Dundee Corporation 295 (GYJ 495G)
Chassis Daimler Fleetline CRG6LX chassis no. 62565 ♦ Body Alexander J-type H44/34F body no. J4/367/15
History
This Daimler Fleetline was delivered new to Dundee Corporation Transport in August 1968. It is fitted with Alexander J-type 78 seat (H44/34F) single door bodywork. This vehicle was the last in a batch of fifteen such buses, fleet numbers 281 to 295, which were registered FTS 881F to FTS 895F. Because of a dispute over the introduction of one-man operation, only 281–285 entered service initially, while the remainder of the batch were placed in storage.
Fleet numbers 286 to 295 were re-registered GYJ 486G to GYJ 495G before finally entering service along with ten newer examples delivered at this time, 296 to 305 (GYJ 396G to GYJ 405G). 295 entered service on 12 August 1968. The single-door Fleetlines were withdrawn in the late 1970s; all of the earlier batches were scrapped, but many of the G-registered vehicles survived for longer. In June 1980, 295 was converted for use as a driver training bus, painted into a yellow livery and renumbered T4. Sister bus 293 was given the same treatment and renumbered T3. Because of their conversion and subsequent sale, both buses survived for many years longer than the other buses in the batch. 293 ended up on a farm near Errol and was scrapped there in 2004. Meanwhile, later Fleetline 305 was converted to open-top, re-entering service in this form in 1981 and lasting until May 1985, at which point it was the last Daimler vehicle in the fleet (the first one having been delivered in 1931). It ended up as a London tour bus with Ensign.
295 remained in use as a training bus until being withdrawn and sold in March 1983 to Earnside Coaches of Glenfarg, then it passed to a farmer in Longforgan near Dundee two months later for use as a berry bus. This photograph shows the bus in the ownership of that farmer. It remained in use until it was sold to another farmer in Laurencekirk in April 1992, being used to transport daffodil pickers between Dundee and Laurencekirk. With 295 still sporting yellow livery from its days as a training bus, the farmer decided the bus was in need of a repaint, so it was painted allover green.
In July 1998, 295 was purchased from the farmer for preservation by a Taybus Vintage Vehicle Society member, and on collection from Laurencekirk the bus made the journey back to Dundee. It was then housed in the workshops at Travel Dundee’s depot, where it remained stored until August 2001, when it was moved to G & N Wishart’s depot at Friockheim, for a six month period. Finally it moved to its new home at the Taybus Vintage Vehicle Society’s premises in February 2002.
Restoration
The restoration to date has been the removal of the lower deck floor and some interior and exterior panels, the fitting of new batteries, and extensive work on the battery leads. Some of the damaged roof panels have been removed for replacement. Work in 2011 has concentrated on renovating the steel framework and readying the nearside outriggers for the fitment of new framework. The steel structure which runs directly across the top of the entrance door, and the inner panel between the decks which this is fixed to, will both have to be replaced due to severe corrosion.
