The LONDON TRANSPORT RT FAMILY:
RTWs : Wide Leyland RTs
This page updated 29th September 2023
More new buses: the second half of 1950Southall (HW) was no stranger to RTWs (as Hanwell garage), and received a further batch in the last third of 1950 for the 92 and 92A. Likewise Harrow Weald (HD), which replaced STLs and the disliked SRTs from the 114. These were vestiges of the pre-trials plans, too advanced to change at short notice. In September RTW421 and RTW422 travelled to Berlin to represent London Transport and Leyland at the German Industries Fair. The new order for RTWs at home began in September: Putney Bridge (F) replaced its mix of STLs, war-time RTs and new RTs on the 74 with new RTWs, which saw the wider buses skirting the West End for the first time. After that Battersea and Chalk Farm gained allocations for the 31 and 39, displacing RTLs which took RTWs into the heart of the West End.
1951: RTW Migration to the Centre
January 1951 saw no major changes in the RTW fleet as such,
but was significant in that a large chunk of the tram network was swept away,
paving the way for RTWs to venture into south-west London more readily.
February 1951, however, saw a large movement towards the centre.
The isolated RTW contingent at Bromley, after only six months there,
was swapped with RTs from Willesden,
and took up residence on the 8 and 8A - two of the trials routes.
The Clay Hall contribution was obtained by sweeping Palmers Green clean of RTWs in exchange for RTLs,
plus a contribution gleaned from Seven Kings' 139 route.
The new order in Central London in 1951, as the 8 and 8A were converted for 8ft wide buses. Preserved RT185 and RTW497 demonstrate the 1949 and 1950 liveries worn by new RTWs, and the difference between the austerity restricted blind displays and the restored postwar full displays.Enfield lost its small batch in March, to boost capacity at Putney Bridge.April saw even more changes, with the conversion of the famous route 11 plus the 6 and 6A. For Dalston's large share of the 11 all the RTWs were drained from Leyton and Upton Park, with a large contribution from Harrow Weald, plus some from Putney Bridge. Riverside (the erstwhile Hammersmith, R) gained its share for the 11 also from Harrow Weald, as did Willesden and Hackney for the 6 and 6A. This wiped Harrow Weald clear, and still left a deficit. So Edgware swapped some of its RTWs to Riverside, plus some to Putney Bridge to restore its allocation. All these buses were replaced by RTs or RTLs from the garages involved, or through three-way swaps to keep RT and RTL allocations separate.
No, not Tottenham in 1951, but East Grinstead in April 2002. RTW185 visits the Running Day, wearing 76 blinds.August 1951 saw the 22 re-equipped with RTWs, at Hackney and Battersea, the buses coming from Seven Kings, Southall and Barking, who got RTLs in return. Southall lost its remainder later in the month, in company with Alperton and Shepherds Bush, when Upton Park had its second go with RTWs, this time with an enormous number for the 15.Now only Edgware was using RTWs on purely suburban duties, and from October 1951 these were dispersed to the other RTW garages as and when replacement buses became available. The transition from suburban wide-boy to central urban crowd-shifter was complete.
Through the rest of the fifties they provided a distinctive touch to central London. We didn't get these in the suburbs any more. They were a little different, a touch exotic - and very much at home on the Capital's busiest routes.
First overhauls
RTW overhauls started in 1952, with a mere handful of early RTWs sent for overhauls. The programme picked up pace from January 1953.
Most were still dealt with at Chiswick, and returned with the same bodies that they went in with. The livery changed, with the cream outline to the upper-deck windows now replaced with red. First overhauls continued through to the end of 1954, with some body swaps and an increasing number dealt with at the new Aldenham Works.
A minor change was the replacement of the S-shaped rear gutter as supplied by Leyland with a more symmetrical inverted-U gutter following the outline of the rear window.
New tasks came their way as the fifties progressed.
Withdrawal of the wartime RTs from Putney Bridge in February 1955
brought replacements for route 14 in the shape of RTWs scraped together from surpluses around the fleet.
Second overhaulsA second round of overhauls got underway in October 1956, and lasted through to June 1958, when the Aldenham works float of nineteen early RTWs was released. During this round of overhauls, at first the rate was low enough for many body-chassis pairs to be reunited with their fleet number, but as the Aldenham process really got going most buses re-emerged with new identities. A float of bodies from early buses was established to help the process.
1958 saw a contraction in bus provision throughout the fleet, especially after the strike.
Enough RTWs became available through the re-entry to service of the works float at the end of the overhaul round for Chalk Farm to add RTWs to the RTL contingent on route 24.
Also, in November, the big shakeup implementing service reductions after the strike
saw Walworth (WL) became an RTW garage, the first ex-tram depot to do so, for the 45, 176 and 176A, losing its RTLs.
Middle Row (X) also took over route 18B from Willesden, along with its RTWs,
but this allocation was short-lived because of maintenance issues: the RTWs went off to Walworth ten months later.
Putney Bridge (F) closed, with its RTWs transferring next door to Chelverton Road (AF).
November 1959 saw RTWs go to an ex-trolleybus depot for the first time, when Clay Hall closed, the RTW allocation and routes transferring to nearby Bow (BW). April 1960 saw some on trolleybus replacement route 123, from Tottenham garage, operating alongside Routemasters. Third overhaulsThese, in 1960-61, at Aldenham, continued the process of separating bodies and chassis, doing what was needed, and reassembling them for despatch to new garages (Often the engines and main running gear returned to the original garage, to help with logging and maintenance of these items).Replacement by newer eight-footers: the Routemasters arrive.
Once the Routemasters had completed their first task of displacing the trolleybuses in 1962
they inevitably started to displace the RTWs from the high profile Central routes.
Putney's allocation on the 14 was replaced in October 1963.
RTWs took up new duties on route 95, working from Brixton (BN).
Dalston had spare RTWs off route 11 on Saturdays, so they appeared alongside the RTLs on the 47. I got to see RTWs in Bromley at last! - until 1966 when RMs took over.
November saw large-scale displacement from the 24,
with the high-numbered Chalk Farm buses largely being spread around the other RTW garages,
in turn displacing low-numbered examples into the training fleet all over London:
wide Leylands replaced green Leylands in the training fleet!
Early 1964 saw them replaced on Tottenham's 123 and 41, where presumably they compared badly in the public's eyes with their RM colleagues. They went too from Upton Park's 15 and interworked 100, in April, moving to Brixton for the 109. In 1965 many were displaced by RTLs, and then by RMs, at Bow (8, 8A), Willesden (8, 6, 6B, 33, 46, 176), Hackney (6, 6A), Riverside (11), Battersea and Chalk Farm. Early in 1966 they disappeared in droves - from Chalk Farm (45, 31), Walworth (45), Hackney (106), Dalston (11), Riverside (11), Hackney (22). They remained only at relative newcomer Brixton, where they survived until May on the 95 and 109. Last day of passenger service was 14th May 1966, with RTW467 the last to run in. RTW467 was the last to run in ordinary LT passenger service, in May 1966, but happily was bought for preservation. Here it rests under London Bridge Station in December 2002, on the RT-RF Register's Christmas Lights Tour.Ideal TrainersBut the RM programme brought a new niche for the RTWs. Being 8 ft wide they made ideal trainers for drivers who would have to manoeuvre the RMs through City and suburban streets. So many went into the training fleet and stayed there while the RMs, followed by Merlins and Swifts, sent RTLs and RTs into oblivion. Even Country Area garages used RTWs as trainers - RMCs, RCLs and RMLs were 8ft wide too - but they retained their red livery. 130 RTWs were maintained in the training fleet from 1966 onwards, but in 1969 the decision was made to standardise the training and staff bus fleets on RTs to alleviate the worsening spares situation. The RTW trainers started to disappear in late 1969, heading to Wombwell Diesels in Yorkshire. The Country Area trainers returned in December 1969, just before the split-off to London Country, although they Country Area used them to the last gasp: some were even allocated outwards to the country for a brief period in December. But even in the Central Area they were going, and during 1970 the last went into store, even the Chiswick skid bus, and the very last - RTW185 - was sold in May 1971, fittingly for preservation.After LondonThe first RTWs sold by LT during 1965 went to dealers - Bird's of Stratford and Ridler of Twickenham - but three went to Niagara Falls in Canada and four went to Cape Electric Tramways in South Africa. After that over half the class (279) were sold to the Crown Agents on behalf of the Ceylon Transport Board for export to Ceylon (Sri Lanka). In 1969 UK Sales resumed, mainly to Yorkshire scrap dealers. Some buses were sold on to bus companies: Stevensons of Spath, Barton, and A1 Service were all users, and some were used by a variety of contractors and companies as staff transport or as showrooms.
Preserved RTW29 at Cobham Open Day 1999.
Comparison of the rear views of RTW29 and RTW185 will show a difference in gutter arrangements above the rear window.
RTW185 has the Leyland version, with an upturn on the nearside,
whereas RTW29 has the later LT modified version without the upturn.
Friday 4th June 2004 saw the extraordinary spectacle of two RTWs working in public service in London on the same day.
The occasion was the last day of Routemaster operation by Stagecoach London,
and many guest buses worked in service on Route 8 between Victoria and Bow Church.
Amongst the throng were privately preserved RTW467, the last to work in service 38 years previously,
and RTW75, newly restored by Blue Triangle and fresh from its MOT that day!
|
RTW text
more new RTWs
survivors
Ian's Bus Stop
RT contents