For me, I wanted to rove the route on Thursday, trying to photograph at a wide variety of locations over and above the predictable West End tourist spots by going to forgotten sections of the 159 like Lambeth, Kennington and Brixton. My camera (Canon EOS 350D) really came through - I've finally cracked its manual functions and the purchase of a 1GB CompactFlash memory card allowed me to take over 1200 pictures on the last three days of Routemaster operation.

First order of business for me was simply to log the runout of 31 vehicles, and that was done within an hour and a half. As Brixton don't seem given to stepping back at the slightest provocation, the runout in the evening was much the same as it had been when I got into town at 10 am. As usual with Last Days, I tried to explore some of the lesser-visited regions of the 159, and that kept me south of the river for the most part during the day. Accordingly, the first pictures of the day were taken at Lambeth North, where RML 2307 (CUV 307C, above left) as BN143, swings right with the London Eye in the background. This bus had a chequered last month - it broke down a fortnight ago, necessitating a tow home; on Tuesday night it was plastered with graffiti (seen here cleaned off, just about) and on Wednesday its bell cord broke, but it still made it all the way to the end - or very nearly; today was its last day in service. Across the road we see the first two specials - Ensignbus RLH 61 (MXX 261, above centre, foreground), one of an incredible ten guests they brought to town today and behind it, making its first appearance, Leaside Travel's RMC 1453 (453 CLT). It's a bittersweet day for them as well as for the Routemaster as a whole, because under the current repressive laws, if the disabled can't travel, nobody gets to travel. Denied the subsidy that you might have expected would help them adapt or update their fleet to DDA legislation, Leaside Travel will be closing down in the New Year. A little further to the south, the junction of Kennington Road and Lambeth Road where the Imperial War Museum is located (streets the 159 was only re-routed to serve in 1999, forsaking Lambeth Bridge), allows us to see that Brixton's final allocation was a mixed one. Until the house of cards started collapsing in the 1980s, it was unheard-of to have mixed-type allocations, even down to the two lengths of Routemaster. But at the end we got not only mixed types, but a mixture of interiors and engines. Accordingly, RML 2375 (JJD 375D, above right, leading) as BN143 is an Iveco-engined Brixton old-stager, while RM 1312 (MFF 509, ex 312 CLT) behind, as BN150, came back to London in 2000 after six years in exile. It was refurbished by Marshall, re-engined with a Cummins B-series engine and deployed to London Central's New Cross for the 36, but in its five-year renaissance jumped from garage to garage as their routes were one-manned, working next at First's Westbourne Park (routes 7 and 23, March-November 2003), Arriva London North's Clapton (route 38 from November 2003 to October 2005) and finally to Arriva London South at Brixton as one of the last two transfers of the Routemaster fleet. The running number BN150 was the last scheduled departure on a weekday evening, and would have been the last bus of all if the 159's conversion hadn't been brought forward to midday on the Friday for security reasons. RM 1312 did perform the last evening journey today, with six specials leading it out of Marble Arch.

In its 43 years of existence, RMF 1254 (254 CLT, above left) racked up precisely two days in London stage service - today doubling that after its long-overdue debut on the 38's last day on 28th October. The property of Imperial Buses, it was once again hired to Ensignbus for the cause. Another of Ensignbus's entries today was RML 2565 (JJD 565D, above centre) in the impressive Stratford Blue livery, seen heading south through Kennington. And at the foot of Kennington Road, it wouldn't be a Last Day without faithful Blue Triangle RT 3871 (LLU 670, above right), one last time. It made it to fifteen of the twenty finishes, only missing out on the 11, 94, 137, 14 and 22. Straight behind it is RM 349 (WLT 349), a former Brixton bus itself and one of the privately-owned Routemasters that plied the 159's roads out of service to offer moral support, and just coming into view is RM 713 (TSK 270, ex WLT 713), one of the last of the RMs bought back by TfL but refurbished by Arriva London North at Enfield following Marshall Bus's collapse at the hands of Eastern European mobsters. The tide turned so quickly against the Routemaster that it achieved less than two years in renewed service, leading to the inevitable questions of wasting taxpayers' money.

A surprise was to see not only the 159 honoured, but its peripatetic forebear 59, in the shape of Stagecoach East London's marvellous RML 2760 (SMK 760F, above left), the last Routemaster built. For decades the 59 and 159 routes fought a battle for supremacy over which would be the main conduit from south to north-west London, and eventually the 59 dwindled to a Sunday-only service that was withdrawn in 1978. It was reintroduced in 1985 over much the same roads, though taking over much of the 109's service, but by 1991 the 159 had overcome it again and in 1994 the 59 was withdrawn. A third 59 was introduced in 1999, again at the expense of the 109, and it is this route that RML 2760 was operating today, running only as far south as Brixton Garage. Some journeys on the 159 today were back-projected from the route's classic terminus at South Croydon and similarly extended to the northern extent until 1992, West Hampstead, while another stand used by the 159 for many years at Streatham High Road, Green Lanes, was where the specials turned around in lieu of the cramped forecourt of the old Streatham garage. Meanwhile, Cobham Bus Museum, who have done such superb things with former London Transport buses of numerous generations, placed ST 922 (GJ 2098, above centre) into action over part of the 159 as a Photographer's Special, and it is seen at the Oval returning to town. For a 75-year-old bus, it doesn't half have a turn of speed. And having fielded the last Routemaster, it was only appropriate that the 159's commemorations should see the first should come out too. It is a bitter disappointment that TfL didn't even have the imagination to let the 159's Routemasters operate beyond the fifty-year mark set rolling by RM 1 (SLT 56, above right) when it entered service on 8th February 1956, but this is a service record that can never possibly be broken. The Routemaster is quite simply without peer; no public transport vehicle built since has ever approached its quality and amenability.

I wonder if it was intentional that many of the classic buses seen on the 159's Running Day were the last examples of their type in service - it certainly provided a poignant link to the proud history of London Transport's purpose-built buses and to commemorations gone before. After the trolleybuses had gone (8th May 1962), the first major class of standardised London Transport double-deck bus to fall by the wayside was the RTW class, which bowed out on the night of 14th/15th May 1966. Performing that duty on the old route 95 was RTW 467 (LLU 957, above left), which passed into preservation almost immediately and which has seen renewed action lately on a number of Routemaster Last Days. The 159 only received a permanent Brixton allocation as late as in 1982 after stints in 1964-1966 on Saturdays only, but in those years its RTWs could have strayed from the 95 and 109. Another last emissary of its type is RCL 2260 (CUV 260C, above centre), which worked from November 1980 to 15th December 1984 on the 149 from Edmonton (EM) garage before the tide turned against particularly non-standard members of the Routemaster fleet and the RCLs were withdrawn. It later worked on the Original London Sightseeing Tour and was sold in 1997 to Blue Triangle, who restored it to original Green Line condition. Only two RCLs have worked on Last Routemaster Day specials, with Ensignbus's RCL 2220 the other one, having done the honours on the 73 and 12 and also out today. Speaking of Ensignbus, their last throw of the dice doing these wonderful specials has been the spectacular return to service of RT 624 (JXC 432, above right) - famous as the last RT in service on 7th April 1979, where it was greeted by thousands upon its final entry into Barking garage after completing a half-day on route 62. One never imagined scenes like that Saturday would ever be repeated again, but Friday 9th December 2005 was yet to come... Fifteen minutes ahead of RCL 2260, it roars through Brixton at 2:30 pm, recalling its own period of allocation at Brixton between January 1969 and May 1975. What delights me about the condition of this bus is that since its purchase from Wythall last year it's been restored to exactly the condition in which it left service, even down to just the one rear advert poster for LBC radio! All that was missing from today was an RTL, and I hear that Cobham's RTL 139 was due to appear in this role, but was turned down by officialdom.

I finally got a ride on Ensignbus's superb Bristol K6A TD 895 (HLJ 44, above left), of the Hants & Dorset vehicles that assisted London Transport during a particularly low patch in 1949 - with wood-panelled interior and leather seats, it is different again from the contemporary RT and more modern Routemaster, and certainly puts to shame today's buses with their plastic wipe-clean panels, inadequate hopper windows and hideous interior decor. It is seen with Nelson's Column in the background as it prepares to continue down Whitehall on a southbound early-evening journey that had to be cut short to Westminster due to overloading causing the vehicle's bodywork to ride excessively low on its chassis, causing abrasion of the tyres. While in the West End, I took the opportunity to scout Marble Arch's likely conditions for the last bus on Friday. RML 2572 (JJD 572D, above centre) as BN142 has the Oxford Street Christmas lights (rather smart and tasteful this year, with a chandelier theme) as a backdrop as it sets off from Stop L at Marble Arch, the first outbound pick-up of the 159 after approaching from the stand on Marble Arch's hectic roundabout itself. Given that little to no official information was emerging as to who, or how many passengers would be allowed on the last bus, how many duplicates it would have, or whether it would be doing a rounder or being brought up dead, it looked like a hopeless task to try and gain entry once it did arrive at Stop L, and I decided there and then I wouldn't risk it for fear of losing the chance to see it in at Brixton. As it turned out I did the right thing, as you will read in my account of the last day of all. So the last task of the day was to attempt to grab a shot of a 159 with the Regent Street Christmas lights in the background - not an easy task, as the queues of buses tend to mean that 159s disgorge before they've reached the stop (no doors, of course - on a Routemaster people still had the freedom to get off when and where they like!) and then pass you, but this portrait of RML 2753 (SMK 753F, above right) as the second BN135 of the day captures everything you'd want in a Regent Street scene, with the perspective to match.

Thank you to all the operators who played such a blinder today and on all nineteen of the other Routemaster Last Days - for one last time, you did us proud, and we will never forget your magnificent contributions over and above the call of duty, performed entirely on a voluntary basis, and all for charity.

The Running Day of Thursday 8th December was over - it was now time for the Last Day of all.

Click to proceed to the story of Friday 9th December, return to the introduction, or start again at the Table of Contents.