RMC 1453

The first production Green Line Routemaster coach introduced in 1962.

A bus made famous by a 1962 London Transport publicity photograph for its new fleet of Green Line Routemaster coaches taken in beautiful leafy surroundings near Wisley Gardens in Surrey whilst working on route 715.

RMC 1453 started work at Hertford garage in August 1962 when the Routemaster coaches replaced single deck RFs on route 715 between Hertford and Guildford.

The bus spent nearly 10 years at Hertford on cross-London Green Line coach work before moving to Grays in April 1972 and Reigate in February 1973 for more traditional bus work.

An overhaul at Garston, Watford in November 1973 saw the bus reappear in National Bus Company (NBC) Leaf Green livery with a white cant rail, grey wheels, London Country logo and NBC arrow in white.

It returned to bus work at Reigate but moved around the old London Country area with spells at Grays, Leatherhead, Chelsham and Harlow before a return to London Transport ownership in January 1980.

Having avoided a premature end at a Yorkshire scrap yard that unfortunately befell several other members of the RMC class when their service with London Country Bus Services came to an end, the bus became a driver training vehicle for London Transport replacing RTs.

It took 9 years before the bus was repainted from green to red and after being based at garages in south-west London moved to Stamford Hill in north London in August 1992. It was here that its potential as a private hire vehicle was first recognised and it became a valuable asset to the Leaside Travel fleet.
It has only worked in London service once since its London Country days and that was on route 159 on the very last day of Routemaster operation in December 2005.

Since its adoption into The Arriva Heritage Fleet, it has been seen regularly at rallies and prestigious events, such as Late at the Tate in November last year, and as one of the stars on February 4th of SingLondon’s promotional video, for their forthcoming 2007 summer festival.