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The best part
of these Open Days is the use of real buses on
passenger-carrying service, where they belong -
and that will be the only time I'll really want
to bother with bus travel in London again after
December. To that end, everyone from regular
passengers to enthusiasts thrilled to the
absolutely pristine condition of Cobham Bus
Museum's RML 3 (SLT 58), which made
its first appearance on the 8 in forty-six years,
following its period of evaluation on that route.
It is seen arriving at Liverpool Street at 1:15
pm, ready to take visitors beyond Old Ford to
Waterden Road. Shame about the weather - after a
week of temperatures in the nineties, it went
cool and dull, just in time! |
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It's the pits!
Both bus and location...
A brave attempt was made to play up the role of
the bendy buses in today's event (it is their
garage, after all), even including a piece from
Evobus in the programme, but I loathe the things
and know few people who don't. Fortunately most
of them were out of the garage and in service on
the 25. I was even prepared to take one into town
once dropped off at Mile End after the event, but
the first one to appear was, surprise, surprise,
grossly overloaded and stinking of plastic and
fumes, so I didn't bother and braved the Tube
instead. More of a surprise was the appearance of
ex-SLW class Scania 28629 (RDZ 6129) in training
bus livery - perhaps a bit of a waste of a bus
that's just eleven years old, but they are
falling to bits inside! The Deltas that preceded
them had a considerably curtailed service period
as well. |
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I do miss the
Titans around east London - they were so much
better than anything built since. This one has
surely outlasted its nine lives, because it's
been both burnt and drowned and still keeps
getting up! T 512 (KYV 512X) became an
open-topper in 1992 and spent a decade as a
special events bus with various incarnations of
East London, but when stored at Ribble's Carlisle
depot in January it was deluged by sewage-tainted
floodwaters. Surely a write-off, but no; Blue
Triangle got hold of it and it's as good as new.
It is seen performing one of the tours around the
local area (before you murmur, they did escape
the endless rows of teeming East End slums and
got as far as Epping Forest!). |
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Having headed
back into town, I saw that RML 3 wasn't the only
proper bus out on the 8. Otherwise occupied
photographing 14s at Tottenham Court Road, I
pivoted through 180 degrees and discovered RTW 75 (KGK 575) bearing down
on me. I knew it was out, but had missed its
earlier running. Three buses behind it can be
seen fellow Blue Triangle classic RT 3062,
providing some relief on the 25 from articulated
conditions.
Thanks go to Stagecoach East London for an
enjoyable open day, to the operators of the fine
preserved vehicles that took us there and back,
and to the vehicle owners and stallholders who
entertained us. |
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