[GB] 50 years on - RML-class LWB Routemasters

Being the most famous bus ever built, it is inevitable that the birthday of pretty much every single variety of the Routemaster would be celebrated. For this year though, we see the 50th birthday of what is arguably the most significant variety of all - the long wheelbase Routemaster bus, or the RML.



The idea was simple - stretch the Routemaster to the then legal limit of 30 feet (9.1m) to boost its seatcount by another 8 to 72 seats. To see how the idea fare, an initial batch of 24 were taken by London Transport in 1961 and put into service on the 104. The first of the batch was ER880 - this, and the next three carried the short lived ER-class code, before switching to the RML class code. ER880, however, would resurrect its old number in 1989 and retain as a showbus under London United ever since.



Following this initial batch, it took another 3 years, and some wrangling with trade unions, for London Transport to fully commit to the RMLs. The order of 500 buses, running from RML2261-2760, became the final production run of the Routemaster. One of the early example, RML2275, was seen working on the 3 on its final day of operation with London Central back in 2000.



Rather oddly though, many of these larger capacity buses were not delivered for use in Central London, but to the Country Area, or the outskirt of Greater London. RML2456 was one of the many examples that were delivered to the Country Area, and in 2004, as part of the run down of Routemaster operation, Stagecoach repainted it back to its former glory.



Stagecoach also got to paint another Routemaster during the rundown of the type, but rather than a heritage livery, RML2665 gain the Stagecoach corporate livery instead.



Another Stagecoach RML, yet the most celebrated, is RML2760 - the last Routemaster. Being such a landmark vehicle, it has been well taken care of through its life. In fact, this bus still retain the original AEC engine to this date. Remarkably, RML2760 is the only remaining RML in service in London, as it occasionally turn up on the heritage route 15 in place of the regular "Dartmasters".



The higher capacity of the RML would prove crucial to their survival in London - particularly during the massive fleet drawdown of London Transport during the early 80s, where a massive number of the short RMs were culted from London. The RMLs kept soldiering on - off 524 of the RMLs built, all but about a dozen would see their way well and beyond 2000, still in operational use in London daily. However, almost all of them, bar a few exceptions, were refurbished and re-engined with a Cummins, Iveco or Scania unit during early 90s. RML2334 is one of the very many that recieved the Cummins engine.



The new century saw yet another livery on the RML - the golden livery in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Queen's Coronation in 2002:



A less welcomed variation is the quest of modenising the Routemaster drivetrain with a Cummins B-series engine and an Allison fully auto transmission. As the drivetrain was pretty much the same as a Dart (and goes like one as well), those with the new drivetrain would be mocked as the "Dartmasters". The first of the Dartmasters was Metroline's RML2731, which was updated in 2001, was seen on the 390, the last new cre-operated route.



Although things initial looked rosy for the Routemasters at the beginning of the new century, few would have realised that the writing was actually on the wall - Starting from the formal separation of the sections of the 10 and 36 in 2003, and then the conversion of the 15 and the 11 to low floor double deckers in the same year. Since then, the way was down for the Routemaster. RML2635 was seen on its final day of service on the 73, a day dubbed as the Black Friday as the 9, 73 and 390 loses their Routemasters on the same day, resulting a cut of over 100 of the type in just one blow.



By the end of 2005, even the venerable RMLs would be gone, One of the last Routemaster services to be converted was Putney-based 14 and 22.



However, thanks to the affection to the Routemaster, along with the vast number available for sell following the withdrawn. Many of the RMLs would find good home one way or the other - some being exported, others preserved by enthusiasts. A small number would be retained by London operators as showbus and private hire duties, like First's RML2735.



[ 本帖最後由 NV58 於 2011-7-15 20:10 編輯 ]

haha. Reminds me of the article i wrote some years ago....
(pity the pics are all gone now)

http://hkitalk.net/HKiTalk2/view ... 7539&highlight=
http://hkitalk.net/HKiTalk2/view ... 0283&highlight=

Thanks to NV58 and smal's contribution.  IMO, despite the RML was an after-though idea by inserting a half bay, the overall proportion is better than her RM sisters.


Echoing NV58, another unwelcome "modernisation" was the replacement of hopper windows, in line with the Marshall Dartmaster.  They spoiled the classy styling of the bus.

[ 本帖最後由 WLT900 於 2011-7-20 01:01 編輯 ]