THE LONDON & HOME COUNTIES BUS IMAGE GALLERY
Red Rose Depot Fire November 2007
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 Almost unrecognisable is this trio of burnt out Darts. Nearest the camera is Wadham Stringer/UVG Dennis Dart N219HBK. The bus had a livery sympathetic to the unusual lines of the vehicle when new. 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 an East Lancs Dart new to Davies Bros in South Wales, M260VEJ and operated in their livery for some years after acquisition. |
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 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 were set do the work on Monday! |
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 The surviving Caetano Darts is seen here, FJ06URR, at the 2006 Alton Rally where it was used to promote SHOWBUS international that year. Interestingly the bus ended up in the fleet of GHA in Wales, which was declared bankrupt in 2016. The bus was purchased from Ensignbus for further work in the associated Redline fleet, which aleady had Caetano Darts in operation from other sources. |
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 Dart M260VEJ seen at Waddesdon Manor in May 2004 on the Park & Ride service between the Manor and Westcott Venture Park on the occasion of the annual "Run for Life". |
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 UVG Dart N219BHK is seen at Scibus, the May 1996 rally organised by the Showbus team at the Wroughton site of the Science Museum. The event featured two Wadham Stringer (UVG) bodied Dennis Darts displaying the newly developed bus body. This was the first new full size acquisition for Red Rose Travel and 607 (N607EBP) displayed the then 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. |
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