Central SMT

Double-Deckers : Dennis Dominator

We have seen how Central loved the Leyland Titan and the Bristol Lodekka, but tried and rejected the Albion Lowlander, the Bristol VR and the Daimler Fleetline. Somewhere in the middle lay the Ailsa and the second last new double-decker to be bought, the Dennis Dominator.

In the case of the Dominator, a fleet of 51 was built up over a short period and all but the first were fitted with attractive Alexander R bodywork. The main Dominator fleet was based at East Kilbride and Old Kilpatrick depots and provided buses for Central's short-lived cross-city network linking East Kilbride and the Clydebank area.

The odd-bus-out in this fleet was D1. Delivered in 1978, during what you might call the Ailsa phase, it carried an Alexander AD body, complete with peaked front dome. After some initial work on the '60' group of services, it was transferred to the Milngavie depot of Alexander (Midland) for a period, to take part in SBG bus trials, being pitted against a native Metrobus, an Ailsa on loan from Fife and an early ECW-bodied Leyland Olympian. On completion of the trials, it joined its more modern sisters at East Kilbride.

Note the re-use of the D code, so recently associated with the Daimler Fleetline.

D1

Chassis Dennis Dominator DD101

Built 1978

Bodywork Alexander AD H43/31F

1 EGB77T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D2-6

Chassis Dennis Dominator DD135B

Built 1981

Bodywork Alexander R H45/34F (Rolls Royce engines)

2 TYS255W

3 TYS256W

4 TYS257W

5 TYS258W

6 TYS259W

 

 

 

 

 

D7-21

Chassis Dennis Dominator DD135B

Built 1981

Bodywork Alexander R H45/34F

7 TYS260W

10 TYS263W

13 TYS266W

16 TYS269W

19 TYS272W

8 TYS261W

11 TYS264W

14 TYS267W

17 TYS270W

20 TYS273W

9 TYS262W

12 TYS265W

15 TYS268W

18 TYS271W

21 TYS274W

 

 

 

 

 

D22-41

Chassis Dennis Dominator DD137B

Built 1982

Bodywork Alexander R H45/34F

22 FGE422X

26 FGE426X

30 FGE430X

34 FGE434X

38 FGE438X

23 FGE423X

27 FGE427X

31 FGE431X

35 FGE435X

39 FGE439X

24 FGE424X

28 FGE428X

32 FGE432X

36 FGE436X

40 FGE440X

25 FGE425X

29 FGE429X

33 FGE433X

37 FGE437X

41 FGE441X

 

 

 

 

 

D42-51

Chassis Dennis Dominator DD162

Built 1983

Bodywork Alexander R H45/34F

42 MNS42Y

44 MNS44Y

46 MNS46Y

48 MNS48Y

50 MNS50Y

43 MNS43Y

45 MNS45Y

47 MNS47Y

49 MNS49Y

51 MNS51Y

D1, one of a kind

Double-deck Types