ALL THE NOISES! R reg Dart hold gears and noisy brakes!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- SO MANY NOSTALGIC NOISES! You've got a loud engine, loud gearbox, loud brakes and a loud handbrake complete with rattles, it can only be a Dart!
This was an absolutely incredible journey back to the depot! Credit due to the driver, who shall remain nameless, for giving me a lift back to the mothership in rev-tastic fashion!
Enjoy!
Specs for the geeks:
Chassis: Alexander Dennis Dart SLF
Engine: Cummins 6BT (Euro 2)
Gearbox: 4 Speed Allison AT545
Body: Plaxton Pointer II
Registration: R117 OFJ
Fleet number: 17
Status: Scrapped :-(
Literally the sound of my youth!!! going to school going out my first job .! ..and the ones that screamed the loudest where the fastest!! And the rattle of the windows when idle!!!
That was absolutely awesome! Who thought we'd ever get that nostalgic over 'just a Dart'. That is a wonderful combination of sounds though - I really do miss them. Thinking I drove 17 and sisters on Padstows when we first expanded that far seems bonkers now, but they really held their own.
Wow she makes an absolutely gorgeous racket!!
Music to my ears she was!
If this wonderful thing steps even an inch into london, the goverment will absolutley shower it with emmission fines
God a bloody miss that bus wish we could have it back now. 😍😍
it's great to hear that engine sound again. miss those R Reg darts alot
Dennis Darts reminded me of a cross between a go kart and a milk float to drive. They all had milk float pedals, and felt like a long length go kart. No rev counter, just a lonely circular speedometer with a shakey parkinsons diseased speed needle, and a start/stop/run fake ignition key which was a key that could never be pulled away. I drove the last of the 1997/R 421xx fleet at Southampton.
1st is a War Siren, 2nd is a Helicopter turbine, 3rd is bottle blowing, 4th is a worn wheel bearing, the cummins engine and alison gearbox made so much reverberating noise around the interior passenger saloon you could actually drive these based on listening to the saloon room echo behind you. When you turned round a corner with one of these you could always hear the turbine whine from the 2nd gear and you knew you were going round it like a boss. 🤣🤣🤣
Ex first bus driver
@@derektaylor2941 AT545's never had lock up.
I used to always look forward as a kid to get on these single deckers hoping to catch one with this engine, was always in love with that turbine sound, still am!! Saddens me that these buses are all getting replaced I gotta buy one init
@@stoplookingatmeplease1230 I caught them as a kid in the original gay 'Barbie' livery from 1997. Went on these to school and all the way through college. Then in 2013 I end up as a first bus driver driving them. They just started pulling them out of service just before I left the firm so I was lucky as they had them up to 2014. Funny things to drive. They were like a very long bumper car or a dodgem car. Bit bouncy and all over the place on a rough patchy road mainly because of the very small wheels which weren't really proportionate to the size of the bus. The brake pedal and brakes were horrendous. Standard Darts were a Bit slow and didn't feel like they were making much forward progress. Air throttle darts like the ex Hong Kong version were better. Didn't have a brilliant full steering lock but then the steering angle was built for 8.5 metres which was then stretched out to 10.5 with the same steering angle plus they were old and dated. Mind you saying that Wright Streetlite Maxi's and 2022 E200 Enviro's are no better on steering lock then older buses really. I suppose Darts were built at a time when there was less traffic around in 1997 so they could use more of the road to turn or corner or overhang the front over the other side of the roads because there wasnt as much traffic for it to interfere with as much as there is now. Nevertheless good buses that pretty much over-stood the test of time. Scratchy clattery naturally aspirated 5.9 cummins engine that filled the room with engine noise as it was driving. Turbine gearbox whine in second gear as your going around street corners. Then got the exhaust 'bellow' or the 'Fart' from the rear down pipe as it leaves. God I miss these buses!
@@1ns4ne1d10t Absolutely! Miss these aswell, especially when drivers let the RPMs go down while in 2nd gear and then give it throttle again , the way it whines, climactic I would say haha - I remember them having tiny wheels! Pretty goofy indeed but I loved them - thanks for this precious info mate
@@stoplookingatmeplease1230 Dennis Dart SLF's were the last of a 'Proper' bus really. Rough, functional, naturally aspirated, simple. Because of the small wheels they did grab into sunken drain hole covers and wham over road joins a fair bit. But nobody ever complained about any bus body being put on the SLF chassis. Southampton had Solent Blueline Caetano Compasses and First Southampton Plaxton pointer II's. Same buses but different looks. Other companies like Yellow buses of Bournemouth had Alexander Single deckers and Marshall versions of the same bus. I never drove a Compass version because I didnt work for Solent Blueline. Should imagine it's exactly the same as a Pointer. Though I did drive some of the uglier 10m 1st generation Pointers which were 0.5 meters shorter then the usual pointers (Half a window shorter). Exactly the same as a regular later shape Pointer to drive. Same Funfair dodgem car pedals. Basic bus but good fun to drive though. Naturally aspirated so one touch of the pedal had an instant rev change like a banana transit with a York engine.
What an absolute beast of a bus! Wish we stall had 'em down here
I was driving the Marshall and Plaxton bodied versions for 12 years, usually the short wheelbase version. Windscreens all came loose on the Marshall versions. Great fun to drive, better than the B6 volvo or optare solos I'd be given some nights. Great vid, lovely noise.
Glad you enjoyed 😊
Absolutely lovely. I'm surprised no one decided to preserve this.
The start of the video, gave me goosebumps. Like literally! 🤭🤭
Beast of a bus, this seems in good nick unlike most euro 2 darts.
SLF's are durable buses. The AT-545 isn't the best gearbox but they are ten a penny and purely mechanical. The signs of one failing is when they overev or jump in out of gear. This one sounded healthy.
It's a shame this beast has since been scrapped
Ooh we all love an Allison 😁
I don't like it that much with optare chassis, it suits dart and e20d chassis the most
I remember riding on these when Pennine Motors used to operate them between Burnley and Skipton. Great old buses. I do miss them. Shame this one was scrapped.
I wonder who was beside you 😉 What a brilliant run that was! God do I miss these 😭
Lovely!
wow that's some furious airbrake
My fav video of a an SLF is R554ABA when a driver made it sound like a manual when taking his foot off throttle between gear changes.
Nice sounding Dart. I like these Plaxton Pointer 1s pre 01. The Allison gearbox.
This kinda reminds me of a lot of the 1980s-1990s era school buses in the US with that transmission, particularly the Blue Bird bodied flat nose school buses.
euro 2 darts i miss them
5:53 sounds like a cat gently meowing
so cute
WE LIKE THIS! :P
Easily the best dart I've ever heard!!!!
0:41 RIP headphone users!
Such a shame, 17 was a beauty
We like this a lot! 😀
FYI this is a Dennis Specialist Vehicles Dart not an Alexander Dennis, as Alexander and Dennis didn't merge until 2004.
Also love the gearbox, 2nd/3rd gears and thrash on this, very audible unlike most Darts this age and the clicking when stationary (guessing that's the gear selectors?)
5:49-6:01 I've not heard a Dart do that for years
T305JRH is good for doing that downshifting whine!
Just a "dennis" dart, dennis "specialist " did firetruck and bin lorries
Loved this little buses these use to be the w4 in north London
Great video. ☺️
thats one angry engine dang
Typical ol’ Cummins 6BT noise 😈😂
It sounds like the Canterbury and district ceatano compass
Thats because the Caetano Compass is the same bus as the Plaxton. They were all built with the same floor, wheels, chassis, engine, gearbox, brakes, in just one factory. The standard cummins 5.9 SLF Dart and Alison transmission were put in over 10 different styles and makes of Bus bodywork. In Southampton we had both versions. Caetano compass's run by Solent blueline and First Southampton running Plaxton Pointer II buses on 1997/R registrations. They were both the same. Bit like a Ford Mondeo to a Jaguar X Type. The only difference is the way they looked and the style of the body. Seat, steering wheel, dashboard, speedometer, start/stop/run key, dodgem car pedals, seat position were all repeated from bus to bus. So no matter what it looked like on the outside they all drove the same.
OH YES!
Same drivetrain as our school buses in the 1990s🇺🇸
really ?
not ldv convoys
theyre most popular in late 90s early 10s
@@beamboy07he's obviously not on about LDV bloody convoys, a lot of school buses did use this engine though, and proper school buses, american ones
@@wharris302 idk what my point even was there XD
The Bluebird TC2000 and Thomas MVP EF used this drivetrain.
i love dennis darts
theyre becoming increasingly rare , being replaced by enviro 200s 300s
Even e200s are becoming more rare now especially the older versions (pre 2010) that were basically just a dart its actually quite sad to see
@@cam43002 we got plenty of 2000s 200s although recently i have noticed a lot more new ones
We still got quite a few 04/05 omniekkas quite freshly imported from Brighton
But only 2 darts left and i think one js training only
@@beamboy07 wow your lucky a load of our 09/59 plate e200s have gone for scrap the last things we had resembling a dart will miss them
i live in plymouth, very swag
I think this dart is now scrapped
Yes it has
What a beast! hellfire machine brilliant bus, just a shame a lot of this modern crap just has barely any good sound to it anymore 😞
Couldn't agree more!
this dart has be retired?
Was this an ex brighton Dennis dart?
Plymouth City Bus from new 😊
Wtf are those brakes?
And why is that Allison shifting gears downwards?
Gears were being manually downshifted by the selector.
was this me driving tom?
No mate, it was actually me, but didn’t want to get in trouble by saying it was me when I worked there 😂😂
It looks like the brakes need oil
Why does Plymouth look like eastern Europe?
1950’s architecture does make it look quite like the brutalist architecture you get in Eastern Europe/ Russia. Not all of Plymouth looks like this however, mainly just the core of the city centre.
When was this recorded? Also how do you know it is scrapped? It says that it is SORN on DVLA.
Cummins 4BT 3.9L Alison world AT-545
SORN (Statutory off-road notice) is to tell DVLA that a vehicle isn’t, or no longer being used on the road. That should answer your question
@@BusesinLondon345 that is different to being scrapped. Being stored or used for parts which technically isn't scrapped
@@danielr5000-d1s it should still get registered as SORN regardless. Like I said, a SORN is to inform DVLA that a vehicle “ISNT” or is “NO LONGER” being used on the road.
@@BusesinLondon345 no it shouldn't. If it is only getting scrapped then it can be left as untaxed and if it is being scrapped it won't return to the road. It needs to be sorn if being used for parts because it technically isn't scrapped and could even be brought back to the road if someone decided to repair it
😈😈
Beautiful, would sound better with a cooling fan