Routemaster coach RMC1456

English: Routemaster coach RMC1456 (reg. LFF 875, ex-456 CLT) was delivered to London Transport in July 1962, registered as 456 CLT. As with all RMC class buses, it was a coach version of the Routemaster, with a closeable rear door and twin headlamps, delivered to the Green Line express routes division of the London Transport 'Country Area', delivered in Green Line livery, a dark Lincoln Green base, with light green window surrounds and mid-level line, 'Greenline London Transport' fleetnames on the lower half of the bus, and small 'Green Line' roundels on the upper side of the bus, both positioned in the middle. As with all RMC class buses, the 1967 overhaul saw the adoption of a simplified Green Line livery, with the fleetname altered to just 'Green Line', and with larger roundels, moved to the front, and with the loss of the light green window surrounds. As with all the 'Country Area' buses, it passed ownership to London Country Bus Services in 1970, in turn as with all RMC buses, it was eventually downgraded to bus work, and received the lighter NBC green livery. All RMC class buses were eventually bought back by London Transport, over a phased period. RMC1459 passed into LT ownership in June 1979, being put to work as a training bus, still in NBC green but with white LT roundels. In July 1985 it was repainted red, still as a trainer. From 1989 it was one of several RMC's modified for use on the new London Buses X15 'Beckton Express' route, intended to serve commuters in the new Docklands areas. For this role it was given a gold lining to its red livery [1] (see comparison image of RMC1490, preserved in X15 livery). As part of the privatisation process, in 1994 it passed into the fleet of East London, now part of the Stagecoach Group, who continued to use it as a service bus, on the ordinary route 15, still wearing its red and gold paint scheme, but with Stagecoach fleetnames [2]. Also in 1994, it was re-registered to LFF 875 (with the original plate finding use on at least one other Stagecoach coach [3]. RMC1456 lasted in normal service until the last day of Routemasters on East London's route 15, on 29 August 2003 [4][5], by which time, and probably much earlier, it had been painted into normal Stagecoach London red livery with a single cream band. A month later it had been sold to a private owner for preservation. It returned to London to work a special on route 8 in June 2004 on its last Routemaster day, still in basic red/cream livery [6]. By at least October 2005 it had been repainted back into its former red and gold X15 paint scheme (minus London Buses/East London logos) [7]. In May 2007 it changed owners, but still in preservation. By August 2010 it was being advertised for sale (wrongly referred to as RMC456) [8][9], still in red/gold livery.

Private hire

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  19 February 2005, Ascot railway station in Berkshire

Rallies and events

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  2006 Alton bus rally