Clydeside Scottish Routemasters

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English: Clydeside Scottish operated a large fleet of ex-London Transport Routemaster buses in the 1980s and early 1990s.

History

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Clydeside Scottish was created in 1985 when the nationalised bus operator Western SMT, a subsidiary of the Scottish Bus Group, was split in two, with the other half becoming Western Scottish. After bus deregulation in Great Britain the following year, Clydeside was one of many provincial operators who turned to ex-London Transport Routemaster buses to give them a competitive edge.

In preparation, the company had taken RM652 (reg. WLT 652) on trial in 1985. On being pleased with the results, the company took on more, eventually becoming the largest fleet in Scotland, with Kelvin Scottish & Strathtay Scottish being other SBG subsidiaries also taking them.

As publicity for the new buses, the company named RM652 Rodney the Routemaster and produced a children's booklet titled Rodney the Routemaster comes to Town, detailing his trip to Scotland. Some of the other buses were also given names beginning with R.

The Routemasters were painted in Clydeside's red & yellow livery, and operated mainly on the Glasgow-Paisley corridor. Many other buses were also purchased as sources of spares to keep the fleet running.

Most of the buses came direct from London Transport, with LT's Aldenham Works painting many of them in advance, but a few were bought by and transferred from the SBG's engineering division Scottish Bus Engineering. Others were similarly sourced from Kelvin Scottish. All were acquired with their original LT registration plates, and continued to wear their RM numbers in Clydeside colours.

Clydeside bought mostly RM class buses, although it also took one of the longer RML class, RML900 (reg. WLT 900), part of the early RML batch produced while the RM was still the standard. It also took 3 of the RMA class, front entrance former BEA Heathrow airport shuttle coaches, later absorbed into the LT fleet.

One of the RMA's, RMA16 (reg. KGJ 614D) was renumbered SRMA 1, fitted with coach seating and table lamps, and painted in white/silver livery of the Quicksilver private hire/commuter service fleet.

Clydeside was re-merged into Western in May 1985. The Routemasters kept their red & yellow livery, but Western renumbered/re-registered several of them during 1989/90. Operation by Western was short lived, with the majority of the fleet being sold by 1990.

RM835 has been preserved in Clydeside livery.

Fleet

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Column key

  • CN - Clydeside fleetnumber (preceded with a depot code e.g. M, C, P)
  • WN - Western fleetnumber
  • Reg. - registration when bought (all same as when new)
  • Re-reg. - registration allocated by Western
  • SP - bought for spares? - Yes/No.
    • RM984 was bought for spares but actually entered service on 1988/05
    • RM1823 was scrapped first by PVS Cartlon, with its parts bought by Clydeside
    • RML900 was bought as an accident damaged bus, repaired using parts from RM1984
  • From - source (LT: London Transport, SBE: Scottish Bus Engineering, KS - Kelvin Scottish)
RM Reg. Re-reg. CN WN Name Bought From SP Sold
RM17 VLT 17 LDS 214A 251 C11 1985/10 LT N 1990/08
RM28 VLT 28 1985/12 LT Y ?
RM33 VLT 33 1987/06 LT Y 1988/03
RM37 VLT 37 LDS 173A C12 Raymond 1986/02 LT N 1990/08
RM48 VLT 48 LDS 199A C13 Ross 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM54 VLT 54 LDS 279A C14 Rambo ? LT N 1990/09
RM73 VLT 73 LDS 334A C15 Rumpelstiltskin 1986/02 LT N 1990/09
RM81 VLT 81 LDS 335A 281 C16 Robin 1986/02 LT N 1990/09
RM104 VLT 104 LDS 280A 256 C17 1985/11 LT N 1990/08
RM110 VLT 110 257 C18 ? LT N 1990/08
RM114 VLT 114 264 C19 1986/02 LT N 1990/08
RM154 VLT 154 LDS 232A 258 C13 Rudyard 1986/02 LT N 1990/08
RM162 VLT 162 1985/10 LT Y 1987/06
RM166 VLT 166 LDS 336A 266 1986/04 LT N 1990/08
RM187 VLT 187 C22 1987/03 SBE N 1990/08
RM200 VLT 200 1987/05 SBE N 1989/01
RM204 VLT 204 LDS 233A C23 1986/08 LT N 1990/03
RM206 VLT 206 LDS 255A C24 Roger 1986/08 LT N 1990/08
RM219 VLT 219 LDS 281A 254 C25 Roland 1985/10 LT N 1990/05
RM226 VLT 226 LDS 234A C26 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM233 VLT 233 1986/07 LT Y 1987/11
RM234 VLT 234 LDS 235A C27 1986/04 LT N 1990/09
RM245 VLT 245 LDS 282A 1986/09 LT N 1990/05
RM265 VLT 265 1986/09 LT Y 1987/11
RM272 VLT 272 LDS 236A 259 C29 Ralph 1985/11 LT N 1990/08
RM291 VLT 291 291 C30 1986/02 LT N 1990/08
RM303 WLT 303 C31 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM305 WLT 305 LDS 256A C32 1986/03 LT N 1990/08
RM364 WLT 364 LDS 337A Russel 1986/08 LT N 1990/09
RM367 WLT 367 LDS 317A 267 C34 1986/02 LT N 1990/05
RM391 WLT 391 1986/05 LT N 1990/09
RM416 WLT 416 LDS 237A 1986/03 LT N 1990/09
RM441 WLT 441 LDS 341A 241 C37 Rudolph 1986/03 LT N 1990/09
RM444 WLT 444 LDS 150A 260 C38 1986/03 LT N 1990/02
RM447 WLT 447 LDS 283A 260 C39 1986/11 SBE N 1990/05
RM465 WLT 465 LDS 148A 265 1986/03 LT N 1990/08
RM495 WLT 495 295 1986/03 LT N 1990/05
RM501 WLT 501 EDS 48A C42 1986/06 LT N 1990/08
RM526 WLT 526 LDS 152A C43 1986/05 LT N 1990/08
RM546 WLT 546 LDS 284A 1985/12 LT N 1990/09
RM550 WLT 550 LDS 184A 261 C45 1986/04 LT N 1990/04
RM588 WLT 588 1988/08 LT Y 1989/01
RM641 WLT 641 C48 Randolph 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM652 WLT 652 LDS 161A 252 C47 Rodney 1985/09 LT N ?
RM666 WLT 666 LDS 257A C48 1987/03 SBE N 1990/08
RM694 WLT 694 253 C49 Richard 1985/12 LT N 1990/09
RM697 WLT 697 LDS 238A 297 C50 1986/04 LT N 1990/08
RM720 WLT 720 LDS 258A 298 C51 Rupert 1986/04 LT N 1990/08
RM724 WLT 724 ? LT Y 1988/03
RM727 WLT 727 LDS 239A 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM794 WLT 794 C53 Reggie 1986/09 LT N 1990/09
RM830 WLT 830 C54 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM835 WLT 835 C55 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM847 WLT 847 1988/05 LT Y 1989/07
RM859 WLT 859 LDS 247A C56 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM870 WLT 870 1986/10 LT N 1990/08
RM874 WLT 874 C58 Ryan 1986/08 LT N 1990/09
RM878 WLT 878 1987/05 LT Y 1988/11
RML900 WLT 900 C10 Rabbie 1988/02 LT N 1991/10
RM919 WLT 919 LDS 259A C59 1986/09 LT N 1990/09
RM924 WLT 924 LDS 260A C60 1986/10 LT N 1990/08
RM933 WLT 933 C61 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM936 WLT 936 C62 1986/11 SBE N 1990/08
RM951 WLT 951 C63 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM956 WLT 956 LDS 261A C64 Roy 1986/08 LT N 1990/08
RM960 WLT 960 C65 1987/05 LT N 1990/09
RM974 WLT 974 LDS 339A C66 1986/08 LT N 1990/09
RM978 WLT 978 LDS 164A C67 1986/11 SBE N 1990/08
RM983 WLT 983 1987/08 KS Y 1987/09
RM984 WLT 984 ALD 959B C79 1987/08 KS Y* 1990/09
RM1013 13 CLT LDS 253A C68 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM1032 32 CLT LDS 254A C69 1987/05 SBE N 1990/08
RM1054 54 CLT LDS 285A C70 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM1134 134 CLT C71 1986/09 LT N 1990/05
RM1152 152 CLT C72 1987/05 LT N 1990/09
RM1261 261 CLT 1987/09 LT Y 1990/07
RM1267 267 CLT C73 1986/08 LT N 1990/09
RM1308 308 CLT 1987/09 LT Y 1989/06
RM1407 407 CLT 1987/11 LT Y 1989/01
RM1565 565 CLT 1987/09 LT Y 1989/08
RM1587 587 CLT 1987/05 LT Y 1989/02
RM1625 625 DYE 1987/11 LT Y 1990/03
RM1667 667 DYE 1987/05 LT Y 1989/05
RM1703 703 DYE LDS 286A C74 Ringo 1987/09 LT N 1990/08
RM1705 705 DYE 1987/06 LT Y 1988/07
RM1731 731 DYE Ronnie 1987/09 LT N 1990/08
RM1768 768 DYE EDS 567B 1988/02 LT Y 1990/08
RM1803 803 DYE EDS 568B C76 1987/02 SBE N 1990/09
RM1823 823 DYE 1987/10 D Y* n/a
RM1830 830 DYE 1988/02 LT Y 1990/07
RM1850 850 DYE 1986/04 LT Y 1987/06
RM1890 ALD 890B 262 C77 Rex 1985/10 LT N 1990/08
RM1913 ALD 913B 263 C78 1985/10 LT N 1990/09
RM1915 ALD 915B 1988/02 LT Y ?
RM1959 ALD 959B 1987/08 KS Y 1987/09
RM1984 ALD 984B 1987/11 LT Y 1988/07
RM1987 ALD 987B 1987/11 LT Y 1989/08
RM2006 ALM 6B 1987/08 KS Y 1987/11
RM2048 ALM 48B C80 1986/09 LT N 1990/08
RM2053 ALM 53B 1987/11 LT Y 1990/03
RM2058 ALM 58B 1987/08 KS Y 1987/09
RM2083 ALM 83B C81 1987/08 KS N 1990/05
RM2086 ALM 86B 1987/08 KS Y 1987/09
RM2095 ALM 95B 1988/02 LT Y 1989/10
RM2096 ALM 96B 1988/02 LT Y 1989/04
RM2102 ALM 102B 1987/08 KS Y 1987/09
RM2107 CUV 107C C82 1987/01 SBE N 1990/09
RM2108 CUV 108C 1987/08 KS Y 1987/09
RM2115 CUV 115C 1987/08 KS Y 1987/09
RM2203 CUV 203C 1987/11 LT Y 1988/06
RM2208 CUV 208C C83 Rocky 1987/05 SBE N 1990/09
RMA16 KGJ 614D SRMA 1 George 1988/02 LT N 1991/10
RMA29 KGJ 603D 1988/02 LT Y 1990/07
RMA60 NMY 658E 1988/02 LT N 1989/09

Images

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In service

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  • RM720 (reg. WLT 720) route 36 Johnstone High Street 13 April 1989
    RM720 (reg. WLT 720)
    route 36
    Johnstone High Street
    13 April 1989

In preservation

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  • RM2107 (reg. CUV 107C) 1993 Routemaster Heritage Trust open day Twickenham bus garage
    RM2107 (reg. CUV 107C)
    1993 Routemaster Heritage Trust open day
    Twickenham bus garage
  • RM835 (reg. WLT 835) 2009 Cobham bus rally
    RM835 (reg. WLT 835)
    2009 Cobham bus rally
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