End of RM's on the 9 and Bomber Command Memorial

I spent a couple of hours late morning today photographing the Routemasters working on the heritage route 9 for the last time as this route is being withdrawn. By means of an interlude I also took a look at the magnificent memorial to Bomber Command in Green Park.
Photos can be found here http://paulgildersleve.smugmug.com/...-2014/43161331_s3dhcL#!i=3412026159&k=KMP4GQH

Regards,

Paul

 

So just the 15 now then?

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/tran...well-to-the-historic-routemaster-9127455.html

Apparently :
1.no one likes them,
2. people prefer new routemasters
3. They are always empty
4. There's only 10 buses, but they cost £1mn a year to run ???


1. I call BS.
2. I don't reckon most people notice
3. Not the ones I've seen.
4. £100k per bus per year ??? How do other countries manage it with our old route masters ?

 

I don't think I have ever seen any publicity about these routes.

Paul

 

TfL is awash with posters but I can't recall ever seeing one advertising the heritage routes.

 

I must admit on my frequent trips to London I thought they had already got rid of the Routemaster Buses, and never saw any advertisements for the RM buses or route.
The newer type of buses are far superior, more comfortable, cleaner and use less fuel.
In North Wales our new No:12 DD buses have leather seats, more room in between seats upstairs there is single wide seats, and doubles that are wider and deeper. If all that isn't enough, there is WiFi, mains sockets by all seats and Air Conditioning.
These are better executed than cars and the comfort, leather etc has gone down extremely well. Operated by Arriva.
I can see why with the cost TFL want to get rid of them, they are dirty, uncomfortable and had their day, BUT perhaps a couple could be preserved, or if people are that worried preserve one.
Really think that in the 21st Century and the cost to travel by bus, I wouldn't get on the Route master either.
Used them lots when younger and earlier buses and Trolley buses all now gone, I think times move on, and those that want them to run should apply for the route contract and see if they can make a profit and keep them running, I think you will find the novelty would soon disappear, the new emissions rules coming in to London, on top of those already in, will rule these out anyway according to TFL.
With bus journeys in London you are not seeking a Heritage bus ride, just A-B in comfort and as quickly as possible.

 

The RMs on the heritage routes had all been re-engined to comply with the latest emission regulations so just as clean exhaust wise as many other buses. They don't run all day and during their operating hours only one in four buses on routes 9 and 15 were Routemasters. Not only that, they do not cover the whole route in each case. The 9 went from the Albert Hall to the Strand via Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square while the 15 connects Trafalgar Square with the Tower of London via St. Paul's. They're aimed at the tourist rather than the average traveller.

 

Personally prefer the "newer" buses doing the trips around London, didn't realise, due to lack of adverts, that it was for tourists, but sounds as if being got rid of by the above post description quicker than people may know, or bothered?
If all been re engined the TFL statement is curious, also not heritage if smells different and done up to comply??

 

None of the heritage RMs had the original AEC engines. Not sure what they were re-engined with without delving around the web but Scania comes to mind for some reason. "Ordinary" passengers can and do use them but when the routes started back in 2005 at the behest of Ken Livingstone, some of the the reasons given were that the traditional London bus was seen as a London icon and a tourist attraction.

 

One only has to look at the souvenir shops in London and see how often an RM appears to realise just what a tourist attraction they are. Similarly when you're travelling on one, it's amazing how often cameras are pointed at them

I think the problem with the 9 is that it didn't really go anywhere particularly "touristy". The 15 connects Trafalgar Square with the Tower of London via St Paul's Cathedral - three of the most recognisable landmarks in London, so it sees a lot more passengers than the 9 and hopefully it will remain. I think the plan is to take the best RMs from the 9 and 15 and refurbish them for the 15, at least partly financed by the sale of the others.

 

I think #4 is very close to BS as well. They were (and still are) a magnificent bit of engineering. There would be a home for one at Dewsbury bus museum and it wouldn't be a static exibit, the buses in there are worked regularly throughout the year.

 

Strange to see criticism of the London Heritage Fleet and the preference of everyday type buses especially given this is a Heritage/preservation Forum. You can go on everyday buses everyday - unless you really are out in the sticks. The RM - and its predecessors - are, to me anyway, a veritable London icon.

Anyone prefer Class 43's etc. to steam locos?

 

No 9 went to Harrods, Hyde Park Corner (for Buckingham Palace), Green Park (for Piccadilly), Marble Arch..

 

Well, you can't have much better 'tourist' destinations than those!

 

I think they would look better, internally at least, if they were restored to 1960's condition with perhaps posters of the day. The buses I saw running on th 9 on Friday were very bland inside and nothing to let you know that you were travelling on a piece of heritage. After I left the RM's I boarded a typical London bus of today and the seat was rock hard with a piece of material covering it. Definitely not more comfortable than a RM. Does anyone know also, why do modern buses in general seem to have only two speeds, stop or go coupled with an almighty jolt when changing between the two?

Paul

 

Are you sure the 9 went to Marble Arch? Didn't when I rode it, went straight down Knightsbridge from Hyde Park Corner. As for Harrods, doesn't exactly stop outside but I'll grant you it's not that a long walk from the Knightsbridge stop.

 

Could be the gear change process. I don't know what the current fleet uses but in the 1970s WMPTE used buses with a pre-selector gearbox. Most drivers pre-selected the gear they wanted and when the engine speed reached the revs, the step up to the next gear caused the vehicle to lurch; the expert drivers waited until the revs had gone beyond the gear-change point and once gear was selected it move smoothly to the higher gearing.

 

Apologies not marble arch.. I was thinking 159 for a minute !

 

Now that did go to Marble Arch.