London County Council
1952
Dennis Triton TV3
Dennis B21C
The Dennis company during its independent days was ever prepared to meet specialist needs in the passenger, municipal and haulage transport fields. The Dennis Triton was a flat framed, small passenger chassis, seemingly a variant of the Pax municipal type, with a wheelbase of 10ft 6ins, though a 9ft 6ins wheelbase version was also available for van bodywork. The engine was the dependable 3.77 litre side valve petrol that had appeared in the 1933 40/45 cwt goods chassis and the contemporary Ace bus. This drove through a wet clutch into a four speed sliding mesh gearbox. The hydraulic brakes were non assisted. From 1952/3 the London County Council operated a fleet of 72 Triton TV3 buses with Dennis bodywork for 21 children with central passenger doors on both nearside and offside to facilitate access. A further two had special 12 seat bodywork with a tail lift to cater for the requirements of disabled children. Only one other Triton was built, which carried a Reading 12 seat body for Jersey Motor Transport in 1953, bringing the production total to 75. This little bus featured on a Jersey postage stamp, as seen here – the 1963 date is an error:- www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/
Ex LCC Triton MUL 614 is seen at Brighton on the occasion of the 1966 HCVC Rally, by then in the ownership of one of the National Saturday Clubs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given its rather neglected state on that occasion, no present record of this bus seems to exist, nor, sadly, that of any other Triton.
Photograph and Copy contributed by Roger Cox