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Jun 18, 2020 19:23:41 GMT
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Hi, James, the B&H demountable roofs came off in one piece. I was down at one of their garages picking picking up a PD3 open topper for a private hire and their were a number of complete roofs on top of their stores, complete with a gantry system for lifting and handling them. Quite a capital investment when you think about it.
Yes Routemasters came in two lengths.
Colin
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Jun 18, 2020 19:40:39 GMT
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Better it gets broken for spares than just purely scrapped. Sounds obvious, I realize. That's what I told myself years ago as I carved up a couple of 105-series Alfa GTV's ... one of which really should have been saved. John
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Jun 18, 2020 20:12:38 GMT
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Hi, James, the B&H demountable roofs came off in one piece. I was down at one of their garages picking picking up a PD3 open topper for a private hire and their were a number of complete roofs on top of their stores, complete with a gantry system for lifting and handling them. Quite a capital investment when you think about it. Colin One piece! Blimey! I'd liked to have seen that. Yes Routemasters came in two lengths. Yes but the one at SEC is longer than the long one! Instead of the short bay in the middle it has a full sized one. Must make it about 33 feet long. |
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Last Edit: Jun 18, 2020 20:13:28 GMT by Sweetpea
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Jun 19, 2020 21:03:23 GMT
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Routemasters - Counting Windows. Good name for a band and first album that. I just need to start a band. Oh, and learn to play an instrument of some sort. Anyhoooo. Routemasters were 27'6" long and looked like this.  See, four windows on the lower deck. These had fleet numbers starting RM. Then they wanted to make a slightly longer one and added a short window in the middle.  This is an RML - RouteMaster Long. It's 30 feet long And that's it. No other lengths were made. So I said that the one SEC were putting the roof back on was longer than an RML. Here it is. Count the windows.  There isn't a lot written about them. But what I did dig up is that 10 Routemasters were lengthened in 1990 by putting a full bay in the middle. They went to Edinburgh to run sight seeing tours and were given fleet numbers starting ERM. Extended RouteMaster. Looks like this one made it back and is getting a roof again. So the extra full bay apparently makes it 11.3 Meters long - that's actually 37 feet in old money! Not bad for something that started life 27'6" long. And thats all I've found about them. James PS - Photos stolen from the internet. One is from Wiki. One, I can't remember. And I took the third. Edit... PPS - That would imply that the bay is 9'6" long and I don't quite believe that... |
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Last Edit: Jun 19, 2020 21:08:27 GMT by Sweetpea
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,060 
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Is the bay behind the last lower window also longer? Or is that just a trick of the camera?
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scimjim
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,503
Club RR Member Number: 8
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Looks more like 32’ - not bad for something that’s 60 or 70 years old with a zillion miles on the clock 😎
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921
Club RR Member Number: 40
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10.3m = 33'9" which makes more sense ?
James
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teaboy
Posted a lot
Make tea, not war.
Posts: 2,125
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Jun 20, 2020 12:06:39 GMT
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It’s a long bus, now get on with the back wing on the Toyota. X
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Jun 20, 2020 18:24:19 GMT
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Is the bay behind the last lower window also longer? Or is that just a trick of the camera? I wondered exactly the same. However looking at the way the panels are joined to each other I don't think so. There are another two reasons why I doubt they'd have messed with that bit. 1, It's where the stairs are which, structurally would be a git to mess with. 2, It'd mean a non standard window above it in the upper saloon and that'd be expensive and they'd want to avoid it. 3, There still wouldn't be much additional seating inside because that's where the long ways seats over the rear wheels are. That's three reasons isn't it. Buy two, get one free! Looks more like 32’ - not bad for something that’s 60 or 70 years old with a zillion miles on the clock 😎 I agree it looks more like 32 feet long in the photo. Although, standing by it it does look a little odd and long. I did some sums. Standard RM = 27'6". Long RML = 30'. So the little bay is 2'6" or there abouts. The little bay looks about half the size of a full bay so a full bay would be 5' or maybe 6' at a push. That would make this ERM about 32'6" or 33'6" 10.3m = 33'9" which makes more sense ? James So I reckon you are right. Some body wrote 11.3m instead of 10.3m and it's been copied several places round the web. It’s a long bus, now get on with the back wing on the Toyota. X [cough]OilTank![/cough]   Thanks for the encouragement though! |
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Aug 17, 2020 13:14:51 GMT
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colours! looks like its from a magazine or book, cant vouch if its been "colourised" posthumously  |
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scimjim
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,503
Club RR Member Number: 8
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Aug 17, 2020 15:11:49 GMT
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colours! looks like its from a magazine or book, cant vouch if its been "colourised" posthumously With 7 full size windows up top and 5 below - are there more than two standard lengths after all? |
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Frankenhealey
Club Retro Rides Member
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death
Posts: 3,882
Club RR Member Number: 15
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Aug 17, 2020 15:30:14 GMT
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I have got to stop following this thread as it's just thrown up a repressed memory that I was a bus spotter at the tender age of eight!
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Tales of the Volcano Lair hereFrankenBug - Vulcan Power hereThe Frankenhealey here |
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Aug 17, 2020 16:31:32 GMT
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I have got to stop following this thread as it's just thrown up a repressed memory that I was a bus spotter at the tender age of eight! Give in to your inner bus enthusiast! You know you want to! Anyway, that's a Guy Arab. Chatham and District got them in the early / mid '50s to replace the Bristol K5Gs. The law in terms of lengths and widths had changes so the Arabs were bigger. Indeed there were 2 widths of the Bristol K series chassis. The 'K' was 7'6 wide and the later KW was 8' wide. Anyway, anyway, the fact that this photo was taken sometime in the '50s means is more likely to be a colour photo rather than a colourised black and white one. Nice find darrenh ! James PS. Chatham and District definitely had a thing where they didn't bother to paint the centre section of the roof. Wonder why. |
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Last Edit: Aug 17, 2020 16:33:20 GMT by Sweetpea
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scimjim
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,503
Club RR Member Number: 8
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Aug 17, 2020 18:16:40 GMT
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Ah, I just realised that when I saw this GUY on Facebook (Registration left visible for Ian)   |
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Frankenhealey
Club Retro Rides Member
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death
Posts: 3,882
Club RR Member Number: 15
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Aug 17, 2020 18:54:17 GMT
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I have got to stop following this thread as it's just thrown up a repressed memory that I was a bus spotter at the tender age of eight! Give in to your inner bus enthusiast! You know you want to! Sadly at the age of nine I was allowed to catch the bus to London Airport (not poncy Heathrow then) and I would spend the whole day on top of the Queens Building plane-spotting. Buses were passé and aircraft were the thing for the swinging sixties. Don't get me started on train spotters |
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Tales of the Volcano Lair hereFrankenBug - Vulcan Power hereThe Frankenhealey here |
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Aug 18, 2020 10:27:10 GMT
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Anyway, anyway, the fact that this photo was taken sometime in the '50s means is more likely to be a colour photo rather than a colourised black and white one. Nice find darrenh ! just noticed its weeds wood, that was also brand new in the early 50s, boomer estate ! |
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Aug 18, 2020 11:47:14 GMT
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Anyway, anyway, the fact that this photo was taken sometime in the '50s means is more likely to be a colour photo rather than a colourised black and white one. Nice find darrenh ! just noticed its weeds wood, that was also brand new in the early 50s, boomer estate ! What you say about Weeds Wood is true, but that photo wasn't taken there! The bus is in the centre of Chatham. |
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Aug 18, 2020 11:56:09 GMT
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just noticed its weeds wood, that was also brand new in the early 50s, boomer estate ! What you say about Weeds Wood is true, but that photo wasn't taken there! The bus is in the centre of Chatham. hopefully didnt imply that it was taken in weeds wood, just that its a new bus new service to me it looks like military road, looking up to the brook (or the bit of the highstreet nearest luton arches) |
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Last Edit: Aug 18, 2020 12:00:08 GMT by darrenh
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Aug 18, 2020 13:03:47 GMT
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What you say about Weeds Wood is true, but that photo wasn't taken there! The bus is in the centre of Chatham. , just that its a new bus new service to me it looks like military road, looking up to the brook (or the bit of the highstreet nearest luton arches) Good point. It is Military Rd, where the Pentagon is now, looking towards Rope Walk. :ook on the street lamp just in front of the bus, you can read the road sign  |
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Aug 18, 2020 17:38:33 GMT
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Fantastic thread, as a Chatham local this is a great piece of history! I live about 1/2 mile away from weedswood, funny to think it may have trundled past my house! Interesting info about the engineering and background of Chatham Traction, thanks for posting
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