Photograph by ‘unknown’ if you took this photo please go to the copyright page.

London Transport
1964
AEC-Park Royal Routemaster
Park Royal H28/36R

Here is a nice action shot of a standard Routemaster, and it’s probable out accelerating the mini next to it. This particular vehicle had the Leyland O600 9.8 litre diesel engine and it would of had a throatier sound than the AEC engine. This was due to the fact that London Transport did not use air filters for some reason and it was the air entering the Leyland engine rather than the exhaust that produced the throaty sound. If memory serves me correct I think the London Transport practice of not fitting air filters meant that the RT had that lower bonnet line than the Provincial Regent.
The main reason for posting this shot is I visited Southport recently and found an excellent second hand bookshop that had a good selection of bus books and was lucky enough to get a copy of ‘Blue Triangle’ by Alan Townsin. One thing I noticed in the chapter for the Routemaster was that the prototypes had the radiator and fan positioned under the floor behind the engine bay. This explains how the first RM prototype achieved engine cooling when having no radiator just a solid panel with a London underground type logo on it, I have searched high and low for a shot on the internet to no avail I’m afraid. But fortunately by the time the first production model RM 8 appeared in 1958 the radiator and fan had been moved back to the normal position in front of the engine. This meant that the bonnet length had to be increased by 4 inch though to accommodate them and the good looking Routemaster that we all know came to be.

A full list of Routemaster codes can be seen here.

Bus tickets issued by this operator can be viewed here.

———

Photograph taken by Colin Tait in 1955                                          

Here is a photo of RM1 SLT 56 with the solid front plate and bullseye motif, it’s worth observing that this prototype had no opening windows in the upstairs front.
Photograph courtesy of the London Transport Museum.

Chris Hebbron

———

The final design was far more balanced, and arguably more attractive, than the original.
There was an interim design of grille which had the LT bulls-eye on the round protuberance (just visible above the grille in the first photograph) and no "AEC" triangle at the top of the grille divider.
The final version (shown) had the LT bulls-eye but not the letters "AEC" on a triangle in the usual place.
There were, over a period of time, variations in the depth of the ventilation grille beneath the destination/route number indicators. (RM 1 is shown with standard route indicators – which it did not carry originally).

David Oldfield

———

Your comment about the throaty sound of the Leyland-engined RMs brought back fond memories of riding on one or two of them while I was on a week-long course at CAV in Acton in the early 80’s. The induction roar was absolutely gorgeous, and all the more audible as you say, due to the lack of an air filter. West Yorkshire Road Car had some Bristol RELH coaches (ECW and Plaxton bodies) fitted with 0.680 Leyland engines, which always sounded grand on the road. However, they had a similar induction roar when being tested on WY’s dynamometers at Central Works, as they were tested without air filters. I used to love running such engines in, and then fully bench-testing them on the dynamometers after overhaul. It was lovely (and quite addictive) to hear that roar – even with ear protectors on! The Routemasters had a lovely ‘song’ whether AEC or Leyland powered, as the accompanying melody from the transmission was so gentle and tuneful. Sadly, the tune went off somewhat when they were re-engined and re-gearboxed later in life, but at least it kept them running. P.S. Does anyone else think that someone has lost the plot somewhere with the ‘Borismaster’?

Brendan Smith

———

Simple answer – "Yes"
I drove for Reading Mainline on a casual basis.
Everyone knows I’m an A(mbassador) for E(xcellent) C(oaches) – and buses – but our two "Leyland" Routemasters were great fun and didn’t half shift (especially up – and down – Norcot Hill).

David Oldfield

———

22/04/12 – 07:34

Brendan, I’m so glad someone else is clearly so addicted to the Routemaster "melody". I fell in love with the Routemaster sound as a young lad and, some 40 years later, I am still totally absorbed by the unique harmonies of the engine (has to be AEC or Leyland) and the various parts of the transmission.

Mike Wakeford

———

22/04/12 – 16:10

What engines were used to re-engine the RM’s? I understood at one time that they were Italian, but would like to know if this was so.

Chris Hebbron

———

23/04/12 – 05:44

Chris, some of the power units used to re-engine the Routemasters were indeed Italian, these being of Iveco manufacture. Iveco is owned by FIAT, but I seem to recall it collaborated with Magirus and Ford to produce a range of commercial vehicles in the 1980s/90s. (The Ford/Iveco EuroCargo truck springs to mind). Other engines were also fitted to the Routemasters in later life, notably by Cummins and Scania. It was rumoured that Ken Livingston had planned to have the original Routemaster engines replaced with Gardner units at one point, as they had an excellent reliability record, were very economical, and were of British manufacture. The cost of the programme was said to have been too great however, given the perceived extended lifespan of the RMs/RMLs at the time, and so mass-produced engines were used instead. One also wonders if Gardner would have been able to fulfil an order for over 500 engines in time. Their engines were all hand-built from start to finish, and as well as building bespoke engines for the automotive industry, Gardner also built engines (plus gearboxes and pumps) for marine use. Therefore it would probably have been difficult to increase production simply by speeding up the various processes, or transferring production from marine to automotive. Such a shame though that we were cheated out of hearing the sounds of a ‘Gardner Routemaster’. I’m sure Mike and I would have found such a gentle beast just as delightful to the ear as the original AEC and Leyland-powered ones had been.

Brendan Smith

———

23/04/12 – 05:45

Chris. Three different engines were originally tried out and used to re-engine RMs. Cummins C (ie 8.3 Dennis Javelin), Scania DS 9 and IVECO 7.7. There was at least one DAF tried as well. The majority were Cummins, minority Scania, IVECO somewhere in the middle. IVECO is Italian (FIAT), but most of their PSV output is made in Spain. Later re-engines (like the "Heritage" RMs in Central London) have the Cummins B (5.9) as in the Dennis Dart and are know – less than affectionately – as Dartmasters.
The well preserved RML that I drive regularly has the IVECO engine – not a patch on the AEC or Leyland originals.

David Oldfield

———

23/04/12 – 05:46

I heard they (or some of them) were "Fix It Again Tomorrow’s."

Stephen Ford

Photograph by ‘unknown’ if you took this photo please go to the copyright page.

T Severn & Sons Ltd.
1956
AEC Reliance MU3RV
Park Royal B41F

Not the best of shots, depot shots very rarely are especially if shooting towards a window. But I think it is worth it as these vehicles were owned by another of the many independents operating in the Doncaster area mainly serving the mining industry. At one particular time T Severn & Sons were one of five operators based in the small village of Stainforth, just shows how big the mining industry was in that area. But I will not dwell on the history as apart from the usual Peter Gould website there are two other sites I have found dealing with the Doncaster independents I have put links to them below.
T Severn purchased two of these Reliances PYG 605 and 606 new in 1956, one interesting thing I found out from their fleet list was that 606 was withdrawn in 1963 but 605 stayed on until being withdrawn in 1970. I somehow cannot see the early withdrawal due to vehicle deteriorating so I presume it was because of the increase in passenger numbers and vehicles with an higher capacity were required. The reason I came to that conclusion is that in the 1963/4 period Severns acquired two new and three second hand double deckers, one of them ex London Transport RT331 as well as two coaches. One of the new vehicles is in the above shot, new in 1964 BWW 654B a Leyland Titan PD3/4 with a Roe front entrance body, this vehicle passed onto SYPTE in March 1979 and was numbered 1156 in their fleet.
Here are the two links for the history of the Doncaster independents as the links are rather long I have made things easy so there is one here and another one here.

A full list of Reliance codes can be seen here and Titan codes here.

———

I think these two vehicles were always ‘dual purpose’, having seats with headrests, but were delivered in plain green/cream livery with straight mouldings. This was altered some time later to the style shown, possibly because neighbour Felix had a Reliance later on with V moulding on the front and Severn had to keep up! As to why one vehicle lasted 7 years longer than the other, we can only guess but Severn’s did odd things sometimes such as going to the trouble of having a PD1 re-bodied, then selling it only three years later, also buying a Bristol K5G into a fleet which had by then virtually standardised on the Leyland O600 in it’s double deckers.

Chris Barker

———

18/01/12 – 06:47

I believe PYG 606 came to Mowbrays, South Moor, part of the Diamond syndicate, I have photographs of this one in service on the Stanley/Durham service, I drove part time in 1961/63? but never drove this one.

Jim Taylor

Photograph by ‘unknown’ if you took this photo please go to the copyright page.

Halifax Corporation Transport and Joint Omnibus Committee
1955
AEC Reliance MU3RV
Park Royal C41C

Here is a rather nice looking coach which Halifax Corporation acquired in 1966. According to one source of information Halifax acquired it from Timpson of London but according to another source it was originally delivered to Bourne & Balmer of Croydon. Was this coach 2nd or 3rd hand at Halifax if you know please leave a comment. I did actually go on this coach to somewhere but I can’t remember where, but I seem to think that the two front roof windows were tinted a very dark orange.

09/09/11 – 07:08

A little detective work reveals that Bourne & Balmer ceased trading independently on 1st Jan 1960, and either then or later became part of the Timpson operation. So it seems that both sources are correct.
In 1967 261 was renumbered 257 and then almost immediately 258. It was rebodied by Plaxton in 1968, and in that form passed to Calderdale JOC in 1971 and to West Yorkshire PTE in 1974.

Peter Williamson

11/09/11 – 07:40

Timpsons acquired Bourne & Balmer in 1960, which probably explains the confusion.
NRK 350 was new to Bourne & Balmer in April 1955, passed to Timpsons, and was sold to Halifax JOC in February 1966. Fitted with a new Plaxton body in 1968, passed to West Yorkshire PTE, sold May 1975.

Michael Wadman

03/10/11 – 07:22

Timpson’s acquired the business of Bourne and Balmer (Croydon) Ltd on 17 November 1953, but retained it as a subsidiary until April 1960, when it was closed down and the fleet absorbed into the main Timpson’s fleet. During those years, new coaches were added to the Bourne and Balmer fleet from time to time, NRK 350 being one such vehicle. Even after 1960, Timpson’s continued to paint some of their coaches in Bourne and Balmer livery, with Bourne and Balmer fleetnames, until around 1970. Thus, NRK 350 was new to Bourne and Balmer when it was a Timpson’s subsidiary, and passed into Timpson’s ownership upon the closure of Bourne and Balmer in 1960. It retained Bourne and Balmer livery until the end of 1964.

Dave Williamson

03/10/11 – 11:47

Along with other similar Reliances this bus was given a new Plaxton Panorama body, in his book Steel Wheels and Rubber Tyres Geof Hilditch says that MBY 347 an AEC Reliance bought as an accident victim for £275 Halifax rebuilt it and it was rebodied for £3000 truly a bargain.

Chris Hough

03/01/14 – 08:10

NRK 350 languished after withdrawal in the quarry scrapyard of Bingley Autospares for around nine years from withdrawal in 1975 to 1984 when it was finally broken up. It was surrounded in the yard by other Halifax Titans and Leopard saloons plus Leeds Regent Vs and PD3s.

Anon