Pictured here by Suzanne Chilton, is 62CLT (RM1062 standard length). It was new into service in January 1962 and finally bought in 2005 by Western Greyhound for Park & Ride Services at Newquay in Cornwall (information courtesy of Ian's Bus Stop).
The 2007 Ladies Driving Challenge held at RAF Portreath in Cornwall was an event to raise money for the Firefighters Charity and the bus featured amongst several other buses and vehicles of all types from trucks to tanks, challenging ladies to demonstrate their driving skills. The pictures offer an unusual backdrop for a London bus.
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Here, Routemaster RM7 (VLT7) is pictured by Brian Burgess at the Manchester Museum of Transport in
2006 alongside PRV built (yes PRV built!) Green Goddess PGW163. RM7 was one of the
first three production buses; new in June 1959 it went into service at
Willesden; it is now preserved by Mike Hurley.
And here, in 2008, RM1097 (201UXJ originally 97CLT) is seen at the Cheshire Steam Fair at Tabley Hall near
Knutsford alongside the same Green Goddess. New into service in February 1962 and
used on the last crew day in 2005, this Routemaster is now preserved by Mr G
Unsworth.
A little known fact is that PRV built 150 Green Goddesses on Bedford chassis (See the Green Goddess page).
RML2656 (NML656E), new in June '67 here it is in the PRV works. The following
month saw it begin service at Hanwell. After withdrawal from service in 2004 it
was used for "Park & Ride" services in Plymouth before being sold
to a private owner in St. Tropez (Photo: ©Eric Jones).
Spotted 11th April 2015 at the car park opposite Coronation Lake in Helston,
Cornwall; RML2290 (CUV 290C) was new to Aldenham in September 1965. After
various service at Holloway, Tottenham & Chalk Farm it received its new
Iveco engine in 1991 before being refurbished in 1993 and privatised with London
General. Finally withdrawn in 2005 it was sold to Ensign Bus, then in 2010
Graham's Training Services before being used for a year on Blackpool's seafront.
In February 2013 it found its way to Falmouth, Cornwall where, in private
ownership, it is used for private hire. It is pictured here, by the
Editor, next to a 1991 Volvo B10M-60 with Plaxton coachwork.
The Thames Valley &
Great Western Omnibus Trust organise an annual Penzance Running Day where,
on April 19th 2015, RML2290 (above) made an appearance to celebrate its
forthcoming 50th anniversary of being on-the-road. Here she is pictured at
Penzance Bus Station ready for a trip to St Just on the Penwith
Peninsular. Whilst uneventful for the sturdy RML that trundled her way
effortlessly across the unfamiliar hilly "Poldark" landscape, it was
certainly eventful for the unprepared motorist confronted by this London
Double-Dekker taking up most of the narrow lanes and looking as immovable as a
Cornish hedge which, by the way, whilst looking green and lush, hides a granite
core that will not give way whatever machinery one tries to throw at it.
Many motorists unfamiliar with the territory have found their vehicles not to be
irresistible to a Cornish hedge - the hedge wins! After several hundred
yards of awkward reversing (not by the RML) RML2290 arrived back to Penzance
unscathed.
One of the drivers, Craig George, has kindly sent in a couple of his own images of
RML2290. Both taken in June 2014, the first is at Crantock Round Garden, near
Newquay and the other at the West Cornwall Motor Show; amusingly perhaps, pictured
next to an earlier vintage Berkeley T60
3-wheeler car, beautifully restored by owner Tim Weston; and both looking quite splendid.
Craig George, has also kindly provided his images of RML2266 (CUV 266C) pictured
at Bicester, Oxfordshire in May 2011 whilst with RH Transport at Witney.
New to Aldenham in July
1965 with initial service at Tottenham, Chalk Farm & West Ham and a varied
career including on tour to Stuttgart, West Germany, it gained its new Iveco
engine in 1990, was refurbished in 1993 and repainted red in 1998 before being
used by Arriva in South London; finally being withdrawn in 2005. It is currently
with Carters Heritage Buses, Ipswich; that incidentally owns a Bristol Lodekka formerly owned by one of the shareholders in RML2290!
Craig mentions that he used to go to work on Sundays to drive this bus and a selection of Daimler cars
owned by the director. The last image above, taken in August 2012, shows
the bus one month after it's repaint in London red by The Bus Works, Blackpool;
a job that was begun by RH Transport prior to its closure.
 at Victoria. "Thumbnail image of RM 1898 in silver livery (SRM1) at Victoria. Click here for a larger image that will open a new window.")
Here is RM 1898 in silver livery
(SRM1) at Victoria on 17 September 1977 (Image © Basil Hancock).
(25 Routemasters were painted in silver to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's
Silver Jubilee in 1977 and RM 1898 was the first so gained the mark SRM1. Ed.)
What's this interloper I hear you ask? Isn't this page dedicated to
Routemaster images; let alone the site supposed to be dedicated to PRV? And
isn't this a Mercedes-Benz 811D with Plaxton Beaver coachwork? Yes true, but
it's such an atmospheric image that it's slipped in here (and after all, I'm the
Editor and I care not; LOL). Taken by its owner Craig George at Penryn
whilst being operated by him on Boxing Day 2014 offering a free service between
there & Falmouth.
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