RM 1563 had a big anniversary today as it was fifty years ago on April 16th 1963 that it was first licensed for service. Of course it could be argued that the 1563 of today isn`t the 1563 of 1963 but with body 1552 it`s close enough and for the sake of legality the paperwork reckons that today is the big 50.

Probably an insignificant bonnet number until arrival at Mortlake from overhaul in March 1980, it became a well known Showbus in the following years. Neil T and I chose it because of an anomaly that made it, as far as we could ever prove, quite unique. It was the last RM in service to carry a BESI plate holder. For those who don`t know, the Bus Electronic Scanning Indicator was an early form of vehicle tracking using numbered plates slotted into a holder on the nearside of the bus forward of the advert. When the system was disbanded in 1976 the holders were removed on overhaul but 1563 slipped through the net. Many people assumed that we`d found a holder to put on the bus when it was put back into 1960`s appearance but it really did arrive from Aldenham with it still fitted.

It can be seen in this shot of 1563 outside the back of Mortlake Garage ready for a rally outing on July 13th 1980.




Outside Brixton Garage on May 3rd 1981 en-route to Brighton with RM 737 and RM 8




In service at Mortlake Garage on Jan 9th 1982



Ready for its Last day in service. Stamford Brook Garage May 8th 1984. The `watch your step` poster lasted well for several years but the paintwork was starting to look tired.




And finally, how it looks today - literally today April 16th 2013

Hi Neil ,A very happy birthd ay to RM1563,she looks just aswell now as 50 yaers ago , On the subject of former LT showbuses , I understand that RM737 has recently been sold to Bus Stop Tours in Edinburgh for sightseeing tours,I don't imagine Mac Tours will be to pleased with that!

My bus number (if any): none yet!

Happy Birthday to what will always be my favourite RM, Being the first Routemaster I had an association with.
and where I caught the bug!

RM737 is now part of the Red Bus fleet Jim and will be garaged at Paisley. I drove her a couple of weeks ago and passed a personal landmark as RM737 became the fiftieth Routemaster I have driven since I first got behind the wheel of RM1006 way back in November 1990, that makes 38 RMs, 11 RMLs and one RCL.

My bus number (if any): RM967 (Driver & Restoration Consultant), bus is owned by Tom Allan

Happy belated birthday!
How can I find out 1842's "birthday"?
I believe it is 50 this year, hence the renovations in process. It would be good to have the mot booked for the big day...

My bus number (if any): 1842

The date first licensed should be on the log book or if that`s not readily to hand go to the DVLA site about the licensed state of a vehicle and it`ll be on there.

Hi Ian ,to answer you query your bus was new in Feb 64 and went into service at Barking garage (BK) ,it went for it's 1st overhaul in 1968 and got body 1749 and went back into service at Hounslow garage and was withdrawn in March 87,it went through various owner till you got it,does it still have it's Leyland engine in it?.
On the same subject as Graham said about I have driven 78 different Routemaster's (39 RM's,33 RML's,2 RMC's,2 RCL's and 2 RMA's).In this list I have driven one's with AEC's (590's & 690's),Leylands,Scania's,Cummins,Iveco's and Dartmasters and even an RML with a high speed diff and a couple of open top RM's.The only Routemaster types I've never driven are RMF's,the extended Ex London Coaches ERM's and the unique FRM.

My bus number (if any): none yet!

Thanks for that bit of history, Jim.
Somewhere I have a print out of its life in service.
One thing puzzled me though and that was your reference to Leyland engine.
It was defiantly AEC when I got it in 1993, I know cos I changed it for a 690!

My bus number (if any): 1842

Neil,
I was thinking birth, out of the factory, rather than first licenced, which might have been some time later.
Thats got me thinking though, why, after owning her for 19 years, believing made in 63 that her age related number plate is 64... Doh! What do I know? I was only a toddler back then.....
;-)

My bus number (if any): 1842

Ah, but that`s the thing with RMs, it`s very possible, even likely, to have a bus with a bonnet number that would suggest it was new in 1961 but with a body that belongs to 1962 and a `chassis` that dates from 1960. Such was the special dispensation that LT used to speed up overhaul times that inter-mixing of bodies and running units created all sorts of anomalies regarding the actual age of any given bus. One of the most bizarre mis-matches I know of involved a bus I often used to catch to work when I first started on LT. Potters Bar Garage had RM 7 with body B2196 - about as far removed from each other as was possible. With the body being the biggest, most obvious, part of the bus it might be reasonably assumed that this would dictate the age of the vehicle as 1965. But for licensing purposes it would be a 1959 bus because of the running units.

I`m fairly lucky with RM 1563 in that it has Body 1552 and thus Spring 1963 is a reasonable date, near as damn it, for the time of being made - probably around a month to six weeks before being first licensed. But some buses required for large scale service changes (and there were many such involving RM`s) could be stored awaiting use for many weeks after being built.

To encroach on another thread relevant to your bus, it was never a Leyland when it went to Hounslow Garage in 1985. It worked on the 237`s which passed Stamford Brook where I was so I saw 1842 just about every day. Hounslow was an AEC garage until one exception, RM 1278, arrived as their sole Leyland.