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USA & CANADA 726-OJ-156 USA & CANADA
Vehicles out (continued)
Double Decker Bus Co., Denver
PHL 235G Dr CRG Roe H76F Fred Zwiefel, Virginia City, MT 6/99
OWJ 363A Ld PD3 Roe H72F City Tours, Skagway, AK by9/97
(originally 477 HDT)
General
Archibald, Loveland. Rick “Archie” Archibald is a partner in “The Group Inc.” of Loveland, real estate and
investment advisors. KYY 621 is painted red and carries “The Group Inc.” lettering as well as his own name,
and in the past has been used to tour properties on the market, as well as for hospitality purposes. It is currently
O--/14R, and was due to undergo refurbishment this past winter. During 1998/99 it had been parked on the
forecourt to George Furrell’s Antiques, on US Highway 34 as one headed west out of Loveland.
Much earlier it had been brought by flat bed from Alamosa to Estes Park, c-/85. Whilst at Estes Park the
intention was for Rick Archibald’s daughter to use the bus to provide sightseeing tours, but the operation was
somewhat eclipsed by Chris Pederson’s “Rocky Mountain Park Tours”, by an FLF about which nothing more is
known – see query 1 below.
British Double Deckers, Denver. Not surprisingly on our visit in 8/99, none of the FLF’s, nor the PD2, listed as
having passed through British Double Deckers in PX3 pp68-70, were present, with the exception of 512 OHU
and EDV 518D, and therefore it must be assumed they have found new homes! When time permits I will
attempt to compile a list tracing those buses for which some disposal information has come to light, so if any
reader has any information, please get in touch. 512 OHU was still in Lincoln green and had been used for
spares, but EDV 518D had been painted into a white, red and yellow colour scheme promoting Denver Burglar
Alarms, by 10/91, and was only used for special events like the annual parade. (see below for details of the
DMS’s and VRT’s).
Operations closed down in 10/95; the buses were parked very closely together in a locked compound to protect
the better ones from the attention of vandals. Everything has lain untouched since that date; there are 17 British
buses present plus a couple of GM’s bought from RTD (Denver Regional Transportation District) at an auction in
1986, plus one or two Lodestar 1700/Superior school buses. The three best vehicles (three Neoplan double
deck coaches) are stored inside a warehouse, but again are untouched since 1995; they are numbered 1-3 and
carry CO plates BEP 461, ELZ 487 and DAA 206 respectively (all now unlicensed). Number 1 (BEP 461) was
previously an executive coach with Dominos Pizza. The British buses present were:
DMS’s JGF 147/80/85K, JGF 211/32/83K, JGF 304/12/40/63K
RT KYY 902 PD2 FKG 979
FLF’s 512 OHU, EDV 518D, HGM 338E VRT’s XWY 977G, YWY 516G (both unused)
The DMS’s are painted in a livery consisting of an unfurled Union Jack on the front and rear, with white sides
below the upper deck windows, on which are depicted guardsmen marching behind their band against a
backdrop of Tower Bridge & Tower of London, Nelson’s Column, and Houses of Parliament & Big Ben. By 6/95
JGF 147/80/85/232/363K had been fitted with vertical exhausts to roof level to counter accusations of fumes at
street level. The DMS’s, and the Neoplans referred to above, were generally used on charter work and for
transport at trade shows and exhibitions.
Broadmore Hotel, Colorado Springs. I telephoned the management of the hotel (which is about the largest in
Colorado Springs) but neither the president nor any of the staff I spoke to, could recollect a bus (LUC 457).
Colorado Springs CC, Colorado Springs. There is a little bit of uncertainty as to the actual title of the owners of
KYY 621 at this stage, but the bus was used as a promotional vehicle for Colorado Springs city.
Denver Burglar Alarm, Denver. Spawned British Double Deckers at an unknown date, but it would appear to have
been before 11/76 when the importing of double deckers, notably Bristol FLF’s, really took off; the dealing in, and
later, operation of buses was a Stu Jackson project. Denver Burglar Alarms continued in business, but more
recently it has become Jackson Burglar Alarms.
Denver Ticket Bus, Denver. Again not quite sure who owned this; some said British Double Deckers, and some
said Denver RTD (Regional Transportation District). It was a stationary Information “kiosk” providing visitor
information, RTD bus passes and theatre tickets through hatches where the near side windows would have
been, positioned in the 16 th Street Mall (pedestrianised street) at its junction with Curtis. However it had gone by
8/99 (some said about a year earlier) but again I got conflicting stories – refurbishment at an RTD depot before
returning, or for some totally new role; however despite numerous phone calls I was unable to find its new
hideaway!
Double Decker Bus Co., Denver. Terry Murphy appears to have started when, in 1983, he acquired CCP 162C to
sit outside his wife’s Antique Guild & Market at 1298 S Broadway, Denver, as an “eye-catcher”. He then started
shuttling clients to/from the place, followed by requests to carry visitors in his “vintage bus”, and the whole
business grew from there. He had an operation in Colorado Springs, by 7/95, possibly using vehicles supplied
from the Denver base as required, but by August 1999, all operations were based on Denver. At this time there