Good Afternoon,

I don't know whether you will all remember, but i save RML2719 from the scrapyard by rebuilding her after she received severe rear end damage from a car transporter. I have been quiet for a couple of years after unfortunately losing my well established business due to a client taking me for six figures. I have spent the last couple of years recovering and am now back on course to finish her restoration.

You may well have heard through the grapevine that we are about to recreate (or create) history by taking 2719 down to Athens along the route they would have taken in the film "Summer Holiday". I know this was not done in a Routemaster, but feel this a fitting tribute to the old girl particularly with the anticipated launch of the so called "New Routemaster"!

We have a film crew following us down and they intend to make a six part documentary of our trip which will hopefully be shown on the BBC in Spring/Summer of 2012. This again will show how versatile the Routemaster is and, just reinforce the iconic standing are buses have.

After talking to my good mate Freddy Soper (RM1000) i understand the differential can be uprated to enable 2719 to achieve speeds of close to 60mph. Due to the amount of miles we will be doing, i feel that it would be kinder on 2719 to have this modification done so that she will not have to work so hard to cope with the journey.

I would be grateful if someone can point me in the right direction of someone who can either do the job or advise us on what is required and whether it is feasible.

Thank you and regards

Chris

My bus number (if any): RML 2719

Wow - that's really exciting Chris - thanks for letting us all know! Summer Holiday is the thing nearly everyone mentions when they get to hear about our buses, probably as often as "Where do you keep?" It will be a great adventure and something for the rest of us to look forward to vicariously!! Great!

PS Cleverer people than me will tell you about the high speed diff!!

My bus number (if any): RML2302

Useless I know Chris, but my heartfelt sympathy over the loss of your business for such a galling reason.I know the feeling well, having experienced bad debts often enough in the past, but fortunately not of such horrendous proportions. This is the reason I only 'practice' part-time and limit my customers to those I can truly trust. It would be nice to be more involved but not I fear, sensible.

The very best of luck with your project. There will be many obstacles and problems, as I'm sure you're aware, I feel sure this thread will run and run so: the best advice I can offer would be to contact the owners of RM 1398, who run it all over Europe constantly.

Hi Chris,
Good luck with your trip . Make sure you plan it well and watch out for lower bridges overseas . After your good work on the rear end of 2719 you don't want an argument with a bridge !
High speed diffs are hard / near impossible to come by these days . Quite a few of us would like them , it's been talked about getting some made but thats as far as it went , no doubt due to cost etc !! It won't be cheap .
Mark

My bus number (if any): RML2391 , UCOC 157

Yes the differential can be changed to a 4.08 one to give theoretical higher speeds, but will the Cummins engine be able to sustain high speeds in hot conditions? The AEC engines have shown they can if treated carefully, but not sure about the new engines.

You need the differential from an AEC Reliance coach, an RMA (airport coach) or a Green Line Routemaster, but as mark says these are not easy to come by.

You should also be aware that with higher speeds you could depending on tyres get a lot of vibration and the RM buses with high speed diffs were equipped with a steering column brace, although opinions differ on its necessity.

You might find this thread interesting as these diffs have already been discussed, http://pub44.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3715842662&frmid=32&msgid=1139201&cmd=show

You might note that contributors say the 4.08 diff makes the bus sluggish on ascents, a problem we don't have with our standard RM 1585.

Personally for me 50 mph in an RM is quite fast enough, and what the bus, its fuel delivery and braking systems were designed for, above that assuming the fuel pump can cope you are just drinking fuel.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960 RMC 1458 RM 1585 and several RTs

I would stick with the standard differential, keeping to the national roads definitely not motorways. A steady pace is best, although the derated Cummins is more than capable of being pushed quite hard for hours at a time. As mentioned, bridges en route require decent research for heights, and necessary permissions if required for routes. Sounds like a journey to enjoy and not rush, I envy you, a trip like this is right up my street.

My bus number (if any): RCL2250

We use autoroutes/motorways on a lot of journeys. Its often a balance between distance as taking some motorways adds many extra kilometres to a journey and hills, motorways tend to be a lot flatter than other main roads which historically follow the terrain up hill and down dale, motorways have more bridges and viaducts and no low hanging branches. In mainland Europe bridges below 4,5 metres should be marked, and are shown on Michelin maps, with an RM I certainly would not attempt anything lower that 4,3 metres and less than 4,5 metres with caution. Only one of the Summer Holiday buses went to Athens although by what route is not known as a lot of the supposed French scenes were shot in Greece. The direct route includes Belgium, Holland,Germany and Austria, the latter two alone will give height problems even on the Motorways as the standard height is only 4 metres.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960 RMC 1458 RM 1585 and several RTs

Brian
Sure be interesting taking a Routemaster south on the A75 E11 past Clermont Ferrand wouldn't it, lovely bit of road and I know it would not be on the route to Athens. I bet you have some superb trips down your way in the buses, I only pass through on my way to Catalunya in the Discovery, lovely hotel in Massiac. Sorry to go off subject, cannot wait to point the car south again.

My bus number (if any): RCL2250