LT/LCBS Bus Garages
Just as the RT era in London looked to be drawing to a close, the bizarre situation of preserved examples being hired for use as driver trainers happened in the summer of 1978. This coincided with a need to proceed rapidly with driver recruitment and training to combat a significant shortage whilst the availability of serviceable buses had reached crisis proportions. In order not to take further vehicles from service work to become additional trainers - and even to release some trainers back into service work - around a dozen RT family members were hired. Some were long out of LT service such as RT 1784 pictured at Dorking Garage on 26 October 1978.
There used to be a time when Instructors had the freedom to take their bus and trainees far from their `home` garage during the course of a day`s work. Invariably the destination would be a bus garage canteen somewhere though this freedom was to be reigned in following a particular incident around 1980/1. Imagine the embarrassment of the Instructor who had to call the engineers when his RCL refused to start on Hastings seafront! An edict soon went out that training vehicles had to stay withing the LT operating area.
LT/LCBS Bus Garages
Just as the RT era in London looked to be drawing to a close, the bizarre situation of preserved examples being hired for use as driver trainers happened in the summer of 1978. This coincided with a need to proceed rapidly with driver recruitment and training to combat a significant shortage whilst the availability of serviceable buses had reached crisis proportions. In order not to take further vehicles from service work to become additional trainers - and even to release some trainers back into service work - around a dozen RT family members were hired. Some were long out of LT service such as RT 1784 pictured at Dorking Garage on 26 October 1978.
There used to be a time when Instructors had the freedom to take their bus and trainees far from their `home` garage during the course of a day`s work. Invariably the destination would be a bus garage canteen somewhere though this freedom was to be reigned in following a particular incident around 1980/1. Imagine the embarrassment of the Instructor who had to call the engineers when his RCL refused to start on Hastings seafront! An edict soon went out that training vehicles had to stay withing the LT operating area.