On the 12th. of May 2013. ‘First South Yorkshire’ (FSY) organised a bus event to mark 100 years since the introduction of the motor bus in Sheffield.
It was held at ‘FSYs Olive Grove garage which is adjacent to the ‘Midland Main Line’ about half a mile to the South of Sheffield’s railway station.
A stones throw from the garage is the site of what was Queens Road tram depot where many of Sheffields trams were built and housed.
What is now the bus parking area at Olive Grove for many years was home to ‘Sheffield United Tours’ fleet of luxury coaches which eventually passed to ‘National Travel East’.
A part of Sheffield then that is steeped in the city’s transport history.
At the time ‘FSY’ were phasing out the ‘Barbie’ livery and replacing it with the mixture of pale blues and greys that is fortunately being replaced as I write with something that harks back to ‘Sheffield Transport’s earlier livery.
Google BD12 TCO to see an example or see page 12 in ‘Buses’ magazine for December 2020.
Apart from SYT’s current fleet there were samples of earlier Sheffield buses and a good selection of preserved buses.
These are the ‘Barbie’ liveried examples.
KKU 120W ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 30398. Dennis Dominator / Alexander ‘RH’ /1
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
It also carries the fleet No. 2120 and the garage code of HE which it carried when it was new to ‘South Yorkshire Transport’ (SYT).
The garage where it was based being Herries Road in Hillsborough, Sheffield.
This bus was the oldest of the type in Sheffield with 25 years of service recorded.
It also worked on the last day of Dominator operation in the city.
‘SYT and FSY’ were major users of the Dominator with over 300 delivered.
The plaque on the front panelling beneath the windscreen reads,
LAST DAY OF DENNIS DOMINATORS
IN SHEFFIELD AFTER 25 YEARS SERVICE
15/6/81 TO 25/6/06
KKU 120W ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 30398. Dennis Dominator / Alexander ‘RH’ /2
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
P609 WSU ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 31673. Volvo Olympian / Alexander Royale
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
New to ‘Strathclyde’ as No. VO127.
WU02 KVL ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 30570. Volvo B7TL / Alexander ALX400
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
New to ‘Sheffield Mainline’ as No. 2710.
H642 RKU ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 60487 ‘DRIVER INSTRUCTION VEHICLE’. Volvo B10M / Alexander PS
on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’
New to ‘South Yorkshire Transport’ as No. 642.
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