has ended today so perhaps a buyer has been found. Here is the listing page which has some nice detail shots: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-Olympia...4914080149

Like 0283 and 0286, this was another to start life at Southport, therefore lacking Silver Service decals. It was also one of those which received the gaudy Arriva refurbishment, losing its panel fabric in the process; 0284 and 0301 were similarly treated.

N301 CKB ex 3301 is being stripped for parts and is for scrap.

Assume the small batch winsford got cascaded have all been scrapped? Ours were:

3329
3330
3331
3334

All in the WVR reg series so 3329 was aka R329WVR & so on.