RM 2071 working the last few hours of daily service on Heritage Route 15
With its fluorescent interior lighting and its headlamps blazing along with its nearside trafficator flashing away purposefully RM 2071 brings a timely reminder of the past in this present-day view of Charing Cross with every other bus running along the Strand being either an LT or some other recent rear-engined 21st century shoe box operated by a driver only. Gone are the days of the 1970s and 1980s when every other bus that travelled along the Strand was a crew-operated Routemaster but then progress is not necessarily a good thing. When RM 2071 was new into service with London Transport way back in 1964 the likes of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were ruling the charts and Mary Quant's iconic miniskirt made its fashion debut to the world at large; who at the time could have predicted that this vehicle would be still earning its keep well into the 21st century when back in the 1960s people thought that life in the year 2019 would involve everyday scenes akin to the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Jetsons.
RM 2071 working the last few hours of daily service on Heritage Route 15
With its fluorescent interior lighting and its headlamps blazing along with its nearside trafficator flashing away purposefully RM 2071 brings a timely reminder of the past in this present-day view of Charing Cross with every other bus running along the Strand being either an LT or some other recent rear-engined 21st century shoe box operated by a driver only. Gone are the days of the 1970s and 1980s when every other bus that travelled along the Strand was a crew-operated Routemaster but then progress is not necessarily a good thing. When RM 2071 was new into service with London Transport way back in 1964 the likes of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were ruling the charts and Mary Quant's iconic miniskirt made its fashion debut to the world at large; who at the time could have predicted that this vehicle would be still earning its keep well into the 21st century when back in the 1960s people thought that life in the year 2019 would involve everyday scenes akin to the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Jetsons.