Half of all the Dennis Lolines ever produced were operated by Aldershot
& District (141 out of 280 built). The first version was essentially
a Bristol Lodekka manufactured under licence, since at the time, the nationalised
Bristol concern was not allowed to sell buses on the open market. Dennis introduced the Loline III in 1961 as its own development of the Loline II, with many features of Guildford design. A&D ordered 57 of this model, though as a result of difficulties at the works of their usual coachbuilder, East Lancashire, the bodies had to be built by Alexander. They were delivered between September 1961 and November 1962, and were registered 394-413 COR, 121-140 DOR and 449-465 EOT. The 68 seat bodies of a number of these carried illuminated offside advertisement panels, though these saw relatively little use after the first few years. A decision was taken to standardise Lolines for the company's double-deck fleet, so a large batch of fifty was ordered for delivery in 1964. These were registered 481-530 KOT, but Hampshire started the year-suffix numbers in January 1965, so the later members became AAA 503-530C before they went on the road, The bodies were built by Weymann, and the building programme had been delayed into 1965 by a strike at the works. In subsequent years, several of the Lolines were loaned to City of Oxford Motor Services. Initially, from November 1968, Loline III's of all ages were loaned, but as the arrangement was extended over the next two years, the older Loline I's were sent to Oxford instead. All but one of the Loline I's were withdrawn before the Alder Valley takeover in 1972, and the demise of the Loline III's was hastened by the decision to adopt one-person operation, for which they were unsuited. The end came in 1980, when the last conductor-operated double-deck services ceased.
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SOU 465 Dennis Loline
(357) 1958 