Prepared on Notepad by Ian Smith, This page created 17th June 2015. Best on 800*600.

Carousel Buses VDL/Wrightbus Cadet CB54

DAF54 heads for High Wycombe, Slough, May 2011.

Carousel took over the Chinnor to Princes Risborough rail link in December 2004, and acquired a 9.4m VDL/Wright Cadet to operate it. It was finished in Carousel's attractive red/maroon livery.

Not that it remained exclusive to that service. Remaining a singleton of its type with Carousel, it appeared on many of the company's routes, and always seemed smartly turned out.

It was renumbered as 521 not long after Go-Ahead took over Carousel in March 2012, but sometime that year it went on loan to Thames Travel, and was repainted in dull white. It was sold to Ensign Bus in March 2014, and was bought by Aintree Coach Lines, who painted it in an eye-catching ochre and maroon livery for the "Inter-the-City" service.

Bus history

This history is incomplete. It is being assembled as I garner information from a variety of sources. Particularly useful have been:

• LOTS for accurate data, in TLB, LBM, Fleetbooks
• buslistsontheweb.co.uk for VIN data

DAF54  CB54 BUS  12/04    9.4m VDL SB120 XMGDE12BS0H010133, Wrightbus Cadet F510, B30F
                 12/04    new to Carousel,High Wycombe 
                  7/05    in service on 400 to High Wycombe
                  8/05    in service on 1 to Bourne End
                  */06    on contract service 923
                  7/10    in service on 582 to Higher Denham
                  4/11    in service on 36 to Bourne End
                  8/11    in service on 35 to Flackwell Heath
                  2/12    in service on 1 to Bourne End
                  3/12    Carousel bought by Go-Ahead group
521               4/12    fleet numbered
                          on loan to Thames Travel: white
                 10/12    in service with Thames Travel
                  2/13    in service with Thames Travel
                  9/13    in service with Thames Travel
                  3/14    sold to Ensign Bus (Purfleet)
                  5/14    bought by Aintree Coachlines
                  4/15    in service, Chester: maroon/ochre, branded "Inter-the-City" 

A key to the references is in the bibliography.

Photographic references

I have not come across any photos in books as yet. But there are some on the internet: browse using CB54BUS.

Bus Stop Cadet index. ETB/GAL Cadets. bus histories. photo refs.