New in 1997, a batch of 5 (P601 - 605 JBU) of these vehicles came to Manchester on an experimental basis, however proving to be unpopular Stagecoach continued to buy the likes of the B10M Alexander PS’ and MAN 18.220 ALX300s as their standard single deckers in Manchester.

These were rather quickly transferred out of Manchester (late 90s) and moved down south to Cambridge, ours becoming their ‘304’ for Park and Ride work. Then again, they were transferred back north (2003 ish) up to the North East to Newcastle. They saw regular service work there and around 2007 moved to Stockton where they stayed for the remainder of their working lives. 604 was then withdrawn and collected by the Wigan Transport Trust for preservation in March 2014, where it has been since.

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First of all, this bus is going to be a MASSIVE project, bigger than any of our others combined. Unfortunately, due to other work taking priority, it was pushed to the back of the WTTs shed, and virtually left. It’s barely turned a wheel in its 10 years in preservation, so there are going to be gremlins (to put it nicely). Should state, WTT don’t neglect vehices, their shed is an absolute treasure trove of fantastic rare and heritage buses, all of which are being restored. They wanted to sell 604 to someone who will put the time into it, because their fleet of 50 ish vehicles is meaning it’s sitting there forgotten.

There are several known issues with it, for example the hydraulic tank leaks, the bus won’t engage gears and it currently won’t start. We’re going to be working closely with the WTT over the next few weeks to get it going and cleared out of their shed.

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Now the plans, before any cosmetic work is done, we’re going to give her the full service, engine seals changed, oil change, filter change, belts change, etc. We’re not going to take any risks as she’s been sat for so long, after all, we look after her, she looks after us!

She’s also desperately in need of a clean, years and years of dust have settled on her, externally and internally. Nothing a good wash, mop and hoover won’t sort

Eventually, we’ll be painting her into stripes, retrieving the interior back into chevron from beachball etc. For now, it’s going to remain very much a background project, so don’t, for the next few months at least, expect to see loads of posts. Rest assured, she’ll be getting the love she deserves.