I took these pictures of the interior of RM 1059 whilst it was laying over on Stoke Newington Common bus stand on Nov 17 1979. Whilst not great for sharpness, they do record details that often have to be guessed at through lack of photo evidence.


The advert panel on the upper deck front bulkhead was in use more often than not then. Alongside it, the notice requesting smokers to occupy rear seats was, as I recall, one of the first examples of vinyl as opposed to transfers.
Later, probably around 1980/1, red vinyl `no smoking` stickers were affixed to the windows of the first four bays.



Leather ends to both cushions and squabs were still commonplace - though the latter had begun to be phased out a few years earlier as seen on overhauled buses from around 1975. RM 1059 in 1979 was some years out from its last overhaul and just months from the next one thus an `overlap` of various features spans several years.




On the bulkhead before the conductor`s area, the transfers promoting the use of the `long seats` for the less able were starting to appear around this time on newly overhauled buses. The removal of the fire extinguisher from the cab to a box in the Conductor`s area was undertaken around this time. My guess is that this alteration was already under way and once into 1980 most buses had this done.




In 1979, felt pen graffiti wasn`t at `epidemic `proportions across most of the fleet. Glass etching hadn`t begun and interior light bulbs were usually in place. Within a couple of years some garages were seeing the onset of anti-social behaviour that would depressingly change bus interiors.

Thank you Neil,

Some useful referances if looking to carry out interiour restoration.

Regards,
Tom.

My bus number (if any): RML2344

that's how i remember the look of rms until 1993