ThisBus.com - Vehicle History


Image © Chris Stanley thanks to www.theredlondonbus.com	Our bus is one of the famous Routemaster fleet, designed and built for London Transport. Planned in the 1950s, built in the 60s, these vehicles remained a part of the London streetscape well into the new millennium. Not bad for a bus whose retirement was originally forecast for the mid 70s! In the picture on the left we see RML2394 doing duty on route 249. The adverts on the front are promoting the 1967 movie The Comedians, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

RML2394 left the Park Royal factory in January 1966 and entered service on 2nd February. First posting was to West Ham Garage, for duty on routes 5 / 5a and 249 / 249a. Like all the Routemasters, 2394 paid regular visits to the London Transport overhaul works at Aldenham. There the buses would be dismantled, repainted and have all worn parts replaced. Once the vehicle was as good as new, it would be sent back to work, but usually to a different garage and set of routes.
Following her original assignment at West Ham, RML 2394 served at: Leyton Garage - route 48 Chalk Farm garage - route 24 Upton Park Garage - route 15 Hackney & Ash Grove Garage - routes 6, 30, 35 Chalk Farm (again) - route 24 Taking us to 1986 when she settled at: Tottenham Garage - route 73

And Tottenham was where she stayed for 18 years, working one of the busiest routes in London. We've tried to work out how many people have travelled on our bus. It's certainly measurable in the millions!

RML2394 retired from London service on 3rd September 2004 and joined ThisBus.com shortly afterwards.

Work quickly began to put right the damage caused by the bump and grind of daily service!

Gleaming red once more - and ready for the next phase of her life.

Vital statistics Width: 8ft / 2.4m Length: 30ft / 9.1m Height: 14ft 6ins / 4.4m Weight: 7tons 14cwt / 7950kg Engine: 8.3 litre Cummins C series Fuel: Diesel approx 10mpg / 28.25l/100km Seats: 32 downstairs, 40 upstairs - total 72