![]() The design of the Routemaster was fully and carefully thought through, from the cutaway under the stairs for the conductor to stand whilst the bus emptied and loaded, to the seat fabric that was carefully chosen to hide wear and dirt, to rear indicators (turn signals) that incorporated an arrow into the graphic, and of course the masterstroke of branding it so perfectly. So, the new bus for London was designed and built in London, but clearly was not typical of what had gone before. The bodies were built by AEC’s body building division Park Royal Vehicles, who with AEC had been the main manufacturers of the AEC Regent bodies. AEC was taken into Leyland in 1962, of course. Engines were AEC initially, though some later buses had Leyland engines. ![]() Independent front suspension, coil spring rear suspension, powered hydraulic brakes, fresh air heating, power steering and an automatic gearbox, complete with kick down, were all innovative features for a bus. The Routemaster’s list of innovations was long–it had an all aluminium body, with a large element of integral construction with a front “A” steel sub-frame (including engine, steering and front suspension) and a rear “B” steel sub-frame (carrying rear axle and suspension). The aluminium and integral nature of the construction resulted in a bus that carried 64 passengers against 56 for the RT within a reduction in unladen weight. The initial prototypes had the radiator mounted under the bus, but this was moved to a conventional position for production, accounting for the change in the frontal appearance. The first prototype was complete in 1954 and, after doing show duty at the Commercial Vehicle Show and extensive testing, went into trial service in 1956. London Transport’s bus works had spent the war building and repairing bombers, so a lot had been learnt about aluminium and how to use it. Other operators opted for either a chassis and body combination from standard options (a Leyland, AEC, Guy or Daimler chassis and a ECW, Park Royal, Weymann, Metro Cammell or Roe body–all names that have gone). ![]() London was unique in specifying the complete specification of its buses and then participating in the design and build. London Transport’s own engineering teams developed the concept of the new bus, what we now know as the Routemaster. The design priorities were increased full efficiency, passenger capacity and ease of maintenance. London’s buses were all designed with this type of maintenance in mind.Īfter WW2, London Transport identified a need for a new bus to eventually replace the RT fleet and London’s trolley bus fleet. It is worth following the link for an impression of the size and organisation this required. Some RT series buses were built on the similarly conventional Leyland Titan chassis hence advertisements like this. London Transport maintained all their own buses, with an extensive planned overhaul programme at the Aldenham works (now closed). This was a very typical British double decker of the period, and the London versions were not unusual in any significant way. London Transport ultimately purchased over 4500 of them operation of the RT finished in 1979. The Regent 3, on which the RT was based, dated from the late 1930s and was manufactured into the mid 1950s. Typically, it would seat 56 passengers and weigh around 8 tons unladen. The AEC Regent had a very conventional chassis and body construction, fitted with a 7.7 litre or 9.6 litre AEC diesel engine, a preselector epicyclic gearbox, and a body built to the operator’s specification or preference by one of several body builders around the UK. It was a regular production AEC Regent chassis equipped with a London Transport-specified body, built initially the Charles H Roe company of Leeds, in Yorkshire and later by various bodybuilders around the UK. The Routemaster was designed by London Transport, then the local government body responsible for operating London’s bus and underground rail (the famous tube) network, and built by AEC, formerly known as the Associated Equipment Company, and later part of Leyland.ĪEC had built the previous generation of the London bus, known as the RT. But none have been as uniquely-designed, well-built, long-lived, well-loved and impeccably-preserved as the nigh-near immortal Routemaster, truly the ultimate London bus. (first posted ) Over the long history of London’s buses, there have been many with double decks, separate driver’s cabs, forward engines, rear entrances, open rear platforms, and red color schemes.
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