First Glasgow Presidents after withdrawal

[Ksp]

Hi guys, my first post is a question about First Glasgow presidents. I know a few B7TLs (32303,32304 and 32305) have been sold on down to England in 2022. I am curious if any T reg (1999) and above are still kicking about anywhere, either on school runs or even open toppers, because First Glasgow had so many Dennis Trident Presidents and I'm naturally curious if they all got scrapped or went somewhere else. Any info appreciated such as operators, scrapyards etc.

 

[Strathclyder]

As far as I'm aware, virtually all of the ex-FiG President Tridents have passed away to the scrapyard; only a handful were sold on to other operators (I seem to recall one or two 51-reg examples were sold to Glasgow independents for school work as the type was wound down in late 2018/early 2019 to the sole survivor in service*, but this may be a false memory). A good number of them ended up at Campbell's in Alexandria (a scrapyard FiG has a fairly long history with), either being staged there waiting for onward transport or for processing there.

*: this being LT02 NWC (33120).

 

[JumpinTrainz]

The scrap yard where they belong. Horrible things

 

[scosutsut]

The scrap yard where they belong. Horrible things

I'd second that.

However I will give them one nod of respect... London is a tough duty, Glasgow ain't easy either. And all whilst under the "care" of First? It's frankly amazing they lasted as long as they did.

 

[Busman84]

From 33008 onwards these were much better Tridents. It's just a pity that there was skimping with refurbishments. A number were bypassed and put into service with double doors and London spec CCTV that was changed to Glasgow setup, so double-door buses went to Parkhead. Drivers could not see the exit doors which they should have on the camera. These should never have entered service and proper refurbishment should have happened before they entered service. As for the others, there was some good refurbished to a good standard but those done by First's Commercial Unit in South Yorkshire retained the London layout which was no use. Drivers could not see the wheelchair bay due to it being on the offside behind the stairs. So many 53 plate ALX400s got same job while others got refurbished to the non London layout.

Apart from that, these vehicles were decent to drive and had great cab heating.
Older Tridents up to 33000 were usually heaps to drive. Any longer stretch of road at speed or big hills these vehicles would regularly overheat they were awful buses.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

Parkhead truly drew the short straw when it came to the ex-London stock particularly in comparison to Larkfield. The depot went from having the newest single deck fleet to some of the oldest buses mostly dating back to the the late 90s. Routes like the 61, 62 and 40 were all completely ruined. The buses smelled and were knackered before they’d even arrived in Glasgow. The heavy snow in Glasgow around 2010 when the majority of them started to arrive didn’t help.

I agree they should have all been fully refurbed before ever entering service. Looking back even 10 years ago - the fleet really has come a long way and may investment continue. These buses ruined my faith in public transport for a time.

 

[Busman84]

The Enviro 500s were ordered to go on the 62 road so Parkhead was to get all of them along with all incoming Tridents that year. The story was the Baillieston loop wouldn’t accommodate the E500s, yet same length single deck B7RLEs managed. The other story was that Parkhead had no adblue, but this wouldn’t have been an issue as AdBlue tanks did end up there in 2012 and were put next to the diesel fuel pumps so that wouldn’t have been a problem, so who knows? Larkfield got these E500s without any thought and they really could only be used on the 5, 44 and 75 and it stayed that way.

As for Tridents, Parkhead definitely lost new buses for these and the breakdown rates increased big time. Unlike Larkfield, who only had Tridents out daytime Mon to Sat only, Parkhead had them out on core routes the full day which was no use. The 51 and 53 plate Tridents saw off a lot of the older Presidents and were refurbished (some to a high standard with normal layout, others not so good) but these arrived in good condition.
Apart from Dumbarton & Overtown all depots had their share of Tridents.

 

[JumpinTrainz]

The Enviro 500s were ordered to go on the 62 road so Parkhead was to get all of them along with all incoming Tridents that year. The story was the Baillieston loop wouldn’t accommodate the E500s, yet same length single deck B7RLEs managed. The other story was that Parkhead had no adblue, but this wouldn’t have been an issue as AdBlue tanks did end up there in 2012 and were put next to the diesel fuel pumps so that wouldn’t have been a problem, so who knows? Larkfield got these E500s without any thought and they really could only be used on the 5, 44 and 75 and it stayed that way.

As for Tridents, Parkhead definitely lost new buses for these and the breakdown rates increased big time. Unlike Larkfield, who only had Tridents out daytime Mon to Sat only, Parkhead had them out on core routes the full day which was no use. The 51 and 53 plate Tridents saw off a lot of the older Presidents and were refurbished (some to a high standard with normal layout, others not so good) but these arrived in good condition.
Apart from Dumbarton & Overtown all depots had their share of Tridents.

The Baillieston loop has seen Artics, B7L East Lancs and ex- Hong Kong Leyland Olympians of a similar size so I doubt it was that. I did hear around the time it was the AdBlue tanks. Does seem strange since both Larkfield and Parkhead were both on borrowed time by that point. The E500s would have been great for the 62. It’s one of the few times Parkhead was to see a new decker order as it mainly saw singles. I’m sure there was also plans for new E400s at a time for the 61 but they were sent down South and instead Parkhead saw the refurbished 53 reg-ALX400s.

I’m not sure how new orders seemed to swerve Parkhead in exchange for knackered ex-London stock. It may have balanced the tridents out a bit but you’d feel really jipped if you missed a brand spanking new E500 and the next bus was a T-LLC reg trident…..

 

[Ksp]

As far as I'm aware, virtually all of the ex-FiG President Tridents have passed away to the scrapyard; only a handful were sold on to other operators (I seem to recall one or two 51-reg examples were sold to Glasgow independents for school work as the type was wound down in late 2018/early 2019 to the sole survivor in service*, but this may be a false memory). A good number of them ended up at Campbell's in Alexandria (a scrapyard FiG has a fairly long history with), either being staged there waiting for onward transport or for processing there.

*: this being LT02 NWC (33120).

I know pretty much all of them went to scrap, and a lot went to Renfrew as well. I remember in june 2021 I went to a scrapyard in Renfrew, literally opposite of the now liquidated Gibsons depot, and I saw Renowns and Presidents. Either way, as you said, even if they went to Glasgow independents they're also probably in tins now. Not many Ex London deckers last very long, especially with First's maintenance techniques.