Dennis Dart SLF SFD322BR1

New to First Kelvin Central in November 1997 at Knightswood Depot as MD63, this bus was part of a large batch of low floor Dennis Darts ordered by the company. It was initially operated on the Dumbarton local services D2-D8 from the Kelvin unit in Knightswood Depot, but often strayed onto the other routes the depot had, including Greater Glasgow routes. By Summer 1998, the bus had been repainted from allover red into the new Barbie livery, and continued to operate around Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven.

By 2000, it had moved to Motherwell Depot as part of an upgrade for the 240 and 267 services, which were suffering severe competition from a local independent and required newer, low floor vehicles. These vehicles were the typical bus type to be seen on these corridors between 2000 and 2010, operating from 5am until 12am, 7 days a week.

MD63 (later renumbered 40820) continued to serve at Motherwell, Blantyre and Overtown right up until 2011 when it transferred to Scotstoun Depot with many other similar vehicles, to be used on the service 20 operating “duplicates” in competition with McColls Coaches. McColls soon pulled off this corridor and the bus was surplus, and subsequently transferred back to Overtown Depot, where it lasted another 2 years in service until it became the final bus of this batch to be withdrawn in September 2014.

It passed into preservation weeks after, and became part of the collection at Bridgeton. This batch of Darts were true workhorses and this example is no different. Unfortunately, as restoration began, it became apparent that the chassis was in a poorer state than had been thought and the eventual decision was made to scrap the bus. The front end of it is now a safe driver’s seat for kids to sit in.