No, it's not a cricket score, though you
never know with the England cricket team... Today marked
both the end of the 36's Routemasters and the finish of
crew operation at the London Central company, meaning
over eighty more conductors thrown out of work and the
route itself disappearing into anonymity, with nothing to
distinguish it from other routine south London services
like the 89 or 171. Without conductors to keep an eye on
the nastier of bus travellers, the brand new PVLs that
have now taken over will have nobody to stop the vandals
from turning them into the same state that befell, within
months, the similar one-man buses used on those two
routes.
As is customary, a lot of hard work was done by a very
few good people to ensure that the 36 received a decent
send-off that was appreciated not only by the regular
band of observers and photographers, but by the general
public of the area who, when informed of what was going
on, expressed their disappointment. It goes without
saying that official publicity for the removal of the
36's RMs reached a new low by virtue of its total
non-existence this time. They didn't even fob us off with
the 'Buses Are Getting Better' untruth that's been on TfL
posters for a while. Since the new buses have eight fewer
seats (without sufficient cushions!), inadequate opening
windows and no conductor to deter vandalism, this is a
bad joke that's gone too far.
In these pages, as ever, I covered the whole day, with
all sorts of stories to tell and photos to accompany the
event. I found it calmer and more efficient an operation
to be part of - I was able to ride on, photograph and log
everything on offer without feeling like I had to rush
about like a nutter. It's since come to light that there
were traffic jams, multiple vehicle breakdowns and all
sorts that went on, not to mention the challenges posed
by today's dull and intermittently rainy January weather,
but they never detracted from the enjoyability at all. |
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Although the
36 was mostly RM since its conversion in 1963
(and barring the years 1976-1980 when the group
was in the hands of the short-lived MD class of
Scania Metropolitans), an element of RML
operation was introduced when some of the longer
Routemasters became spare. Ten of New Cross's
twelve RMLs were withdrawn on Monday 24th January
and the other two departed on Tuesday, all being
replaced by the first intake of PVLs, but to
exemplify the class's period of service to the 36
I include this shot of RML 2318 (CUV 318C) taken at
Vauxhall's new bus station on 5th January. As
nine of the twelve have the latest combination of
Cummins B-series engines and Allison gearboxes,
it has been suggested that at least some of them
will transfer to Putney for the 14 and 22, which
still have five months left to go if rumours are
to be believed. |
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Before
tackling the raft of special buses, here's a
tribute to the normal RMs that had been working
the 36 for so many years. RM 1002 (OYM 368A, ex 2 CLT) as
NX11 is noteworthy for two reasons. Firstly,
eighteen years ago it was the first London
Transport bus to be re-registered while still in
service, a practice that has spread to almost all
buses built before suffixed registrations were
adopted in 1964. Secondly, the lower-mounted
running number plates identify this bus as one of
the large batch converted to carry equipment for
the BUSCO radio control system, a forerunner of
today's universally used Band 3 network. The bus
is seen opposite Camberwell garage, a location
unimpeded by either traffic or pedestrians and
also helpful for the angle of photography
necessary at half past ten in the morning. The
BUSCO scheme was introduced when the 36 group all
ran from Peckham (PM), allowing the technology to
be concentrated at the one garage. Since that
time the 36B was progressively moved out to
Catford and the surviving 36 transferred into New
Cross when Peckham's main site closed in 1993. |
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Part of the
36's commemorative programme today paid tribute
to the full extent of the route served before
traffic considerations led to the progressive
pulling back of its terminus to today's
convenient spot outside its operating garage at
New Cross. To that end, three of the special
buses were extended to Hither Green Station,
where the 36 ran to until 1991. A diversion of
the 180 from the north to cover that leg was not
a success and now only local routes serve this
location. Seen outside Camberwell garage at 10:45
is Great Northern-liveried RM 25 (855 UXC, ex VLT 25), a
special guest from the 19 at Arriva London
South's Battersea (and the next Routemaster route
to be lost, on 1st April). Unfortunately it broke
down at Hither Green and returned home out of
service - as did its accompaniment, silver RM
1650 from First. |
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What would a
Last Routemaster day be without faithful RT 3871 (LLU 670) from Blue
Triangle? This northbound shot at Camberwell
gives an opportunity to note that the northern
terminus of the 36 at Queens Park Station used to
be referred to as West Kilburn. RT 3871 was just
one of four superb contributions from Blue
Triangle, with RT 3062, RML 900 and RTW 75 all
appearing during the day. At the close of play,
RT 3871 led out the last 36 Routemaster in
service, of which more shortly. |
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I missed the
debut of RML 2405 (JJD 405D) on the 12 in
November, so here it is doing the honours on the
last day of the 36. When with First London it was
vinylled in gold for the Queen's Golden Jubilee,
and when Ensignbus bought it last year they
restored this livery but properly, with paint.
Vauxhall bus station is the scene, and what a
revelation from the staff, who were both helpful
and accommodating to the masses of photographers
congregating, even going so far as to hold buses
for us while we took pictures. TfL's new wave of
bus stations have been a success in my mind,
being both useful to the passenger and well laid
out for the photographer (though I'm sure this
isn't quite what they intended!). If only they
would apply the same imagination of their house
style and specify a standard design of bus that's
unique to London - just like the Routemaster has
been for fifty years. Because without the RM,
London's image disappears into an anonymity that
embarrasses its pretentions of being a world
capital. Accordingly, taking pictures at Victoria
bus station was never an option for today - not
least because they've started digging it up
again! |
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Sure to be a
regular fixture on Last Days from now on is RM 5 (VLT 5), now in retirement with
Leaside Travel. This bus was the last Routemaster
on the 73 in September, marking its peak as a
preserved bus of already many years' standing. It
has just undergone a splendid repaint, removing
the uncomfortably brash adornments that came with
its Arriva livery and regaining proper London
Transport fleetnames. Again, where the LT roundel
features prominently on the bus station at
Vauxhall (mounted below the 'ski jump' out of
shot above the picture), modern buses contracted
to TfL carry no trace of the proud and
world-famous old identity save a minuscule
sticker on the front. |
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A new company
and a new bus to the Last Day phenomenon are
united in the form of RML 2317 (CUV 317C) from
Metrobus. Following the vehicle's withdrawal from
Stockwell when the 11 was one-manned after 31st
October 2003, it moved within the Go-Ahead
group's London empire to Metrobus, who have
repainted it to recall its original identity as a
green bus with the Country Area of the old London
Transport. It helps for the purpose of
authenticity that RML 2317 still carries its
original body, as do many of the hundred RMLs
sold back to LT by London Country in 1980 - upon
the sale of the green bus network to the NBC ten
years earlier, its buses were no longer
overhauled at Aldenham (and their appearance
deteriorated accordingly, but that's another
story). Again, thanks to the Vauxhall bus station
staff for not chasing us off this unorthodox
photo patch right in the path of oncoming
vehicles. |
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The first
Routemaster came out again for a Last Day
journey. RM 1 (SLT 56) is seen round
the back of Victoria getting ready for the 13:20
departure northbound as far as Harrow Road only.
Unfortunately it sprang a fault on its way and
was eased gently back to its home at the Depot of
London's Transport Museum at Acton. It's curious
how this bus, in common with RM 2 and RM(L) 3 of
the four prototypes, should have had such a short
innings in London service when their production
sisters went on to perform for nearly five
decades uninterrupted. London Transport's
interest in this classic vehicle waned to such a
low ebb at one point that they sold it
altogether, and only comparatively recently has
it come to receive the acclaim it deserves. |
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With these
events there's always a star of the show, aside
from the Last Bus which always achieves instant
immortality. This time Ensignbus upped the ante
by declaring that their third special on route 36
would be a surprise and keeping its identity a
tightly guarded secret. When it came, it was an
absolute treat, as there are only two known
survivors of this already rare breed of
Cravens-bodied RT of a small batch of 120
purchased in 1948-1950. With their five-bay
bodywork that was so different to the standard RT
specification, they were so non-standard that
they were all withdrawn and sold after just six
years in service. This fortuitous shot at New
Cross allows us to compare the design differences
between RT 1431 (JXC 194, left),
the surprise in question, and the standard RT8
configuration of Park Royal-bodied preserved RT 1702 (KYY 529, right).
RT 1702's brief was to re-create both routes 36A
and 36B of the old 36 group, but its current
Class 5 licence precluded it from running as a
fare-accepting service. |
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When it became
clear that RT 1702 wasn't going to be allowed to
fulfil its intended brief re-creating the 36B in
service, a replacement was enlisted in the form
of RML 2665 (SMK 665F), the
Stagecoach corporate-liveried RML that made its
debut in these colours on the last day of the 8
and which has since turned out in the same
capacity to see off the 9 and 73. The 36B to
Grove Park used to be the major partner in the 36
family, being renumbered from 69, the number it
was given when its buses replaced tram route 54.
When the 36 group was rationalised in the early
1990s, the 36 was boosted at the expense of the
36B, which eventually lost its service west of
Victoria. Upon OPO conversion in 1992 (which
introduced Dennis Lance single-deckers) it was
retracted to Camberwell, and in 1994 when
double-decks returned, the route was further
withdrawn west of Peckham and renumbered 136, a
number that had fallen spare. Thus did the
friendly and cheerful conductor introduce the
smartly turned out RML to the regulars, whose
smiles and kind words show that it's not just the
enthusiasts who appreciate the effort being put
on and the total unnecessariness of the
withdrawal of the Routemasters in the first
place. |
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Some argument
exists among enthusiasts as to whether the Last
Bus of a Routemaster route should be a special or
one from the regular allocation. I veer towards
the latter opinion, while appreciating the need
for a duplicate to carry the 'normal' passengers.
Today both avenues were covered. The route 36
duty that was scheduled to come into New Cross
garage last, NX15, was for the day occupied by RM 1062 (794 UXA, ex 62 CLT),
one of New Cross's regular runout that was
considered a bit special in its own right. In
fact, people nicknamed it the Beast because of
the blistering performance (and accompanying
deafening noise) that would come from its Scania
engine. How ironic that the Scania-engined
Routemasters, which were re-engined with these
powerful units some years after the rest received
their Cummins or Iveco engines, should now be all
gone. This bus had left New Cross for Stockwell
and the 11 after the 36 was reduced to permit the
introduction of route 436, moving on after the
loss of the 11 to the 12 at Camberwell, but
returned to New Cross in November for the 36's
final few weeks. When RM 1062 entered New Cross
garage at ten to eleven, it was substituted on
NX15 by the London Central/General Private Hire
department's RM 9, itself a former route 36 bus
for many years, and the last journey began. |
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The last round
trip operated by a crew-operated bus on the 36
was scheduled to depart New Cross Garage at
22:57, reaching Queens Park (West Kilburn) at
23:55, then departing at 00:04 for an 01:04
arrival. Allowing for traffic-plagued slippage
that threatened to play almost as much havoc with
the schedule as the rainy weather did with our
photography, RM 9 set out led by RT 3871. But
when the latter bus peeled off at Victoria to
head home, RM 9 was left without a duplicate and
some aspiring passengers had to be left behind to
the ring of three bells denoting a full load
(after snatching a shot at Queens Park I lost my
seat and had to stand for the return, and you
know how much I normally hate to stand!).
Prospects were better at the death, where the
monster arc light being wielded by a film crew
illuminated RM 9 (VLT 9) sufficiently for me to
switch off the flash on my own camera. The time
is 1:20 am, and the New Cross conductor standing
so proudly in front of his bus right now is not
going to have a job to go back to tomorrow.
Unhappy stories have been trickling out since the
route 73 conversion of a very low percentage of
former conductors having found work again, and
for that, Ken Livingstone, Peter Hendy and those
who support them should be ashamed of themselves.
|
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| Here is the full list (just about!) of
the twenty-six normal route 36 workings observed during
Friday, with vehicle substitutions in brackets. Please
add or correct where applicable. Although I was under the
impression that PVLs would begin replacing RMs as they
ran in after the evening peak, as can be deduced from the
movements below, most of the RMs lasted till the death.
In fact, some RMs replaced others and even took over from
PVLs! |
| NX1 - PVL 393 (RM 2151) |
NX8 - PVL 411 |
NX15 - RM 1062 (RM 9) |
NX22 - PVL 392 |
| NX2 - RM 478 (PVL 392) |
NX9 - RM 1977 (RM 1058) |
NX16 - RM 2128 (PVL 403) |
NX23 - PVL 396 (PVL 393) |
| NX3 - RM 1097 |
NX10 - PVL 391 |
NX17 - RM 1666 |
NX24 - RM 2151 (?) |
| NX4 - PVL 398 |
NX11 - RM 1002 (RM 1980) |
NX18 - PVL 407 |
NX25 - PVL 390 |
| NX5 - RM 436 (RM 2022) |
NX12 - PVL 399 |
NX19 - RM 1033 |
NX26 - PVL 323 (PVL 395, PVL 172) |
| NX6 - RM 2022 (PVL 398) |
NX13 - RM 1058 (RM 1977) |
NX20 - PVL 400 |
|
| NX7 - RM 782 |
NX14 - RM 1980 (?) |
NX21 - PVL 397 (RM 478) |
|
| And the accompanying turnout of guest
vehicles, with their owner and special series running
number if used. Note that RTW 75 was a late entry, RT
1702 was not used in revenue service (as it only has a
Class 5 licence and not the Class 6 that is required for
stage work), and RM 9 assumed the 36's final
crew-operated rounder as NX15 (replacing RM 1062). |
| 101 - RML 2405 (Ensignbus) |
105 - RT 3062 (Blue
Triangle) |
109 - RM 25 (Arriva
London South) |
N/A - RML 2665 (Stagecoach) |
| 102 - RT 1431 (Ensignbus) |
106 - RT 3871 (Blue
Triangle) |
110 - RT 4421 (Ensignbus) |
N/A - RTW 75 (Blue
Triangle) |
| 103 - RML 2317 (Metrobus) |
107 - RM 613 (private) |
111 - RM 1 (LT
Museum) |
N/A - RT 1702 (private) |
| 104 - RM 5 (Arriva
London North) |
108 - RM 1650 (First) |
112 - RML 900 (Blue
Triangle) |
N/A - RM 9 (London
Central PH) |
Once
again, my thanks are due to all those who gave up their
time to put on these proud events - not only in the
execution, but in the planning as well. Thanks and good
wishes go out to those at New Cross as well, especially
those who have lost their jobs over this. For London as a
whole, it's another black day. Park Lane is no longer
served by traditional buses, and nor is Paddington
station, which will be the first part of London that many
incoming travellers see. South of the river all we have
left is the 159, with the 14 and 22 just crossing further
to the west at Putney and the 19's base on the south bank
at Battersea. That route falls next, on 1st April, and
after that there are just five routes - the 13, 14, 22,
38 and 159.
Despite some misfortune encountered by a couple of
vehicles today, the whole route 36 scheme went very much
according to plan and for me, it was a pleasant and
trouble-free day out doing what I love, and what
symbolises this city we all live in. Now if only they
could make the N91 journey that I have to travel home on
after these events as enjoyable! |
