The London Bus Page - 04/06/04

It's going to be almost as difficult to write a fitting tribute to Stagecoach East London's superhuman efforts regarding the last day of their Routemaster fleet as it must have been for them to pull together such an extraordinary undertaking as they did. On Friday 4th June, from 9:30 am till close of service at 12:30, Bow garage added to their surviving fifteen RMLs an amazing pantheon of eighteen classics donated for the day by museums, preservationists and neighbouring London companies. All of these concerns came together for one day to make sure that the 8, the last regular conductor-operated bus service to work in the City of London, the last by Bow Garage and the last at Stagecoach as a whole, was given a send-off that would really drive home to critics of traditional crew operation with Routemaster buses that Londoners love their unique mode of transport and will not be willing to give it up without a fight.
This update, without a doubt the largest London Bus Page update ever written, comprises this background piece and three following parts.

Stagecoach East London Dennis Trident 18218 (LX04 FXF) at Bow Church, 04/06/04

It's worth getting these out of the way now, as that's what's going to be the face of the 8 for at least, oh, five years while the contract lasts. There's nothing generally wrong with the Alexander-bodied Dennis Trident (those famous names thankfully having returned with the sell-off of TransBus), but there's now no difference between a suburban route like the 374 (which also uses standard Stagecoach TAs, and the 8, which to my eyes and those of others was a prestige route because it used Routemasters. RMLs made people who lived and worked in the City feel superior somehow because they were protected from the worst of the impersonality of OPO buses when they first came to London.
Pictured in the Bow Road approaching the 8's first stop at Bow Church, but with a conductor on board for one last day is brand new 18218 (LX04 FXF). In the morning it ran as BW75, the duty which becomes the last into the garage at 12:30 am. This was always intended to fall to RML 2760 as the last Routemaster in.

Blue Triangle AEC Regent RT 3871 (LLU 670) at Victoria, 03/06/04

It was a dead cert that Blue Triangle could be relied upon to perform in the special runnings, using their beautifully presented RT 3871 (LLU 670). On the final day they were to operate no fewer than four of their heritage fleet on the 8, but RT 3871 also worked on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd as well, and is seen arriving at Victoria on the Thursday evening. Photography at Victoria bus station hasn't really benefited form the site's recent rebuilding, and only this stop at Terminus Place (now served by the 8 as well as the 36) remains relatively unobstructed. Still, it's busy, with the sometimes over-concerned station staff and the less conscientious of the photographer community often getting under each other's feet.

There have already been three separate events to mark the 8's passing, all of which have been covered here. T 1 and M 1 guested on 16th May, RM 8 and RT 1702 a week later and then came the terrific farewell tour mounted by Bow over the Bank Holiday weekend. Due to the difficulties suffered by TransBus (as was), manufacturer of the route 8 Routemasters' intended replacement vehicles, a dozen RMLs remained in service until the end, all in the smashing 1960s livery designed for Stagecoach East London upon its purchase from London Buses Limited in September 1994.

With the background complete, now continue to Part One to commence Friday's epic journey up and down route 8, or return to the Table of Contents.


by Matthew Wharmby
Index Page ~ Table of Contents ~ Links ~ Email