Prepared on Notepad by Ian Smith,

This page created on 2nd September 1998, updated 3rd December.

The Coach RMs, RMC1453-RMC1520

The exterior finish was excellent too. The original scheme tried on CRL4 was used: Lincoln green, with pale green trims around the windows and a matching cant-rail band. There were small GreenLine roundel plaques on the tween-decks panels, and a small roundel transfer above the centrally placed rear number-plate. Another touch of distinction was added by adopting the current fashion for twin headlights.

RMC1477 is beautifully preserved in original GreenLine condition, with restored offside blind and front ventilator grille, as well as the immaculate livery. (North Weald, 1998)

Into service

RMC1477 (left) was originally allocated to Guildford in September 1962, for the 715. Now in preservation, it shows the early form of radiator grille, bonnet badge and ventilator grille abovethe cab. (Showbus, 1997).

RMC1469, (below), also preserved, shows the later form of each, and also the later lack of external platform handrails. (North Weald, 1998).

Summary:

Date	Route	Garage	Type displaced	Displaced by..
8/62	715: Guildford - Hertford	GF, HG	RF	RMC
8/62	715A: Marble Arch - Hertford	HG	RF	RMC
10/62	718: Windsor - Harlow New Town	EP, WR	RF	RMC
10/62	720: Aldgate - Bishops Stortford	EP	RF	RMC
10/62	720A: Aldgate - Harlow New Town	EP	RF	RMC
10/62	393A: Welwyn Gdn City - Harlow	EP	RF	RMC
10/62	396: Bishops Stortford - Epping	EP	RF	RMC
10/62	805: Potter St - Harlow - Little Parndon	EP	RF	RMC
10/62	417: Windsor - Langley	WR	RF	RMC
11/62	719: Victoria - Hemel Hempstead	GR	RF	RMC
11/62	347: Uxbridge - Hemel Hempstead	GR	RF	RMC
11/62	716: Chertsey Bridge - Hitchin	WY, SV	RF	RMC
11/62	716A: Woking - Stevenage	WY, SV	RF	RMC
11/62	303: New Barnet - Hitchin	SV	RF	RMC
11/62	420: Woking - West Byfleet	WY	RF	RMC
11/62	463: Walton on Thames - Guildford	WY	RF	RMC

The allocation at Epping was transferred to the new garage at Harlow (HA) when that opened in May 1983. Consequently the 393A ceased to be served by RMC short workings, but Harlow routes 397 and 804 benefitted.

The new buses settled down in service. They did have teething problems, different from the town RMs. In particular the air suspension was unreliable at first, and the less frequent braking meant that a different policy about dust guards had to be adopted. Pitching when running fast was also a problem, requiring suspension stiffening.

A retrograde step in appearance was the adoption of advertisements on the rear panel, from 1963, a distictbreak with GreenLine tradition.

In May 1964 RMC1469 was taken out of service to act as a guinea-pig for the appearance of the forth-coming RCLs. It received new front blind apertures, with both panels the full 3ft 6in wide. The raised bullseyes on the sides disappeared, as did the fleetnames from the lower panels. Instead there were large bullseye transfers at the front of the upper panels, with Green Line block-lettered behind it. A smaller bullseye and fleetname appeared on the offside staircase panel. More significant perhaps were the new deeper front wing panels, with no cut-outs for ventilator grilles or the spotlight. These eventually became the RM standard. RMC1469 also received the new style radiator grille with triangular badge. Another change that quickly became the norm in both red and green fleets was the casing over of the bottom half of the heater grille, with the painted band continued over it.

Network Changes

Date	Route	Garage	Type displaced	Displaced by..
11/64	720: Aldgate - Bishops Stortford	HA	RMC	RF
11/64	720A: Aldgate - Harlow New Town	HA	RMC	RF
11/64	717: Welwyn Garden City - Wrotham	HF, SJ	RF	RMC
11/64	703: Amersham - Wrotham	MA, SJ	RF	withdrawn

The advent of the RCLs should not have affected the RMCs, but the best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglay: The RCLs proved not to be allowable on the 723B, so some of the Grays allocation went instead to Hertford for the 715A, whilst five RMCs went to Grays.

Date	Route	Garage	Type displaced	Displaced by..
6/65	715A: Marble Arch - Hertford	HG	RMC	RCL
6/65	723B: Aldgate - Tilbury Ferry	HA	RT	RMC

The external handrails were removed from the RMCs during 1966, replaced by handrails on the inside of the doors.

Overhauls during 1967 produced a simplified livery, with no window lining, and with large transfer roundels replacing the small raised ones. It was not an improvement. The overhaul round also shuffled the bodies, so that the odd one from RMC1469 reappeared on RMC1502.

Further GreenLine reductions in December 1967 saw the loss of the northern end of the 717 (HF) and the switch of the 716A from Stevenage to Hatfield. RMCs from Stevenage replaced RCLs on the 723 group at Grays. The remnant of the 717 (SJ) and the 719 (GR) lost their RMCs (replaced by RFs), which went to East Grinstead(EG) and Two Waters (HH) for the 708 (East Grinstead to Hemel Hempstead).
One RMC also became the London spare in December 1967, garaged at Riverside(R). Two other RMCs became official spares for RCL routes, at Romford and Dunton Green.

Date	Route	Garage	Type displaced	Displaced by..
12/67	717: Welwyn Garden City - Wrotham	HF	RMC	part withdrawn
12/67	716A: Woking - Stevenage	WY, SV to HF	RMC (SV)	RMC (HF)
12/67	723/A: Aldgate - Tilbury / Grays	GY	RCL	RMC (SV)
12/67	717: Victoria - Wrotham	SJ	RMC	RF
12/67	719: Victoria - Hemel Hempstead	GR	RMC	RF
12/67	708: East Grinstead - Hemel Hempstead	EG, HH	RF	RMC
12/67	318: East Grinstead - Hemel Hempstead	HH	RF	RMC
12/67	334: Hemel Hempstead circular	HH	RF	RMC
12/67	435: East Grinstead - Imberhorne Estate	EG	RF	RMC
12/67	GreenLine London spare	R	RF	RMC

A more serious decline in the class' fortunes occurred a year later, when the 708 went back to RF operation. There was no obvious GreenLine work for the redundant RMCs, so they moved onto bus operations. At Hatfield they replaced RTs on the long 303/A plus more local Hatfield routes. A pair went to Addlestone until the following May to work on the 461A, and then went to join others on the 370 route from Grays. In October 1969 RCLs were displaced from the 704 and went to Grays for the 723 group (again), releasing six more RMCs which were then officially allocated to bus work from Grays.

Date	Route	Garage	Type displaced	Displaced by..
12/68	708: East Grinstead - Hemel Hempstead	EG, HH	RMC	RF
12/68	303/A: New Barnet - Hitchin	HF	RT	RMC
12/68	461A: Walton on Thames - Botleys Park	WY	RT	RMC
5/69	461A: Walton on Thames - Botleys Park	WY	RMC	RT
5/69	370: Romford - Tilbury Ferry	GY	RT	RMC
10/69	723/A/B: Aldgate - Tilbury / Grays	GY	RMC	RCL
10/69	370/A: Romford/Purfleet - Tilbury Ferry	GY	RT	RMC

London Country

A group of six RMCs were used as cover for the 1971 RCL overhaul programme, mainly from Hatfield "coach allocation" but including one from Addlestone. The group progressed in turn around Romford, Grays, Dunton Green, Windsor and Godstone, the RCL garages, the entire perambulation taking a year. The "bus" RMCs at Hatfield returned to GreenLine work, the 303/A reverting briefly to RT operation until Swifts took over.

But in January 1972 the Reliance RPs arrived on GreenLine duties at Romford, and Grays received RCs for the 723. It was RCLs that they displaced mainly, but with the overhaul programme completed this now resulted in eight RMCs being officially demoted to buses. The RMCs furthered the RT replacement on the 370/A routes from Grays.

RMCs directly felt the impact of the RP invasion in February and March 1972. GreenLine routes 716/A and 718 were converted, with the RMCs going to St Albans and Hemel Hempstead for the 330/A, and to Dartford for the 499. More went to Grays for the 370. Windsor and Hatfield hung on to some of theirs for bus work too:

Date	Route	Garage	Type displaced	Displaced by..
1/72	723/A/B: Aldgate - Tilbury / Grays	GY	RMC	RP
1-3/72	370/A: Romford/Purfleet - Tilbury Ferry	GY	RT	RMC
2/72	718: Windsor - Harlow New Town	HA, WR	RMC	RP
2/72	445: Windsor - Datchet	WR	RT	RMC
2/72	460: Staines - Slough	WR	RT	RMC
3/72	716: Chertsey Bridge - Hitchin	WY, HF	RMC	RP
3/72	716A: Woking - Stevenage	WY, HF	RMC	RP
3/72	341/B: St Albans - South Hatfield / Hertford	HF	RT	RMC
3/72	499: Temple Hill Estate - Dartford - Downs Estate	DF	RT	RMC
3/72	330/A: Welwyn Garden City - Hemel Hempstead	SA, HH	RT	RMC

The RP conversion continued in April, taking the RMCs from route 715 at Guildford and Hertford. The RMCs completed the 370 conversion at Grays. Swanley gained some for the 477 and Hertford kept some (demoted) for the 341 and other routes.
Even the London spare was removed, going to St Albans for bus duties. Windsor lost the two that it had kept before.

Date	Route	Garage	Type displaced	Displaced by..
4/72	715: Guildford - Hertford	GF, HG	RMC	RP
4/72	370: Romford/Purfleet - Tilbury Ferry	GY	RT	RMC
4/72	477: Dartford- Orpington - Chelsfield	SJ	RT	RMC
4/72	341: St Albans - South Hatfield	HA	RT	RMC
4/72	London spare	GF to SA	RMC 1464	RF 164

All the RMCs were now officially demoted to bus work (except RMC1516 which was away being re-roofed after an accident). Three RMCs succumbed to the overall advertising fashion in 1972-4: RMC1516 at Hatfield, RMC 1490 (allocated to various garages) and RMC1480 at Dartford.

During 1973 another overhaul / re-certification round was begun on the RMCs, with some treated in garages and some at Aldenham. All received the NBC corporate livery during the two-year period, even the out-of-use RMC1509. One oddity was that some received flake grey cantrail bands instead of white (the hand of Aldenham?)

During the next four years the RMC fleet gradually spread and contracted, as London Country spent its efforts trying to iron the bugs out of its newer classes. The spares shortage that was crippling LT also affected the LC fleet, and by the autumn of 1977 meant that seven RMCs were out of use, non-runners, and up for sale. Others were in the training fleet, having been made redundant by new Leyland Nationals, that London Country was buying in large numbers to solve many of its bus problems.

Sale to London Transport

RMC1476 has been nicely preserved in London Transport training fleet livery, sporting NBC green with white bullseyes - and brown LT wheels!

(at Showbus97 left and North Weald 98 right)

London Country's survivors struggled on, increasingly acting as spares for otherwise opo-operated routes. But eventually London Transport offered to buy ALL of London Country's remaining Routemasters (RMCS, RMLs and RCLs), except RMC4. This time the contract was for LC to put the buses in order before each exchange was completed, but something went wrong with the process, leading to a row. London Country sent some of the Routemasters to Wombwell Diesels for breaking (including three RMCs). This galvanised London Transport into fresh negotiations, which resulted in completion of the sale to LT without prior repair. The three RMCs at Wombwell were also returned.

London Country finished its Routemaster operations properly, in March 1980. On Saturday 1st March there was a final celebration and tour, covering the routes associated most strongly with the classes in their final years: the 403 (CM), 477 (DF) and 480 (NF). That should have been IT. But Swanley put RMC 1512 out on the 477 on the following Monday, before LT asserted its new rights of ownership on the Tuesday!

London Transport eventually put 53 RMCs into the training fleet, managing to repaint 21 of them into red before they started. One even received a green repaint! But eventually they were all repainted, the last being in May 1988! RMC1518, used on the skid patch at Chiswick, had its air-bags replaced by coil springs.

Thirteen RMCs were sold by LT in June 1981 (including two that had only gone to Aldenham to have training handbrakes fitted!). Another was sold later.

RMC Renaissance: briefly.

But the major event was the return to service in March 1989 by East London of first six and then another RMC. They were refurbished for passenger work, repainted in red with gold lining, and put to work on the X15 "Beckton Express", linking the new Docklands developments with Central London as a crewed commuter service. The buses used were RMC 1456, 1458, 1461, 1490, 1496, and 1513, then RMC1485 later.
Their luggage racks had all been removed, and standard 3-piece displays were fitted at the front.

Five of them, RMC 1456, 1461, 1485 1490 and 1513 survived through to the privatisation of London Buses in September 1994. RMC1461 was overhauled and restored to full early GreenLine condition, ready for the Routemaster 40 celebrations in September 1994. It retains the livery (including fleetnames) in Stagecoach ownership, appearing sometimes on route 15.
RMC1456 retains the red and gold Beckton Express livery, with Stagecoach logo, and RMC 1485 has the same style but with cream lining. RMC1490 forms part of the Stagecoach preserved fleet in Scotland. RMC1513 had been transferred to Metroline, and was privatised with that company.

Still in service with Stagecoach East London:
RMC1485 at North Weald 1998 (left and centre), RMC1456 in a rain-storm at Brooklands, June 1998(right)

Survivors

RMC1462 still earns its preservation and certificates of fitness by working for Nostalgiabus. RMC 1469, alongside it at Showbus 98 is in preservation.

Other photos of RMCs can be found on the net at:
The Bus Lane, The London Bus Page, The Routemaster Owners and Operators Association,
Blickpunkt Straßenbahn (RM Photo Gallery).

Photographic references are on a separate page. So is the Fleet History.

Ian's Bus Stop RM Contents RMs RMC RCL