X81: Ensignbus Running Day

Saturday 1st December 2012

Prepared by Ian Smith, 6th December 2012.

X81: Bluewater to Lakeside: RT1499

We made our way along to the Dartford Tunnel, and dived under the river. Odd to think that this tunnel has been in operation for nearly forty years.

We climbed up from the north portal, and wound our way through thecollection of roundabouts towards Lakeside. We met the doyen of the Metrobuses, arriving from Purfleet to take up service.

I alighted from the Shenfield-bound bus at Lakeside, and paused to look at this RT with a very non-standard body: there were the five bays of windows in the saloon, shorter but deeper, not quite lined up with the windows in the LT standard cab. There was the squarer front upstairs, giving wider windows there, and a top deck slightly overlapping the cab at the corners, due to the lack of taper. Seen from the side, the rear curved over appreciably compared with the upright back of a standard RT. The uneven top to the upper deck windows is prominent too. Round at the back the view is even stranger, with the wide, low-set emergency window upstairs, and the narrow, deep, low-set platform window. Odd.

Ensignbus has disposed of its Marshall-bodied Darts, Amongst the replacements are SLDs from Stagecoach London. 731, an Alexander-bodied example, was once Stagecoach SLD 331, later 34331.

Behind the SLD stood RT8, set up for a turn on the X81. The war-time RT has been beautifully restored after its return from America, and wears war-time red and white livery, with matt grey roof and white blackout trims.

Another repatriated bus from the USA was next in: RTL1014, fresh from many years of service with Unitrans, the student bus company of the University of California, Davis. The RTL, gleaming in a new coat of paint, retains most of its American features, such as the extra lights all over, the huge nearside mirror and a destination board on the rear. But it does now wear its UK registration plates rather than California plates. It had been intended for service today, but I gather it had been left overlong in gear, thus cooking the transmission. So although mobile, it was here only for show.

Also arriving was Leeds City Transport Leyland PD3 5280NW.

Metrobus M1 was taking over on the run south across the river. Having seldom travelled on any Metrobus, I climbed aboard for a different experience..

Part Five: Ping-pong across the Thames

Photos by Ian Smith. Click on any of them for a larger picture.

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