Prepared on Notepad by Ian Smith, best on Netscape 800*600
This page created 30th December 2003.
London Country's hired Bournemouth Fleetlines.
In late 1975 London Country was in the throes of a rolling-stock crisis.
It did not have enough one-person operated double-deckers,
and could not afford enough new ones.
London Country discovered that Bournemouth Corporation had more buses than it needed
for its winter operations. Single decker Daimler Roadliners and some
ten-year-old double-decker Daimler Fleetlines were available for hire.
Enough were available to make a route conversion worthwhile,
and a hire and maintenance deal was arranged with Bournemouth.
Five Daimler Fleetlines from the CRU190C-CRU199C batch would be hired at a time,
with returns to Bournemouth replaced by another.
They were Weymann-bodied 195-built Fleetlines,
very similar to an earlier batch which had convertible roofs.
They retained Bournemouth yellow livery, with blue flash along the side.
Running numbers were held in a holder inside the windscreen on the nearside.
All went to Leatherhead garage.
Ostensibly they were for use on the 408 and 470 trunk routes on Mondays to Fridays,
but after a while were regarded as just available buses and frequently appeared on the 418 in place of Swifts.
- 408: LH, Guildford - Leatherhead - Epsom - Cheam - Sutton - Wallington - Croydon - Warlingham - Chelsham
- 470: LH, Dorking - Leatherhead - Epsom - Cheam - Sutton - Wallington - Croydon - Warlingham - Chelsham
- 418: LH, Kingston - Surbiton - Tolworth - Epsom - Leatherhead - Bookham Station
The arrangement lasted for 28 months, from November 1975 until March 1978.
There were hiccups at times: at the end of August 1977 three older Fleetlines arrived,
from the convertible roof batch.
These had presumably just received their roofs again at the end of the summer season.
They did not stay long! (Two of the three went on to London Transport to become DMO1 and DMO2).
At the same time there came a solitary Atlantean, which likeways was promptly sent back.
Presumably Bournemouth needed its own buses in the 1978 season,
as it had sold seven of the older convertibles to London Transport to become the sightseeing DMO class.
 Bus Stop
 DMS Intro.
 DMO story.
 Bournemouth hire histories.
photo refs.
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