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East Lancs Spryte

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East Lancs Spryte
First Somerset & Avon East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart SLF in Yeovil in February 2013
Overview
ManufacturerEast Lancashire Coachbuilders
Production1996 - 2001
AssemblyBlackburn, Lancashire, England
DesignerJohn Worker
Body and chassis
Doors1 or 2
Floor typeLow floor
ChassisDennis Dart SLF
Volvo B6LE
Volvo B6BLE
RelatedEast Lancs Flyte
Powertrain
Capacity29 to 47 seated[1]
Dimensions
Length9,500–11,470 millimetres (374–452 in)
Width2,475 millimetres (97.4 in)
Height2,750 millimetres (108 in)
Chronology
PredecessorEast Lancs EL2000
SuccessorEast Lancs Myllennium

The East Lancs Spryte was a low floor single-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders primarily for construction on the Dennis Dart SLF chassis.

Design

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Rear of a Yellow Buses East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart SLF in Bournemouth in July 2009

The Spryte was the first East Lancs body to be constructed using the Alusuisse bolted aluminium frame system, a system already being used on Wright buses at the time. Designed by in-house designer John Worker, the Spryte body has a double-curvature windscreen, a rounded front bumper which rose in the middle, and notably featured an arched top with a rounded roof dome housing the destination display.[1] Design aspects and the Alusuisse framework system used in the Spryte were reused for East Lancs' step-entrance Flyte body, which was launched later in 1996,[2] and the Vyking double-decker bus, which launched in 2000.

Operators

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Yorkshire Traction East Lancs Spryte bodied Volvo B6BLE in Wath upon Dearne in April 2005

Rossendale Transport took delivery of the first five East Lancs Sprytes produced in July 1996, using them on a service in Bury tendered to the operator by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive.[2] British Bus subsidiary London & Country followed with the delivery of 31 Sprytes for use on its Guildford & West Surrey network that same month,[3] while fellow group operators Midland Red North took delivery of seven and Luton & District took delivery of four between September and October 1996.[2]

The Traction Group took delivery of its first Sprytes in September 1997, with lead operator Yorkshire Traction and subsidiary Yorkshire Terrier respectively taking delivery of both a new Spryte on Dennis Dart SLF chassis and a former East Lancs demonstrator for services in Barnsley,[4] with Traction Group companies Strathtay Scottish and Lincolnshire RoadCar following for services in Dundee and Skegness respectively.[5][6]

Capital Citybus were the only operator of London Regional Transport tendered services to take delivery of Sprytes on Dart SLF chassis, with eight being delivered in early 1998 for use on route S2 between Clapton and Stratford,[7] while First Greater Glasgow also took delivery of eight Spryte bodied Darts in early 1997.[8] Smaller operators of Spryte bodied Dart SLFs included Express Travel of Speke, first taking eight in July 1997 followed by an additional four between 1998 and 1999,[9] contract operator Dunn-Line of Nottingham, first taking delivery of three in 1996 before taking an additional two in 2001,[10] London Stansted Airport shuttle operator Meteor Parking, taking delivery of six dual-door Sprytes for car park shuttle services during 1997, and Folkstone independent Town & Around, taking delivery of a single Spryte in May 1997.[8]

Though the Spryte was initially designed for bodying on the Dennis Dart SLF chassis, some later models were also produced on Volvo's B6LE and B6BLE chassis. Yorkshire Traction were the largest operator of Sprytes built on these chassis, taking delivery of a total 25 produced on both the B6LE and B6BLE chassis between 1999 and 2000.[5][11] Fifteen Spryte bodied B6BLEs were also supplied in 1999 to London Traveller, an independent partially owned by Yorkshire Traction, for use on route 187.[12]

Exports

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Two 10.6 metres (35 ft) East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart SLFs, equipped with large hopper windows and electronically-operated sun visors, were delivered to Paramount Garage of Malta in 1997. These were also notable for being two of only four manual transmission Dennis Darts ever produced, featuring Eaton six-speed manual transmissions.[13][14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Spryte body specification". Blackburn: East Lancashire Coachbuilders. Archived from the original on 19 August 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Morgan, Mike (6 July 1996). "Constructive change of direction". Coach & Bus Week. No. 225. Peterborough: Emap. p. 6. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  3. ^ Morgan, Mike (27 July 1996). "Dart SLF hits first century". Coach & Bus Week. No. 228. Peterborough: Emap. p. 6. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  4. ^ "News Extra". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 428. Spalding. 29 September 1997. p. 20. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Tracky puts in £4.5m order". Coach & Bus Week. No. 303. Peterborough: Emap. 15 January 1998. p. 11. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Getting a buzz from lowfloors". Coach & Bus Week. No. 294. Peterborough: Emap. 6 November 1997. p. 31. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  7. ^ Beddall, David (3 January 2023). The London Dennis Dart & Dart SLF. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-39909-518-1. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b "East Lancs vehicle orders". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 399. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 7 March 1997. p. 9.
  9. ^ "Express Travel buys Sprytes". Coach & Bus Week. No. 278. Peterborough: Emap. 19 July 1997. p. 32. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Fleet additions". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 381. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 25 October 1996. p. 22. Additional vehicles for the Dunn Line fleet are three East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart SLF buses, two of which carry a special yellow, white and red livery for a five year Park & Ride contract in Colwick awarded by Nottinghamshire County Council.
  11. ^ "The month's current issues around the industry". Buses. No. 527. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. February 1999. p. 8. Retrieved 16 August 2024. Few Volvo B6LEs have been built with East Lancs Spryte bodywork. However Yorkshire Traction put eight into service in Barnsley on 1 January.
  12. ^ Wharmby, Matthew (15 March 2004). "All Change On The 187 And 487". London Bus Page. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  13. ^ "First manual Darts for Malta". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 394. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 31 January 1997. p. 9.
  14. ^ Jones, Stuart (7 March 1997). "UK built low floor buses for overseas markets". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 399. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. p. 17.
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