RM 437 being towed into the Bus Sales site at the old AEC Works on 15 October 1984 having been withdrawn from service at Norbiton Garage as a result of collision damage.




An unusual damage pattern - I wonder if it happened on the sharp bend at Petersham on the 65`s? Maybe Jack will know.......

What a shame Rob Duker would have had that back on the road by the end of the day !

My bus number (if any): RML2747

I can't remember RM437 being at NB for long. I have a feeling it was a trainer there but the grey matter fails me.

It looks like less than a days work to repair that damage. Unless the angle is deceptive and the fuel tank is damaged.

What a bargain it would have been as a write off. Probably less than £300.

I can't remember the bonnet number but an NB RM suffered a massive smash in South Ealing Road around 78 early 79.
All the cab was destroyed and the front grille, radiator and so on, a right mangled mess. We got an RT returned to replace it. The RT was allocated for just a few weeks and was only rostered for peak duties just a short while before the complete end of RTs in LT service. We had a had a few return to NB a few years before.
It was repaired at Aldenham and returned some months later.

Like to see anyone change a ripped pillar, stub pillar and two stress panels in a day!

RSI would have inspected this and decided it wasn't worth repairing, particularly if LT was paying.

It was a service bus and withdrawn at NB 15/10/84 and sold a month later. It had been at NB since 14/1/83 transferring from Kingston where it had been since its March 1981 overhaul.

For number crunchers, the last body attributed to this bus in the Body Swaps book and Ian Smith's listing, of B418 is wrong, it has B277.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1486 and several RTs

I used to be able to do that in a day - just. Two spars were possible. As long as all the parts were to hand. Depends how mangled. That one does not look too bad. I'm not so sure I could now even after a bit of practice. Knees and back would see to that! But that does appear to not look as bad as many that came along. Hence querying the angle of the picture.

But I was good at straightening metal and we had a few tools to help. At HL I often went round to a mate, Peter, on the local industrial estate to get bits straightened. It was his business and he got the apprentices to do it. Always within the hour! It was better than waiting for the ordered parts. They thought we were miracle workers - when we were actually in the pub!

We had a home made tool for inserts made by one of the old hands who was originally an Underground toolmaker.
He was great, came up with all sorts of contraptions for jobs. When he retired he gave me and several others his tools.

I still have them to this day although I have not used them for at least 30 years now.

I have another picture of that bus and the pillar is ripped and the bottom rails either side severely bent and in need of replacement, wheelarch panel is damaged, possibly floor sections behind damaged.IE a major repair.

If it was that easy Norbiton would have done it. Always thought that you you were a fitter Jack, not a bodymaker.

Inserts were put in with a small clamp which every gang had, When I was an apprentice spent hours putting them in new pillars etc in "Chairs & Rails" monotonous job!

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RMC 1486 and several RTs