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4151 was delivered to Greater Manchester Transport as 8151 and is the first of the batch of Atlanteans in the 8000 series - 8151 to
8765 - which were delivered between 1978 and 1984. 4151 entered service on 12/01/78 at Stockport Depot (ST) and is a GMT Standard with a
Northern Counties steel-framed body.During the 6 years of production of the 8000 Standard, which became the main vehicle in the Greater Manchester Transport and GM Buses fleets for many years, many changes
were introduced. The most significant of these changes was the switch to alloy-framed bodies and these vehicles can be distinguished by the thicker window rubbers and separate upper-deck front windows. In
1992, a new radio system was installed by GM Buses and this coincided with the re-numbering of the 8000 series to the 4000 series, due to the large gap in the vehicle numbering system at the time. This meant that 8151
was renumbered to 4151; the number it carried until it was withdrawn from service. Whilst in service, 4151 has been allocated to Stockport (ST), Tameside (TE), Frederick Road (FK), Princess Road (PS), Hindley (HY),
Leigh (LH) and finally to Atherton (AN) depot in February 1986 where it remained until withdrawal. 4151 was delivered to Greater Manchester Transport, whose bus operating activities were formed into Greater
Manchester Buses Limited in 1986 due to deregulation. In 1993, GM Buses was split into two companies - GM Buses North and GM Buses South and 4151 was, by then, allocated to Atherton Depot which was part of GM Buses
North. In 1996, FirstBus plc purchased GM Buses North Limited from its employees and changed the trading name to Greater Manchester, the name carried by 4151 at the time of withdrawal. Atherton Depot was
closed by Greater Manchester Buses North Limited (trading as Greater Manchester) in February 1998 and buses from Atherton were split mainly between Bolton and Wigan depots. As 4151 had been in service for 20 years, it
was withdrawn from service on the day Atherton closed and moved to St.Helens Transport Museum. 4151 Allocation History:Date entered service: 12/01/1978 to Stockport
05/1978 to Tameside
09/1978 to Frederick Road
05/1984 to Princess Road
10/1985 to Hindley
?/? to Leigh
02/1986 to Atherton
Date withdrawn: 07/02/1998 to St.Helens Transport Museum 4151 was acquired for continued preservation by GM Buses Group members James Barnes, Paul Nicholson, Mark Prescott and Adam Stephenson in August 2005. It currently remains in GM
Buses North livery. |
