Celebrating a British icon 7
1932 Leyland Titan, its proper,
intended body was completed in
April 1939 and RT1 made its first
public appearance in July.
Almost immediately 150 more
RTs were ordered, followed
that November by an order
for a further 338. Although
the original 150 all entered
service, the last did not do so
until February 1942 and the
338 had to be cancelled for the
time being. When production
eventually resumed after the war,
there were modifications to the
original design but nothing of
great significance.
By the end of 1947, 171 new
RTs had entered service. As a
10-year-old bus spotter, I becameaware, and was much excited,
by their arrival, on account of
the fact that our local garage,
Croydon, had received 39 of them
for routes 115, 130 and 197.
I saw these beautiful new buses
every day, for the 115 passed
the end of our road. It struck
me then, and it still does, how
odd this choice was, for all three
routes were extremely suburban,
none getting anywhere central
London. The remainder of the
1947 arrivals did work in and
out of central London, from
Leyton, Loughton and Potters
Bar garages.
The official explanation was
that the oldest, petrol-engined
buses, in Croydon’s case formerTilling and London General ST
and STL-class AEC Regents,
regardless of the routes they
operated, went first, along with
open staircase and other six-
wheel LT-class AEC Renowns
from the north London garages.
Throughout 1947 and beyond,
hundreds of buses were being
condemned by Ministry of
Transport inspectors every
month. The situation remained
critical. Prewar, London
Transport had built most of its
bus bodies at its own Chiswick
Works, but it was now fully
occupied with chassis work,
and from the start of postwar
production the Park Royal and
Weymann companies, both with70 Years Ago
TOP: A new RTL
stands behind
a prewar AEC
Regent on loan to
London Transport
from Leeds City
Transport to help
ease its shortage
of roadworthy
vehicles. They
are at Well Hall
station in Eltham,
south-east
London.LEFT: An early
postwar RT,
Park Royal-
bodied RT214, at
Thornton Heath
in 1955. It first
went into service
in November 1947
and was repainted
in the simplified
livery the following
year.