How many London buses like this were imported into the U.S. and used as Fish & Chips restaurants or rolling billboards? Doing so was a big fad in the seventies and eighties, when London Transport was phasing out their mainstay buses, the AEC Regent III RT series. Some 4,674 were built; a few of them just before the war, but mostly after. It was the most common London bus until the arrival of the famous and more familiar Routemaster, in 1954.
The last RT was withdrawn from service in 1979. The indestructible Routemaster that replaced it was in regular service until 2005, and is still used on some Heritage Service runs. When I was in London in 1999, my two boys and I just hopped on a random bus (a Routemaster) and grabbed the front seats up top. We had a fabulous ride. It’s quite amazing how these buses wend their way through the narrowest streets, curves and intersections. We had no idea where we were going, but eventually we found ourselves back where we started.
And in 1988, we ate fish and chips in a bus just like this old RT at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. They surely did get around. And there is (or was) one here in Eugene that belongs (ed) to a radio station. Its hoary old AEC diesel engine and manual transmission had been replaced by a Chevy 454 and THM: A pragmatic solution, I guess, but a somewhat disappointing one.
BigOldChrysler posted this at the Cohort)
Very similar AEC busses were produced in NSW OZ both single and double deckers a friend has a single deck housebus still original mechanicals including Blue Mountains gearing. Putting a piece of crap Chev engine in would not help the driveability of one of these. The slow revving AEC was great
The two times I was in England (’77, ’82) in Newcastle Upon Tyne and London, I also rode in whatever the bus was at that time in the upper deck front seat next to the windscreen. Great view!
I wonder if someone in London has a GM fishbowl bus? Probably not.
Seems like a common sport amongst motorheads. I did the same thing when I was in London in 2005. Just hopped on to the nearest Routemaster and put ourselves in front up top, and went where it took us. We lived right next to Oxford Street, and they where still everywhere. Remarkable lightweight construction, and they aren’t as long as you think. 27 feet isn’t really that long, only the length of two medium sized cars…
There is a pub down here that has one out front, I gotta see if its one like this, I’ve only seen it once, though it looks like it does not move, its kept company by an equally decrepit black London Cab.
Busch Gardens in Williamsburg Virginia had a fleet of these around 1980 and I think there is at least one or two in Portland.
I’ve ridden in the top front seats of Routemasters in London as well. I got a kick out the little roll down section at the top of the window, operated by a miniature crank. The later rear engine buses don’t have the same charm, but you still get a good view and on smoe models there is a sort of periscope to allow the driver to see the top deck that you can look down.
@dastanley given the Brits enthusiasm for all things American somebody over there probably has a GM fishbowl, although it’s probably out in the country.
being a kid in Glasgow during the ’60’s I took a double decker every day to school. Would have been a Daimler, AEC, or Leyland. I remember trying to emulate the older kids that jumped on the bus as it left the stop, grabbing the pole and swinging on to the rear entrance. Only possible if the conductor was not back there, he would yell at you if he saw you trying.
Then the Atlantean buses started to appear. Rear engine, front doors, no swinging. I thought the new buses cool though.
One thing I don’t understand about the old (all?) buses, they had a worm drive rear diff. I think. They did have a characteristic noise, but I don’t understand what goes on when throttle is lifted – worm drives I am used to nowadays don’t take well to being reverse driven.
Quite a few double deckers still around here in Victoria. New fancy ones as part of the transit service and old UK sourced ones for the tourists.
alistair
PS I do remember feeling worried that the bus would tip over. Sometimes the driver would take corners at a speed that felt excessive when you were a kid on the upper deck.
just makes me want fish and chips. 😛
Paul, the bus you are referring to is parked at Quackers at the Y. I walk by it a lot buying booze but it’s too dark to take pictures. 😀
Yes, just saw it myself. It’s the later Routemaster; I’ll have to write it up sometime.
They used to build these in Sydney, Australia, under license and used them for mainly for Sydney public transport. Once they were pensioned off, heaps of them came up to the Gold Coast where I live. Being a tourist town, they were owned by tour companies. I remember going on several school excursions in them. Everyone used to argue about who was sitting up top as our regular school buses were single decked.
There’s a few double deckers in Toronto that get used for carting tourists around during the summer. I work downtown, and I see an old Leyland nearly every day from about June through September.
As far as I’m concerned that is a Routemaster. Living in London 1999-2011 there were ‘old’ Routemasters and ‘new’ Routemasters and the only difference was the ‘old’ was longer wheelbase and the new had an engine rebuild.
When I started “big” school in North London in ’59 I used to go on a trolleybus – electric with overhead powerlines. I boarded just around the corner from the bus depot, and sometimes an RT would come along instead of a trolleybus, which was a big thrill. Even then , electric vehicles were boring. Around 1961 the Routemaster was introduced to replace the trolleybus ( don’t know where Paul got the idea they arrived in ’54) but the RT survived for a good few more years. To me, this is the classic London bus – the Routemaster was just a watered-down version. I’m not an expert but I think the RT had a pre-selector gearbox, while the Routemaster may be fully automatic.
From wikipedia, of course: “The first prototype was completed in 1954 and the last one was delivered in 1968.[1] The layout of the vehicle was traditional for the time, having a half-cab, front mounted engine and open rear platform – although the coach version was fitted with rear platform doors. Forward entrance vehicles with platform doors were also produced as was a unique front entrance prototype with the engine mounted transversely at the rear. The first one entered service with London Transport in 1956”
Before I ever saw a red Routemaster I saw a Greenline one, which was the coach or country version. It had a lower roof and FOUR HEADLIGHTS which had only previously been seen on American cars. This must have been around 1960/61, as the guy who pointed it out to me and explained that it was a Routemaster was someone I met in late ’59. It was 61/62 before the red Routemasters appeared in numbers and the Trollybuses were withdrawn. Possibly south London had them earlier than north London though.
Harold LeMay had one of these – well, the family still does – and I’ve ridden in it quite a few times during their open houses, when they used it to shuttle folks between the main house and Marymount. Somewhere I’ve got a pic of Harold at the wheel of it, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Riding upstairs in these rigs is interesting because any slight slant in the road seems magnified, so it feels way tippier in a corner than it really is. The heavy engines and drivetrains make for a center of gravity that’s lower than it would seem.