1983 spent a year driving out of Holloway. 8 routes. 4, 14, 19, 27, 29, 45, 74 and the 253. What an amazing job, loved every minute of it. RM an absolutely beautiful bus to drive. I remember you get 4 days to learn all of the routes. A route in the morning and another in the afternoon. Friday morning came, and i was on the 45 to South Ken. Good job. i had an on the ball conductor. She put a passenger in the front seat who guided me on important junctions. The problem was that most of the routes above crossed each other again and again. Had to concentrate. Great memories.
Great to see the 137 route in the Archway again! As a kid me old grandad used to take me on bus rides for a day out back in the days when the routes used to go right from one side of London to the other, and we used to get the 137 from right outside our old flat in Streatham Hill all the way to the Archway and back again. Brings back happy memories :)
My pleasure.....Yes, i too remember when you could go for long rides accross London without changing bus, sadly no longer possible unless you want to ride on night buses!!!
@@scotsboy4957 Now, that was a big shed! A lot of buses ran out of there, and at one time most were Routemasters....sadly one of the garages i never videod at.....
I was living in N.19 at the time and remember the surprising arrival of the Leyland RMs at HT - it was interesting as the garage had never been associated with the Leyland members of the fleet - unlike Rye Lane and Cricklewood, for example - and they rather stood out from the rest of the RMs there. RMs 1341 and 1733 were amongst the new Leyland arrivals., most of which had earlier received traditional cream between - decks bands. Interestingly, I believe that RML2295 shown early in the video also had at some point been fitted with Leyland running units - a bus I used to get on the 29 from time to time; there was no mistaking the characteristic thudding of the Leyland engine which I enjoyed listening to as I sat in the front seat downstairs on my journey home from work. By this time much of the LT fleet was looking uncared-for and shabby as priority was given to profit, tendering of routes and the impending sale of LT; the previously high standards of presentation for which LT was well-known were discarded virtually entirely. It was a sad experience to watch the decline. The arrival of the Leyland RMs was one bright point in a time of rapid decline fot LT.
I know what you mean re decline of LT. I was on the Underground by now and it was apparent there as well. I have no idea why Holloway was chosen as the shed to house all the last Leylands in (it made sense to be all together for spares holding). RML 2295 was at Leyton when i was working there in 1984. It was an AEC by then, it lost its Leyland at Chalk Farm some time before its transfer to Leyton.
Sydney's RM 1708 got it's engine swapped from a Leyland to an AEC much to the chagrin from at least one. It's honestly the dullest sounding RM I've ever heard. Maybe because it was being driven very subdued.
Used to make a nuisance of ourselves there as kids around that time, got arrested with 3 mates for sleeping on a bus there new years eve 1987, went to juvenile court at Highbury, nothing happened. As a kid used to love buses, get chased out of Muswell Hill Garage too. Near Wood Green tube there was a yard that had a couple of old buses parked off Buller Road, at age 12/13 I used to sneak in early saturday mornings around 7-8am there was a hole in the corragated iron, those days wanted to drive a bus
I did as a child then later on i did indeed work on the buses, both as garage Staff and then later as a driver. Have you seen my Muswell Hill Garage upload here? th-cam.com/video/fCid1RBP7Es/w-d-xo.html
Upon rewatch I noticed the Bristol has a Wilson going by it's second gear melody as it drove away in front of the RML. Did some come specified with a manual and others with the CAV mono control shifter? It sounded awesome. You can easily pick the Leyland RMs as they're leaving the garage. The MANs I used to drive gave off and extra growly note much like an AEC RM when leaving the depot in the morning with cold engines. Great memories.
Yes, Holloway was a large garage with a lot of buses. As seemed to be the case with other similar garages they could never get on top of their maintainance. Plus they wre forever having buses transfered in, some at the end of their working lives so not always in the best of health!
There used to be a bus spotter that was always hanging around there. Alan Dawson. Bit manic. If it wasn't nailed down he would pinch it. His favourite item was blinds.
p.m lived next to the depot when i was school age, i think they were trolly buses then moved to manchester later worked on the buses there for fifty years, great memories.
i recall driving the c11 out of holloway,proper rattler's,also remember one day there was only 2 c11's running,my bus got packed going to brent cross,good thing about it was kings cross got missed out,,lolol
Would love to find an RM in the exact condition of those three neglected ones today. Here are some roaring 590s. 2:25, 3:33, 4:04, 4:48, 9:59 & 10:21. Tick over time 7:29.
Nicholas Newman AEC 590s. A significant batch of early 60s build RMs did receive Leyland 600s from new but the Routemaster was a collaborative effort between AEC, Park Royal and LT. The engine bastardisation with foreign engines happened during the 1990s.
@@djpeekay25 At one time Putney had some vehicles allocated but after the 74s were cut back to West Brompton Putney ran the Metro OPO route 264 that covered what had been the 74 road to Roehampton. Holloway was the largest LT garage so had a huge allocation, Camden Town wasn't far away and in those days buses ran into their garages in service even if off line of route!
I think the ministers should of put up more of a fight with LT, but again we were the first. All public services should be in public hands not private target driven firms. Bus traffic isn’t target driven it should be worked out so a bus can reach the end of a route and any and all eventuallities factored in to some degree; traffic can be monitored; in Berlin, Germany a bus has points where they’ll sit for 3 mins to allow for change of passengers; and trains wait too for the passengers. In London it’s a turn up and go (if it turns up). I remember Sunday service being very skeletal but London wasn’t so swamped by industry requiring it operate 24/7
No, it came from Bow. It ws done up as a Showbus at West Ham and transfered out to Bow when we lost our crew work in November 1985, the same time that Poplar Garage closed. I was at West Ham at the time on the inside staff. As a Leyland engined bus it lasted quite well, as the Leylands were the first targeted for withdrawl in 1982.
Thanks I appreciate that. I remember the Olympians they lasted until around 2004/05 I must have travelled on one of the last ones on the route 4 around that time.
@@richardcouthlan4464 I don't remember Olympians on the 4's, they had Metrobuses until quite late, some really tatty ones at that! Then i seem to recall they got Alexanda bodied Scanias until low floor buses replaced all before them. I think i have some Metros on the 4s somewhere, i will have to dig some out....
I don't remember the Scanias what routes was they allocated to? I very much remember the Paxtons TP,TPL,VP and VPLs. 134 was TPLs 390 VPLs and the 4 was VPs but they did stray onto all routes at Holloway
@@richardcouthlan4464 I'm getting a bit confused. Potterts Bar had some very tall looking Scania's, what i'm thinking of is Volv's. I remember travelling on the Volvo's, class AV, on the 4's for sure. After the bombs went off in London i travelled on one from Waterloo to Finsbury Park in order to head for home. Potters Bar also had some and had them working on the 84 & 242. I will have to try & upload a vid with some on
The 7s lost their RMs in July 1985 (along with a few other routes), i spent £80 on cine film in a week! It was this that motivated me to get a video camera that August and we see the results here on TH-cam. I did get a few RMs on the 65s (never made it over on a Sunday for the Hanwell RMLs sadly, i regret that to this day!) at Ealing Broadway and Richmond. It will be an upload soon-ish....
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Used to work at PB 99-01, remember inside on a cold morning eyes burning from the fog. Even had a sign outside canteen saying do not rev outside as sets off smoke alarm. If could only go back.
Soi I saw a pic on Flickr of a 14 at the Archway terminus. Any idea why a 14 would end up off route? www.flickr.com/photos/134227013@N08/31761872284/in/album-72157677981896481/
I worked at this garage and it was called Highgate not Holloway as did my Uncle John andmy grand father Bert Johnson only reason I left was to come to Australia as I married an Aussie loved my days here I visited here in 91 and there was only one guy I knew still there called Rufus
It was called Highgate in tram & trolleybus days, Holloway Garage (code J) was just off the Holloway Road. That shut in the 1960s and Highgate was re-named Holloway. It's still open today and is (was) one of London's largest bus garages, certainly in LT days.
Soi Buakhao I worked there in 75&76 and it was called Highgate and had a prefix on its buses of HT and my uncle was north east London engineer Holloway J was closed in the late 60’s and Highgate was never called Holloway and in the ninties when I was there it was still called Highgate
@@johnhall1504 Whatever the local name is for it is, as far as London Transport was concerned after J closed it was called Holloway. I have just checked an Ian Allan ABC Fleetbook 1972 and it is down as Holloway. The code is was given towards the end of Trolleybus days (HT) has stayed the same. Bus staff welcome change like you'd welcome a rabid dog, so yes i'm sure they would have still called it Highgate but no official LT paperwork would have done so!
Soi Buakhao well whatever Ian Allen called it my wages packet each week was stamped Highgate depot and I know Ian Allen books because I was a train spotter when I was young and early years of the route masters and I know he can make mistakes
After J was closed in 1971, I think, HT was renamed Holloway from it's previous name of Highgate. This is well documented regardless of what local staff called it.
1983 spent a year driving out of Holloway. 8 routes. 4, 14, 19, 27, 29, 45, 74 and the 253.
What an amazing job, loved every minute of it. RM an absolutely beautiful bus to drive.
I remember you get 4 days to learn all of the routes. A route in the morning and another in the afternoon. Friday morning came, and i was on the 45 to South Ken. Good job. i had an on the ball conductor. She put a passenger in the front seat who guided me on important junctions. The problem was that most of the routes above crossed each other again and again. Had to concentrate. Great memories.
Great to see the 137 route in the Archway again! As a kid me old grandad used to take me on bus rides for a day out back in the days when the routes used to go right from one side of London to the other, and we used to get the 137 from right outside our old flat in Streatham Hill all the way to the Archway and back again. Brings back happy memories :)
My pleasure.....Yes, i too remember when you could go for long rides accross London without changing bus, sadly no longer possible unless you want to ride on night buses!!!
Wow, This video brought back some great memories of driving RMs RMLs Ms out of HT ..... best garage I ever worked out of.....
And the largest garage on London Transport!.......
Chasing the one in front up the road, lol.
Great video, used to love going on these buses when I used to visit my Uncle.
Thanks for your comments.....Was he in this area or another part of town?....
Soi Buakhao He was a stones throw away from Merton Garage.
@@scotsboy4957 Now, that was a big shed! A lot of buses ran out of there, and at one time most were Routemasters....sadly one of the garages i never videod at.....
Luv your videos Soi,its the engine noise.😊
137 was the best bus ever.
I was living in N.19 at the time and remember the surprising arrival of the Leyland RMs at HT - it was interesting as the garage had never been associated with the Leyland members of the fleet - unlike Rye Lane and Cricklewood, for example - and they rather stood out from the rest of the RMs there. RMs 1341 and 1733 were amongst the new Leyland arrivals., most of which had earlier received traditional cream between - decks bands. Interestingly, I believe that RML2295 shown early in the video also had at some point been fitted with Leyland running units - a bus I used to get on the 29 from time to time; there was no mistaking the characteristic thudding of the Leyland engine which I enjoyed listening to as I sat in the front seat downstairs on my journey home from work. By this time much of the LT fleet was looking uncared-for and shabby as priority was given to profit, tendering of routes and the impending sale of LT; the previously high standards of presentation for which LT was well-known were discarded virtually entirely. It was a sad experience to watch the decline. The arrival of the Leyland RMs was one bright point in a time of rapid decline fot LT.
I know what you mean re decline of LT. I was on the Underground by now and it was apparent there as well. I have no idea why Holloway was chosen as the shed to house all the last Leylands in (it made sense to be all together for spares holding). RML 2295 was at Leyton when i was working there in 1984. It was an AEC by then, it lost its Leyland at Chalk Farm some time before its transfer to Leyton.
Sydney's RM 1708 got it's engine swapped from a Leyland to an AEC much to the chagrin from at least one. It's honestly the dullest sounding RM I've ever heard. Maybe because it was being driven very subdued.
Great film. I grew up in Tufnell Park and this brings back many childhood memories.
Terry Knott did you go to Acland Burghleigh school at Tufnell park Terry
@@johnhall1504 John - no I didn't.
Used to make a nuisance of ourselves there as kids around that time, got arrested with 3 mates for sleeping on a bus there new years eve 1987, went to juvenile court at Highbury, nothing happened. As a kid used to love buses, get chased out of Muswell Hill Garage too.
Near Wood Green tube there was a yard that had a couple of old buses parked off Buller Road, at age 12/13 I used to sneak in early saturday mornings around 7-8am there was a hole in the corragated iron, those days wanted to drive a bus
I did as a child then later on i did indeed work on the buses, both as garage Staff and then later as a driver. Have you seen my Muswell Hill Garage upload here? th-cam.com/video/fCid1RBP7Es/w-d-xo.html
Loved these old route masters I think the garage was round the back of upper Holloway road station.
Yes, it is sort of within a triangle of Archway & Tuffnell Park Underground and Upper Holloway BR stations....
Blast from the past
Holloway was one of my garages that i looked after the plant equipment maintenance wise, I was a millwright. ii used to do it on Wednesdays
I remeber the millwrights, they used to come around when i worked on the inside staff at Leyton back in the mid 1980s.....
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus one garage that never worked at
Upon rewatch I noticed the Bristol has a Wilson going by it's second gear melody as it drove away in front of the RML. Did some come specified with a manual and others with the CAV mono control shifter? It sounded awesome.
You can easily pick the Leyland RMs as they're leaving the garage.
The MANs I used to drive gave off and extra growly note much like an AEC RM when leaving the depot in the morning with cold engines. Great memories.
The last of the Leyland engined RMs were concentrated at Holloway. The BLs were manual as far as i know, not even semi-automatic!
I would say in some ways the RT and RM were a national treasure .
Certainly quality vehicles whos like we will not see again.......
As I remembered them, some of those buses were in a state, not three in the yard at the start, seemed to me that HT didn’t want, as a problem.
Yes, Holloway was a large garage with a lot of buses. As seemed to be the case with other similar garages they could never get on top of their maintainance. Plus they wre forever having buses transfered in, some at the end of their working lives so not always in the best of health!
There used to be a bus spotter that was always hanging around there. Alan Dawson. Bit manic. If it wasn't nailed down he would pinch it. His favourite item was blinds.
Yes, collecting blinds was quite popular, even if they wern't quite finished with!!!
p.m lived next to the depot when i was school age, i think they were trolly buses then moved to manchester later worked on the buses there for fifty years, great memories.
At 1:20 , Reliant Robin, another vehicle almost extinct now, I see somebody's had a birthday smashing the RM windows in next to it
That RM was withdrawn and left out there before its one way trip to the scrapyards in Yorkshire.....
i recall driving the c11 out of holloway,proper rattler's,also remember one day there was only 2 c11's running,my bus got packed going to brent cross,good thing about it was kings cross got missed out,,lolol
Yes, i have had days like that when driving buses.....always greatful of a turn......
Like the three wheeler at 1:20. Class.
There's some quirky stuff lurking in the background in quite a few of my uploads.
Would love to find an RM in the exact condition of those three neglected ones today.
Here are some roaring 590s.
2:25, 3:33, 4:04, 4:48, 9:59 & 10:21.
Tick over time 7:29.
James French these Leyland 590’s you are referring to? I’m not sure when the wide spread retrofit of engines actually took place, was it the 90’s?
Nicholas Newman AEC 590s. A significant batch of early 60s build RMs did receive Leyland 600s from new but the Routemaster was a collaborative effort between AEC, Park Royal and LT.
The engine bastardisation with foreign engines happened during the 1990s.
How did I not see this for 5 days??? Another great vid!
It sneeked out quietly......lol
Soi Buakhao was this garage the closest to Camden Town, as I am just surprised that the 74 operated from Holloway?
@@djpeekay25 At one time Putney had some vehicles allocated but after the 74s were cut back to West Brompton Putney ran the Metro OPO route 264 that covered what had been the 74 road to Roehampton. Holloway was the largest LT garage so had a huge allocation, Camden Town wasn't far away and in those days buses ran into their garages in service even if off line of route!
Soi Buakhao yes I suppose like the 137 to Norwood Garage. Thanks.
This is amazing to see, obviously i told you i drive these two routes today Soi, but yh man i find it amazing
Nice vid soz for being late
I think the ministers should of put up more of a fight with LT, but again we were the first. All public services should be in public hands not private target driven firms. Bus traffic isn’t target driven it should be worked out so a bus can reach the end of a route and any and all eventuallities factored in to some degree; traffic can be monitored; in Berlin, Germany a bus has points where they’ll sit for 3 mins to allow for change of passengers; and trains wait too for the passengers. In London it’s a turn up and go (if it turns up).
I remember Sunday service being very skeletal but London wasn’t so swamped by industry requiring it operate 24/7
And Sundays of course was when pretty much everything was shut! So not many places to go to on a bus......
RM1220 looked to be a transfer from Selkent, probably Catford or Plumstead.
No, it came from Bow. It ws done up as a Showbus at West Ham and transfered out to Bow when we lost our crew work in November 1985, the same time that Poplar Garage closed. I was at West Ham at the time on the inside staff. As a Leyland engined bus it lasted quite well, as the Leylands were the first targeted for withdrawl in 1982.
I used to love driving these RouteMasters great to handle compared to to RT’s and DMS
RTs were fun though! I have driven a few, Blue Triangle had quite a fleet of them! (plus Routemasters of course....)
Very interesting do you have any videos of Archway from around 1993? I was born in that year
I don't think so although i will check my records and see if there is anything i can upload for you.....
Thanks I appreciate that. I remember the Olympians they lasted until around 2004/05 I must have travelled on one of the last ones on the route 4 around that time.
@@richardcouthlan4464 I don't remember Olympians on the 4's, they had Metrobuses until quite late, some really tatty ones at that! Then i seem to recall they got Alexanda bodied Scanias until low floor buses replaced all before them. I think i have some Metros on the 4s somewhere, i will have to dig some out....
I don't remember the Scanias what routes was they allocated to? I very much remember the Paxtons TP,TPL,VP and VPLs. 134 was TPLs 390 VPLs and the 4 was VPs but they did stray onto all routes at Holloway
@@richardcouthlan4464 I'm getting a bit confused. Potterts Bar had some very tall looking Scania's, what i'm thinking of is Volv's. I remember travelling on the Volvo's, class AV, on the 4's for sure. After the bombs went off in London i travelled on one from Waterloo to Finsbury Park in order to head for home. Potters Bar also had some and had them working on the 84 & 242. I will have to try & upload a vid with some on
Soi do have any vids of the RMs on the 65 and 71 around Chessington?
The 7s lost their RMs in July 1985 (along with a few other routes), i spent £80 on cine film in a week! It was this that motivated me to get a video camera that August and we see the results here on TH-cam. I did get a few RMs on the 65s (never made it over on a Sunday for the Hanwell RMLs sadly, i regret that to this day!) at Ealing Broadway and Richmond. It will be an upload soon-ish....
Soi Buakhao great thanks.
6:11 Why is that car blowing out Smoke?
Very cold day, just exhaust fumes......
Oh...
Obviously never seen Metrobuses leaving garage first thing.
@@why0why605 I bet they were a bit smokey!....
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Used to work at PB 99-01, remember inside on a cold morning eyes burning from the fog. Even had a sign outside canteen saying do not rev outside as sets off smoke alarm. If could only go back.
Soi I saw a pic on Flickr of a 14 at the Archway terminus. Any idea why a 14 would end up off route?
www.flickr.com/photos/134227013@N08/31761872284/in/album-72157677981896481/
Hornsey Rise isn't far away, maybe the crew wanted to use the staff toilet at Archway and ran dead there?.....
Soi Buakhao ok thanks.
i drove the 14s and if there was'nt a crew to take over,at hornsey rise ,we were sent to archway
I worked at this garage and it was called Highgate not Holloway as did my Uncle John andmy grand father Bert Johnson only reason I left was to come to Australia as I married an Aussie loved my days here I visited here in 91 and there was only one guy I knew still there called Rufus
It was called Highgate in tram & trolleybus days, Holloway Garage (code J) was just off the Holloway Road. That shut in the 1960s and Highgate was re-named Holloway. It's still open today and is (was) one of London's largest bus garages, certainly in LT days.
Soi Buakhao I worked there in 75&76 and it was called Highgate and had a prefix on its buses of HT and my uncle was north east London engineer Holloway J was closed in the late 60’s and Highgate was never called Holloway and in the ninties when I was there it was still called Highgate
@@johnhall1504 Whatever the local name is for it is, as far as London Transport was concerned after J closed it was called Holloway. I have just checked an Ian Allan ABC Fleetbook 1972 and it is down as Holloway. The code is was given towards the end of Trolleybus days (HT) has stayed the same. Bus staff welcome change like you'd welcome a rabid dog, so yes i'm sure they would have still called it Highgate but no official LT paperwork would have done so!
Soi Buakhao well whatever Ian Allen called it my wages packet each week was stamped Highgate depot and I know Ian Allen books because I was a train spotter when I was young and early years of the route masters and I know he can make mistakes
After J was closed in 1971, I think, HT was renamed Holloway from it's previous name of Highgate. This is well documented regardless of what local staff called it.