page_title: AEC Routemaster
section_title: Notable examples
hierarchical_section_title: AEC Routemaster / Preservation / Notable examples
caption_attribution_description: IMG_8073
context_page_description: The AEC Routemaster is a front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company and Park Royal Vehicles. The first prototype was completed in September 1954 and the last one was delivered in 1968. The layout of the vehicle was conventional for the time, with a half-cab, front-mounted engine and open rear platform, although the coach version was fitted with rear platform doors. Forward entrance vehicles with platform doors were also produced as was a unique front-entrance prototype with the engine mounted transversely at the rear.
  The first Routemasters entered service with London Transport in February 1956 and the last were withdrawn from regular service in December 2005, although one heritage route is still operated by Routemasters in central London. The first London bus route to be operated by the Routemaster was route 2, on 8 February 1956, with RM1. The same bus, with a revised front end, appeared at the Lord Mayor's Show in November 1956.
  Most Routemasters were built for London Transport, although small numbers were built for British European Airways and the Northern General Transport Company.
context_section_description: In February and August 1986 RM1 and RM2 were placed in the custody of the London Transport Museum
  In February 1974 RML3 was sold to Cobham Bus Museum (now the London Bus Museum) (L in this case stood for Leyland). This vehicle has had a replica of its original front fitted.
  Prototype coach RMC4 (originally CRL4) is preserved by Roger Wright of the London Bus Company and is being fitted with a replica of its original front.
  On 28 April 2010, Roger Wright repatriated RM1371 and RM1620, along with seven RTs and two RTLs from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. London Bus Company purchased the fleet from Charlottetown-based Abegweit Tours and Travel Agency Inc., which had operated them since 1965. The buses were driven to Halifax, Nova Scotia for shipment to the UK. Some are destined for tourist operation in London while the remainder will be preserved in museums.
  The first production Routemaster, RM8, is preserved by the RM8 Club. It was displayed at the 1958 Commercial Vehicle Show as the new bus for London. It was employed at Chiswick Works as an experimental vehicle upon which many Routemaster modifications were tested. The bus finally entered public service at Sidcup garage in March 1976, being the last Routemaster to enter service and the last open-platform bus to be introduced into service in the UK. It served LT at Sidcup garage until the garage went "one-person" in 1985. It was then preserved by the RM8 Group, which subsequently became the RM8 Club. In July 2008, the bus was restored to its 1958 Commercial Vehicle Show appearance, complete with replica posters and blinds.
  The 1,000th Routemaster, RM1000, was handed over to London Transport with a ceremony at Southall Works on 16 October 1961, and adopted as a showbus by staff at Croydon garage; it passed to the RM1000 Preservation Group for preservation in May 1987.
  The unique rear-engined front entrance Routemaster, FRM1, was transferred to the London Transport Museum for preservation in 1983.
  RM1737 was the show bus of Ash Grove bus garage in the early 1980s. It passed into TfL ownership and is displayed at the London Transport Museum.
  RM737 was the show bus at Harrow Weald garage and, despite being in daily service on route 140, was regularly seen at preservation rallies. Purchased by the show bus team when route 140 was converted, it was the first standard example in preservation. It is now operated for private hires by The Red Bus Ltd. in Edinburgh.
  RM1403 was the first Routemaster to be converted to an open-top. It was converted in 1984 at Aldenham using a special, curved roof design only seen on two Routemasters. RM1403 is the only open-top Leyland Routemaster in the world and is currently owned by A Route 2 Hire. The bus has made several notable public appearances including the transport of the Watford football team and Brawn GP F1 team.
  RM2217, which operated the last regular Routemaster service in London in December 2005, has been retained by Arriva London in its Heritage Fleet, along with RM5 and RM6, and the first production RMC coach RMC1453, among others. The bus also appears as the front cover picture (with the author as the driver) of Ian Nairn's 1966 book Nairn's London.
  RML2537 is preserved in open-top form at Long Beach, California and operated in connection with the Queen Mary, which is permanently berthed there as a floating hotel.
  The last Routemaster built for London, RML2760, is retained by Stagecoach London.
  The first RCL, RCL2218, is preserved at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre.
  Several RMAs are operated by Joe Letts and the Big Red Bus Company.
caption: The solitary rear-engined Routemaster, now in preservation
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