London Transport Buses           

                            These Pictures are sent to me by Mr. Rex Motley & Tim Stubbs

                    All New pictures will be added as slide shows "click" title to see slide show

              Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England, 2007

                                                  

                     

                                                        Rex & Suzanne Motley

                       

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's me at

       Shepherds Bush Garage

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                   

1949 - LEYLAND TITAN 6RT, KLB908 --------------- Yellow BUS

LONDON TRANSPORT RTW class       Owned by Tim Stubbs

CHASSIS: Leyland Titan 6RT

BODY: Leyland metal framed 56 seat highbridge

ENGINE: Leyland O600 diesel 115bhp @ 1800rpm

TRANSMISSION: Fluid flywheel and 4-speed pre-select epicyclic gearbox

HISTORY: Like most London buses of this generation, bodies were exchanged between chassis at overhaul and the bus you see today started out as RTW245 (chassis) and RTW141 (body). From 1953 both of these vehicles were allocated to Clay Hall for routes 6 and 8, and chassis and body were united at their next overhaul in 1957, becoming RTW138. In 1959, Clay Hall was closed and the vehicle went to Bow, still working the central London routes. The final LT overhaul at Aldenham was in 1961, and after this RTW178 was allocated to Putney to work on routes 74 and 85.

Sold off by London Transport in 1965 after 16 years service, the bus passed to Stevensons of Uttoxeter, becoming No 11 in their fleet and working for them for a further 11 years. Platform doors and saloon heaters were fitted for the new role working in rural Staffordshire. The bus was a regular performer on Stevensons 'Main Road' route to Burton upon Trent. It is believed that No 11 was the last RTW to remain in public service, working for 28 years in all. In 1978, No 11 passed to new owners for preservation. Much restoration work was undertaken and the bus was rallied extensively over the next few years.

Another change of ownership occurred in 1996 after the owner, Tony Sewell, was sadly killed in a road accident. Subsequently further restoration work has been carried out and this has included reconstruction of the platform riser and platform, overhauling the engine and carrying out repair of the rear suspension. It is intended to continue to present this vehicle in Stevensons condition, as an example of an ex-London bus with its subsequent operator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RTW 185 fully restored to here original condition as delivered to London Transport in 1949

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Queen Mary #5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LT 1076 single Decker that has been fully restored by the London Transport museum at Acton London.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                Trolley Buses

Pic 0036. LTS Trolleybus No 1 which was taken out of retirement from the museum & used on the last day of Trolleybus operation before the system was shut down in May 1962.
 
At one time London had the largest Trolleybus system in the world.
 
Pic 0016 T/B No1, this class were know as the diddlers, the system started in London in 1931.
 
Pic 0015. one of the last Trolleybuses to run on the system.
 
Pics 0038 & 0039 fully restord tower wagon for the repair of the overhead wires on the system.
 
Hope people out there in the States get some enjoyment from the photos especially any ex pats from London.

 

Picture 0015

 

                                                   

 

                                          

 

 

                                              picture 0016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture 0036

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                        

 

 

 

                                       picture 0038

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture 0039

     The tower wagon is a converted STL bus chassis

 

 

 

 

 

                                                     Q Class Buses

                                                       

Q class buses were mainly single Decker's & I remember them being operated from Kingston bus garage (which incidentally has long gone) but a few were built as double Decker's, they were unique in their own right as they had a vertically mounted engine behind the driver to give more passenger space plus a pre select gearbox & fluid flywheel as was the RT's ,RTL's & RTW's but the latter were air operated hence the familiar noise & jerk when a gear was selected Q class & STL's had the same gearbox without air assistance.
 
This type transmission was invented by a brilliant British army officer Major Wilson mainly for military vehicles but London Transport & Daimler adopted it ( Daimler supplied ambulances to LCC but not buses ) with outstanding success, it was often referred to as the Wilson gearbox & was also used in some cars i.e. Daimler, Riley & Lanchester.
 
I had the privilege of driving RT's plus Routemasters & RF's on the skid pan at the London Transport driver training school at Chiswick London a few years ago, have you ever tried driving a vehicle with this type of transmision its absolutely wonderful.
 
 Q class buses were replaced by the RF class in the early 1950s which had under floor engines plus the pre select gearbox & they ran like a Rolls Royce, but there were some spin offs from this class i.e. RFW's & semi double deckers operated by British European Airways the latter being maintained by London Transport at their Alderham works.
 
The last photo is of a rack of engines at the London Transport museum ready to keep the old girls going.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                   London Transport Museum

 

 

 

 

    Greenline buses ST. T & Q all AECs  

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                             

 

 

 

                   

                                     STL based on an AEC chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     ST 82 Greenline based on an AEC chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                           

 

 

 

 

                                  Leyland cub C94

 

 

 

 

 

If any of your members wonder why some London Transport buses were painted green.
 
London Transport operated a fleet of country buses on the outskirts of London some routes were long distance & ran through London from one side to the other like Hartford which is north London to Windsor castle which is in the west of London.
 
This was known as the Green Line service & as the name suggests all the buses were painted green.

 

 

 

 

        K 424 OF 1919

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                

 

 

         London Transport emergency vehicle for the London

                                underground, based on a STL bus chassis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 GreenLine T 219.

 

 

 

 

 

 RTs STLs & T class chassis were built by the AEC company at Southall London.
 
AEC stands for the Associated Equipment Company.

 

 

 

 

 

 rear view of Tim Subbs ex LT RTW 178 & RTW 185.

 

 

 

 

                                                                           

 

 

 

                                                                              K class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      me in the cab of Tims RTW 178.

 

 

 

 

 

       These photos were taken at the London to Brighton commercial vehicle rally in 2003 which is an annual event

 
London to Brighton commercial vehicle rally 6th of May 2007.
 
TF 77c is owned buy the London Transport museum at Acton London & is the only one to survive.
 
TFs bridged the gap between the AEC Q  class & the RFs,
 
TFs were designed & developed at London Transports Chiswick works.
 
CHASSIS. by Leyland was the Tiger FEC ( floor engine compartment ).
ENGINE. the underfloor ( the first of its type for LT ) engine  was a Leyland 8.6 Diesel.
TRANSMISSION. AEC pneumatic preselect gearbox.
BODY. initially by Leyland but later vehicles were fitted with Park Royal bodies.
 
TFs were introduced by LT in 1937 & withdrawn in 1953.
Many were destroyed during bombing raids over London during WW11.
TF 77c was used as an ambulance in London during the war then converted back to a Green Line coach after the conflict.
 
Photos taken on the day are of other ex London Transport buses on display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                             

 

          

 

                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
All ex London Transport vehicles, some were used on the day to ferry people between the museums.
 
GreenLine single Decker bus RF 271.
 
RF class, built to London Transport design & specification by AEC Ltd of Southall London.
 
Spec, Engine 9.6 litre 115 bhp, under floor horizontally mounted.
Transmission, fluid flywheel with 4 speed preselect gearbox.
 
Number of vehicles in the LT stock 700, introduced in 1951 & withdrawn along with the RTs in 1979.
 
GreenLine double Decker coach is RM 4 SLT 59.
 
I think some of the RMs had their radiator grills removed for better engine ventilation bearing in mind they had a long journey & a lot of steep hills to climb, not exactly the conditions they were designed for when operating in London.
 
Pics 0010 & 0011, RF 271 outside Manchester bus museum.
Pics 0019 & 0023 RM 4 in & outside the museum.
Pic 0015 RT 2794 outside the science museum.
 
The rest of the pics are of a selection of RMs & Tim Stubbs ex LT RTW 178 along with RT 2794.
 
Yes that's Tim's wife Barbara & my daughter Suzanne in the cab, I took the photos during the journey to & from Manchester.

                                                                       Tim Stubbs ex LT RTW 178

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Sunday the 22nd of April 2007, London bus day out at Manchester bus & science museums.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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