Bus Shite

[martc]

18 hours ago, Yoss said:

Thanks, I did recognise that one but I couldn't be bothered to caption every photo, sorry! First thing I thought with this picture was I wonder how much longer that Renault van lasted.

It was last taxed in 2000 so I'm guessing it lasted quite a few years after the photo was taken. A surprise to all.

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, cms206 said:

There was also RML900, bought by Clydeside in the 1980s and rebuilt for further service; if memory serves it lasted til about 1993 with Clydeside, repaintee in the standard RM scheme shown here by it's less lengthy sisters.

They also ran an RMA in coach livery.

RML 900 was deemed beyond economic repair by LT and sold to Clydeside for spares but of course no RM is unrepairable if you want to. So whilst it re entered service mechanically standard the interior was refurbished to Clydesides own design. 

It was very dark, carpeted up the sides and over the ceiling with small fluorescent lights. 

Downstairs 

Upstairs 

And branded the Clydemaster. RM 2083 was also treated but that ended its days as a spares donor at Bournemouth. 

 

Now I have previously documented somewhere on these pages RML 903s trip to Scotland on August Bank Holiday weekend 1987 where we were hosted by Clydeside and 903 was put in service from Thornliebank depot. 

So when Clydeside finished RML 900 they repaid the favour and brought it back to London to put it in service from Finchley. 

Finchley Garage. 

In the morning it was put out on the 13 right in to the heart of London. 

Here it comes down Oxford Street. 

 

Tally Ho corner, Finchley, just round the corner from the garage. 

In the afternoon it was put out on the 26, a more suburban North London route from Barnet to Brent Cross (which bears no resemblance to the current 26).

[Yoss]

12 minutes ago, martc said:

It was last taxed in 2000 so I'm guessing it lasted quite a few years after the photo was taken. A surprise to all.

That's not bad for one of those is it? 

[Inspector Morose]

Only just noticed, that isn't a DMS but one of the South Yorkshire "DMS-a-likes". Lower driving position, standard spec chassis etc.

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, Inspector Morose said:

Only just noticed, that isn't a DMS but one of the South Yorkshire "DMS-a-likes". Lower driving position, standard spec chassis etc.

I knew nothing of the driving position, I was just going by the different blind boxes

[martc]

A 1969 Duple-bodied Bedford VAL70 on Feltham High Street, 1979.

And, as a time passes on, we have a Chinese built Yutong in the same spot, 2024.

[martc]

1990.

[martc]

The Bridge Bus Station, Boulogne, 1992. The grey roofed coaches are Saviem SC 10s and the 2 white roofed ones are Chausson APU 53s. 

[martc]

It's 1935 and many, slightly shifty looking, bus conductors are receiving on-board training at Chiswick Training School.

[Yoss]

Back to the 90s, episode 4 (I think).

As alluded to in my previous posts Colin did a deal to loan two of his buses to Routemaster Bournemouth, although in the end only one was used. 

This is the day RM 1959 and 2156 arrived in Bournemouth. 

The Tundra green Marina 1.8TC coupe belonged to a friend. We were spoiled in those days weren't we? 

RM 1959 was soon painted green and out in service but one Sunday Colin borrowed his own bus to do a little tour of Dorset. 

 

The first stop was the green phone box at Okeford Fitzpaine. So that we could have a green RM next to a green phone box. Two things things that are famous for being red but in green. This wasn't a chance meeting, Colin knew it was there and wanted to visit. 

Followed by a refreshment stop at the Piddle Inn in Piddletrenthide. 

The blinds for this trip were made by myself. They are hand painted and look perfectly acceptable from a distance. It's quite a lengthy process. I would draw round and cut out all the required letters on paper then using a black marker I would draw round them all which would give me a neat outline to then fill the rest in with black and white Humbrol paints.

This was an old Tottenham garage blind which had plenty of places in North London I was never likely to need and was quite happy to overlay with my new destinations. You couldn't use them at night as  the previous destination would show through but we didn't go out in the dark often. These were the days you could pick blinds up for a couple of quid at bus rallies. 

This was deliberate too. Can't remember the exact spot but it was near Shaftesbury. A Routemaster is 14' 6" and its not even close. I know it's an arched bridge but you'd have to be on the grass verge to reach 12' 9".

 

And on to Shaftesbury and District's yard in Cann Common. Colin on the right talking to Roger Brown, owner of S&D, probably about how wise it might be to attempt Zig Zag Hill in an RM. 

Rogers yard was less than a mile from the foot of Zig Zag Hill and he had never taken one up there, he'd always go the long way round if need be but Colin decided that as I had made the blind it would be rude not to try. 

A couple of pics I've just pinched of google. 

We made it. The road itself was not the problem, the problem was the traffic coming down the hill was not expecting a double decker bus to be coming the other way. We had a very close call with a 2CV who didn't seem to have much in the way of brakes. 

 

Roger is also very well known in Routemaster circles. He has bought several accident damaged RMs and rebuilt them, used them for a bit and sold them on before buying the next one. A few RFs and RTs have have gone the same way too. 

These next few are not all from the same visit but spread over a few years. 

RMA 37. This got used quite regularly in lieu of more normal coaches. I remember doing a trip from Shaftesbury to Yeovil one Saturday night to take some pensioners to bingo. 

 

RF 504 and a bicycle. There's probably a joke in there about which one is faster. 

Behind the RF is RMA 29. This was bought from a Barnsley scrapyard for a specific reason. London Coaches had recently extended a batch of open top RMs from their sightseeing fleet by adding an extra bay from scrap  buses. 

Roger decided to do the same to an RMA. But if that doesn't sound difficult enough he decided to do it exactly where you see it there. In an open yard with just him and a mate doing the work. 

Here's a later picture. It looks like a scrap bus doesn't it? He added the extra  lower deck bay to the front half and upper deck to the back half. The two halves are almost but not quite lined up. 

Only with an RM can you do this sort of thing. Actually you probably can do it with some other buses but not in an open yard with just two people. 

I can't currently find any of my own pictures of the finished bus so I've pinched a couple off the Internet. 

Roger christened it RME1. 

Note the centre staircase. The original staircase was removed when it was converted in to a driver trainer. This staircase came from a Volvo Ailsa. 

 

 

[High Jetter]

I don't comprehend much of this, but am so pleased it's happening. Old buses rule!

[LightBulbFun]

oh thats awesome! I had read about RME1 before hand, but I had never seen it in such detail until now  it makes me wonder just how far can you stretch a Routemaster before it starts to get a bit bendy in the middle LOL (it also reminds in one of the RMOOA magazines from back in the day theres a quite well done April fools photoshop of a 3-axle Routemaster) 

also on the opposite end of the scale, there was a feature also in one of the RMOOA of I think it was an operations in canada, that had taken the A frame and B frame of a Routemaster, and bolted the 2 directly toegether, creating an "RMB" or Routemaster Buggy! and they said they where fitting an AV690 engine to make it go even faster!

I have to admit I have always found the central staircase a bit odd looking, but I am curious are there any interior shots? I always wanted to see someone extend a regular Routemaster like RME or the ERMs but just a regular RM, ie one thats not open top or forward entrance like an RMA, just your standard looking early 1960's RM but looong, and then fitted with a large engine and high speed diff, like some sort of high capacity motorway shuttle-bus, where if someones annoying you, you can just chuck them off the platform at 70Mph, to that end I did see that they did put the roof back on one of the ERM's fairly recently, but I swear you can see the joins at either end and they used hopper windows for the top deck, so it just does not look quite right sadly

[Dick Longbridge]

This flashed up on Spaceface yesterday. Someone suggested it was a 20s or 30s bus? 

[Inspector Morose]

4 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

This flashed up on Spaceface yesterday. Someone suggested it was a 20s or 30s bus? 

Probably a Leyland Titan TD1 with “Piano front” body. Very late 20s or early 30s.