FENTON FILE

摘要

The Dennis Trident was introduced in the UK in 1998. It was the manufacturer's first rear-engined low-floor double-decker for the home market and it was built initially in 9.9m and 10.5m lengths. An extended wheelbase version was made available in 2001 for bodying to a nominal length of 11.5m, with three such underframes fitted with 94-seat East Lanes Lolyne bodies incorporating the then current Spryte-style front end. Their purchaser was Nottingham City Transport, which placed them in service in May 2001 as its 666-8 (Y966 DRC, Y667/8 DRA). Unusually, the bodies were built with no glazing in the bay adjacent to the top of the stairs, with the resulting blank panel intended as advertising space. What was numerically the first of these, Y966 DRC, ran for NCT until 2014, then passed to Lincolnshire independent D. & J. Dickinson of Wrangle, where its 94-seat capacity made it invaluable for schoolbus duties. My June 2018 shot shows the still immaculate Trident at the operator's base in Broadgate, Wrangle, by then in its 18th year and sporting its Select registration G14 DJD, changed from the original in May 2015.