I have recently been in contact with a fellow preservationist who was telling me how New Cross garage graded their RMs unofficially by rating them 1 - 5. He writes ...

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I remember that this one (1797) and 1104 were regarded as good (read: fast!) buses! Probably gone now but a mechanic in the garage used to score the buses with tippex 'x's on the dash - this bus would have been a 4 or 5 x-er!

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I have kept 1797 mainly in "as service" condition and I haven't touched the dash. It still has it's 4 x's. Does anyone else have any information on this practice? Did it go on in all the garages?

Rob

My bus number (if any): RM1797

Not sure why a bus mechanic would "rate" a bus, they hardly ever drove them on the road, more like a driver's doing. Never saw anything like it whilst I was on "cabs" at Aldenham or or any other bus, might have been a post privatisation thing!

New Cross along with Cricklewood, was not regarded very highly by RSE Buses or the Works, their buses were poorly maintained, certainly from a bodywork perspective, both garage's buses were far more work with putting right bodges and changing more panels than any of the other garage's buses. This may have been due to it being too large a garage to be managed by the same management structure as other smaller garages.
The night staff were regarded as a bolshy lot who would do anything not to work and to skive off and many Assistant District Engineers and Garage Engineering Managers tried and failed to improve things there.

The yard at New Cross was littered with cannabalised buses, particularly in the DMS period, probably due to the fact it was easier to take parts of a bus than bother to get from the stores at Peckham. The MD's didn't fare well at New Cross either, but that may have been due to the poor rust proofing than the lack of care by New Cross.

EDIT By coincidence, just seen on Flickr that RML 2676 ex NX also has crosses on the dash panel http://www.flickr.com/photos/22430972@N05/9823499623/in/contacts/

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RMC 1458 RM 1585, (M 961, M 271 - both sold) and several RTs

I absolutely agree with Brian - New Cross, for whatever reasons, had just about the crappiest standard of presentation anywhere on LT. It was well known for it. At Mortlake our 33 route had common sections with the 37`s in which NX had a share and some of their buses were visually awful when compared to ours. When I worked at Tottenham we shared the 171`s with NX and even then their buses were at the lower end of the presentation scale. I recall one instance in 1974 of an NX crew having a problem with their bus which couldn`t be fixed at AR so they were lent one of our buses to get home. A couple of days later when AR had repaired the NX bus (RM 1343) I was given it to work in service to NX where we would hand it over and get the AR bus back. I`d never seen anything like it. Filthy interior with various amounts of damage but average by NX standards. What an unfortunate choice of garage to send new MD`s to. I wonder how the class would have fared had they been at better places than NX and the almost as bad PM.

RM 928 had the same XXX's on the dashboard and after we fitted it with the Iveco engine out of RML 2317 it went like a rocket. I have driven RM 9 many times, the fastest Routemaster I have ever driven and it too has the XXX's on the dash.

Even in tram days NX's standards were poor although these days under GO-Ahead the turnout is good. RM 9 is always well presented. We borrow it from time to time and it just purrs along. Nice bus.

My bus number (if any): RM 912

Rob Duker

I have recently been in contact with a fellow preservationist who was telling me how New Cross garage graded their RMs unofficially by rating them 1 - 5. He writes ...

Quote

I remember that this one (1797) and 1104 were regarded as good (read: fast!) buses! Probably gone now but a mechanic in the garage used to score the buses with tippex 'x's on the dash - this bus would have been a 4 or 5 x-er!

Unquote

I have kept 1797 mainly in "as service" condition and I haven't touched the dash. It still has it's 4 x's. Does anyone else have any information on this practice? Did it go on in all the garages?

Rob





I noticed at least THREE x's on RML2271's dashboard when I had her Rob, she was a New Cross bus up until 2003.

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

RM1797 was a long time resident at NB where it soldiered on to the last night. In fact it was one of those retained after the new Metrobuses were diverted / reallocated to HW.

It was a very good bus but whilst NB and K did not have the excellence of Mortlake for presentation, It did have a much loved fleet of RMs by crews as well as engineering staff and the whole allocation were in good fettle and well looked after.

When RM withdrawals began, NX buses never hung around long at the Sales Department site at the former AEC works. The condition of them usually made for a fairly rapid exit to the scrapyard as there were simply so many better buses to choose from as resale prospects. Here`s RM 21 looking reasonable by NX standards though perhaps things that we cannot readily see from this picture dictated its fate. Most likely the mechanical inspection report contained reasons not to keep it. From the markings on the windscreen it was inspected on July 20th then moved to AEC on the 24th. Usually the paperwork arrived several days after the bus and thus the decision to send it to PVS had probably been made just a few days before this picture was taken on August 9th 1984.

Sorry Jack, but RM797, not 1797, was the bus at Norbiton up to the last night of crew operation. If I remember correctly, this was the bus that I drove as a duplicate to the last scheduled 65. If not, then it must have been the scheduled bus and I drove RM729. This was the last time I drove a bus for London Buses as I took early retirement (at the ripe old age of 31) the following day. Not many years now before I can draw my LT pension.

My bus number (if any): RMC1469

At the time Norbiton went over to OPO 2/86, I believe RM 1797 was at Bow.

However it was at NB, between 10/5/67 and 10/10/69, with its original body (B1797) and not the body it carries now (B1808.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RMC 1458 RM 1585, (M 961, M 271 - both sold) and several RTs

I stand corrected, Paul. Indeed, it was 797 and 729. It must be the sands of time or the onset of old age getting a grip!!

Now before I check in to a shrink, RM 21 was definitely an NB and K bus as was 19 and 23 and I think for a while we had RM 41 at the same time RM 7 was allocated. 41 either came or went to ON

If what's left of my memory is correct the earliest numbered RMs allocated to the 65 and 71 were RMs 7, 19, 21,23, 41, 84, & 92 and 94?

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RMC 1458 RM 1585, (M 961, M 271 - both sold) and several RTs

I think those earlier ones were for the 131 and 85. It's a bit beyond my time but I cannot ever recall an RM being used on the 65 0r 71 while they were RTs. The bend at Petersham was considered too tight for them! RMLs managed it though at the end of conductors!

I'm pretty sure RM 94 was one of several drafted in at the end along with 281 and 1804. But it is a while ago now!

Of course RMCs had operated through Petersham ever since their introduction to the 716 and 716A.
RTs were retained on the 71 after the 65 because of the need to re-align the junction of Sandy Lane and Ham Street in Ham, which was the reason for the cheange of route on Sundays for RFs

My bus number (if any): RMC1469

When was that Paul, I can't remember the Green Line services running through Petersham at all. Must be way back.

Do remember the RF Sunday operation of the 71 and Sandy Lane.

As Paul said, it was right from the conversion of the 716`s when RMC`s were new. So initially WY and SV joined later by HF - every hour half hour right through to conversion to RP which were even bigger. RMC 4 being a regular performer on the 716a until being demoted to light mileage.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RMC 1458 RM 1585, (M 961, M 271 - both sold) and several RTs