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

Route 137's Routemasters Go Quietly Into The Night
Friday 9th July 2004

Another Routemaster route is gone - the 137, operated by Arriva London South's Brixton (BN) garage and running between Oxford Street and Brixton Garage on Streatham Hill. As I'd worried before, it looked very much as if this most traditional of routes would wither away without any commemoration, but on the last day we weren't let down after all. Two preserved buses were put into action along the 137 and five of the route's normal Routemasters managed to survive all the way to the last day. Indeed it was made sure that the last two crew 137s were Routemasters; one RM and one RML.

This chance shot at Hyde Park Corner on Monday evening symbolises the handover as a stricken RM 1811 (EGF 220B, ex 811 DYE) transfers its passengers over to DW 75 (LJ04 LGN). If there's any consolation at all to the 137's loss, at least the replacement buses, comprising about forty new VDL Bus (DAF to me and you) DB250RS(LF)s with Wright Pulsar Gemini bodywork, have some character to them. The 137's peak vehicle requirement has been increased from 28 RMLs to 36 DWs, which comes as something of a surprise given that the era of breakneck expansion has otherwise juddered to a screeching halt. I've got to admit I won't miss photographing at the 137's John Princes Street stand at Oxford Circus; the sheer mass of tourists milling witlessly across makes it very difficult to get a decent shot if the buses aren't far back enough. This wasn't always the 137's northern terminus by any means - until 1987 it ran as far north as Archway until supplanted over this section by a partial one-manning in the shape of route 135 (since replaced by the 88). RML 2545 (JJD 545D) performed on BN185 on the last day of crew operation on the 137, and is seen at 4:15 pm. The other Routemasters present were RM 2217 (BN179), RML 2573 (BN180), RML 2366 (BN189) and what would become the last in service, RML 2407 (BN181). Indeed, the latter two replaced crew-operated DWs on their respective workings shortly before the evening peak. The call for preserved buses was heeded, and for that we must thank Peter Simmonds, owner of preserved Routemaster RM 642 (WLT 642, right) - his participation today was also his last day working as a crew driver on the 137. This bus served as a duplicate to RML 2407 on its final run before taking some of us back into town as an N159 (thanks again!). Also out during the day was RT 1702 (KYY 529, left). This bus's run over the lost southern end of the old 137 via Leigham Park Road to Crystal Palace allows me to tie up the history of that end of the route. When Brixton garage gained an allocation on 7th February 1987, the 137 was re-routed away from Clapham Park so that it passed the garage, and the inevitable partial one-manning came on 2nd February 1991 under the number 137A. As well as replacing the 137 south of Brixton Garage, in the evenings and on Sundays the 137A took over all the way to Oxford Circus. This pattern was reversed in 1998, allowing the 137 to resume daily RML operation, and the 137A has been known under the number 417 since 1999 (although the N137 night bus continues over both 137 and 417 to Crystal Palace). Although RT 1702 exemplified the pre-Routemaster era, the 137 also fielded a considerable RTL element when its long-standing allocation at Victoria (GM) received the Leylands in lieu of the AEC RTs. The RTL allocation at Camberwell (Q), the other garage working the route, made way in 1954 for Norwood (N) who used RTs. In the 1950s Clapham (CA) also had a short-lived Sunday allocation using RTLs, but this wasn't to be the last say by that garage. By the time Clapham reopened in 1981 to accommodate the staff and buses of nearby garages under reconstruction, the 137 had long been operated by RMs (since November 1964). Clapham was in sole charge of the 137 before its permanent closure in 1987, upon which Brixton and Streatham (AK) took over. OPO on Sundays was instituted at the same time, but otherwise RMLs appeared in 1986 with the route fully RML by 1990. Streatham withdrew in 1991, leaving Brixton in charge except for Sunday OPO workings by Norwood with Ls from 1999 to 2001, after which conductors returned on Sundays. Despite being scheduled for RMLs, the existence of an equivalent number of short RMs at Brixton for the 159 meant that mixed type operation was pretty much the norm. RM 2217 (CUV 217C) had the distinction of being the last contructed to the 27'6" length for London Transport, after which thirty-foot RCLs and then RMLs were built. Tonight, as BN179, it was the penultimate Routemaster to leave Oxford Circus, and is seen at ten to eleven. This was one of a number of Brixton's RMs to have been re-engined for a second time, losing their Iveco units for Cummins engines paired with Allison gearboxes, a combination that made them sound exactly like Dennis Darts! Many of those that were made spare were re-registered before storage at Brixton Hill former tram depot, allowing their cherished plates to pass to new DWs. At 12:45 am the last route 137 crew duty departed from Oxford Circus in the shape of RML 2407 (JJD 407D) as BN181. I think this route had much more character than Brixton's other crew service (the 159), serving as it did the upmarket Knightsbridge and Sloane Street before crossing the elegant Chelsea Bridge to reach more well-favoured areas like Clapham. Crew operation has thus been struck from this area, and thus endeth, really, the idea of the Man On The Clapham Omnibus, the archetype of social commentary as viewed from your typical London bus. The last journey was accomplished exactly to time. Even though gas main works at Knightsbridge had played hell with timekeeping during the day, both RML 2407 and its duplicate RM 642 were able to rush southwards and reach Brixton garage exactly when expected at 1:20 am, and it is at this location where the bus is seen having completed its final run, consigning more Routemasters and their faithful conductors to history.

With the conversion of the 137 to OPO, the complement of Routemasters is now slightly above half that of 29th August 2003, when the 15 started the final exodus. Two weeks from now is Routemaster 50, the class's grand farewell party in Finsbury Park, but after that the withdrawals resume. It still looks like the 9, 73 and 390 will all go over the cliff at once on 3rd September, although the 73's conversion date looks increasingly likely to slip and the 390's type switch may be done a little early so that people won't have to split themselves into three rushing between either end of town to try and photograph and ride on the last day of these three services. Thanks to Arriva London South at Brixton Garage for recognising the importance of events like this by shuffling their remaining Routemasters onto the most important final workings, and also for marshalling us effectively away from the dangerous racing track that is Streatham High Road. Thanks are also due to Peter Simmonds for bringing out the excellent RM 642, and to the owners of RT 1702 who provided an enjoyable glimpse back into the history of the 137 today.