Arriva North West - Southport Depot

[B10B6514]

RE: Arriva North West - Southport Depot
The ex-gas buses were always non-standard. Originally fitted with modified petrol engines (they had spark plugs to ignite the gas) married up to the Allison World series gearbox. Between 2003 and 2005 they were each retrofitted with standard Cummins 6BT engines but retained there original boxes as opposed to the standard Allison AT545 unit.

Gearing has never been a strong point of these pioneering vehicles. It will interesting to see how technology has progressed over the last 15 years when Runcorn's CNG powered MAN/Caetano fleet hits the road very soon. Alternative fuels are the way forward but initial costs need to come down drastically to be viable.
Remember, when new in 1999, 2291-2294 cost £145,000 each of which £70k was on the engine. They also took nearly 2 years in build as the gas engines were built specially in the USA as opposed to Darlington.
R.I.P 6248-6251