Prepared on Notepad by Ian Smith, This page created 20th December 2012. Best on 800*600.

Golden Boy: Dennis Dart SLFs

Golden Boy of Hoddesdon (Jetsie), was a coaching company that dipped a toe into the local bus business in 2006, with a pair of Mercedes midibuses and a pair of Dart SLFs. The Darts were Pointer 2s, 8.8m EU06JVW for Hertford local services 333 (Mondays to Saturdays and 395 (Sundays), and 10.7m EU06WGM for Hertford-Broxbourne service 324. The 333 had been taken over from Reg 's of Hertford.

The buses wore white livery, with the Golden Boy device on the rear sides.

Hertfordshire retendered the routes from March 2011, and Golden Boy lost the 333 and 324 to Centrebus, and the Sunday 395 to Arriva. It also lost its Ware local routes that had been operated by the midibuses. Golden Boy withdrew from local bus operation. The two SLF Darts were sold to Central Buses.

JVW in Hertford, June 2007 JVW in Hertford, June 2008

I tended to see the Golden Boy Buses at Hertford Running Weekends, seeing EU06JVW on Saturday afternoons on 333 runs, (here in June 2007 and 2008 in central Hertford), and on Sundays on the 395 (below, in 2008).

JVW in Hertford Bus Station, June 2008

Spotting WGM was more difficult, as it tended to reach Hertford only on the Saturday afternoons of the Running Days that I was there. In this case it was spotted when I was on a trial run along the 324 to Hertford Heath in June 2007.
WGM on 324 near Hertford Heath, June 2007

These histories are incomplete. They are being assembled as I garner information from a variety of sources. Particularly useful have been:

  • LOTS for mostly accurate data in TLBs and Fleetbooks
  • Google: treated with care and searched with vehicle registrations - beware false dates
  • buslistsontheweb.co.uk for VIN data
 

       EU06 JVW  3/06    8.8m AD Dart SFD6BACR45GW88586, Pointer 
                 3/06    new to Jetsie, Hoddesdon (Golden Boy)
                 6/06    used on 333, 395
                 6/07    used on 333    
                 6/08    used on 333, 395    
                 6/09    used on 395
                 5/10    in service on 333 to Bengeo
                 7/10    in service on 333 to Bengeo
                10/10    in service on 333 to Bengeo
                 3/11    in service on 333 to Bengeo
                 */11    bought by Central Buses
                12/11    in service, Central Buses: bright red, mid grey skirt, light grey roof


      EU06 WGM   6/06    10.7m AD Dart SFD3CACR45GW88559, Pointer, B37F
                 6/06    new to Jetsie, Hoddesden (Golden Boy)
                 4/07    in service on 324
                 6/07    used on 324
                 1/08    in service on 324
                 3/11    in service on 324 to Hertford 
                 */11    bought by Central Buses
                 7/11    in service, Central Buses: bright red, mid grey skirt, light grey roof 
                 1/12    in service, Central Buses

A key to the references is in the bibliography.

Photographic references


      EU06 WGM TLB561 p41          on 324 to Hertford Bus Stn

Bus Stop SLF index. Golden Boy SLF text. histories. photo refs.