Some depressing views taken at Norths Scrapyard, Nov 4 1982.

There`s not much left of RM 1297.









And even less left of RM 1309





I`ll save some more shots taken during that visit for another time .........

RMs are very time-consuming to dismantle or break! Unlike the RTs I used to see being broken at Wombwell Diesels in the early 1970's where they were dismantled using axes to prize the beading and panels away from the rotten wood, RMs are not as easy!

I've broken a couple of RMs when I was at Mitcham and they took weeks to break; ali won't cut easily with the usual gas axe, so we used a chain saw!

The top picture with the caption "almost gone", there's still a considerable amount of ali in the body structure and floor!

My bus number (if any): RML2532

What depresses me when I look at photos like these is the hundreds of parts now in short supply that were thrown away. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

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

I can actually remember the guys at Norths telling me that they couldn`t believe how well built the RM`s were compared to the usual buses they dealt with. They reckoned it was possible to break three `weaker` buses in the time it took to destroy one RM.

And as for the waste of parts, well, where do we start? If we knew then what we know now ........

Of the many shots I took, one involved standing by a small brick shed. I looked inside and there was a crate of `dustbin lids` for rear wheels. Couldn`t believe what I was seeing. Can`t imagine how they got there. And I had arrived on foot from a train station about a mile away so taking some away wasn`t an option. Always regretted it!

Norths were contracted to dismantle the RMs Neil not "scrap" them in the normal way. PVS just used a gas axe and cut through large sections as they didn't rip apart like other buses.
Norths probably bought the dustbin lids from Chiswick Obsolete stores, I remember we could buy the cab saws when they were withdrawn from Aldenham's obsolete stores for 6d
Big quantities and more expensive items was put out to tender, there was quite a large Sales Section in the Chiswick Purchasing Office. They sold everything including obsolete bus spares, office equipment, lorries, cars and vans and it was the cars where the Contracts Officer and a few of the Sales staff came a cropper and "resigned" when many dodgy deals to staff were exposed. After that all vehicles apart from buses, went to auction

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

Dodgy deals from inside staff, surely not?? :)

My bus number (if any): RML2532

Thanks again for sharing these photos Neil, such a waste of iconic buses, makes you wonder how many surplus RMs that were in good running order would have been snapped up by operators and preservationists alike if London Transport had offered them up for sale for scrap value at the time as only three years later, Clydeside Scottish & Stagecoach were snapping them up with Blackpool Transport looking on Routemasters as a long-term replacement for their Leyland PDs?

My bus number (if any): RM967 (Driver/Restoration consultant)

When I worked at Reading Mainline we went up to pick up an old Leyland National to use for driver training. This was 1997. I was amazed to find a Leyland engine sat in the mud from an RM. Also outside were scores of bonnets, cab doors (all rotten by now), window pans, air tanks, handrails etc. Inside there were about twenty stillage's full of smaller items removed from RM's years ago. Switches, cab panels, horn arms, gear selectors, light fittings etc. We filled that National with as much as we could but loads were left!

My bus number (if any): RM2208