Garage pets
London Transport celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1983. To mark the occasion, numerous LT garages chose favourite Routemasters in their allocations to receive special liveries. Two of them were captured together in this Hyde Park Corner scene. Riverside (R) painted its RM1091 (91CLT) with a gold cantrail band plus Jubilee decals while RM17 (VLT17) behind was given a retro-1933 livery by Willesden Garage (AC).
London Transport welcomed its jubilee year as an opportunity to restore an image that had been much tarnished during its latter years. Some of the problems had been of its own making, notably buying large rafts of vehicles that were destined for the scrap dealer after brief service lives, but the organisation had become a political football after overall control had been vested with the Greater London Council. Edgy labour relations were a further thorn in the provision of a public service.
The previous two years had brought further upheaval via the GLC’s Fares Fare policy of cheap but subsidised fares that the Courts had ruled illegal. Fares Fare had proved popular with the travelling public, stimulating ridership, but passenger numbers tumbled overnight once fares were raised to commercially viable levels. Large-scale withdrawals of Routemaster buses ensued, a process that continued with the abolition of the GLC in 1986 and legislation that required LT to put routes out to competitive tender.
London Transport was itself abolished in the aftermath of these mid-1980s upheavals, to be replaced by London Regional Transport, an essentially supervisory body that had no responsibility for daily operations. Riverside Garage was closed during this period, and the cherished RM1091 and RM17 departed the capital transport scene, the former going for scrap in 2/87, the latter for a second career with Clydeside Scottish in late 1985. RM17 however does survive in preservation today.
July 1983
Yashica FR1 camera
Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.
Garage pets
London Transport celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1983. To mark the occasion, numerous LT garages chose favourite Routemasters in their allocations to receive special liveries. Two of them were captured together in this Hyde Park Corner scene. Riverside (R) painted its RM1091 (91CLT) with a gold cantrail band plus Jubilee decals while RM17 (VLT17) behind was given a retro-1933 livery by Willesden Garage (AC).
London Transport welcomed its jubilee year as an opportunity to restore an image that had been much tarnished during its latter years. Some of the problems had been of its own making, notably buying large rafts of vehicles that were destined for the scrap dealer after brief service lives, but the organisation had become a political football after overall control had been vested with the Greater London Council. Edgy labour relations were a further thorn in the provision of a public service.
The previous two years had brought further upheaval via the GLC’s Fares Fare policy of cheap but subsidised fares that the Courts had ruled illegal. Fares Fare had proved popular with the travelling public, stimulating ridership, but passenger numbers tumbled overnight once fares were raised to commercially viable levels. Large-scale withdrawals of Routemaster buses ensued, a process that continued with the abolition of the GLC in 1986 and legislation that required LT to put routes out to competitive tender.
London Transport was itself abolished in the aftermath of these mid-1980s upheavals, to be replaced by London Regional Transport, an essentially supervisory body that had no responsibility for daily operations. Riverside Garage was closed during this period, and the cherished RM1091 and RM17 departed the capital transport scene, the former going for scrap in 2/87, the latter for a second career with Clydeside Scottish in late 1985. RM17 however does survive in preservation today.
July 1983
Yashica FR1 camera
Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.