27517 – GX06 DYW
Mk1 Alexander Dennis Enviro 300
Fact file/Specifications:
| Type: | Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 |
| Body: | Mark 1 (Transbus Style) Enviro 300 |
| Engine: | Cummins ISBe 5.9 Euro 3 220hp |
| Gearbox | Voith Automatic DIWA 854.3E |
| Seating Spec: | B48F |
| Length: | 12500mm (12.5 metres) |
| Width: | 2550mm |
| Height: | 2850mm |
| New to: | Stagecoach East Kent (Dover depot) |
| Reg: | GX06 DYW |
| Date registered: | June 2006 |
| Body no. | 6300/2 |
| V.I.N: | SFD214AR16GG10236 |
27517 – A backstory
27517 was built in Alexander Dennis’ Falkirk factory in April / May 2006. It was registered originally in the Dover area in June 2006 gaining the registration ‘GX06DYW’. It was delivered to Stagecoach East Kent’s Dover depot for use on the depot’s ‘Diamond’ services 13 and 15 which linked Dover with Canterbury, Deal and Sandwich. This replaced ALX300-bodied M.A.Ns. 27516/7/8/9/20/21/22/23 were all presented in ‘Beachball’ livery with Diamond branding that covers the side of the bus.
This Diamond branding was later replaced by a smaller and simpler version.
Diamond: A new look
Mid-2012 saw the introduction of a new and improved diamond brand and livery that features diamonds on the front, sides and rear with a unique advert on the rear on each of the Dover-based Enviro 300s.
27517 was given a fresh up of ‘Beachball’ and gained the branding featuring a local leader, Geoff Hobbs-East, on the rear of the vehicle as seen below.
27517 remained in Dover working the Diamond services in the latter livery until August 2015 when the Diamond brand was passed to a batch of 13 plate Enviro 200s. This made the majority of the Dover Enviro 300s redundant and so subsequently, were transferred out. 27516, 27518 and 27519 remained in Dover and in mid-2018 were made training vehicles within East Kent’s fleet. 27520/1/2/3 were transferred out to Bedford (Stagecoach East) for use on the town’s services there.
Meanwhile, 27517 had its iconic Diamond branding removed and was transferred to nearby Eastbourne, where it seen use on the 1 series of services, but it also ventured out on various other routes in the area such as the 54 between Eastbourne and Uckfield. It also spent time in Hastings but there is no official record to confirm that.
27517 – A new home
June 2018 seen a change of scenery for 27517 to Stagecoach West along with similar and shorter 27511 from Winchester. Both 511 and 517 were allocated to Gloucester in July 2018, seeing use on the Gloucester city routes and many country routes as well that goes into the Forest of Dean as well as the 60 that served Dursley at the time. 27517 and 511 then transferred to Ross-on-Wye depot in March 2019 mainly seeing use on the 33 service between Hereford and Gloucester. Both Transferred back in early August 2019.
Unfortunately, on the 15th August 2019, 27511 was working the evening 24 to Cinderford and back from Gloucester and at around 8pm on Stenders Lane in Mitcheldean, 27511 suffered a catastrophic fire that written off the vehicle. A member of the team, Harry, was waiting for it to get home from a friend visit in Mitcheldean and recalls seeing it go the opposite direction towards Cinderford. He recalls seeing a plume of smoke and hearing a bang of the tyres exploding. It wasn’t until his friend’s parent came down the road telling him his bus home is on fire. It is rumoured that an oil or Hydraulic leak caused the fire as there was a trail of fluid, however the investigation was inconclusive due to the extent of the damage. 27511 was completely destroyed, written off and the remainder was scrapped for parts.
The fire of 27511 left 27517 to be the last Mk1 Bodied Enviro 300 in the West fleet, making it non-standard and unique, gaining many nicknames such as ‘The Beast’ or more prominent, ‘The Boat’ as it likes to sway as it turns. 27517 remained in Gloucester in beachball livery
27517 – A New Look
2020 came and Stagecoach unveils their new look at the end of January which will be the company standard livery. Additionally, the Covid-19 pandemic arrived that shook the world. As a result of this, many services in Gloucester seen a reduced timetable which subsequently meant that many vehicles were stood down including 27517; she was stood down in March 2020.
In April 2020, it became known that 27517 was repainted in the new Stagecoach ‘local’ guise. It wouldn’t be recommissioned until August 2020 where it will see use.
27517 was placed in temporary reserve status in January 2021 after the 2nd Covid pandemic wave. She stayed in reserve until April 2021 when it was reinstated into the Gloucester fleet.
In October 2021, 517 was placed back into the reserve fleet after problems with the dashboard arised. She did not see use until March 2022 as a vehicle covering for others that went to nearby Cheltenham for the races. Later in March 2022 27517 was classed as ‘withdrawn’ on the Period 12 fleet list however she was seen in regular service until Friday 16th September 2022 when she was finally withdrawn to be sold for preservation.
27517 – The future
Once 27517 has finished use with Stagecoach, the first things we will do is give it a deep clean so that she can be seen in pristine as condition as she can be. Next we will also do is to fix the battery isolation switch and the dashboard. We would also like to take the Deric+ Hanover controller out of the top and replace it with an easier and new DG3 Hanover controller which will help swap databases easier, as well as a new radio so we can have music playing while Ashley is driving to a rally or so forth. Another thing we want to do is make a few adjustments to the ‘local’ livery which includes painting the rear light covers black as well as the area around the rear window. The current rear of the vehicle looks too cluttered in our opinion.
Some long-term ambitions for 27517 are to repaint it back into ‘Beachball’ livery so we can show people it’s old colours. We will also take 27517 on various rallies in the south, as well as bashes around Gloucestershire and the West Country. We plan to cover parts of the UK where we can too!
The GX06 DYW Preservation Group would like to thank Dave Russell and Adam Harber with help on our backstory and history.