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Routemaster: London's Beloved Icon
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Q65A wrote:
Much like dogs and big trucks, there truly are many different "breeds" of buses. The half-cab concept never really caught on in the US.


Q65A:

Agreed, 100%!

All a "Yank" bus enthusiast has to do is to pick up any good book on British buses of years back; the chassis types, body types, classifications, and registration numbers can (quite literally!) make his head spin! (I speak from experience, here!) Rolling Eyes Wink

Too, it only makes reading up on classic British buses all the more intriguing and fascinating! Very Happy

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just thinking.......

When the ROUTEMASTER debuted on London's bustling streets, it was still an era where LT men showed tremendous pride in both their occupation and their appearance.

Those men who worked "On The Buses" indeed were a breed who basically could handle anything or everything that came their way; the buses, too, built like the proverbial tank, were built to serve London's populace long and well.

Well, only time will tell just how well the new Routemasters will do.......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Recalling those stalwart rubber-tyred Knights that once proudly paraded through London's bustling streets.......

http://www.londonbusmuseum.com


(courtesy: london bus museum)


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The old order changeth......

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-36764417

(courtesy: bbc.com)
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Blokes:

Not surprisingly, I have read that, when the iconic ROUTEMASTERS began to be retired; many older drivers "swapped garages" to move over to depots that still stabled them.

The articulated "Bendy Buses" were regarded with strong distaste by many veteran drivers; many were also not all that enamored with the newest double deckers.

Back in the 1950's, no one, I am sure, would have thought that, one day, decades later, that the ROUTEMASTER would become a beloved London (and British) icon.

Excepting those used in "heritage" services, the ROUTEMASTER has now rumbled into the London Transport history books, along with the GENERAL "B" and "K" types, the STL's, "Guy Arabs", RTL's, and RT's.

Routemaster, we hardly knew ye............

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How can I have started a ROUTEMASTER thread without including a certain "Topper Deckinton"?? Rolling Eyes

Blimey......'ere's a real bloomin' go....... Wink

http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/Topper_Deckington_III
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.....was just reading earlier in a ROUTEMASTER publication that, as newer buses were beginning to replace the iconic red double decker, there were many drivers and conductors that switched over to depots that were still dispatching them.

The drivers disliked having to be a combined driver AND conductor; conductors, as you might imagine, saw the new one-man buses as spelling "DOOM" to their positions.

The articulated "Bendy" buses were despised by both drivers and passengers; they were also prone to many issues that would leave them sidelined.

Not only were the iconic ROUTEMASTERS disappearing into history, but a time-honored London tradition was also quickly vanishing into the mists...........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Though I have mentioned this previously, I truly am awed by the reverence shown to vintage/historic buses (and coaches) in Great Britain.

Pre-COVID, many vintage bus enthusiast's groups would hold rallies several times a year, where restored buses and coaches could be displayed, admired, and ridden in.

Compared to the "study" of American buses of years past, the study of historic British buses far, far surpasses us "Yanks".

Many hundreds of books have been published throughout the decades on British buses, especially those that once operated in and around London.

The study of historic buses in Britain, indeed, is much like taking several in-depth college courses; registration numbers, fleet numbers, body types, body builders.......all make for some truly fascinating (and, might I add, often quite confusing) researching and studying.

That so many historic British buses have survived into the present (with many still in operating condition), indeed, speaks many volumes.

While I do have a pretty decent-sized "library" dealing with British buses (mostly vintage), it is but a mere drop in the proverbial bucket, when you realize just how vast a selection of such books has been available over the course of several decades.

A "Yank" bus historian/enthusiast cannot help but to be fascinated....

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.....no, Mr. Bond, this is NOT your "average" Aston-Martin...... Shocked

https://www.fastcompany.com/90185739/high-design-public-bus-maybe-in-london

This rear view is interesting; note the upward sweeping rear window; this suggests the outline of the open rear staircases commonplace on London buses of the later 1920's.

Too, note the rounded body design; to me, it is somewhat reminiscent of the general end profiles of the trams which ran in London until 1952.......

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Mon Oct 12, 2020 11:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To British bus historians, the famed GENERAL "B"-type of the 1900's remains one of the most recognizeable historic London buses.

Many of the later model open-topper had their open upper decks enclosed; by the mid-1930's, the last of the old open-top double-deckers vanished from London's streets.

In New York, however, FACCo. "open toppers" were not retired until 1946.......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGOC_B-type
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A number of vintage and modern-day views are here (ROUTEMASTERS included!) Wink

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buses_in_London
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Though a good number of ROUTEMASTERS, upon retirement, did go on to see service (of various types) in foreign countries, there was no "mass exodus" of the type overseas (i.e. a large number going to a particular operator in an overseas country)

In the 1950's, a large number of retired London Transport wartime "Utility" buses were sold off for further service in other countries, including India, Ceylon, Kenya, and Rhodesia; some also went to Sarajevo.

Closer to "home", sixty "GUY ARABS" went to Edinburgh, where they were modernized and put in a number of years more serving the riding public......

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:21 am; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Countries where ROUTEMASTERS later called home, upon retirement from London:

ARGENTINA

BERMUDA

BULGARIA

CANADA

CZECH REPUBLIC

CROATIA

DENMARK

FINDLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

GREECE

HONK KONG

HUNGARY

IRAQ

ITALY

JAPAN

KENYA

LEBANON

MEXICO

THE NETHERLANDS

NEW ZEALAND

NORWAY

OMAN

PARAGUAY

PORTUGAL

RUSSIA

SAUDIA ARABIA

SOUTH AFRIC

SPAIN

SRI LANKA

SWITZERLAND

TURKEY

UKRAINE

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

URUGUAY

USA

WEST AFRICA

YUGOSLAVIA

ZIMBABWE

(like Sherwin-Williams paints, retired ROUTEMASTERS, also, seem to "cover the world"........Wink

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Speaking of retired London buses overseas......

Years ago, I was watching a documentry on India on PBS, and was quite surprised (and amused!) to see a disabled ex-London "RT" being pushed back to its garage by ELEPHANT! Shocked (I cannot recall just what city this scene was filmed in)

A man wearing some sort of worn uniform was riding atop the great beast, while another "directed" him from the disabled bus' rear platform! Shocked

Talk about "making do"! Wink

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Prior to the introduction of the famed ROUTEMASTER in the later 1950's, the timeless "RT" was thought by many to be the most "iconic" London bus.

IMHO, BOTH are true icons of " Jolly Olde London"........ Wink

"NYO"
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