| As the last ordinary service AEC.PRV Routemaster ran in London for the last time on Fri. 9 Dec. 2005 at 1pm., I thought it fitting now to add my own selection from the many rides I enjoyed over the years. Watch this space in days to come! |
We got to ride on 740 DYE doing the skid but were only allowed on the lowerdeck! It was a real adrenalin rush and I'm so glad I had the chance to sample it. Chiswick Works was to close soon after. Tues. 23 Sept. 1986 |
"Do or DYE" as RM 740 struts its stuff. Tues. 23 Sept. 1986 |
The routine was to drive in semi-automatic mode and approach the pan at 30mph in third gear then the instructor yanks on the handbrake and you hang on to that wheel! Tues. 23 Sept. 1986 |
VLT 169 in Oxford Street, bound for Harlesden on the celebrated 12 |
VLT 219 in "Silver Bow" livery on the 159 to West Hampstead L.T. Station |
VLT 219 again in Whitehall |
289 CLT on the 12 for Harlesden Willesden Junction |
A typical view of Routemasters at work, taken from my friend's Ford Capri (remember those?!) - maybe the Edgware Road? The one we're following is on the 3 for Parliament Hill Fields |
Cricklewood Broadway and CUV 339C heads for Victoria on route 16 |
The driver hops in at Cricklewood Broadway, to take CUV 361C to Victoria on the 16 |
220 CLT heads for Raynes Park on the 77A. I always liked the early look with fixed-glazed upperdeck front windows. I've deliberately listed registration numbers, to show that these are all original and not silly plates! |
This was the driver simulator cab at Chiswick Works, based on the RT outline and built in 1962, hence the RT1962 "fleetnumber"! Tues. 23 Sept. 1986 |
Where all Routemaster careers started - the entrance to Chiswick's Recruiting and Training Centre, displayed in gold lettering over the doorway, in Gills Sans font of course! I wonder how many passed through these famous doors, alas now just a memory. Tues. 23 Sept. 1986 |
WLT 658 resting in Park Lane, on the Official LT London Tour duty. Tues. 23 Sept. 1986 |
Whitehall in the 1980's. SMK 685 F, one of the last batch of RML's, on the 88 for Vauxhall |
Just another Routemaster day in Whitehall. ALD 987B, Aldwych bound on the famous 11 |
WLT 744 on the 53 to Plumstead Common |
ALM 958 on the 11 for Fulham |
According to the reg. plate it's 9 CLT, on the 3 to Crystal Palace |
WLT 382 under the watchful eye of Big Ben, on the 11 to Hammersmith |
RML 2737, SMK 737F waits at the lights on the 24 for Pimlico |
CUV 365C overtakes 736 DYE in the corridors of power |
On the North Circular - following JJD 586D on a special railway service, as we head home for Derby |
Tues. 23 Sept. 1986.The ultimate - my visit to the Chiswick Works skid pan, which every London Transport driver had to undergo in the good old days. Doing the honours is RM 740 |
