WX05 RVU

Vehicle Specifications

History

42910 was new to First Somerset and Avon's Weston Island depot in Bath, although later spent time allocated to the Frome outstation. It was used on a variety of routes around the city, being ideally suited to the small streets, but also ventured into rural Somerset. The majority of the bath were 10.6m length, although there were also a handful of shorter 9.2m examples, which were almost identical in spec, with Civic V2 seats, Hanover LED destination blinds all around externally and internally, front fog lights, LED tail lights, and bonded double glazing.

In September 2017, it was repainted out of Barbie into allover purple, and stickered up for the Bath Unibus U2 service, which had recently undergone a branding refresh with pink accents. However, this didn't last long, as double deck buses were required for term time loadings. This saw the trio of purple Darts being swapped with three ALX400s from Weston Searle Crescent depot, and the Darts subsequently being allocated to route 20.

Less than one year after its initial repaint, 42910 was to be the chosen candidate for the first Dart to gain the reintroduced Badgerline brand, in August 2018. This was the first of nine to be done, before eventually being replaced in 2021 by Wright Streetlites. The Darts were primarily used on town routes 3, 5, and 7, although they also ventured further afield from time to time.

In Preservation

42910 entered preservation locally in 2021, before being sold to a group in the North West in 2022. It later changed hands again, heading back to home turf with a local owner, who has since decided to downsize his collection and keep only one of the three Darts.

As such, we ended up acquiring not only 42910, but also 42911, which is a non runner, and we intend to use as a spares donor. This was repainted into City Line colours, before suffering from electrical issues, and being partially stripped.

Future Plans

Currently, 42910 has a couple of minor issues, including an electrical start issue, a sticking brake drum, and requires MOT prep and a test. Other than the above, it runs and drives nicely, and shouldn't require much work before receiving attention to the bodywork and a coat of paint. Interior wise, it's in fairly original condition, having received a set of clean toothpaste moquette seats from one of the previous owners, and all original poles and interior fittings being present. The floor is also in excellent condition and requires very little attention.