Routemaster 70 celebrating 70 years of the London Routemaster 1954 2024

London Routemasters descended on Chiswick at the site of the former London Transport Chiswick Works to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this iconic bus. Organised by the Routemaster Association. Many will recall the Chiswick works where the Routemasters were overhauled and trainee drivers had to contend with the famous skid pan.
A fantastic way to celebrate a bus which has become a symbol of London over the years.From the first protype RM1 delivered in September 1954 they lasted in regular service around London until 2005. Around 1230 of the 2876 delivered to London Transport survive today and there is still a heritage service in operation today and London Bus Museum hold a number of running days. Many examples were exported and have found other uses such as cafes and bars or for hire as wedding transport. If you want to find out more please check out routemaster.or... where you can become a member.
The film starts with many of the buses arriving at Chiswick Park where they made a fine site. A few routemasters were on the X70 service around Chiswick and there is also a look at some of the buses on display. Look out for a couple of RT's and RF's which also joined in the celebrations.
Some of the buses featured:-
SLT 56--London Transport AEC Routemaster RM1 (1954)
SLT 57--London Transport AEC Routemaster RM2 (1955)
SLT 58--London Transport AEC Routemaster RML3 (1957)
357 CLT--London Transport AEC Routemaster RM1357 (1963)
804 DYE--London Transport AEC Routemaster RM1804 (1964)
SMK 760F--London Transport AEC Routemaster RML2760 (1968)
VLT 188--London Transport AEC Routemaster RM188 (1959)
KGJ 602D--London Transport AEC Routemaster BEA2
A64 THX--London Transport Leyland Titan T1064 (1984)
JJD 440D--London Transport AEC Routemaster RML2440 (1966)
OLD 566-- London Transport AEC Regent III RT4779 (1954)
NLE 600--London Country RF600 AEC Regal IV (1953)
KYY 529--London Transport AEC Regent III RT1702
Hope you have enjoyed the film. Please feel free to comment or leave a like. Coming next month will be coverage of The Big Bus Show from Suffolk and I may be out and about next week in Leicester for the 100th anniversary of Municipal buses and maybe another event in Windsor.

[@andrewholloway231]

In my humble opinion.... The Routemaster ... The best bus ever made.. 70 years of excellence. A credit to everyone who keeps these iconic buses going. 😊

[@Thatspuremental]

I wouldn’t go as far as to say the best bud ever made but they are incredibly good

[@angelsone-five7912]

I drove Routemasters for three years in London and loved every minute, so much fun to drive.

[@eattherich9215]

I love these old buses, but I am reminded of the passage of time and my long vanished childhood and young adulthood.

[@nickbarber2080]

I happened by chance upon the Routemaster 50 celebration in Finsbury Park in 2004...what a fantastic line up of beautiful buses who at the time,were still serving the Capital.

[@adrianbanks2089]

A Great Bus to Drive ! i Drove Them in 1969 ! EX L.T 😊

[@craigsibley8161]

Nice to see the other London buses there as well and the RM's in various stages of restoration... 👍👍👍

[@juliesmith5567]

I 💕 watching this cant believe 70yrs wow what a long time and your still rolling and you still will be for years to come ive always love this form of transport, why did they stop the back door where people used to jump on if theyed missed it and also the words of the root on back is not on back either😮😢

[@johncox2284]

The Routemaster will be chugging along long after we are all gone.

[@user-qq2hh4zm6k]

Nice

[@adrianbanks2089]

PPS I Was on The Skid Pan on a R.T ( The Great Times ! )😊

[@christopherhunter2892]

So nice to see the Routemasters back at their spiritual home in Chiswick. A superb design which really has not been bettered other than more modern buses being more accessible. Just travel in hot weather in a new bus. The ventilation is terrible. The Routemasters with their wind down windows get a nice flow of air, lockable at the front for winter travel. Probably better on fuel economy as well. Also speedy. Today’s buses crawl along at a glacial pace.

[@StationBBLT]

Great Video.

[@GrahamSleath]

Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@ROCKINGMAN]

Nice selection of RM's, especially those preserved in original condition. Can always tell the roar of the Leyland 0600. The RF's are superb and even graceful. Would have been complete with all the variants, such as 1254 or Northern General. Nice day out.

[@Steven_Rowe]

I remember them when they replace dthe Trolleybuses in Tottenham, i was sad as i loved the trolleybuses, i went to school on the Route 41 plus also on RTs on 231 and 217. What a legendary bus were the RMs, they still look fantastic in 2024.

[@ace-paidinfull5240]

Im from tottenham, born in 1991, my only rare memory is when the 73 was an RM and used to come from AR garage and was allowed to turn right onto the high road for its first stop. Apart frm that, RMs in in my local area is not a memory i have lol

[@flippop101]

Superb video, great channel, subbed!

[@GrahamSleath]

Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it. Welcome to my channel thanks for subscribing.

[@naotinhaoutronome]

AMAZING, im from Brazil and i was doing a Google search on the history of routemasters, it's incredible that this video was posted so few hours ago! connecting minds heheh

[@ace-paidinfull5240]

I was doing RR this day and i saw one RM later on in the day in the car park in chiswick BP. Thats also the day i found out that i could bring a double deck under the bridge there after being told previously by more than one person that it wouldn’t fit🤔🤷🏽‍♂️

[@paulmason329]

Interesting video but how many of them still have their original AEC or Leyland engines? At least RM1 is still genuine unlike RT1 which suffered Aldenhams overhaul procedure. I don't like RMs with 4 cylinder engines despite their necessity of keeping the whole bus intact. Surely a Northern General "RMF" should have been present? I know this is all voluntary effort so we'll done to all involved. The single deck Route master was an accident victim and only saw ancillary use but it's good that it has been saved Well done everyone!

[@GrahamSleath]

Thanks for your comments. I know that RM1397 still retains its original Leyland engine but you are right there aren't many that have their original engines. I was lucky enough to see RMF1254 and ride on it earlier this year. Maybe it was booked for a wedding hire. It was a fantastic effort to stage such an event of that scale. It's good that so many Routemasters have survived in various forms and great to some of them in attendance such as RM1403.

[@arthurreeder8451]

Ah RMF 1254....one of the very few I never saw! I saw all the RMLs save a couple of country buses, and I drove past 1 some years ago abandoned on the IOW. It turned out to be one I had never seen!!

[@GrahamSleath]

@@arthurreeder8451 I was very lucky to see it earlier in the year and get a trip on it and one or two pictures. I have just uploaded one onto my flickr page which you can view here www.flickr.com/photos/197483763@N02/53832746603/in/dateposted-public/

[@Demun1649]

That was great. My favourites were the single-deckers, both LT and Green Line. When I went to school, Uxbridge Bus Garage always had a great selection of bus types, but the Green Line buses always seemed to be clean, and shiny all the time. Sad to see the progression from the specific "Green Line", to the vague, "London Country", and then the totally anonymous, boring and inaccurate "London Transport. Corporate blandness that lowers the value of experiencing the excitement of individuality.

[@TheRedFloofball_Foxy]

I was at RM70!

[@denisdavidson5622]

RML3 isn't a Long 5 window bus! So, do I guess correctly the 'L' refers to it having a Leyland engine?

[@GrahamSleath]

Yes you are correct. This is stated on The London Bus Museum Website where you can read all about its history.

[@andyeasom2513]

You wait for 1 then 130 turn-up

[@nickdawson9270]

The Routemaster shows us how uncomfortable modern bus are!