The ease of which the rear end of a Routemaster could be removed to facilitate a repair often made the damage sustained look worse than it actually was. Some considerable thought went into the provision of a two piece staircase so that the more collision vulnerable lower part could be easily replaced making the repair of a basic rear end collision into a task to be done at garage level. And quite quickly too. I was on a late turn when I took these pictures of RM 1733 in Mortlake Garage on 27 Feb 1981 and the work to remove the rear end had been on-going through that day. The chances are that, through the stores system, the new parts needed were available almost immediately and the repair would have been completed by the end of the next day so that the bus probably had just two or three days of unavailability for service.

Very true Neil. One of the first jobs I did at Aldenham was RM rear frames. To build a new one from scratch took two of us about 3 hours, we did a few completely new from time to time, usually we stripped down and then used the good parts from damaged ones. garages avoided changing the top staircase if they could as it was a lot more work. You could see a bus that had had a rear smash often by the pinched chrome finisher on the bend above the conductor's left shoulder

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

I`m glad you mentioned that, Brian.
I was going to say something about the clue to a previous rear end shunt being the kinking on the surround of the conductors recess - at about left shoulder height but I didn`t think anyone would believe it. But it was quite possible having seen this little clue to investigate further and find other signs such as part replaced platform treadmaster or back end interior panels that were a slightly brighter paint shade following a repair. The tiny gap between the platform and the back end would also be less full of dirt.

Here`s another instance of a give away clue to a different scenario. It was always possible to tell when an RM had just had a chassis clean because the ceiling above the fly wheel trap would be covered in grease / dirt splats!

And there must be many people wondering why the ceiling on both decks often has little dents but only above the gangway and never above the seats. Down to the cleaners using a mop bucket with the squeeze facility. Bucket placed in gangway, mop drawn forcefully out of roller to expel the water and bang - another dent!

I think I have mentioned before Neil that, at the post Aldenham Repair Centre at Stamford Brook, we took the rear end off of an RML, slid it into the lower saloon gangway, drove it to AEC with temporary rear lights and trade plates to remove the same from a scrap RM, returning to V to complete the work. Even with the travel time it only took two days to complete.

I also carried out a front end rewire on a fairly new Metrobus. Proceeded to refit the panels, I didn't need a coachmaker, and then managed to slip with the lazy tong pop riveter, putting a 2" hole in the otherwise perfect ceiling panel. Lesson learned!

David

My bus number (if any): RML 2276 M1001 T806