CUV
336C |
Shortly before withdrawal by London
Country, and never having been repainted into N.B.C. green
during it's nine years with the company, RML2336 looks very
tatty and dated compared to the Leyland-National behind it.
It was seen at Dartford garage in July 1979. This bus
was sold back to London Transport, who needed to replace the
unsuccessful Scania Metropolitans on the 36. |
CUV 336C |
RML2336 remained in use with London
Central on route 12 up until 2004. Here it is at Camberwell
Green in May 2000, having just arrived on a short working
from Central London and about to head for Camberwell depot
for a crew change. Refurbishments and red livery have
done wonders for the appearance of this bus, almost 21 years
after the above photo was taken (the digital camera helps,
too!) This bus saw revenue earning service with the Big Nottingham
Bus Company in 2008, and was used by Lancashire Transport
Trust on the Blackpool-Lytham St. Annes summer service in
2007. |
|
461 CLT
|
Not your average London Routemaster.
East London's superbly restored RMC1461, a former Greenline
coach bought back from London Country by LT in 1980, was seen
at Upton Park in April 1998. Routemasters on the 15
gave way to Dennis Tridents in 2003, and RMC1461 is now in
preservation. |
|
510 CLT
|
Dateline December 1998. Hardly
peak time for open-toppers, but that didn't stop Centrewest
from putting their RMC1510 out for a turn on the 23.
It is seen departing from Liverpool Street. This is
another of the former Greenline coaches that was repurchased
by LT for training duties and then found its way back into
service. |
|
VLT 9
|
As London Central's oldest Routemaster,
RM9 has been turned out in near original LT livery.
AECBus found it in a back street near Westminster Cathedral
in May 2000. It had been working some sort of private
charter but the ultimate destination blind and route number
under the overhang give away the fact that it could sometimes
be found on route 36, and was also a visitor to route 12. |
FPT 588C |
Not all Routemasters were new to
London Transport. This is one of a batch of forward
entrance models that were bought by Northern General.
Following disposal by Northern, a few found there way onto
London sightseeing services with various operators over the
years. Open top FPT 588C, one of three owned by the
Big Bus Company, was seen at Victoria in 2004, and had been
given an LT style fleetnumber, RMF588. FPT 588C is now working
on Malta. Photo by Suzy Scott. |
WLT 895 |
The contemporary London Routemaster
scene. RML895, refurbished, re-engined and displaying Arriva
logos, departing from the West End of London for Streatham
on the 159 in 2001. The 159 was the last regular route to
have Routemasters with final withdrawal on 21st October 2005.
Photo by Stephen Howden. |
VLT 6 |
Arriva painted RM6 into Golden
Jubilee livery for the 2002 celebrations. It remained in this
livery throughout 2003, appearing regularly on route 137 until
the Routemasters on this service were replaced in July 2004.
This photo was taken at Clapham Common in May 2003. |
WLT 880 |
Special liveried original RML,
RML880 (latterly carrying original fleetnumber ER880) was
a regular on London United's route 9 right up to the end of
Routemaster operation in September 2004. AECBus caught up
with it at Picadilly Circus in September 2003. |
WLT 787 |
Refurbished RM787 was seen near
Kennington Oval tube station in 2003 while running route 36.
Routemasters on this route were replaced in January 2005. |
|
|
Route 13, run by Sovereign, was
the first to get the RMs refurbished by Marshall and fitted
with Cummins B series engines, when Transport for London expanded
Routemaster use in 2000. RM1562, pictured here in September
2003, was unique in having an ISBe engine and was reputedly
the fastest bus in London. |
JJD 422D |
One of the last London routes was
London General's 14, which ceased along with the 22 on 30th
July 2005. RML2422 was seen at Putney Heath in February 2005. |
WLT 652
|
The 38 was another route that kept
Routemaster operation well into 2005. RM652, another of the
RMs refurbished by Marshall and fitted with a Cummins engine,
stands at Clapham Pond terminus in September 2003. This bus
passed to East London for operation on heritage service 15
and currently still employed on that service. |
JJD 532D |
Routemasters of various operators
could be found on tube replacement services up to 2007, but
such operations are rare now as most do not meet the requirements
of the low emission zone. This is RML2532, in the hire fleet
of Marshopper, New Romney, being used by Sullivan Buses in
June 2004. Sullivan Buses also have two Routemasters of their
own. |
ALM 50B |
Routemasters can still be seen
in London. Two heritage Routemaster routes still run in London,
shortened versions of regular routes 9 and 15. They have a
common section between Trafalgar Square and Aldgate. RM2050
was seen on route 15 at Charing Cross in 2007. |
|
NML 658E
|
Ensignbus have some operational
routemasters in their heritage fleet and these occasionally
get out into service. Ex BEA front-entrance model RMA56 was
seen at Bluewater shoppig centre in December 2005 on a christmas
special duplicate working of the company's X80 service to
Lakeside. When new it ran between London and Heathrow Airport,
towing a trailer containing passengers' luggage. |
KGY 4D |
The bus of many "if onlys".
Would AEC have had a rear-engined double-decker to rival the
Atlantean, Fleetline and VRT? Would LT have avoided
the great DMS debacle? (seriously distorting the secondhand
market by dumping, at the taxpayers' expense, thousands of
perfectly good Fleetlines because they didn't suit LT's maintenance
regime.) In the event, FRM1 remained unique and AEC
had no double-deck model to offer in the 1970s. Here
it is in April 1982, passing the former BEA terminal (now
the Pallisades) opposite Victoria Coach Station on the Round
London Tour. It is now preserved by the London Transport Museum
and appears at some rallies and running days. |
368 CLT |
Another RM oddity was RM1368 which
was converted to single-deck after its upper deck was badly
damaged in a depot fire. It never seems to have run in service
as a single decker, but spent a number of years in the LT
departmental fleet before passing into preservation. It was
seen in the sun at the 2003 Amersham running day. |
