London Buses | Roaming Around A Bus Graveyard To Find Spare Parts For Our Routemaster London Buses.
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- Опубликовано: 25 дек 2021
- In this episode we roam around a bus greveyard trying to find valuable spare parts for our London Routemaster double decker buses.
Built in the 1960's our AEC Routemaster London buses need constant attention, so if you want to find out what it takes to keep a London Routemaster bus on the road then make sure you check-out all our maintenance and restoration videos here on RUclips...
Also don't forget to check-out all our AEC Routemaster London bus restoration videos in this playlist...
• London Bus Restoration...
About Us:
We offer our London buses for private hire.
We are proud to have the privilege of owning one of London’s most recognisable sights - the iconic London Routemaster Double Decker Bus!
Our beautifully restored red London double-decker buses are available for Weddings and Special Events across North Wales and the Northwest UK, they add some nostalgic novelty and a touch of class to any occasion.
For more information, please visit our website: www.routemaster4hire.co.uk
#londonbus #routemaster #routemaster4hire 
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God I love a vintage scrap yard !!!! 👍🏻👍🏻
I'm at a loss for words... You all do a fine job at restoring these busses. I've always wanted a double decker, let alone ride one. I've ridden an American version, but it's definitely not the same, at all, so I'm hoping to visit the UK soon to experience it. Maybe one day I can own one and turn it into my home. 😃
That ex-CentreWest RM and ex-London Central RM would have been in that Barnsley scrapyard since the early 1990s as they carry the 1989 London Buses operating unit names. The other three may well have been in there since the mid-1980s. Shows how strong the Routemaster is compared to the other more modern buses in the scrapyard.
I had a look at the chassis in Aug and they weren’t that bad condition! Plus i found 2 LA BUSTLES a couple of buses down from the Said RM!! The owner wondered where the hell i found them.
Although the Routemaster is a good bus, I suspect that the reason there's fewer of them in the scrapyards now is because of their legendary status- whenever someone thinks of British buses, they usually think of an AEC Routemaster because they're so iconic.
The RM was a proper bus, built to last as was its predecessor the RT, which is my favourite. Guys like you are to be commended for what you have done in restoring these lovely old London buses. Keep up the good work !!!
Thank you will do.
Me too. I enjoyed twenty years of the Country RT. I always looked a little less friendly to the RM as it began to occupy the trolleybus depots that I frequented.
A good reference video for all us RM owners that might need certain parts in the future. Thank you for filming Dave.
Love what you guys do for the Routemaster. To anyone remotely interested in engineering, they are just so pleasing.
Great channel.
Thank you Sean.
I concurs
@@stevenmutumbu2860 🙂👌
Electric bus was a retrofit Dennis made in 1999 and one of the first electric conversions so I think it'd be fair to give it a pass on judgement. :)
Yep, things have to be tried and improved upon. Newer ones will last a lot longer!
They was retrofit and have been replaced with newer models other wise they would still be running round York
I think that electric vehicles will end up being confined to cars and local delivery vans (remember milk floats?). Larger vehicles like trucks and buses will always need Diesel, else the batteries compete with the intended cargo, whether tins of beans or people. As for the complexity of electric motor contollers, especially in hybrids...
@@john1703 Latest Alexander Dennis/BYD enviro double deckers can get 300 miles on a charge, that's comparable to the diesel I reckon with a 200L tank doing 6 and a bit MPG (google numbers), though obviously takes a couple of hours off the road to charge it back up. They've got a Hydrogen one in the works though, I think that's where buses and trucks will go, battery for smaller vehicles.
Greetings from Singapore! Glad to see what's a bus scrapyard in London, here in Singapore, land is at premium, much of the older buses that are way obsolete above its statutory lifespan , which most were scrapped almost immediately due to land constraints.. but there are 1 or 2 old buses that are left behind as a storage bus.. This video reminded me of my salvage trip too, mostly for safekeep and momentos.. except that its modern buses 😁
Yes
I remember going done to Barnsley for some second hand 680 engines
Couldn't believe how many engines where awaiting new homes
We got some deltic engines from British rail and what a shock we got when we fired them up camshaft lobes where wrong way around
Bit of head scratching that day
Shotties island ! Fairly local place
Used to love roaming around scrap yards with my dad in the 80s . It’s what got me into cars and machinery in general.
Not as distressing as my view of the George Cohen 'Group 600' scrapyard at Collingdales that had the contract to scrap many of Londons trolleybuses.
Nice to see the EYMS Olympian - I'm also from Hull originally and may well have been a passenger going to Withernsea or Scarborough on that. I also remember the Routemasters when EYMS were running them on service 56/56A in Hull in the late 80s/early 90s.
Great work chaps, keeping our fabulous heritage alive..
This was amazing ! - I enjoyed watching this great video - Very sad to see those Routemasters in such a sorry state - Very fascinating to see those other great busses too !
Being a petrol head I'm always of two minds at the scrappers, overjoyed when I find the bits I'm desperate for 🥳 but gutted at the amount of vehicles that only needed minor repairs being crushed.
Love the series, been laid up with covid, your videos have helped pass the time.
Whilst it’s really sad seeing these Routemasters in their final resting place; they live on in the parts keeping the survivors on the road! It’s more shocking seeing far more modern vehicles going under the breakers cutting torch!
I want to thank yourself Dave, Tim; Andy and all of you up in Wrexham for keeping your beautiful fleet on the road. I wish you all a Happy New Year & let’s hope 2022 will be a better year once this latest variant curve hits rock bottom!
The scrappy I go to buys his cars off of auction. They are oftern fully working. Had some nice chates with him.
I currently work for Stagecoach in Hull, I’m 24 but my dad was a bus and train enthusiast and he would have loved to have seen this (sadly lost him December just gone) but seeing this really brought back memories for me!!! Thanks guys keep doing what you’re doing 👌👌
R.I.P
@@sparkles9868 thanks boss man its much appreciated
That’s ex Lothian 520 I believe after it’s sister bus 518 went on fire they didn’t convert the rest of them but did paint in that colour scheme always a risk trying to convert an old trident that’s well over 15 years old
Built to last, unlike modern stuff.
In the scrapyard next door buses as young 07 plate or even a tad younger are getting scrapped because nobody wants them and unreliable.
Love the safety first jacket whilst climbing around the death trap wrecks!
I went here and got lots of grab handles another things from buses! It was such a good time
I'd have thought that Tim could have used the electric bus as a mobile hairdryer unit?
Maybe not.
Thanks lads 👍
Used to love hanging off the back of the 159 or the 2B, good on you for keeping them going.
I see a ex Dublin bus WV single decker there, would have drove that many times myself.... They were absolutely shocking bad to drive, brakes were non existent. Could do 80km/h in them and sometimes they rev out and be doing around 100km/h especially if the clocks fell out of the dash.....
The RM with the ‘ B ‘ frame on its upper deck was Ex Kelvin Scottish , from the early de-reg years in Glasgow
I remember driving back from Barnsley with a load of RM spares in the back of a Marina van, sad seeing these survivors, that said some made it out including RM14 and most of RM997
In the 80's I used to visit a AEC scrap yard near Ongar in Essex, owners were two Brothers called the Denier Brothers, Ron had some fantastic really old Bus Coach, any thing on wheels, don't know what ever happened to the Old busses etc, it helped me Keep Many a old coach and bus on the road as the time. Ongar Coaches .
The SM, SMB, SMC and the RP and the XF and Atlantan and the Leyland National was my mechanical apprenticeship and Fitter at the Central Repair workshop plant and various garages
Such a shame that so many of these great buses went to scrap when there was probably another 30 years of life in them. The so-called 'replacements' for the Routemaster often went to scrap yards before the buses they were intended to replace.
Absolutely. The Routemaster was more than "just" a bus, it was an icon of London, a tourist attraction. All they needed to do was update the running gear to meet modern standards, but no, scrap them off and replace them with an ugly modern counterpart.
@@eyesodd The 'disabled access' was the problem with the RM which could have been adapted to.
@@EdVanMeyer Ah yes that was another reason wasn't it. I'm fairly sure an engineer firm could have simply made the rear platform lower and raise without too much issue, oh well the moment had passed now.
Aren’t these still in service on special in London for weekends only?
@@EdVanMeyer as an Australian ex bus mechanic, modern buses get different faults like having too small diffs, or engines that you can't rebuild the injector pump on or with common rail, that's worse. Then they are built very light so they crack badly in the frame too.
I adore the route master, iconic shape
Heads up to you guys keep the buses rolling as had a route master on the 184 route in Barnet a few weeks back, it was lovely to see the old girl.
Dunno if you're bothered, but 'heads up' means kind of 'look out' , an alert/ warning.'Thumbs up' or if you like the american stuff 'props' would fit. --Just a heads up from me.
i live in barnsley and have visited the scrap yards for years nice to see there is still some good spares around check out bus grease monkey on hear he plays with a lot of busses too all the best from a barnsley man
Brilliant video, quite an eye opener,good you got some bits and a sad sight at the same time.
I remember travelling on the route masters in the 80 with my family when lived in London
Absolutely brilliant video can't believe a electric bus is there already. Glad you and the guys got some bits for the old girls. Love the humor in your video's.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks James.
@@Routemaster4Hire that's ok no problem at all 👍👍
Nice to see some of the old Northern Counties Buses worked there for 27yrs until it’s closure 👍
Brilliant again! Thanks lads.👍
It must be great to find the remains of old buses like that still clinging to life in a distant yard, I'd give my back teeth to find a scrappy with bits useful to me in it. Neat vid!
As I’m from Wolverhampton I’m glad you ran into some former NXWM tridents and also a former NXWM Coventry Gemini
hey guys dont worry about the buses it funnier watching you make all the bloopers
Thank you, glad you enjoy our cockups!!
I love a good rummage around places like this. Looks like you got some decent pickings from PVS.
We sure did Gary.
Top guys keep up the good work on the london buses love to watch you on night many thanks 😊
PVS kept alot of Routemasters for years because parts were getting thin on the ground. A few years ago i do remember them cutting the roofs off some of them in the corner and one lad said they're going to Scotland. I've known the lads and the Boss for years and they're a nice bunch. i've lost count of how many times i've climbed up on buses or smashed windows to get to other ones.
I used to work on route masters many years back, both in wilsden bus garage & as a contractor mechanic for a lot of bus companies in central London.
Another company I worked for did some of the retrofits from the AEC power unit to the Cummins power unit. We also upgraded the exhaust systems.
Wow this takes me back I used to work for Bus Engineering Ltd at the old Chiswick works next to Acton Town. We customised and restored old route masters, the lads in the factory did all the engine and gear boxes etc we had a trim dept a blinds department and a ticket machine office. It was a great place to work in 1989/90 but then it moved and eventually went into liquidation. We had a white bus it had BEL on the side I wonder where it is now. Great bunch of lads who had worked for London transport from apprentices. Sad when it ended
Must be so sad to se them old RMs in there sorry state at the breakers yard.
Merry Christmas to you all. Look forward to next yrs videos 🧐🎄🎄
Great video! Really well-produced and edited.
Glad that you were able to source valuable spares.
Although it always saddens me to see anything that has given service (locos, aircraft, ships) being reduced to scrap, I completely agree with the point that older scrappers are a useful resource.
But despite that point, its still quite upsetting! 😢
Best wishes from Wirral!
I remember it well going there in the 2000’s with my Dad and my brother Glenn taking bits of the RM’s!
Hi Lance, There was probably much more stuff available when you went? As you would have seen just the bare bones left now!
It's so sad that so many of these buses are just thrown away. 😪
Very interesting if not of course sad ending to the buses.
Glad though that parts are keeping other buses on the road.
An electric bus it looked like it came from York as a tourist bus typical councillors a bit of history scrap it but up rubbish instead meanwhile back to the buses it was lovely seeing the Routemasters and coaches a shame that they can't be saved, well done you guys for managing to salvage some items. I remember a programme called Salvage Squad where if they got hold of one of those buses they would get it up and running
excellent video, spent many hours roaming around the barnsley yards
The mark 2 metrobus i owned for a short while 2959 or 9959 as ot was re numbered for the training fleet i took as much as i could off in the short time i had whilst it was sorted at my work place eventually she had to go with still valuable bits on her. Seeing her now brought back memories !!!
I probably worked on that Centrewest RM back in 87 when I was a conductor at Westbourne Park...
20 years ago I counted 30+ root master buses at that site in Carlton Barnsley I saw them cutting them up it was painful to see keep up the good work 👍
And all the best for the Coming New Year.
It is interesting to see a bus scrapyard, to keep these buses on the road☝🏽👌👍👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Great video. A bit sad to see the old RMs in such a poor state but they have probably helped to keep many more running.
Well done lads!
04:57 thru 05:19 reminds me of several episodes of Channel 4's masterpiece, "Father Ted", which contained "(Craggy Island) Tom", complete with an "I Shot JR" T-shirt wearing "patron saint of Village Idiots" THE WORLD - OVER.... (please, accept this as a compliment; I'm really enjoying "Routemaster's" work, many thanks for sharing these clips with the world!) Stay safe, stay healthy, and most importantly - REMAIN VITAL!! Cheers!!
The MKII Metrobus was former Timesaver 2959 I think she has been stripped of spares for NXWM Heritage Metrobus 2957, 2951 became 9959 during the conversion to a driver trainer.
Routemaster Spare Parts are so useful to other Routemasters as a doner to keep the buses going
I swear I spotted the full moon climbing up that bus......
Hi Guys, thanks for your lovely Christmas Eve unexpected video. I can't wait to see your next video.....
As part of a refurb exercise on a number of RMs for LTE we had B frames down, stripped and removed inner flitches to measure the thickness of the steel as LT has concerns about water ingress and corrosion. Very few were found to have any appreciable loss of material and they were de-scaled and then riveted back in. Bit of blacksmithing I recall to close up gaps. They were then sealed all round to prevent further ingress. These B frames would certainly last another 50 years. Tough as old boots!
Used to do this in Bird's of Stratford on Avon scrapyard in the 60s and 70s, getting bits for the pre-war Birmingham Daimler that was (and still is) in preservation. Loads of RTs there as well. It's a supermarket & car park there now.
Thank you for doing your bit before most of us learned to appreciate what we still have.
@@jimmyduncan7650 Thank you, Jimmy!
I used to work on RM2213 in Peterborough and it was my prom bus too.
very interesting video and I was pleased you got your parts As you say these routemaster were the thing and I was suprised to see the electric bus AND NO BORIS buses yet inthe yard,Keep up the work &keep posting "Fares pleas "
I congratulate the chap who is putting split rims back on his bus, well done sir!
Thanks 👍
great work lads.
Love the old buses . Happy Xmas and new year 2022
Excellent video
Good to see someone realise the importance of the wheels to a vehicle. The splitties just make the bus look more heavy duty in appearance and oh so British.
The single piece rims just look wrong on an RM and this is from someone who grew up on 33ft AEC Swift 505s with tubeless rims in the early 80s.
As guardians of these wonderful buses, can I offer you the crew leaflet that I was given at Chiswick way back in 1984? It is a small, buff, A5 (folded A4), and very fragile item so quite possibly the only one left in the world.
Contents:- STARTING THE ENGINE, DRIVING THE VEHICLE, PRESSURE INDICATORS, WHEN LEAVING THE VEHICLE, FILLING THE RADIATOR, EMERGENCY FUEL CUT OFF, SALOON HEATING, CAB HEATING, VENTILATION OF INTERIOR, STAFF LOCKER.
I don't know if it is well known in Routemaster owner circles but we were warned not to idle in gear especially when the the road was wet. The fluid flywheel can overheat, the case burst and if it gets in contact with water, go up in flames. We were shown a picture of a bus that this happened to.
The way we used to drive in service to get the best out of them was to start of in 2nd (automatic top 4th position), when it changed to 3rd - push the lever forward to 3rd and get the most out of that before pulling it back to 4th. Fantastic buses to drive and a well maintained one will still run rings round a modern bus especially going around corners.
Sounds like an interesting read. Yes its well known not to sit with the bus in gear. Only one of our buses has the full auto still working, all the others are semi auto so it's easier not to forget to put the bus in neutral when standing still.
@@Routemaster4Hire
Hey Guys, Can you explain why idling in gear is liable to cause the Fluid Flywheel to overheat, and why its even more dangerous in wet (thus typically cooler) conditions?
Is the fluid flammable on contact with water or something?
Isnt the Fluid flywheel just a torque converter like that in many other Automatic transmissions ?
Also would have thought that a vehicle as large and as heavy as a bus would have a large sized Transmission cooler circuit to that fluid heat isnt an issue?
Modern automatics both big and small seem to have no such issue with idling in gear.
Just trying to wrap my head around this as it seems contradictory to what my mechanically inclined mind tells me should happen.
@@Routemaster4Hire In the post. Should be with you shortly. I used an Amazon cardboard envelope to give it some protection.
@@KSSilenceAU They didn't say why at the training school in Chiswick, just don't idle in gear. You have to remember that these wonderful buses were designed in the early 50s and the first prototype came out in 1954. There wasn't any cooling for the transmission.
I've been looking on Google, without success, to try and find out why the fluid ignites on a wet road. The only thing that I could find was this on an RM forum but it's related to an electrical issue:-
Having now delivered another gearbox to this customer, his old one (rebuilt 2 years ago) has seized solid in 4th gear, no neutral. The gubbins that work 3rd gear have fallen of and wedged themselves inside the box, probably due to external meddling.
The customer also reckons the flywheel was overheating and it was very slow building up air!! Not surprising as the gearbox was locked in 4th, the propshaft wouldn't turn to build up air, which would then cause the flywheel to overheat.
'Negative earth problems yet again. please people, learn. DO NOT connect negative to the body on your RMs. DO NOT connect positive to the body on your RMs. This is the root of most recent gearbox
Damn, there must have been thousands of ALX400 Tridents built over the years, One of my favourite vehicles to work on. Have to say I prefer more modern stuff from when UK companies stopped making engines but no newer than Euro 5.
Finding watching this so very interesting. I'm from Adelaide Australia and would love to rebuild 1 of our ex sta b59 Volvo's, built around 1978 / 1980
This place is like the Woodham Brothers of buses.
had a summer holiday job cutting up bus engines at wombwell diesel's in the eighties , it was absolutely full of busses at that time
Hi guys, I stumbled across your site. I'll cut to chase.
My dad worked at East Yorkshire buses since he left school as a fitter and mot preper, IV got his old tool box, there are many tools alot hand made to work on the route masters, adlantians and Bristol VR's.
Alot of these tools are very little use to myself been in plant and lorry repairs.
But I want my dad's tools to live on in a industry that they was made for.....
Would you be interested in the tools?
Please get in contact with me if you want to collect them.
Just seen the ex EYMS bus.....did it still have fleet number on it.....I may have driven it, and I bet £100 that my dad had worked on it.
Hi Marc, that is really kind of you thank you. We could sure do with any Routemaster specific tools. Could you drop us an email with details of where you are and we will try and arrange popping over? Thanks again.
Hi Marc, nice to hear, would be great to see what tooling you have for Atlanteans and VR's also as I look after a few. Anything we dont need I can certainly pass to the right places. Very best wishes, Tim
@@Routemaster4Hire please send me your email address, I'll take some pictures and send them to you.
Really enjoyed this, i worry myself sometimes
Amazing
I wants a Routemaster in USA! 😉
All the good engines took out and sent abroad.
There is always value in something
I remember coming out to one of your Buses at Carden Park Hotel when I worked for Truck and Bus. You met me there and drove it away. The spade connecter had come of the Fuse Holder by the battery for the Allison Automatic Transmission.
Hi Phil, I remember that day too, hadn't had the bus long! I think the connector must have come off going over the humps on the road to the hotel.
Very Interesting video and good one too one thing I would love to do have a walk around
Yes it was really a sad site. At least the old girls are helping some others to live on. Not peace but Cheers.
I saw what looked like a Routemaster bus in the city of Saskatoon, Canada, that was being used as an ice cream stall.
It is enough to preserve 3% of buses from every fleet, from every generation, in every region, in my opinion.
I think that daunting looking wiring in the mk2 metro is the ECU for the gearbox that had been opened up.
They are accessible by a terminal and you ate not expected to work on that. You just replace if it fails.
broke my heart seeing a Cenrewest Routemaster there
Hey you should see if you can pull all the brake and steering gear out from under the RM to retrofit it to the RT . might make it more driveable than the armstrong gear it originally came fitted with
If I was there I would buy all five buses and bring them back and store them in the backyard
There's two routemasters in pretty good nick in the yard of R.E. Dawson Limited (Primrose Site) Clitheroe.
i like those Trident II's =]
The electric open topper was from York and caught fire thats why its being scrapped
Would the blocks and heads be worth saving? Just in case one gets a new window put in or a head gets cracked on a running bus?
Time and unforseen circumstances will claim RM's and ourselves, but that's reality.
Nice video
Add a Lovely sound.
Great footage if someone was brave enough there is a possible single deck RM with what is left also i was the electrician at AC garage in the 80's and 90's and i remember RM2213 well great to know that its still in use keep up the good work
Thanks Mark.