Remembering 25 Years Ago

During the past fortnight, this site has featured posts on the erstwhile Bristol/ECW VR here, here and here. The author’s fondness of the type stems from its continued use along the Dorset coast for nearly 30 years.

As a counterpoint to the ECW bodied VR and today’s last day of Cornish VR closed top operation, we feature another classic of similar mould, the Alexander bodied Daimler Fleetline, also once in service in large number in south Dorset.

The Fleetline/Alexander combination, together with Alexander bodied Leyland Atlanteans, presented a remarkably uniform period in Bournemouth Transport’s history, and it is 25 years ago this year that the last Alexander bodied Fleetline was taken into stock. In all, 126 Alexander bodied Fleetlines and Atlanteans were delivered to Bournemouth, each with 74 seats and each with its rounded domes and standard Bournemouth four piece destination and route number windows. In fact, side-by-side with the ECW bodied Bristol VR, both bodies were classically pleasing to the eye.

In the Bournemouth Transport and Yellow Buses fleet, these Alexander bodied vehicles were arguably far more handsome than any of the double decks that followed, including the capacious and later Volvo B10M-50s with more angular Alexander bodies. The possible exception is the six Volvo B7TLs with Wright Gemini bodies.

The 11 convertible open top Alexanders, like their Weymann bodied predecessors, represented what was perhaps the epitome of Bournemouth Transport's operation and will be remembered as combining stylish flair with practical functionality.