I got a message from my brother this morning that he was invited to ride on an RT on route 11 today as there were 21 RTs working it!!

Going back many years to the formative years of the London Bus Preservation Group, I remember talking to the late Alan Allmey who said that one day he'd hope to achieve a day when something like the 11 would be run with all preserved buses. His dream has come true this year with the various route running days in London.

Even though the 11 was an all-RTW route until the last years when RMs took over and a few ex London Country repatriated RTs appeared. You could always tell a Dalston RTW as they all had K M adverts on the front!

In those days the full route was Shepherds Bush Wells Road to Liverpool Street with journeys to Dalston Garage. Some short workings were Fulham Salisbury, Hammersmith Brook Green Hotel, Chelsea Stanley Arms as well as the better known ones like Aldwych and Victoria.

My bus number (if any): RML2532

As the Running Day on Route 11 today has been mentioned and, as I recall, some RT pictures have been posted on this Routemaster forum in the past, I hope the following pictures will be of interest to those who were not able to enjoy it as I did this afternoon.

It seemed almost unreal to see green RT`s in service in central London such as RT 4779 in The Strand.



And approaching Westminster Abbey eastbound.




RTW 335 at the Westminster end of Victoria Street







RT 3062 seen in Whitehall. Not just one of the last RT`s in LT stock, it was the last roofbox RT in LT stock by far and having spent many years as a Mechanical Trainer in the 1970`s it ended up dumped in Shepherds Bush Garage until sold around 1980.




Green Line RT`s (like 3232) used to be a common sight around Victoria but I doubt many of us ever thought we`d see this in 2014!




Or standard country area RT 1700 running on the 11`s in the company of buses sixty years younger




And likewise with RTL 139.



I just happened to be in London today (at work) and had a couple of spare hours available to thoroughly enjoy a brief return to treasured moments from my past - going to school on green RT`s, being a conductor on RM`s on the 11`s from Riverside and conducting on RT`s on other central London routes.
How lucky we are to have Running Days like these and from what I could see there appeared to be many people, other than those with a specific interest in buses, enjoying the chance to ride on and photograph a fine assortment of correctly blinded, memory evoking buses. Brilliant!

I remember the Dalston 'when working' journeys when I was a little boy. Buses displayed Dalston Garage via Bethnal Green Road. These runs were always carried out at high speed so I doubt if anyone ever managed to get on one unless they were already on board at Liverpool Street.

My bus number (if any): RM 912

Well Neil has beaten me to it!
I decided to go to the Hammersmith end of the route and up to Whitehall.
Probably not the best of Sundays to do this event as the last day of half term, plus the key part of the District and Circle lines plus the huge crowds in Tower Hill and St Paul's made for a lot of vehicular and pedestrian congestion and overcrowding.
This was most apparent on the normal 11 and 211 services which were packed with passengers sitting on the stairs on all 7 trips I made on the routes. Especially the 211.
Even with the 20 odd "extras' covering much of the routes it did not appease the demand. One can only speculate on the chaos which might have ensued had it not been for the cavalry in the form of the RTs and one RML!

Certainly questions need to be asked of the authorities failing in not making adequate arrangements for what is always two very busy weekends at this time of year. 2 hours to get from Monument to Gunnersbury on Saturdays is starting to get too regular.

Anyway, that said, the reaction from a great many ordinary passengers when they found they could ride on a vintage bus for free was lovely to see and happily dropped donations into the pot.

Hat's off too to those crews who embraced the day and especially to the crew of a Green RT who had to deal with a right nut job in the Kings Road. Both brave and diligent.

It did seem Green RTs outnumbered Red standard RTs but it made for a good day for bus and non bus enthusiasts along the 11 road.

Some pictures to hopefully enjoy. Not Routemasters but without the RT, the Routemaster would never have existed.

Marvellous!
Thank you so much Neil and Mark for posting your pictures. Most excellent!
I wish I could have been there to see with my own eyes.

I always wondered if it would be possible to operate a whole route with RTs or RMs in London.

But what a great bus the RT is to look at. It's says London at it's best, perfectly proportioned.

I might be biased towards the Routemaster as they were more my working era, but to ride on, especially in the winter, the RT was hard to beat.

I do hope they do this at least annually maybe with an inner central route like the 11 and an outer central route like the 65.

What stunning pics