Gunpowder,
treason and plot. Well, we've got the second two down to
a fine art, and you can undoubtedly obtain loads of the
first in the areas of south London through which the 12
passes. The title of today's piece is taken from a film
made to commemorate the passing of London's trams fifty
years ago, and is entirely apposite because the Elephant
and Castle, along with the Walworth Road and points south
of Peckham have lost their conductors.
Today was the last day of crew operation on the 12. Once
again, large numbers of employees, this time from London
Central's Camberwell garage, found themselves thrown out
of work after today, with the accompanying disintegration
of travelling standards for the unfortunate souls who now
have to take the new articulated buses into town. Perhaps
their only consolation will be that their standing room
journeys can from now on be endured free of charge, with
laughably little chance of being fingered by revenue
inspectors. I did manage to find permanent employment
beyond London's borders, and will shortly be moving to
accompany it, as long promised/threatened. You can't
imagine how glad I am not to have to take the bus into
central London any more - it's too much! And after a
while, any of the increasingly infrequent trips I make
into town on Saturdays to photograph buses will be made
by car. So if Ken Livingstone can lose me as a passenger,
he's lost us all. Returning to the Bonfire Night theme, I
wonder if our Mayor remembers what happened to the last
misguided individual who tried to make unwelcome changes
on the fifth of November? They burned him.
As with each of the last Routemaster days, the last day
of the 12 was ushered out with the appearance of many
lovingly restored classic London buses, numbering twelve
in all (plus one more which did not work in service). The
12's normal Monday to Friday runout numbered 38 buses,
consisting mostly of RMLs but with a number of short RMs
in support. All were driven after service to a storage
facility in Walworth, not returning to Camberwell garage. |
 |
Just one of
the standard RMLs based at Camberwell until
yesterday night was RML 2515 (JJD 515D), pictured at
County Hall at half past six. Just as classic,
unique and irreplaceable is Big Ben behind it -
are we to pull that down as well because it
doesn't fit the inexplicable self-hatred that
those in power seem to show for our heritage?
People aren't going to want to come to London any
more if they have to be conveyed standing in a
foreign-made cattle truck that doesn't symbolise
the city in the slightest. Even fairly late into
the evening rush hour, I noticed that every one
of the 453s coming through the same spot was
grossly overloaded - and so now shall be the 12s.
|
 |
In the last
fortnight of crew operation on the 12, London
Central re-registered all of Camberwell's
pre-1963 RMs that had not already been disfigured
with previously unissued marks. I assume the
intention is to flog all the plates at the
inflated price (about £750-850
at market rates) that unsuffixed registrations
continue to command (and judging from the number
of enthusiasts driving cars with VLT and WLT
registrations, it seems to be worth it!) One such
was RM 994 (793 UXA, ex WLT 994),
but there's a twist to this one, because it has
been re-registered before! As the first and only
RM to be refurbished by Northern Counties prior
to the award of the main refurbishment contract
to TBP and South Yorkshire (with Leaside doing
their own), it was considered somewhat special
and so adopted VLT 89 from the departing
General-liveried RM 89. When the allure faded it
was restored to WLT 994 and carried on until last
week when it took on 793 UXA. Still, this
discontinued (-XA) combination was one of those
issued by London until 1974, so some historical
significance has been unintentionally retained. |
 |
From the
platform of RML 2276, one of the normal 12s on
its last day in service, I photographed RM 613 (WLT 613) setting off
from Oxford Circus. This veteran preservation
piece can add the 12 to its tally of last day
specials, following tours of duty on the 23, 8
and 7. It is worth noting that the 12's western
terminus until today was Notting Hill Gate. I
have to mention it because TfL certainly didn't -
in the inaccurate, vague and strikingly deceitful
publicity that didn't appear on stops and inside
buses until it was too late for regulars to
complain, no mention is made of the withdrawal of
the 12 past Oxford Circus and the transfer of
that section to an extension of the 390. |
 |
Today the 12
saw silver and gold! Earlier in the day, one of
the three contributions from Ensignbus was RML
2405, which they bought from First London and
have just repainted back into the Queen's Golden
Jubilee livery it carried to immortalise that
fifty-strong campaign of 2002. A former
stablemate of RML 2405 at Westbourne Park is RM 1650 (650 DYE), which
retains its Silver Jubilee livery and SRM 3
alter-ego (it is also known to FirstGroup's SEMA
Voyager classification system as 39950, but
everybody knows I've never taken those numbers
seriously!). Seen at Notting Hill Gate under the
running number 62, RM 1650 is also showing a
commemorative via blind that sheds some light on
the impending OPO conversion that TfL, it seems,
would rather have hidden from its passengers. |
 |
There's
nothing like surprises on these last days, and
today we got three! At the former southernmost
section of the 12 route at Elmers End, preserved
RT 2177 was roving about, though not in service.
The second of the unexpected appearances was by RM 642 (WLT 642), which is
seen at Notting Hill Gate at half past seven,
looking immaculate. For all the huge peak vehicle
requirement (once over a hundred buses) and
incredibly long length that the 12 once enjoyed
(running between Willesden Junction and South
Croydon), the conversion from RT to RM came only
in 1973, surprisingly late in the game. With
vehicle and spares shortages plaguing LT at the
time, it was a wonder that they managed to gather
together enough RMs for the task! In 1987,
following gradual retrenchments of the southern
end that eventually stopped at Dulwich, RMLs were
phased onto the route. Where once up to six
garages had worked in unison, only Camberwell is
in charge today. Peckham, Elmers End and Walworth
have all closed, and one last withdrawal of the
western end, back to Notting Hill Gate, put
Shepherds Bush out of range. |
 |
Star of the
show today was Blue Triangle's latest project,
Saunders-bodied RT 3062 (KXW 171), bringing the
marvellous sight of a roofbox blind display back
to London's streets after a long absence. RT 3062
used to be owned by Ensignbus and occasionally
joined the company's reclaimed DMSs on the 62 and
145 during that company's tenure on those
traditionally (and once again) Barking
garage-operated routes in the late 1980s.
Although a bus's roof dome is pretty much the
ideal location to place a route number, being
instantly noticeable as such, the DDA will howl
blue murder, hence the inadequate standards of
blinds we have to suffer with today. The roofbox
display was standard on RT3-type bodies
manufactured prior to the far more numerous RT8
design, but the last roofbox RTs lingered until
1971. Whitehall is the location of RT 3062, and
the time is 9:25. It's also nice to see an RT
with cream upper deck windows again - RT 3871
(also out and about today, as usual!) used to
carry that livery but lost it on its last repaint
but one. |
 |
Blue
Triangle's third entry in tonight's extravaganza
allowed RML 900 (WLT 900) to make its
peace with the 12 at last. For this was the route
on which an accident with a digger ended the
bus's London career on 10th July 1987, sixteen
years before any of its contemporaries in the
24-strong evaluatory RML batch were withdrawn. It
had only been based at Camberwell for four months
after coming off the 207s at Hanwell. But what
London Buses couldn't or wouldn't repair,
Clydeside Scottish did in a jiffy and the bus
became the company's flagship. Now once more
residing within reach of London, RML 900's first
return outing was to the 8's last day in June. |
 |
Here's where
it got complicated for those of us rushing about
trying to ride on or photograph as much as we
could. The last journeys to and from each
terminus were not the last journeys of all, with
many finishing at Notting Hill Gate or Dulwich
and then being driven direct to Mandela Way
storage facility. The final two Routemasters on
the 12 were not selected from the normal runout
but were RM 9 and RML 2725 from the Private Hire
arm of London Central/General, and the very last
journey itself (Q212) ran only as far as Peckham.
Still, allowing for considerable slippage to the
timetable owing to the sheer volume of people
cramming into the West End by midnight, the last
route 12, RML 2725, set off from Dulwich at 23:40
(intended to be 23:19). Behind it was RM 9 (VLT 9) as a duplicate, and here
it is on stand at Etherow Street. The residents
didn't stir when our massed flashbulbs went off,
but they've already been complaining vociferously
to the local papers about the impending effect of
bendy buses on their quiet street. To absolutely
no avail, and the best they can do now is move
away if they can - showing that it's not just the
passengers that have been forgotten in Ken's
crush-loading, free-riding revolution. |
 |
Today's
previous incarnations of Q212 were RML 2714 and
RML 2515, but it was at the death that RML 2725 (SMK 725F) arrived from
Sutton to take up this duty. Both this bus and RM
9 had a moment of glory earlier this year when
they filled in for artics on Red Arrow route 507,
but maybe now the bendies will have their
revenge. After reaching Notting Hill Gate and
standing for pictures, it set off on the last
journey (timetabled for 00:24) at 00:52, pulling
into Peckham bus station fifty-eight minutes
later. It is sobering to reflect that the
location where the last 12 is pictured was once a
massive bus garage capable of housing two hundred
vehicles, but overcapacity in this part of town
eventually did for Old Kent Road, Nunhead, Rye
Lane, Clapham (twice), Walworth (thrice,
but since reopened again!) and Streatham as well
as the original Peckham garage. Not forgetting
long-time route 12 operator Elmers End, which
closed in 1986.
As a non-timetabled bus, RM 9 had continued on to
Dulwich ahead of RML 2725, but it was determined
that this bus should be the last into Camberwell
garage (or at least to its gates, as the site was
now full of artics), so those of us who stayed on
after the end of the line were treated to an
exhilarating lights-off, windows-down, high-speed
run through the deserted streets to Dulwich and
back to Camberwell (ascending Dog Kennel Hill
almost didn't come off, but it's the thought that
counts!), and that was it. |
|
As
usual, thanks go out to the large number of owners,
operators and owner-operators who brought out their
vehicles to see off the 12, at times taking them to the
very ends of the old 12's greatest extent. My best wishes
are also due to Camberwell's conductors, many of whom
have been thanked with the boot for their long years of
service to the community. Just some have managed to
transfer to New Cross and the 36, and even then they only
have two and a half months left. The 36 is now London
Central's last crew route, and that is to go OPO (though
with the last of the PVLs rather than with artics) on
29th January 2005 - so start photographing and riding 36s
now, while you still can.
Still, murmurs are coming out of the impenetrable TfL
machine about what is going to form, and who is in line
to run, the heritage route that has been promised for so
long while the normal routes disappear. I still maintain
that if it is to have any chance of success, it must be
one of the existing Routemaster routes rather than some
sort of twee (and no doubt expensive) service marketed
only at tourists. Ken has already slagged off the tour
operators (most unfairly, as companies like Big Bus set
very high standards which most of the stage operators
would do well to follow) and expressed wishes that their
routes were Travelcard-adaptable. In my mind, the 19
would fit the bill perfectly. Not only is it reliable,
fast and useful to the commuter, but it serves the West
End's key draws like Piccadilly Circus and Knightsbridge,
linking them with trendy bits like Chelsea and Islington.
But the 19 is next up for OPO after the 36, falling on or
around 22nd April. Note that I omitted mentioning Oxford
Street, the main drag of which the 19 does not serve -
with the entry of artics to the 12, that doomed
thoroughfare is now completely beyond hope, and best
avoided like the plague (as most of the bona fide tourist
guides will actually suggest, tellingly). For those daft
tourists who really crave their fix of
sweatshop-manufactured designer fakes, skin-poisoning
'gold' jewellery and blatantly moody 'perfume' sold by
stereotypical Cockney wide boys who flee at the mere
suggestion of a copper, there do exist other outlets. And
they won't even have to go through the shared experience
of foreign visitors to Oxford Street, which is to say
having their wallet and/or camera pinched! |
The
full turnout of special buses on the 12 today was as
follows:
Blue
Triangle: RT
3062, RT 3871, RML 900.
Ensignbus: RT 4421, RCL 2220, RML 2405.
Preserved: RT 1702, RT 2177 (not in
service), RM 613, RM 642.
First
London: RM
1650.
London
General (Private Hire): RM 9, RML 2725.And on the normal 12s for one
last day (running numbers omitted as they 'step back'
regularly):
RM 541, 994, 1062, 1082, 1097, 1174, 1260, 1305, 1380,
1621, 1962, 2051, 2106, 2109.
RML 883, 2271, 2273, 2275, 2276, 2302, 2396, 2400, 2454,
2469, 2474, 2499, 2515, 2551, 2554, 2583, 2596, 2613,
2683, 2693, 2711, 2714.
NV 58, 125.
PVL 328.
|
