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DW10401 - Mercedes-Benz O305/Alexander
Kowloon Motor Bus
Click on image for larger photograph
      
The model - this model was released in Hong Kong on 14th November 2002, having first been announced on this site in May. Another  superb model from Drumwell which won the this site's award for 'Best New Casting 2002'.

The bus - ME41 (DG8380) was the very last Mercedes Benz O305 double decker to enter passenger service with KMB in 1985. It joined the fleet with another 39 buses (ME2-40) in the same batch after the demonstrator of the ME-class, ME1 (CZ6686), had displayed its high performance on long uphill sections of Hong Kong's roads. They were mainly allocated on routes 68 and 105 when they were new, and a unique livery has been used on all ME-class buses to show their distinctive identity in the fleet. This livery is shown on ME11 in the photograph below.

Due to the monocoque chassis design used on the ME-class, these buses may have suffered damage to their chassis by Cross Harbour Tunnel's recovery trucks in the event of a breakdown. Therefore, the MEs originally allocated to route 105 were later transferred to routes 68M and 68X. Since then, Tuen Mun Highway has become their performance stage, particularly for their high speed and extra hill climbing ability.

The normal corporate livery was first seen in the ME-class during mid-1993. Since then, all 41 vehicles were subsequently repainted. A few years later, most of the ME-class buses were transferred to routes 70, 71A, 71B, 71K, 73, 73A and 76K.

Withdrawals of the ME-class was started in 2001 when ME1 was scrapped, followed by ME38 in early 2002. Since then, most of the ME-class buses have been withdrawn from the fleet, including ME41 as well. By late October 2002, only six buses in the class could still be seen in service on the roads. They include:

ME20/DF9705     ME22/DG2612      ME24/DG4601
ME25/DG4602     ME29/DG5071      ME30/DG5344
Interestingly, these six buses could still be seen regularly on routes 71A and 76K, even after KMB has officially announced that the entire batch of ME-class had been withdrawn from the fleet on 25th October 2002.

My thanks to Dennis Law for providing this informative summary
and of course for the excellent photographs.

  
 Manufacturer of model  Drumwell
 Scale  1:76
 Prototype chassis  Mercedes-Benz O305
 Prototype bodywork  Alexander 'RH' type
 Prototype length  11 metre
 Fleet number  ME41
 Registration number  DG8380
 Route number  68M
 Destination  Yuen Long (West)
 Commissioned by  Kowloon Motor Bus
 Quantity  3,000
 Date released - Hong Kong  14th November 2002
    
Click on image for larger photograph
Photograph courtesy of 80M Bus Model Shop
 
Click on image for larger photograph Click on image for larger photograph
Photographs courtesy of 80M Bus Model Shop
 
 
 
Click on image for larger photograph
ME22 photographed on 25th October 2002
and still in service on 31st October!!
Photograph courtesy of Dennis Law
 

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This page last updated Saturday, 20th November 2004
 
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