Lothian Buses: low-floor double-decker trial batches

English: The three trial batches of low-floor double-decker buses operated by Lothian Buses. Three types were bought by the company:

Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident - 5 buses (501-505) delivered in Summer 1999
Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident - 5 buses (506-510) delivered in Summer 1999
Plaxton President bodied Volvo B7TL - 6 buses (291-296) delivered in Spring 2000, 1 bought second hand later (683, later 297)

They all arrived in the new Harlequin livery used to identify low-floor vehicles, with minor route branding. They eventually received the simplified version of Harlequin livery. Once withdrawn from the main fleet, the Trident/ALX400s and Trident/Presidents were converted into open top buses as detailed below, while the President/B7TLs were all sold.

501-503 - full open top, painted City Sightseeing red
504-508 - partial open top, painted City Sightseeing red
509-510 - partial open top, painted Edinburgh Tour green

fleetnumbers & registrations - Trident/ALX400
No. 501 (T501 SSG) No. 502 (T502 SSG) No. 503 (T503 SSG) No. 504 (T504 SSG) No. 505 (T505 SSG)

fleetnumbers & registrations - Trident/President
No. 506 (T506 SSG) No. 507 (T507 SSG) No. 508 (T508 SSG) No. 509 (T509 SSG) No. 510 (T510 SSG)

fleetnumbers & registrations - B7TL/President

No. 291 (W291 PFS)
No. 292 (W292 PFS)
No. 293 (W293 PFS)
No. 294 (W294 PFS) - also ran as W122 DOP for around a year^N
No. 295 (W295 PFS)
No. 296 (W296 PFS)
No. 683 (X683 RDA) - ex-demonstator, later renumbered/registered 297 (WDF 297)^D

Note N - No. 294 was delivered and entered service as W294 PFS, but it was soon discovered that due to a paperwork error, this plate should have been on a Travel West Midlands bus of the same type (No. 4122), which itself bore the plate W122 DOP. Once discovered, the Lothian bus was re-plated W122 DOP in late 2000, with the intention being for TWM to put a W294 PFS plate on their bus - Lothian would then re-register 294 to restore the link between plate and fleet number (as they had done in similar circumstances). The TWM bus however was never re-plated (meaning both ran with as W122 DOP for around a year), and Lothian 294 was eventually returned to W294 PFS.
Note D - No. 683 was bought second hand from Dublin Bus (VP2, reg. 00-D-31073). It wore UK registration X683 RDA, so Lothian numbered it as 683. To free up that number for the 04-reg Trident batch, it was renumbered 297, and re-registered with the ageless plate WDF 297 to give it a matching plate