V3 in service
This extaordinary bus is V3. The third of the three experimental Ailsas bought in a comparative trial by London Transport in the early 80's. 1 and 2 were pretty straightforward Ailsas - but no.3 was built with two staircases and a REAR door as well as a front door. Only the Ailsa offered this option after the demise of the half-cab bus. Presumably LT had in mind the possibility of retaining crew operation on the withdrawal of the Routemaster. In the event the RMLs got refurbished for years more service and V3 just spent a short spell running as a crew operated bus before having the rear platform blocked off and being sent to Potters Bar garage. Here it ran for a while in a single door format, but still with 2 staircases. Then it had a bad accident and was withdrawn. That wasn't the end though as Black Prince of Leeds bought it and spent a lot of time rebuilding it. But no sooner was it back on the road than Black Prince sold out to First Group. Now V3 is back in London, owned by Roger Wright (of Blue Triangle fame) and still licenced as a PCV. So here it is in Sept 2007 in service on route 15 at The Tower. The 15 is one of the two routes to feature a limited amount of 'heritage' RM operation. On this day there was a 'running day' on which various suitable PCV licenced old vehicles ran extras on the 15 and the other heritage route, the 9.
V3 in service
This extaordinary bus is V3. The third of the three experimental Ailsas bought in a comparative trial by London Transport in the early 80's. 1 and 2 were pretty straightforward Ailsas - but no.3 was built with two staircases and a REAR door as well as a front door. Only the Ailsa offered this option after the demise of the half-cab bus. Presumably LT had in mind the possibility of retaining crew operation on the withdrawal of the Routemaster. In the event the RMLs got refurbished for years more service and V3 just spent a short spell running as a crew operated bus before having the rear platform blocked off and being sent to Potters Bar garage. Here it ran for a while in a single door format, but still with 2 staircases. Then it had a bad accident and was withdrawn. That wasn't the end though as Black Prince of Leeds bought it and spent a lot of time rebuilding it. But no sooner was it back on the road than Black Prince sold out to First Group. Now V3 is back in London, owned by Roger Wright (of Blue Triangle fame) and still licenced as a PCV. So here it is in Sept 2007 in service on route 15 at The Tower. The 15 is one of the two routes to feature a limited amount of 'heritage' RM operation. On this day there was a 'running day' on which various suitable PCV licenced old vehicles ran extras on the 15 and the other heritage route, the 9.