Withdrawn Geminis

[tbtc]

Strathclyder's comment (in the First Group thread) about the batch of 53plate Geminis that were new to Halfway depot on the outskirts of Sheffield in 2003 (before it closed and services moved to Olive Grove) got me thinking about the oldest batches of Wrightbus Gemini bodied double deckers (without worrying about the engines underneath).

If you take sixteen years as a "good innings" for a bus then the earliest Geminis are approaching that. They still look like a relatively modern design, they've aged pretty well (I think that the angular Streetdecks won't look so good after a few years, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that...).

But have any/ many been withdrawn yet? Some are open toppers (e.g. the batch that Stagecoach inherited from First when they took over in Wigan moved to Glenrothes then were converted to open top for the Cleethorpes services), but in an age where Accountants are stretching the lifespan of vehicles beyond sixteen years, will it be a few years before we start seeing withdrawn Geminis becoming a regular thing?

(obviously there'll be some already scrapped due to accidents rather than age)

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Strathclyder's comment (in the First Group thread) about the batch of 53plate Geminis that were new to Halfway depot on the outskirts of Sheffield in 2003 (before it closed and services moved to Olive Grove) got me thinking about the oldest batches of Wrightbus Gemini bodied double deckers (without worrying about the engines underneath).

If you take sixteen years as a "good innings" for a bus then the earliest Geminis are approaching that. They still look like a relatively modern design, they've aged pretty well (I think that the angular Streetdecks won't look so good after a few years, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that...).

But have any/ many been withdrawn yet? Some are open toppers (e.g. the batch that Stagecoach inherited from First when they took over in Wigan moved to Glenrothes then were converted to open top for the Cleethorpes services), but in an age where Accountants are stretching the lifespan of vehicles beyond sixteen years, will it be a few years before we start seeing withdrawn Geminis becoming a regular thing?

(obviously there'll be some already scrapped due to accidents rather than age)

There are plenty that have been withdrawn and disposed of ex London but do you mean scrapped or moved into non PSV use rather than sold for further service? The local Bath area playbus is a former Arriva DB250 Gemini.

Coincidentally, saw a pair of Arriva Volvo Geminis (VLW155/176) heading north on the M6 near Rugby (plus a pair of 2007 e200s) yesterday for pastures new.

 

[507021]

Arriva North West currently have the oldest Gemini 1s, Y581 UGC and Y102 TGH. Both of these are still on the road last time I heard about them.

 

[BestWestern]

Arriva North West currently have the oldest Gemini 1s, Y581 UGC and Y102 TGH. Both of these are still on the road last time I heard about them.

Were these pre-production/demonstrators etc?

 

[90sWereBetter]

Were these pre-production/demonstrators etc?

One of them was on display at a show in early 2001 iirc (was on the front cover of Buses Magazine). They then became VLW1 and VLW2 with Arriva London, with the other 48 buses in their batch having 51 plate and 02 plates.

I think a couple of Go Ahead WVLs and Arriva DWs have been scrapped by Ensign.

 

[507021]

Were these pre-production/demonstrators etc?

Y581 UGC is a significant vehicle as the very first double decker built by Wrightbus, but it is no longer dual door as it was when new. If any Gemini 1s are preserved, then it should be that one.

Arriva have seventeen ex-Arriva London Gemini 1s in the North West, which are Y, 51 and 02-reg examples. I don't know how long they will be in service for, but three "51s" have recently transferred into the reserve fleet.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Arriva up here have a stack of 51 Geminis which they're still using regularly, and they've refurbished a handful of 52 Geminis into MAX, so I'm sure they'll be around for many years to come.

 

[tbtc]

There are plenty that have been withdrawn and disposed of ex London but do you mean scrapped or moved into non PSV use rather than sold for further service? The local Bath area playbus is a former Arriva DB250 Gemini

Scrapped/ non-PSV use, I guess.

Nothing that modern as a "playbus" in these parts!

It's a couple of years before we have to concern ourselves about "mass withdrawals" I guess (and lots of older ALX400s are still struggling on) but I'm going to feel old when they do reach the end of their lives!

 

[507021]

Arriva North West currently have the oldest Gemini 1s, Y581 UGC and Y102 TGH. Both of these are still on the road last time I heard about them.

Update to this, Y102 TGH is now believed to be withdrawn from service (as well as former VLW3-VLW6 and VLW26), with Y581 UGC still in service.

 

[the101]

There was one Gemini that was withdrawn from use with First South Yorkshire after a bad accident, in which the driver was either seriously injured or killed (?) if I remember rightly. It then turned up with Williams Hybrid Power where it was rebuilt and fitted with a flywheel for use as a demonstration bus, where it saw very little use for a number of years. After the Williams flywheel project fell apart it then moved to Uno, where it's once again carrying passengers. I'm sure that there was no coincidence that the main man on the flywheel project at Williams was Frank Thorpe, and his brother Jim is in charge at Uno. Both are of the F.E. Thorpe family that was involved in London coaching and then tendered bus routes.

 

[LiftFan]

http://next-bus.co.uk/sales/2002-volvo-b7tl/
It appears Faresaver are starting to sell off their old ex-London Geminis now, the one listed is from 2003.

 

[BestWestern]

http://next-bus.co.uk/sales/2002-volvo-b7tl/
It appears Faresaver are starting to sell off their old ex-London Geminis now, the one listed is from 2003.

Slightly odd operation, their entire fleet seems to double up as sales stock!

 

[Strathclyder]

This is perhaps the first time that one of my posts has inspired an entirely new thread; and one concerning one of my favorite bus bodies too lol

Further on the ex-First South Yorkshire 53-reg Geminis, the majority of the batch (31787-31804) are based at First Glasgow's Blantyre depot (31787-31789 & 31793-31803); with the rest spread out as follows (all were initially based at Blantyre after leaving S.Y before being shuffled about):

31790 & 31791 - West Yorkshire's Bradford (transferred down from Scotland East/Midland Bluebird)
31792 - Scotland East's Larbet (only one of the batch left at this particular division since 790/791 went south to W.Y)
31804 - Glasgow's Caledonia (the oldest Gemini at that particular depot)

Have read that they were among the first batch of non-London Geminis (or the very first) that First ever ordered. Willing to be set straight on that if wrong, though.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Slightly odd operation, their entire fleet seems to double up as sales stock!

Not quite - they have quite a number of newer fleet with nearly new ex GHA e200s plus ones they bought new (dealer stock). These are the older vehicles and they have always had that approach.

The NextBus operation was notable about 12+ years ago in that First were busy competing with Faresaver but selling Mercedes minis to Nextbus for export as if one part of the business didn't help the other