On 11/01/2020 17:51, Marland wrote:
MissRiaElaine wrote:

It's all academic as far as I'm concerned. I refuse to travel on these
monstrosities, they are an insult to the traditional Routemaster that
served London so well for so long.



As you live in Aberdeen its hardly a statement of sacrifice , if you lived
in London and really would prefer so to stand at a bus stop waiting for a
vehicle that your conscience would allow you to travel on
while Boris buses could have taken you earlier then apart from you who
cares, London is full of strange folk and one more wouldn’t be noticed.

We all have our favourite eras often driven by emotion rather than
practical considerations.
Although I was only small when it took place it took me a long time to
like the Routemaster as they had displaced the Trolleybuses I found
fascinating , to me they were just another motorbus though later I got to
learn about their construction being quite advanced.
We left London 6 months after the last Trolley though so it was a bit
academic, ISTR the overhead was removed quite quickly which dashed my young
and innocent hopes that they might change there minds. We left London a few
months later so it was all academic anyway.
On regular visits back they still were just a bus not that much different
on the outside from the AEC Regents seen in many provincial towns, it took
the introduction of the Red Arrow branded single deckers Merlins and
Swifts to provide a bit of excitement.


GH


Ironically, long after the wires came down in Twickenham and, yes, they
were taken down very quickly, the tram rails used to regularly reappear
every summer when the diaphanously thin tar laid over them near
Twickenham Junction used to peel off. Also the slot for the Junction
point lever was still there.

As a conductor at Fulwell Garage around 1970, I can state that the RMs
were far more popular with my colleagues than the RT/Regents. The latter
were not that well sprung by then whereas the conductor's position in
the RMs were so much better ride-wise - plus that that position was
recessed, so less passengers jumping onto your feet as they rushed out
off the lower deck. Fulwell still had poles, cobbles and tram tracks in
those days - but, just like at Twickenham Junction, the diaphanous
tarmac later applied was ripped up by the SMs that took over from both
RTs and RMs at that time.

PA