28th January. 1011 underwent a safety and maintenance exam. Oil & Filter change, fuel & air filter change, brake adjustments, engine timing and valve guide adjustment, levelling valves adjustment, brakes adjustment, all round grease up and test run was all carried out by Jason and family friends Tom and Ben.
Southdown 1011 New to Southdown in 1984 as 1011, the coach was allocated to Brighton being used primarily on National Holidays tours and private hire. When Brighton and Hove split from Southdown in 1986, 1011 remained in the Brighton fleet and was renumbered 401 and received National Express livery for use on Brighton to London and south coast services between Kent and Dorset. After being withdrawn and disposed of by Brighton & Hove, the coach passed through a couple of small coach companies and dealers before initially entering preservation with Simon Stanford. He restored 1011 back into National Holidays livery and was a frequent attendee at bus events at Amberley, Brighton, Worthing etc. 1011 joined our collection for a short period back in 2015 however, it was purchased by a collector of coaches near Gloucester due to challenges around its storage.
In August 2023, we were approached by its then owner with a view to taking the coach due to having various other vehicles. By now, 1011 had been fitted with Trent fleet names to represent the type that was also operated by that company. Daniel and Jason headed to Nottingham to collect 1011 and brought her back to Hampshire - she ran beautifully. Since then, 1011 has been out a handful of times on local trips etc and is currently waiting on some general maintenance and servicing.