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In the early 1960s, London Transport decided to make its famous Routemaster bus available on the open market and, in addition to the existing types already successfully serving London, Park Royal Vehicles built a unique Routemaster in a bid to promote sales. This was RMF1254, a 30ft vehicle that shared many common parts with the RML Routemasters, but designed to meet the growing trend of having a forward, entrance close to the driver.
One operator that commissioned Routemasters for its fleet was Northern General, which ordered 50 vehicles for its long distance, inter-urban services, and these were delivered in 1964/65. The design was heavily influenced by RMF1254, although changes were made to suit Northern’s specification. The first of the new Routemasters entered service in May 1964, and in 1966 the 50 became 51 when they were joined by RMF1254, which had been bought from London Transport. They could be found across the region on services to Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesborough and Hartlepool, some of which were over 40 miles in length.
The advent of the National Bus Company (NBC) saw the fleet progressively receive the corporate colour schemes from 1972. However, with the move towards One-Man Operation, the Routemasters’ days were numbered. Mass withdrawals began in 1977, and by the end of the decade just 18 were left in service. That number continued to drop throughout 1980, and the last one, No. 3105, ran on 16th December that year.
Some were acquired for preservation, but others would find their way to London, working on sightseeing tours or other heritage workings. Thankfully, a handful of the type remain today, together with the one-off RMF, and two of these can still be seen in the North East.
One example to see use after leaving the North East was registration FPT 603C, which in 1991 was repainted in a faux London General livery, given London style blinds, and adorned with the fictitious fleet number RMF2809. The following year it took part in a Hounslow Garage running day, working route 111 to Heathrow Central, and it is this guise that we have chosen for this model.
The new models are based on EFE Road’s refined and updated Routemaster tooling, and now feature such enhancements as bodyside panel lines and highly detailed liveries and advertisements.
