For those interested in old buses (and coaches)

[John M Upton]

Also different electrical systems. I seem to recall reading some batches had parallel wiring and others in series!

[PhilJ W]

The RCL's were identical when they were first delivered to Romford London Road (RE) but I wouldn't know how long that lasted.

[Gwiwer]

The RCLs stayed nominally identical on Green Line duties but started to show variations when relegated to bus work. We reckoned RCL2219 to be the worst - slow and (by the type standards) rough while RCL2222 was a flyer. Some gained differing interpretations of NBC leaf green (which was much lighter on LBCS vehicles than adjacent Southdown or M&D ones - so much for standardisation!) while one uniquely received Green Line fleet names on its NBC garb.

 

That would have been one of Godstone’s trio used on the 709 which employed RCL2226/2237/2250 on one round trip each weekday peak to Baker Street and, mysteriously, two Sunday afternoon trips. GD was by several years the last garage to schedule crew-operated Green Line work though unscheduled substitutions and duplicates occurred right up until a particular route was withdrawn. The 709 succumbed to Leyland National operation for a couple of years but was always wasteful of resources and its demise was inevitable. In retrospect it is surprising that crew-worked Routemaster coaches survived in rural Surrey until 1976 yet were considered an excessive luxury at Romford (where they worked the once very busy Aldgate services at red bus headways of a few minutes) by 1971.

[PhilJ W]

The RCLs stayed nominally identical on Green Line duties but started to show variations when relegated to bus work. We reckoned RCL2219 to be the worst - slow and (by the type standards) rough while RCL2222 was a flyer. Some gained differing interpretations of NBC leaf green (which was much lighter on LBCS vehicles than adjacent Southdown or M&D ones - so much for standardisation!) while one uniquely received Green Line fleet names on its NBC garb.

 

That would have been one of Godstone’s trio used on the 709 which employed RCL2226/2237/2250 on one round trip each weekday peak to Baker Street and, mysteriously, two Sunday afternoon trips. GD was by several years the last garage to schedule crew-operated Green Line work though unscheduled substitutions and duplicates occurred right up until a particular route was withdrawn. The 709 succumbed to Leyland National operation for a couple of years but was always wasteful of resources and its demise was inevitable. In retrospect it is surprising that crew-worked Routemaster coaches survived in rural Surrey until 1976 yet were considered an excessive luxury at Romford (where they worked the once very busy Aldgate services at red bus headways of a few minutes) by 1971.

It was pretty obvious that London Country wanted to drop the East London Greenline services. The RP's which replaced the RCL's weren't too bad if a bit short of legroom. The Leyland Nationals that replaced the RP's drove passengers away, as was intended with their plastic covered bus seats and noisy engines.

Edited August 26, 2018 by PhilJ W

[Unicorn1]

The RCLs stayed nominally identical on Green Line duties but started to show variations when relegated to bus work. We reckoned RCL2219 to be the worst - slow and (by the type standards) rough while RCL2222 was a flyer. Some gained differing interpretations of NBC leaf green (which was much lighter on LBCS vehicles than adjacent Southdown or M&D ones - so much for standardisation!) while one uniquely received Green Line fleet names on its NBC garb.

 

That would have been one of Godstone’s trio used on the 709 which employed RCL2226/2237/2250 on one round trip each weekday peak to Baker Street and, mysteriously, two Sunday afternoon trips. GD was by several years the last garage to schedule crew-operated Green Line work though unscheduled substitutions and duplicates occurred right up until a particular route was withdrawn. The 709 succumbed to Leyland National operation for a couple of years but was always wasteful of resources and its demise was inevitable. In retrospect it is surprising that crew-worked Routemaster coaches survived in rural Surrey until 1976 yet were considered an excessive luxury at Romford (where they worked the once very busy Aldgate services at red bus headways of a few minutes) by 1971.

Phil, Godstone RCL's,eh

Here's RCL2226 next to RML2344 at the back of Godstone Garage January 1979. The Kodak slide hasn't worn well, but take my word for it that is 2226 being stripped for parts. She looks to be still wearing Lincoln Green, but there seems to be some odd relief colour going on!

Happy days!

 

Les

Edited August 27, 2018 by Unicorn1

[Gwiwer]

Phil, Godstone RCL's,eh

Here's RCL2226 next to RML2344 at the back of Godstone Garage January 1979. The Kodak slide hasn't worn well, but take my word for it that is 2226 being stripped for parts. She looks to be still wearing Lincoln Green, but there seems to be some odd relief colour going on!

Happy days!

 

Les

 

It was RCL2237 which was repainted into NBC leaf green with Green Line fleet names.  The other pair retained Lincoln Green with pale green relief (where buses wore yellow) and Green Line fleet names in underlined gold block until withdrawal in 1976.  So your view of RCL2226 out the back of Godstone alongside one of its own bus RMLs is sad but perfectly in accordance with the records.  Not all of Godstone's RMLs were ever repainted into NBC colours either.  Used mainly on the 409 and associated 411 they were not repaired when they broke down because service reductions usually meant enough remained available.  So they were progressively stripped to keep their sisters moving.  

 

As a stop-gap LCBS acquired three surplus "Queen Mary" Leyland PD3/5s from Southdown and pressed them into traffic wearing Southdown apple green and cream but London Country fleetnames in early NBC style.  Despite being chosen for having semi-automatic gearboxes as opposed to Southdown's standard manual ones on the PD3/4 type they were loathed by GD crews and were only used if the alternative was cancelling the service.  With crew shortages already decimating operations across the LCBS network Godstone - which was largely still a crew-bus garage at the time - was far from immune so the chances of encountering an apple green bus on the 409 were pretty slim.

 

The inevitable arrived in the shape of Leyland Nationals which took over the 709 and the longer workings of the 409 which ran south of Godstone to East Grinstead (the former Forest Row station terminus ceased to be served after one-man conversion) as the 409 Express - a measure of limited stop operation was introduced to compensate for the slower loading times driver-only buses required and as a very weak sop to those few commuters who still used the 709 and were miffed at its final demise.  Eventually Atlanteans replaced the final Routemasters on the remaining 409 / 411 duties and the early batch of Fleetlines which had replaced crew buses on the 410 back in 1971.  Not before Godstone had been forced to grovel daily to nearby Chelsham for anything serviceable however and not before enthusiasts had made their final trips on the peak-hour (largely school-related) RML-worked 409 extensions to Lingfield.

[Dave47549]

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Edited October 1, 2021 by Dave47549
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[runs as required]

If its in Midland Red colours ...

...and all Leyland then boo ! (not genuine BMMO)

but BMMO D9  hurray!

 

strange how Sinlair abandoned front entrance after the magnificent FEDDs - such a treat to ride. We had the rattly Guy Austerities around post war Sutton and only got to sample FEDDS on awaydays from Brum. west and southwards. .

FEDDs were justified to match up with BMMO SOS vehicles for boarding. Front entrance became ubiquitous for single deckers from the post war S series on right across the country; then came the Atlanteans etc

Were there any front entrance D9s?.

dh

Edited August 27, 2018 by runs as required

[Dave47549]

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Edited October 1, 2021 by Dave47549
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[Dave47549]

 

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[runs as required]

Yup - remember HHA 26 (does it still have its slatted seats?) on the 108 from Wylde Green to the Parade.. then the fun started legging it up to the town hall hoping to catch some splendidly streamlined liveried pre-war Walsall Dennis exotic stumbling slowly off back to Walsall.

dh.

[coachmann]

It seems funny seeing a Leyland body with a tin-front. If it was designed for this body initially, I can see why it is so narrow to match the taper of the upper deck on a body that started out as 7' 6" wide and retained the front windows when it went 8' wide.

Edited August 28, 2018 by coachmann

[pH]

Yup - remember HHA 26 (does it still have its slatted seats?) ...

 

Thank you for bringing back a long-forgotten memory! In the late 1950s, Western SMT used Guys with slotted wooden seats on the Doonfoot-Marchburn service that my cousins and I used to get into Ayr town centre. I even remember the fleet numbers of a couple of the regulars - AY8 and AY9. Given that Western fleet numbers were up to about 1500 by 1960, these must have been pretty old buses.

[Dave47549]

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Edited October 1, 2021 by Dave47549
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[Enterprisingwestern]

 BMMO S23, 5956 spent its life working out of Kidderminster:

 

Was the depot on Mill Street in Kidder?

I used to live in the Ideal Buildings and can vaguely remember, in what must have been the late 50's, playing in the transport yard across the road and, according to my Dad, in a bus depot down the road as I knew some of the staff.

 

Mike.

[Dave47549]

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[tetsudofan]

This coming Sunday, Setember 2nd, is Bus Rally Day at the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. In addition to riding the trains, complimentary vintage bus rides between New Romney and Dungeness will be available.

 

If all goes to plan I'll be acting as Conductor on my friend's Sealink-liveried East Kent NBC Regent V here pictured at last years rally:

 

 

If you are down this way over the weekend why not pop down, take a ride on the bus to Dungeness and return to New Romney by train or do it vice-versa.

 

Keith

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Random find in my hard drive, I had no idea it was there...

 

 

 

[RANGERS]

Random find in my hard drive, I had no idea it was there...

 

FB BUS Warren Simpson.jpg

 

One of the Neepsend bodied AEC Reliances delivered in 1965. The bodies were "clones" of similar Burlingham bodied vehicles delivered in preceding years. When Burlingham were absorbed by Duple, the ranges were merged and the style became obsolete so Reading turned to Neepsend to build something which was practically a copy of it.

[DavidB]

Wow Nidge - that's my early childhood in the late 60s in one photo - a dual door Reading Corporation single decker in that lovely old livery at my home station, and with a Milwards advert too. All that's missing is a few Warships, Hymeks and NBL Type 2s, plus Falcon and a Blue Pullman. Happy days indeed - thanks for bringing the memories flooding back. I don't suppose you have any photos of the old Reading Bristol REs as well?

 

David

[Rugd1022]

Wow Nidge - that's my early childhood in the late 60s in one photo - a dual door Reading Corporation single decker in that lovely old livery at my home station, and with a Milwards advert too. All that's missing is a few Warships, Hymeks and NBL Type 2s, plus Falcon and a Blue Pullman. Happy days indeed - thanks for bringing the memories flooding back. I don't suppose you have any photos of the old Reading Bristol REs as well?

 

David

 

Sorry David, that's the last of the bus photos in my hard drive, and I have to admit I wouldn't know a Bristol RE from a hole in the ground! Glad it's brought some happy memories back for you, and I fully concur on the Hydraulics / Falcon / Blue Pullman comment... 

[Enterprisingwestern]

Neepsend.

Drool drool.

A very interesting bodybuilders, only at it for 4 years, but turned out some classics IMHO.

 

Mike.

[leopardml2341]

Neepsend.

Drool drool.

A very interesting bodybuilders, only at it for 4 years, but turned out some classics IMHO.

 

Mike.

Especially as they were associated with the generally uninspiring East Lancs mob.

 

Used to think these were some of the best looking buses in the Sheffield fleet.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tarquinius_superbus/7321211376

 

Edit: corrects typo

Edited September 9, 2018 by leopardml2341

[The Stationmaster]

Random find in my hard drive, I had no idea it was there...

 

FB BUS Warren Simpson.jpg

 

A scene which is now very, very different.  And 'buses have long since ceased to call at/start from Tilehurst station forecourt (except rail replacement ones that is).

[Enterprisingwestern]

Especially as they were associated with the generally uninspiring East Lancs mob.

 

Used to think these were some of the best looking buses in the Sheffield fleet.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tarquinius_superbus/7321211376

 

Edit: corrects typo

 

To balance out the uninspiredness though, they were also associated with Cravens.

OTTOMH I can't remember which actual bus, but one of these had a plaque inside commemorating it's appearance at the Earls Court show.

 

Mike.