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After a
service career of twenty-four years, seven months
and fifteen days, the life of the Leyland Titan
in London service came to an end at 20:38 this
evening when Camberwell's T 1018 (A618 THV), the
last to survive with London Central, entered
Aldgate Station as Q98 on route 40, a duty it had
been working all day. T 1018 had become the only
Titan left out of a fleet that once numbered 1125
members (plus six acquired second-hand) when
Peckham's final two were withdrawn on 4th April.
It then worked alone for two months, largely on
the 40 but also on Camberwell's other OPO
services 35 and 45 as well as frequent
crew-operated turns on the 12. In this shot taken
at Aldgate just prior to the scheduled 12:42
departure, the driver is thoughtfully reversing
the bus into an ideal photographic spot (perhaps
helped by the usual 40 stand being full of
115s!). Both old and new London Central logos are
in evidence, the latter having been applied to
accompany the bus's general spruce-up for the
type's last day. |
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London
Central were not originally planning to
commemorate the final day of this last of the
London Transport-designed buses, but were brought
around after gentle persuasion from the
enthusiast community. In addition a shortage of
buses at Camberwell forced them to not only turn
away Ensign when they came to collect T 1018 at
the end of May, but have it licensed for another
year after its previous tax disc ran out on 31st
May. Which pretty much guarantees further service
from whoever purchases it from Ensign! In the
end, T 1018's FFD runs out tomorrow so today,
Thursday 19th June was selected by London Central
as the last day. Thanks to London Central for
giving the Titan a proper send-off, it was much
appreciated by the sizeable band who rode on T
1018 (some all day!) and photographed it for
posterity.
In this shot, Dulwich has been reached.
Ironically, Routemaster RML 2270 behind on the 12
is exactly twice the age of T 1018's nineteen
years, but shows no signs of impending
withdrawal. Yet another generation of modern bus
the Routemaster has outlived! |
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Dulwich again, and it's time to
prepare for the last journey, which was scheduled
to depart at 19:56. The 40 isn't really a
'classic' Titan route, only taking the type in
crew mode in mid-1984 when Poplar replaced RMs,
and then settling with the familiar A- and
B-registration models when Camberwell took over
the route to go with its OPO conversion on 2nd
November 1985. Considerable routeing changes have
shortened the 40 to run as far east as Aldgate
only (its heyday workings to far-off Wanstead
long forgotten) and its southern terminus
switched from Herne Hill to Dulwich. T 1018
itself has wandered more than most Titans of its
batch, starting at Catford garage in June 1984
before seeing service at Sidcup, New Cross and
Peckham. Privatisation froze it in place as a
London Central bus, and its final transfer was to
Camberwell only fairly recently. |
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This close-up shows the
commemorative 'London's Last Titan' notice
carried in T 1018's windscreen. It also allows a
look at the detail changes wrought by nineteen
years' passage of time. As well as Go-Ahead
corporate logos over the second version of London
Central livery (albeit applied to the lower half
only, missing the yellow tape band and with black
paint rather than the correct shade of charcoal
on each bumper), foglights, PAY DRIVER plate and
Leyland badge have all gone. Reflective
black-on-white numberplates have been fitted,
blinds now feature fluorescent yellow characters
and upstairs the opening front windows have been
replaced by fixed glass units. Also reflecting
the changing times is a distressingly large
amount of window etching. There is a bus lane
camera housing beside the front blind box, but
it's empty - whether it actually carried a camera
is not for us to know. |
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So it's
goodbye to the Titan's interior, with its
unforgettably weird lower deck rear window
configuration. Ironically, the rear windows on
modern buses are now even smaller still, though
aided by a CCTV camera rather than an inset
magnifying glass. The olive-drab and custard
yellow surfaces have aged better than you'd
think, and the green handrails added upon the
adoption of DiPTAC specifications in 1991 have
worn well. Most tellingly, Londoners will never
again see the standards of comfort that Titans
provided - acres of leg room, real seats with
proper cushions and windows that actually slide
open to admit fresh air rather than deflecting it
over your head. The ride was always of a high
standard and the reliable Gardner engines never
made funny noises. Pity that operators outside
London preferred the simpler (and less expensive)
but considerably inferior Olympian! That is,
until Titans spare from tendering losses began
pouring onto the open market at knock-down
prices... That's where you can still find service
examples now that London's last has gone. |
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At 20:38
T 1018 reached Aldgate for the last time. After
disembarking its passengers, most of whom were
enthusiasts (I wonder if the 'normal' travelling
public appreciated the significance of the
occasion - I did hear some asking what all the
fuss was about), T 1018 turned around to commence
its final journey back over the Thames to
Camberwell garage. The colour discrepancy between
the unpainted upper deck and the lower deck
reveals that realistically, this bus is exhausted
and well overdue for replacement. Indeed, the
last Titan routes at London Central, those at
Bexleyheath, were officially upgraded to Volvo
B7TLs over three years ago! Thus this final spare
bus in what had become a class of spare buses has
breathed its last.
Goodbye Titan!
Monday 4th December 1978
(London Transport - Hornchurch garage, route 246)
to
Thursday 19th June 2003 (London Central -
Camberwell garage, route 40). |
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