For a couple of years the 9 route was diverted away from its traditional Liverpool Street terminus to provide a link between the West End and Aldgate via The Tower. I took this picture on Feb 16 1980 in Mansell Street at the stop before the Aldgate Bus Station. Redevelopment has made this area look very different now.



Bizarre to think that whilst the RM is twice the age of DMS 216 behind it, the DMS would be withdrawn just a year later whilst the RM would carry on for a few more years. Many DMS`s were already at Wombwell Diesels for scrap by the date of this picture. As the only `modern` vehicle type to be almost as numerous as the Routemaster fleet, who would have thought then that DMS`s would be easily outlived by the reliable vehicles they were supposed to, in part, replace. Routes converted from RM to one person operated DMS`s were converted back to RM operation to make them more efficient and, similarly, RM routes converted to crew operated DM`s returned to RM`s when it became obvious that accrued dwell time at bus stops took doored buses on busy routes much longer to complete a trip compared to an RM.

Equally bizarre to think that in 2016, and just a stones throw from where the picture was taken, it`s actually possible to travel on an RM on a scheduled service - long after the DMS left London having first taken to the road forty five years ago today........ .

I had the "pleasure" of travelling on the first DMS in service on the 220, picked it up at Putney Bridge at about 0200 having worked the silly-o-clock from Upminster to PB staff train! I thought I'd get the last RM on the 220 from tooting, but they put a DMS out instead. the driver was Ernie Page. somewhere I've got a fuzzy picture of him standing in front of the DMS at S, with the row of redundant RMs off the 220 in the background.

I stayed with Ernie for the 0400ish trip to Harlesden and back to Tooting, where we met up the the "first" DMS on the 95s. the bus nuts on that were surprised to learnt they'd missed the first one by not only hours, but a day as ernie's night shift began the previous day!

On the way down Garratt Lane I asked Ernie if it would do 70, it says so on the clock. with the usual bus driver humour he replied "it says India on the tyres but i don't go there".

My bus number (if any): RML2532