J129 GMP

History

J129 GMP was new to the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham as FT12 in 1992. Unfortunately, little is known about its use here, or even what livery it carried, but it was one of a presumably identical pair.

By 2004, it had moved to Somerbus, Paulton, carrying a predominantly white livery with black bumpers, later gaining an orange wedge at the rear. It operated with Somerbus for a further two years, before being sold to Andybus/Andrew James. At this point, the lower half had been painted orange, and it gained Andybus fleetnames for local service work around Wiltshire.

Moving forwards another three years to October 2009, it found its way to the Bakers Dolphin, Weston-super-Mare fleet, initially operating in destickered Andybus livery, with the fleetnumber 90. It later gained Bakers livery, along with cherished plate 7740 KO, and was used on Bakers Dolphin’s service work, including the 121 from Bristol.

It didn't seem to last too long at Bakers Dolphin however, leaving the fleet in November 2011, passing next to Filers, Ilfracombe, where it was then registered XIL 8424. It was operated in plain white, before being sold yet again in November 2012 to Quantock Motor Services, Bishops Lydiard, retaining the same plate.

Finally, in May 2014, it moved with the purchase of Quantock by Berrys, Taunton, gaining fleet vinyls on the same white base, and remained in use there until 2020, when the Covid pandemic hit. It was purchased for preservation by a group of local enthusiasts, before joining us in exchange for Super Pointer Dart Y374 GAX.

In Preservation

Almost as soon as we had picked it up, we took the Dart for an MOT, requiring only a repair to a perished washer hose for a pass. Getting it over a pit also gave us a chance to inspect the underside clearly for the first time, and we were pleasantly surprised by how sound everything appeared. A quick clean revealed that the paint is in very poor condition, but the interior is very tidy for its age, and will require only minimal work to smarten it up. Just two days after its MOT pass, it made its debut at an event with us, attending the Severn View rally along with 31753

Future Plans

In the short term, there are a few minor jobs we'd liked to get done, including a bit of play in one of the steering universal joints, a service of the engine, gearbox, diff, as well as all filters and belts. The destination glass is currently covered with black vinyl, which will be removed, and the blind mechanism reinstated, and surplus cabling and trunking for previous CCTV installation will be removed. Longer term, a repaint is on the cards, as well as general strip back and corrosion protection on the underside. The seats, and interior more generally, will remain fairly untouched, with the only other planned work being to secure some of the roof carpet where the original glue has failed over time, and a repaint of the poles as they have been repainted at some point in its past, and it has started to flake.