Pioneer Low Floor Decker Destroyed By Fire

[BestWestern]

Sad news from Abus, Bristol, is that R222 AJP has today been written off by fire whilst in service. This is a DAF DB250LF with Optare Spectra bodywork, and was the first low floor double decker in the UK. Rather a shame.

 

[Temple Meads]

Indeed a great shame, it would be good if the remains could be preserved somewhere, perhaps cosmetically restored, but I guess Abus may then have to forego claiming on their insurance for the vehicle assuming it would be a Category A/B write off, which could be shaky ground legally for anyone buying it back from the insurance company, not for dismantling. (this is written assuming PSV's follow the same write off rules as private cars)

 

[BestWestern]

I'd have thought it would be easier just to chop off the front end and mount it in a wall type of thing...

 

[bussnapperwm]

Sad news from Abus, Bristol, is that R222 AJP has today been written off by fire whilst in service. This is a DAF DB250LF with Optare Spectra bodywork, and was the first low floor double decker in the UK. Rather a shame.

...only by a few hours because they knew TWM were going to unveil R1/2NEG on the same day

 

[DunsBus]

Photo of the lower-deck interior of R222AJP after the fire had been put out:

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Passen...mes-bus-A4/story-26914323-detail/story.html#2

It's totalled beyond the staircase, plus the nearside rear also took a hit, so rebuilding is out of the question.

 

[BestWestern]

...only by a few hours because they knew TWM were going to unveil R1/2NEG on the same day

Right....?? But they still got there first!

 

[Mojo]

I used to travel on Abus, and from time-to-time, this bus, when I was at college in Bristol. A real shame that the pioneering super-low floor vehicle has ended up like this.

 

[BestWestern]

Photo of the lower-deck interior of R222AJP after the fire had been put out:

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Passen...mes-bus-A4/story-26914323-detail/story.html#2

It's totalled beyond the staircase, plus the nearside rear also took a hit, so rebuilding is out of the question.

Wow, what a poorly written article! Yes more severely damaged on the nearside, and an MG parked alongside where it stopped was ablaze also. Again, a real shame.

 

[richw]

Wow, what a poorly written article! Yes more severely damaged on the nearside, and an MG parked alongside where it stopped was ablaze also. Again, a real shame.

The best bit has the following:

All passengers on board – around six

It is not known how many passengers were on board at the time

Was there 6 on board or do we not know how many passengers

 

[Temple Meads]

Sadly pretty much the standard we come to expect from local papers these days.

 

[DunsBus]

Wow, what a poorly written article! Yes more severely damaged on the nearside, and an MG parked alongside where it stopped was ablaze also. Again, a real shame.

These things always seem to happen to the notable buses - quite a few firsts and lasts have been lost to fire over the years.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

These things always seem to happen to the notable buses - quite a few firsts and lasts have been lost to fire over the years.

Indeed, I think the original Daimler Fleetline was lost in a depot fire in 1976.

The first Bristol RE was scrapped even though it was known to be special but no one was interested in saving it!

 

[DunsBus]

Indeed, I think the original Daimler Fleetline was lost in a depot fire in 1976.

The first Bristol RE was scrapped even though it was known to be special but no one was interested in saving it!

Indeed it was, and the last-built Fleetline, South Notts 117 (SCH117X) was lost a few years back when vandals torched the yard at the Ruddington Heritage Centre where it was kept.

Lancaster 223, the last-built UK Atlantean by chassis number, was another fire loss in the mid-90s. Then there was the fire at Strathclyde's Buses Larkfield depot in 1992 which took out several significant vehicles: one of the pre-production Ailsas, one of the Olympian prototypes which also had the first Alexander R-type body built, and the unique Ailsa/Marshall single-decker. One of the company's newest Olympians also perished in the fire.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Indeed a great shame, it would be good if the remains could be preserved somewhere, perhaps cosmetically restored, but I guess Abus may then have to forego claiming on their insurance for the vehicle assuming it would be a Category A/B write off, which could be shaky ground legally for anyone buying it back from the insurance company, not for dismantling. (this is written assuming PSV's follow the same write off rules as private cars)

It'll probably be down to if the fire done structural damage, if it's not done structural damage then could it be restored to working order?

 

[BestWestern]

It'll probably be down to if the fire done structural damage, if it's not done structural damage then could it be restored to working order?

The fire has thoroughly charred the bodywork on the rear nearside including melting through the panelling, so it's highly likely the frames will be warped. Whilst it is a significant bus, it's very highly unlikely anybody would consider it worth the very significant expense of repairing it. This is particularly true now, as one of the original West Midlands pair, which apparently entered service the same day, has just been donated for preservation.

 

[bussnapperwm]

The fire has thoroughly charred the bodywork on the rear nearside including melting through the panelling, so it's highly likely the frames will be warped. Whilst it is a significant bus, it's very highly unlikely anybody would consider it worth the very significant expense of repairing it. This is particularly true now, as one of the original West Midlands pair, which apparently entered service the same day, has just been donated for preservation.

Yes, R1NEG, which had entered service that same day (at lunchtime!) has gone now to Wythall Transport Museum.

Rumours state that R2NEG is to be going to the Dundee Transport Museum too

 

[Temple Meads]

I think the best option with R222 AJP now would be as a partial preservation as BestWestern suggested, perhaps with just the front third demonstrating the low floor. Whether any organisation (or Abus themselves) has the will to do it is another matter.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I think the best option with R222 AJP now would be as a partial preservation as BestWestern suggested, perhaps with just the front third demonstrating the low floor. Whether any organisation (or Abus themselves) has the will to do it is another matter.

It's sadly just not going to happen. The bus is a write off and Abus is a small firm with it's own commercial pressures.

Sadly, it'll go for scrap

 

[DunsBus]

It's sadly just not going to happen. The bus is a write off and Abus is a small firm with it's own commercial pressures.

Sadly, it'll go for scrap

I agree with TGW. Any chance R222AJP has had of being preserved is now gone after yesterday. The damage sustained is too severe and costly to repair on what is now a quite elderly vehicle. Even chopping the front end off and saving that is a non-starter.

It's a shame at what has happened to the bus - but as Dame Esther Rantzen used to say on the telly on Sunday nights when I was younger: that's life!

 

[SpacePhoenix]

How far into the build run would Wilts & Dorset's low floor Spectras have been?