Recent Photos               At the 'Paintshop'
   Historic photographs (Please be aware, the current livery of this vehicle is GREEN)
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RMC 1477 Routemaster Coach
Seating Capacity:
58 (32 Upper deck and 26 Lower deck) Special features: Closing rear door, ideal for cold weather.       Description:
RMC 1477 was one of the luxurious Routemaster Coaches delivered to London Transport's Country area in 1962. These not only had rear platform doors but also sported features such as rear air suspension, a faster top speed, fluorescent lighting, luggage racks, twin headlamps, and deeper seat cushions! Vehicle History
During the 1960s RMC 1477 was based at Guildford and would regularly operate Green Line route 715 to and from Hertford, it then moved to Windsor, and later Harlow garage.
In January 1970 the bus passed to London Country, still at Harlow, as part of the then newly formed National Bus Company. It later worked for them from Dartford, Grays and Reigate garages. Later, it was sold back to London Transport and used as a driver training vehicle for the next ten years, still in is luxuriant green livery. During this stint she was based at a plethora of South London garages including: Victoria, Hammersmith, Battersea, Westbourne Park, Wandsworth, Hounslow, Stockwell, Putney and Merton garages. Following its sale from LT it was, at one point used by Greenpeace [circa 1991], where it was painted red and had a large plastic dolphin protruded through the roof to attract publicity! After being damaged when it was grounded being driven off a ferry, its owners, Shaftesbury and District repaired the bus, re-installed seats and painted it back to luxurious green. It then passed to Blue Triangle. It finally found its way into preservation with Harry Hobson in 1996 who lovingly restored it back to its original condition, with new upholstery and rexine, luggage racks re-instated, and a larger 11.3 litre AEC engine fitted. It then passed to Timebus in July 2005, where it was once again painted red. Acquired by Ensignbus it made a brief debut at the 2019 Running Day before Covid struck and the vehicle saw little use. It was repainted back into Green Line livery in November 2021 and made its debut in these colours for Ensign at the December 4, 2021 Ensignbus Running Day. Technical Specifications: Date of first registration: Sometime in 1962 Chassis: AEC Routemaster Chassis number: RMC1477 - TBC Engine: 11.3 litre AEC Fuel: Diesel Body Number: TBC Body: Park Royal Seating: TBC Photos by kind permission of: Philip Hambling, John Lidstone, Barry Sullivan ,Jimmy Sheng, RJA Thomas Richard Godfrey, Dick Dapre, Steve Foster, John Law & Steve Newman |
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