| The start
to the rally season begins at Cobham. This year,
the always excellent and superbly-managed event
had a new display site. In years past Brooklands
runway near Weybridge served this purpose, but
successive development on that site meant less
and less room for buses. This year a new site
only down the road has been found - and what a
find Wisley Airfield is! It's absolutely huge,
with miles upon miles of space to manoeuvre. To
think this ideal location had been sitting unused
for so long so close to the museum. My thanks go
to the organisers for providing such an enjoyable
day out at this most friendly and historically
important of museums. |
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2004 marks the
fiftieth anniversary of the Routemaster, and as
the type starts to move on from London their next
step is represented by former Stagecoach East
London RML 2565 (JJD 565D), splendidly
repainted by Ensignbus into the smart blue and
silver of Stratford Blue. They've taken the
trouble to fit proper black numberplates and
chrome headlight rings, and have picked the
grille out in silver. Ensignbus made their name
out of securing the future careers of London
Transport buses, particularly examples that were
wasted by LT. As such, 33-year-old Daimler
Fleetline DMS 33 (EGP 33J) in the
background makes an appearance, having been
converted into an open-topper some years ago. |
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It's been gold
once and silver twice! Making capital of the
claim of this bus's number to have celebrated
both Silver and Golden Jubilees of the Queen,
Westbourne Park's RM 1650 (650 DYE) has received
a full silver repaint for RM50 and looks superb.
It and several other classics were working the
477, 499 and 624 from Wisley to the Museum and
Weybridge Station. Due to the fact that the A3
bisecting the sites is exit only, the return
journey is a long and very picturesque jaunt
through the countryside. The bus is seen at the
spacious entry site, where there was acres of
room for photographers to mill about freely. Up a
hill a short distance away over three hundred
buses were on display. |
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Another
Ensignbus classic is RT 3232 (KYY 961), once again
carrying the elegant blue and silver livery and
pictured working the 477 to Cobham. A different
aspect from hitherto, as the buses used to enter
the site from the opposite direction when they
arrived from Brooklands. |
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A very recent
repatriation to Britain is RTW 335 (KXW 435), joining a
very small number of the surviving eight foot
wide all-Leyland RTW variants from a class of 500
that ran on central London routes between 1949
and 1966. Don't be put off by the dishevelled
appearance - a closer look reveals that the bus
isn't sagging in the middle, as tends to happen
to ageing timber-framed buses, and the panels
will be good as new after rubbing down and
repainting. |
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