Sometimes when you plan a visit to an exhibition, you get rather more than you expected. Today was such a moment, as a visit to a small – and frankly, not worth the effort – exhibition about past and future transport resulted in a totally unexpected trip on a very important vintage bus and a visit to a mystery location, described as a piece of overlooked post-war architecture.

RT 1702 vintage bus

The bus we were invited to join for a free bus trip to the mystery location, which looks like a Routemaster to my untrained eyes, but is formally an RT bus, and indeed, the rather special as it turned out RT 1702.

Built in 1950, this was one of four special promotional buses that were not fitted out with seating as usual, but were designed to travel around Europe on a promotional tour for the 1951 Festival of Britain with the interior laid out as an exhibition space.

In a convoy, the buses travelled through eight countries, covering over 4,000 miles. The only significant problem being that double-decker buses were not in common use on the mainland, so tram lines designed for single decker height had to be lifted to let the London buses pass by.

RT 1702 vintage bus

Returning to London in October 1950, the buses were then fitted out as normal buses and in May 1951, they were used as tour buses on “Route J”. This was the forerunner of the Round London Sightseeing Tours which are a familiar sight in London these days. For two shillings and sixpence you could spend two hours on a circular tour taking you “Around the town for half a crown”.

The trip we were to take today was also marked on the destination board as “Route J”, although we were off to a different location from the original tourists 60 years ago.

After the festival, they entered normal bus service.

In July 1972, the bus was retired, but then bought by a group of enthusiasts, who have kept it in running order ever since.

Of the other three touring buses, it is thought that one one remains, and is not in a roadworthy state – so we were in for an unexpected trip on a really quite special bit of road heritage.

RT 1702 vintage bus

Sign inside the bus - a replica, although they have the original in storage

Like a lot of the vintage tours I have been on in the past, half the fun is being in something old, and half the fun is seeing the pleasure it causes to other people to see the old thing out and about.

A vintage red double-decker bus is not significantly different at a quick glance to other red double-decker buses, so the reaction from bystanders wasn’t as extreme as say when an old tube train runs along the Underground, but there were still people who stopped, stared and pointed.

One obviously delighted lady taking a photo when the bus stopped for a traffic light was called over and handed an information sheet about the bus. From the look on her face, seeing the bus made her entire day.

In addition to being a vintage bus, with an interesting history, they are also the only London Transport buses to carry a GB sign on the back, as they needed it when leaving the UK. No other LT buses have ever done that sort of trip since.

RT 1702 vintage bus

If you want to take a similar trip to the mystery location, then there will be two more trips tomorrow (Sunday) at noon and 2pm. Both are free – although a donation box by the back step will appreciate coins – and last about 45 minutes.

Buses depart from just outside the Museum of 51 at the South Bank (map link).

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the mystery location.

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7 comments
  1. J W says:

    “…the only London Transport buses to carry a GB sign on the back, as they needed it when leaving the UK. No other LT buses have ever done that sort of trip since.” Really? What about the film “Summer Holiday” with Cliff Richard?

    Keep up the excellent bloggage.

    • IanVisits says:

      I would presume that bus was sold by London Transport to the film company – so not a true LT bus in normal service after that.

    • Nigel says:

      Three buses were used for Summer Holiday – RT2305, 2366 & 4326 (so no overlap with the Festival buses, RT3070, 1692, 1702, & 3114), and they were all ex-London Transport, sold a couple of years before the film. One of them stayed in England and the other 2 went to Europe for filming and promotion, so had to have GB plates fitted. But as Ian says, they were not LT any more.

    • DUNCAN DAVIES says:

      Also I believe a few RT/RTL’s’ went on a promotional visit to the USA many years ago, They were fitted with better ventilation for the trip, which was reflected by seeing air vents in the front of the buses.

  2. David S says:

    “the only London Transport buses to carry a GB sign on the back, as they needed it when leaving the UK. No other LT buses have ever done that sort of trip since.” . Sadly not true, as when some of the Routemasters were new they also toured europe, including RML2760 ( the last Routemaster made) which went to Lille in France and also carried a GB plate.

  3. John Lovett badge No 86652 SP depot 1965 to 73 says:

    I drove RT3114 for some time at Sidcup bus garage (late 60s to 73). I also have the rubber top off the radiator cap. Leaving for my morning run we were about to fill the radiator and noticed it was missing. The main metal component was there so we carried on with our shift (my conductor was Bert Raggett). Later at lunch break I was going to Mum’s in Walton Road on my Francis Barnett, when I spotted the rubber cap on the corner of Knoll Road and Sidcup hill so stopped to pick it up. I still use it every day on top of my thermos flask holding down the stopper,(static) in kitchen. I used to go to school SIDCUP to ELTHAM on the 21 and often got on an RT with the GB plate and the commemoration plaques; maybe the same one.

  4. Rupert Everitt says:

    An RT with GB plates was often used on route 234….Selsdon to Hackbridge, a route that I used in the 1960s to go to school. I believe there was also a trailer tow bar which folded under the platform. From memory the 234 was operated out of South Croydon Garage (TC).
    The RTs were replaced with horrible, unreliable XAs and occasionally with the unique FRM.

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