Photographs
of Dennis Dragon 11m are sorted into the following entries:
Kowloon Motor Bus
Employee Bus
(1 page)
S3N184
(DW8262, DDA1805-487) served 74S (1 page)
Interior
details of Dennis Dragon 11m (1 page)
S3N92 - the
rebuilt Dragon (1 page)
English Adventure Bus (1 page)
Kowloon
Motor Bus DDA1801 Dragons (4 pages)
Kowloon
Motor Bus DDA1802 Dragons (1 page)
Kowloon
Motor Bus DDA1803 Dragons (6 pages)
Kowloon
Motor Bus DDA1804 Dragons (2 pages)
Kowloon
Motor Bus DDA1805 Dragons (4 pages)
Photographs of
Dennis Dragon 12m are sorted into the following entries:
3N1 - The first
Dennis Dragon (1 page)
3N3 - The third Dennis Dragon (1 page)
Kowloon Motor
Bus Dragon Training Buses (3 pages)
Pegasus IT Bus
(1 page)
CCTV for exits
of Dragons (1 page)
DDA603 Dragons
(2 pages)
Details of 3N10
(DA7745, DDA603-115) (1 page)
Details of 3N19
(DA9594, DDA603-123) (1 page)
DDA604 Dragons
(1 page)
DDA605 Dragons
(5 pages)
Interior details of a DDA605 Dragon (1 page)
DDA607 Dragons
(10 pages)
DDA1701 Dragons
(13 pages)
Note: You are free to adopt any text or photograph for non-moneymaking activities. You may set the photographs as the wallpaper in your PC. However, you are not allowed to post the text or photographs on the net without Anthony Lui's permission.
The Dragons described here only include the Dominators with "Dragon" on the specification plates. "Dominator 6X2 Dragon" is under the entry "Dominator 6X2".
In 1981, Dennis suppplied three 12 metre Dominators to Kowloon Motor Bus. They received Alexander R-type body, which was a new design at that time. They had two doors. The name "Dragon" was assigned to these Kowloon Motor Bus Vehicles (DDA601). They have already been converted to training buses. The counterparts in China Motor Bus were called "Condor" (DDA602).
Then, KMB endorsed an order for 188 12m long Dragons between 1982 and 1985. They received tailor-made Duple Metsec bodies. The vehicles had three doors. They are in designs DDA602-DDA605, DDA607 and DDA1701.
In 1985, KMB find that these vehicles would contract from 12m to about 11m in cold weather. On the other hand, some roads are quite hard for a 12 metre bus to manoevure. Therefore, they bought 220 11 metre long buses in 1986-1988. They range from DDA1801 to DDA1805.
There are a number of serious accidents involving Dragons. Some of them are listed below.
In 1986, a brand new Dennis Dragon (3N63, DD 6740, DDA605-167) overturned on King's Road, North Point, injuring about 40 people.
On 13 March 1986, another Dragon (3N50, DD 6266, DDA605-156) crashed onto an island in Quarry bay on route 102, resulting in 2 deaths and 6 injuries.
In 1993, an off-duty 11-metre long Dennis Dragon (S3N221, EA2263, DDA1805-498) on Route 85K collied with a 11 metre long Leyland Olympian (S3BL13, DK8460, ON10066) on Route 89 at the junction of Sha Tin Rural committee Road and Yuen Wo Road. S3N221 was heading Shatin KCR Station from KMB Shatin Depot and S3BL13 was heading Kwun Tong. There were 60 passengers in the Olympian. The Dragon did not obey the traffic light signal and lost control. It collided head-on with the Olympian at the front right corner. The Dragon did not overturn, but swung for 180 degrees. The window adjacient to the driver detached and he was thrown out of the bus. He had become paralysed. After the collision, the Olympian slightly lost control and got into the other carriageway. The driver was cautious and luckily avoided colliding with several vehicles coming from opposite direction. Then the bus knocked down 20-30m length of barriers (railings) and several lamp posts, and finally came to a stop after running into a tree beside a building. There were 31 injuries, including the drivers and a 60-year-old passenger who was thrown out of the 3rd or 4th window at the port side of the upper deck. The driver of the Olympian only suffered minor injuries in his hand, because of the smashed glass. He had become a depot driver after the accident. Passenger praised this driver for his courage and good skill.
In 1989, a Dennis Dragon 11m (S3N45, DM8514, DDA1801-339) overturned and hurt more than 10 KMB bus drivers when the vehicle was taking them to a depot at dawn.
On 13 December 1994, a 12m Dennis Dragon (3N106, DJ 6989, DDA607-219) collided a CMB Leyland Fleetline FE33AGR (LF213, BR 5378, 7703563) at the junction of Un Chau Street and Yen Chow Street. The chassis of the Fleetline was bent. The Dragon then crashed onto an island. The 47-year-old driver was thrown out of the bus from the side window and was killed. Including the killed KMB driver, there were two deaths and 12 injuries. At the time of accident, the Dragon was on route 6C and the Fleetline on route 112. The CMB driver was a reserve driver at that time. Since the lunch time of route 6C was very complicated, and there was less than half an hour for the dead driver. It is believed that the driver did not obey the traffic light signal in order to gain more lunch time. You can see how miserable the dead driver had been.
Specifications of
11m Dragons:
Chassis type: Dragon (DDA1801/2/3/4/5)
Engine type: Gardner 6LXCT / Cummins L10
Engine power: 164kW/176kW
1st axle weight: 7000kg
2nd axle weight: 4800kg
3rd axle weight: 10000kg
Gross vehicle weight: 21800kg
Photographs of Dennis Dragon 11m
Photographs of Dennis Dragon 12m
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Page created: 31 August 1999
Last updated: 5 December 2010