Ex London Transport Daimler Fleetline CRL6 DMS550 (MLK550L)
In May 2008 the previous owner of 550 contacted FotEK saying he had an old double decker bus that he was going to get rid of. Apparently the mystery bus had suffered a small fire that had affected the gearbox. If it wasn't wanted by FotEK he was going to break it up with an excavator. I wasn't there when he turned up but apparently he pointed at 681 and said "it looks like that!" Tony and Barry from FotEK contacted me and told me what had been said. Me being me jumped to the premature conclusion it was another VR and on my next break jumped into the car and headed over to his yard nearby. The bus turned out to be a DMS but I couldn't identify it as it was too far away. Barry, having remembered it was a DMS and having seen it in the past said that it only had one set of doors left- the centre ones. The front doors having been plated over with panels and a window. Trawling through my DMS books I (for some reason) concluded it must be a later one- maybe one of the OJD-R batch which had been a Technology Bus as most of those had received the paneling over of front doors too.
Later I managed to get into the yard and discovered it was DMS550. A very sad looking DMS550 at that! The inside had flea bitten carpets and coach seats as well as lots of rubbish dumped in there too. There was a hole in the front upstairs roof which had allowed the rainwater to rot part of the floor. A kitchen now occupied rear of the lower deck which included a former wasps nest in one of the cupboards. There were traces of mice, rats and bird droppings littered the upper deck floor. I was half expecting Bill Oddie to crawl out from under the bus next! And of course, the front doorway had been plated over. A quick peek behind some of the soft trim that had been pasted on to the walls and ceillings revealed many original features, and another peek underneath revealed silver paint on the chassis! From what I could make out there was little in the way of rot too.
I called Barry and told him of my find, however, and it was a very big however, as a London Transport DMS didn't really fit into to the collection policy of Friends of the East Kent! It seemed that DMS' were still unpopular- well this one was anyway! After much deliberation I decided to purchase 550 myself. Having just slimmed my fleet back down to one bus again after the sale of my Crosville VR there was an opening for the DMS.
A chat with 550's owner and the deal was struck. She was mine for a few hundred quid! Deal done! Since then I have stripped out the interior conversion, which, I must say, was to a very high standard. I've also managed to get the Leyland engine ticking over nicely, although without an exhaust she does sound like a bomber. She still will not drop into gear though, this being traced to the fire damage. The main wiring loom has burned through in the area under the rear seat. So far this has been cut out and is awaiting a new section to be spliced in. Also I have opened up the front doors again which has inproved the outside appearance of 550.
I have always had an interest in the DMS' right from when I was little. Trips to London would reveal them on sightseeing services outside Victoria or B20's in service around southwest London. I was always facinated by the rear end of the B20's with their chimneys ether side of the rear window (Leyland Titans do too because of that funny little square window). During the 90's DMS' were operated around the Ramsgate area of Kent, my home town. J&J Coachlines operated one on a Sandwich (Pfizer) to Ramsgate contract and Eastonways operated half a dozen on the contract between Port Ramsgate and the railway station.
DMS550- A brief history (with thanks to Keith Hamer for providing the information)
DMS550 (MLK 550L) Chassis 66286 Daimler Fleetline CRL6 (Leyland 0.680 engine)
Body B58637 Park Royal H44/24D - LT Classification code 2DM3
22/12/72 delivered new to Aldenham Works (owned by London Transport Executive)
1/2/73 un-licensed transfer to Edmonton (mechanical trainer)
10/3/73 transfer to Barking (licensed)
29/1/74 unlicenced at Barking
5/78 moved to West Ham for rebuild/recert
21/9/78 re-licensed at West Ham (recertified, not repainted)
21/11/78 to Aldenham Works for repaint
30/11/78 repainted, back to West Ham
25/1/80 de-licensed (7-year COF expiry), held for recert
6/3/80 recertified, relicensed at West Ham
19/12/80 de-licensed at West Ham (accident)
11/5/81 relicensed at West Ham
9/6/81 de-licensed at West Ham (another accident)
4/8/81 relicensed at West Ham
4/9/82 delicensed (Fares Fair day), moved to Ensign’s for storage
27/10/82 withdrawn for sale
18/1/83 official date sold by LTE to Ensign’s
7/9/82 official Ensign acquisition from LTE
6/11/82 sold to St Edwards Roman Catholic Primary School, New Road, Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey - operated in as withdrawn LT livery
8/86 repainted into blue/yellow ‘starburst’ livery (ex LT red)
10/8/87 re-acquired by Ensign’s (exchanged with DMS2164)
8/8/88 London Borough of Bexley (Education Department), BexleyheathConverted at BSTE into a design & technology unit (H/C) 8-10/88
repainted dark blue with white roof and white/grey/red lined bandssponsored by the Woolwich Building SocietyBSTE = British Science &
Technology in Education Ltd, at Carlton (Bedfordshire).
This establishment was until December 1987 known as BST/MRDU, that is British Schools Technology/Mobile & Resource Development
Unit.
28/10/88 first day licensed for use
12/92Kent Auto Auctions, Canterbury (dealer)
3/93 Ovenden Plant Hire, Aylesham (mobile site office)repainted orange with yellow uppers & signwriting
30/4/94 tax expiry
by10/05 moved to Eastry (near Sandwich) for storage
Click here for links on other websites that have information on the DMS class Fleetlines.