Farewell Run for the Dublin Bus RH
Please allow a few moments for all pictures in this feature to display fully ...
The RH - the vehicle that helped Dublin Bus meet an ever growing customer demand for reliability - and an ever growing company need for vehicle durability.
Built in Belfast by Alexander on a Leyland Olympian chassis, the RH entered service with Dublin Bus in 1990 from the Phibsboro depot on Route 10. They were liveried in the then company corporate colours of two-tone green.
Sixteen years later, the final of the 175 examples of these Olympians delivered under the Leyland badge were withdrawn from regular service, although a few still live on operating the Ghost Bus and City Tours.
A tribute to the RH took place on Sunday 11th June 2006 when Dublin Bus organised a special farewell run for enthusiasts using Ringsend depot-based RH168, plus driver trainer RH32 from Phibsboro.
At 1125 the two RHs, shadowing AV211 which was the normal bus scheduled for that time, took off on the 65 route to Ballymore Eustace.
Surely the Phoenix Park isn't this big! RH32 out in the open on the way to Ballymore with scrolls set for Route 10.
... posing for pictures in the village of Ballymore Eustace in County Kildare ...
After Ballymore, it was back to Dublin City Centre before taking off again to Belfield, the southern terminus of Route 10.
Above, a frontal close-up of the two RHs to compare the early and late examples and how the liveries were applied.
Above, a farewell message from RH168's rear display.
Thanks go to Dublin Bus for this event, especially our drivers on the day - Aido, Noel and Tony.
For an audio clip of RH32's engine, use the control panel at the bottom of this page. For a video clip of RH168's number scroll being wound, click here.
