Wheeling In The Years 2000 by Patrick Losty

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Picture 1 – January 2000 Donnybrook’s DAF SB220, Alexander Setanta, AD 54 (94-D-33054) was given an AOA (All Over Advertisement) livery for the ‘Icon’ centre at Leopardstown Racecourse.

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Picture 2 – January 2000 Donnybrook’s Leyland Olympian, Alexander, RH 43 (90-D-1043) in newly applied ‘Den 2’ AOA (All Over Advertisement) livery, The AOA coincided with the launch of ‘Den 2’ which was a very popular RTE-produced children’s teatime programme featuring Ray D'arcy, ‘Dustin’ the turkey and ‘Soky’.

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Picture 3 – January 2000 Donnybrook’s Volvo Olympian RA 187 (94-D-187) in ‘Esso’ AOA livery, this AOA was identical to the ‘Esso’ AOA as applied to Phibsboro’s Leyland Olympian, RH 159 (93-D-10159). Notice the bumper square fog lights had been replaced with round lights as fitted to ‘RH’ type Leyland Olympians.

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Picture 4 – January 2000 Ringsend’s new Volvo B6BLE, Wright, Crusader, WV 9 (99-D-60009) and WV 5 (99-D-60005) were two of a twenty strong batch delivered to Dublin Bus during 1999. A further twenty WV’s were delivered during year 2000, WV 21 (00-D-70021) to WV 40 (00-D-70040). Notice the six KDs in the background, all would be withdrawn by year-end 2000.

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Picture 5 – February 2000 Donnybrook’s Volvo Olympian, RA 176 (94-D-176) in ‘Pepsi’ AOA livery, this AOA was identical to the ‘Pepsi’ AOA as applied to Phibsboro’s Leyland Olympian, RH 34 (90-D-1034).

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Picture 6 – February 2000 Donnybrook’s Volvo B10L, Alexander Ultra, VL 6 (98-D-2006) sporting its AOA livery for ‘Bord Gáis’. Parked alongside is Dennis Trident, ALX400, demonstrator (99-D-41), another identical ALX400 demonstrator (99-D-42) was at the time on loan to Dublin Bus for evaluation.

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Picture 7 – February 2000 Ringsend’s RA 208 (95-D-208) in ‘Heineken Music’ AOA livery was photographed while on loan to Donnybrook Garage parked beside Volvo Olympian, RV 444 (98-D-20444), scrolled for the Saturday night/Sunday morning ‘Nitelink’ to Loughlinstown.

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Picture 8 – February 2000 Phibsboro’s ME 42 (95-D-33042) Mercedes, 709D, Eurocoach, in ‘Museumlink’ AOA livery, the bus was marked in on the route 172 linking the national museum at Collins Barracks on Benburb Street to the national museums on Kildare Street and Merrion Street.

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Picture 9 – March 2000 Phibsboro’s ex. Summerhill, Volvo Olympian, RA 246 (95-D-246) in revised ‘Eircell Ready to Go’ mobile phone, AOA livery. This replaced the purple coloured AOA for ‘Eircell The Fastest Moving Network’ applied in 1998, please see WITY 1998.

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Picture 10 – March 2000 Bus Eireann, Volvo B10M, Plaxton Excalibur, VP 99 (00-D-25925) was brand new when photographed in Broadstone. Twelve new VPs were purchased during 2000, VP 93 (00-D-21108) to VP 104 (00-D-25864).

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Picture 11 – March 2000 Dublin Bus, Volvo Olympian, RV 626 (99-D-626) in Cityswift livery photographed parked in Broadstone. RV 626 and RV 627 were allocated to Clontarf Garage when new.

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Picture 12 – March 2000 Dublin Bus, Volvo Olympian, RV 630 (99-D-630) in white wedding livery photographed parked in Broadstone. When new, RV 630 was allocated to Dublin Bus, Broadstone Garage.

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Picture 13 – March 2000 Dublin Bus, Volvo Olympian, RV 629 (99-D-629) and RV 628 (99-D-628) in Cityswift livery were allocated when new for evaluation purposes to Bus Eireann, first based at Drogheda Garage for the 109 service to Laytown and later to Broadstone for the Ratoath service before merging back into the Dublin Bus fleet.

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Picture 14 – March 2000 Ex CIE, Leyland Leopard, E 14 (CZA 674) was restored to original red/cream livery by Jimmy Conroy in the mid 1980’s and was later acquired by Bus Eireann. There were 170 E’s delivered to CIE over the years 1961 to 1964, E 1 (CZA 661) to E 170 (NZE 598).

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Picture 15 – March 2000 A brand new Plaxton President demonstrator was sent to Dublin Bus for evaluation in March 2000 and was photographed in Phibsboro Garage.

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Picture 16 – March 2000 A front/nearside photograph of the brand new Plaxton President, demonstrator, which was sent to Dublin Bus for evaluation in March 2000.

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Picture 17 – March 2000 A front/offside shot of the brand new Volvo B7LA, Wright, Eclipse, bendy bus demonstrator (00-D-31079) was sent to Dublin Bus for evaluation in March 2000 and was photographed in Donnybrook Garage.

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Picture 18 – March 2000 A front/nearside shot of the brand new Volvo B7LA, Wright, Eclipse, bendy bus demonstrator (00-D-31079) was sent to Dublin Bus for evaluation in March 2000. Dublin Bus went on to order twenty of the type which were allocated the ‘AW’ class with deliveries commencing in late 2000/early 2001 and were registered AW 1 (00-D-65001) to AW 20 (00-D-65020).

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Picture 19 – March 2000 Former, Irish Blood Transfusion Board Headquarters, ‘Pelican House’ on Mespil Road was vacated in early 2000 for a new build headquarters on James’ Street. Demolition of the vacated Mespil Road 1960’s built office block commenced in January 2001, and on its site was constructed a much larger scale double basement ‘ground-scraper’ office development now occupied by Bank of Ireland Asset Management.

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Picture 20 – August 2000 Delta Air Lines, 260 seat, 1992 vintage, Douglas MD-11, N 805 DE was photographed as it lined up for takeoff from Dublin’s runway 28.

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Picture 21 – August 2000 Spanish airline, ‘Iberia’, 153 seat, 1979 vintage, Boeing 727-256(A), EC-DDX was photographed as it was about to touch down on Dublin’s runway 28 after completing a flight from Madrid. Over the next three years, the Boeing 727 tri-jets were withdrawn from the Iberia fleet to be replaced by a mixture of new build Airbus A320/321 aircraft. Notice SATA International (Azores), Boeing 737-36N, CS-TGQ heading to the terminal having completed a flight from Funchal, Madeira.

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Picture 22 – August 2000 Ryanair, 1980 vintage, ex. Lufthansa, 130 seat, Boeing 737-230, EI-CNT, was painted as a logojet for ‘The Sun’ tabloid newspaper. The portside had ‘SuperSunic - Join The Smile High Club', the starboard side had ‘News of the World’ logo and text.

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Picture 23 – August 2000 Minsk, Belarus, based ‘Belavia’, 1983, 154 seat, Tupolev 154B-2, EW-85591, was photographed ready for take off from Dublin’s runway 28. Annual summer only flights brought children on holiday to Ireland from areas of Belarus affected by the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl, Ukraine nuclear power station disaster.

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Picture 24 – August 2000 A brand new Dennis, Plaxton President, demonstrator was sent to Bus Eireann for evaluation in August 2000. It was fleet allocated ‘DDD 1’ and was registered (00-D-88446).

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Picture 25 – August 2000 Donnybrook’s Leyland Olympian, RH 50 (90-D-1050) photographed in newly applied ‘Stuart Little’ AOA livery.

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Picture 26 – August 2000 Donnybrook’s Volvo Olympian, RA 192 (94-D-192) in newly applied ‘Heinz Weight Watchers’ AOA livery. RA 192 replaced RA 190 (94-D-190) which was in ‘Heinz Weight Watchers’ AOA livery at the time of its accidental de-roofing at the harbour bridge in Bray, Co Wicklow on 14/02/00.

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Picture 27 – August 2000 Donnybrook’s DAF SB220, Alexander Setanta, AD 51 (94-D-33051) was given an AOA livery including passenger glazed areas for ‘Heineken Music’. The AOA was similar in design to the Heineken AOA applied to Cork’s DAF SB220, Alexander Setanta, DA 9 (93-C-2509) and was similar to AOA worn by Ringsend’s Volvo Olympian, RA 208 (95-D-208).

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Picture 28 – August 2000 Donnybrook received a new Scania, 113M, 320, tow-car, RU 2 (93-D-42062) in Cityswift livery, a livery it retained for eight years until August 2008.

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Picture 29 – September 2000 During 2000, Bus Eireann leased some ex-UK midi buses pending the delivery of new DPC/DWM/MC classes, one such bus was photographed in Galway Garage, Dennis Wright, DPL 10 (99-D-80528) parked beside Volvo B10M, Plaxton Excalibur, VP 79 (98-D-54636) in Eurolines livery.

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Picture 30 – September 2000 Bus Eireann, leased some ex. UK midi buses in 2000 pending the delivery of new DPC/DWM/MC classes, one such bus was photographed in Broadstone, ELC, Dennis Spryte, DPL 23 (97-D-63760).

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Picture 31 – September 2000 Phibsboro’s DAF SB220, Plaxton Verde, P 3 (93-D-3003) was painted into the red/yellow City Imp livery.

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Picture 32 – September 2000 Brand new Dennis Pointer, Plaxton DPC 21, (00-D-91442) photographed in Broadstone shortly after delivery. There were 21 DPC’s delivered during 2000, DPC 1 (00-D-84187) to DPC 21 (00-D-91442), the majority of year 2000 deliveries were allocated to Galway, with two to Athlone, Cork and Waterford and one to Sligo.

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Picture 33 – September 2000 The ‘Youthreach Roadshow’ MCW tri-axle double deck bus (84-D-4065), was photographed in Broadstone.

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Picture 34 – September 2000 Brand new Cityswift liveried Volvo Olympian, Alexander, RV 627 (99-D-627) and Volvo B7LDD, Alexander, ALX400, AV 1 (00-D-40001) just after delivery to Broadstone. RV 627 was destroyed by fire on 30/07/03 at Palmerstown while outbound from Dublin Bus, Broadstone Garage.

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Picture 35 – September 2000 Brand new Cityswift liveried Volvo B7LDD, Alexander, ALX400, AV 2 (00-D-40002) and AV 5 (00-D-40005) just after delivery to Broadstone, both of these buses are currently (Feb 2009) allocated to Ringsend Garage as part of the AV 1 to AV 21 batch.

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Picture 36 – September 2000 Brand new Bus Eireann, Volvo B7R, Plaxton Prima, VR 30, (00-D-91455) photographed in Broadstone shortly after delivery. There were 55 brand new VR’s delivered/purchased during 2000, VR 1 (00-D-75676) to VP 55 (00-D-96325).

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Picture 37 – September 2000 Dublin Bus Driving School, Bombardier double deck, KD 157, 258, 20, 70, 199, 221, 250, 59 lined up in Broadstone had only a matter of weeks left in service at the time of the photograph. By year end 2000, the KDs were ousted from driving school duties by 1990/1991 vintage Leyland Olympian RH class buses.

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Picture 38 – December 2000 Brand new Bus Eireann, Volvo, Plaxton Excalibur, VP 331, (00-D-65992) photographed in Broadstone shortly after delivery. There were 47 VP’s delivered/purchased during 2000, VP 301 (00-D-34646) to VP 347 (00-D-98893).

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Picture 39 – December 2000 Donnybrook’s brand new Volvo B7LDD, Alexander, ALX 400, AV 89 (00-D-40089) in white wedding livery. The Coors Light advert was inserted pending the production of wedding advert inserts for the then new entry into service AV class.

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Picture 40 – December 2000 Donnybrooks’s Volvo Olympian, RV 330 (97-D-330) in factory painted green/cream ‘Coastal Tours’ livery. In 1997, Donnybrook received the batch RV 326 to RV 330, RV 326 & RV 327 were delivered in fleet green livery and were the only RVs in that livery, RV 328 and RV 329 were in wedding livery and RV 330 was in green/cream tours livery.

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Picture 41 – December 2000 Donnybrook’s ME 22 (94-D-37022) Mercedes, 709D, Eurocoach, was photographed in its newly applied ‘Dublin Bus Nitelink’ Ticket Sales AOA livery.

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Picture 42 – December 2000 Donnybrook’s Volvo Olympian, RA 191 (94-D-191) in ‘Heinz Beans’ AOA livery.

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Picture 43 – December 2000 A rear/nearside view of Dublin Bus Driving School, ex-Phibsboro, Bombardier, KD 221, (221 OZU) in red/white Driving School livery was photographed in Broadstone. The last of the KD class were being withdrawn from driving school duties/city passenger services in late 2000. KD 221 has been preserved.

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Picture 44 – December 2000 Dublin Bus Driving School, ex-Ringsend, Leyland Olympian, RH 6 (90-D-1006) and ex. Phibsboro, Bombardier, KD 199, (199 JZL) in red/white Driving School livery were photographed together in Broadstone. The KD class was withdrawn from the Driving School around this time to be replaced by 1990/1991 vintage ex Dublin Bus city service Leyland Olympian, ‘RH’ type buses. KD 199 has been preserved.

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Picture 45 – December 2000 Brand new Volvo B7LDD, Alexander, ALX 400, AV 145 (00-D-70145) in blue/cream livery.

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Picture 46 – December 2000 Dublin Bus, Volvo Olympian, RV 628 (99-D-628) and RV 629 (99-D-629) in Cityswift livery were allocated when new for evaluation purposes to Bus Eireann, first based at Drogheda Garage for the 109 service to Laytown and later to Broadstone for the Ratoath service before merging back into the Dublin Bus fleet. Notice the Cityswift branding has been erased.

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Picture 47 – December 2000 Brand new Volvo B7LDD, Alexander, ALX 400, AV 53 (00-D-40053) in blue/cream livery.

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Picture 48 – December 2000 Dublin Bus, Broadstone, brand new Volvo B6BLE, Wright, Crusader, WV 29, (00-D-70029). Twenty WVs were delivered during year 2000, WV 21 (00-D-70021) to WV 40 (00-D-70040).

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Picture 49 – December 2000 Brand new Volvo B7LDD, Alexander, ALX 400, AV 148 (00-D-70148) and AV 137 (00-D-70137) in Cityswift livery parked in Dublin Bus, Broadstone Garage.

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Picture 50 – December 2000 A front/nearside view of Dublin Bus Driving School, ex-Clontarf, Bombardier, KD 114, (114 JZL) photographed in Broadstone. KD 114 took part in the ‘KD/KC farewell trip’ which took place on Saturday 13 January 2001 in the company of KD 353 (GSI 353) and KC100 (UZG 100). The GAC badge is not correct on a KD double decker, the front middle section panel is most likely from a GAC, KC single deck city bus.

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We hope you enjoyed this look back at 2000!
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