Prepared by Ian Smith
This page created on 7th September 1997, updated 22nd January 2005. Best on 800*600.
If you ask someone to think of a London bus,
the image that they conjure up will in nearly all cases be either an RT or an RM.
The RT was London's standard post-war double-decker,
replacing all other types (other than lowbridge),
so that by the time they were all in service there were about 7000 of them.
They were long-lasting too. The first pre-war RT went into service in 1939,
and the last, RT624, came out of London Transport service in 1979.
But their forty years service span with LT was not the lot.
Very many were sold for service with independent bus operators in the UK,
and indeed all over the world.
Many will remember the RT that featured in the James Bond film:
a memorable chase scene in the West Indies and a de-roofing on a low bridge
ended with a drive onto a rickety jetty -
all accompanied by that nostalgic sound of an RT engine.
London's standard bus they might have been, but there were variations.
Apart from the unique prototype, RT1,
there was a batch of "pre-war" RTs
(actually built during the early days of the war)
that were distinguishable from the main batches in a variety of ways.
With wood- composite framing this batch was less long-lasting than the metal-framed postwar RTs,
and early on became driving instruction units.
One was experimentally converted into a Green Line coach: RTC1.
But even among the post-war buses there were differences: the first batches built had roof-box bodies, by a variety of builders: Park Royal, Weymann of Addlestone, and Saunders of Anglesey. Cravens of Sheffield built 120, but these were really non-standard, with 5-bay bodies, and were soon sold. Roofbox buses of all sorts went to both Central and Country Areas.
But the roofboxes proved vulnerable to tree damage
and a new model with a three-panel front display was introduced.
Bodies were being built by the thousand.
Chassis production could not keep up,
and some bodies spent a while on top of chassis from STLs: the short-lived
SRT class.
Leyland chassis were introduced - the RTL sub-class -
some bodied with a slightly non-standard Metro-Cammell body,
and some with Park Royal bodies interchangeable with the RTs.
RTL501, the first, had a roofbox body,
and some others later acquired roof-box bodies before sale.
Some wider Leyland chassis received 8 foot wide bodies by Leyland:
the RTWs.
But they were the standard bus in the London area during the late forties and throughout the fifties.
Through the sixties they shared the honours with the Routemasters.
During the seventies London Transport - and London Country - had problems replacing them.
Both companies tried long single-deckers,
with marked lack of success; the new buses were withdrawn alongside the last RTs!
New double-deckers in Central London also had distinct problems coping with the RT's work-load.
But all good things reach an end at some point, and the last RTs went from Barking in April 1979.
A final surprise was the appearance for the occasion of RT1,
that had lain un-noticed and semi-derelict in the back of West Ham garage for some time.
In immaculate pre-war livery it joined the parade,
to celebrate forty years of RT service with LT.
Especial thanks to BusSpotter for offering a really useful collection of RT pictures from amongst his many hundreds!
The main written reference for the class must be Ken Blacker's "RT: The Story of a London Bus", published by Capital Transport back in 1979. Unfortunately this is long out of print, and second-hand copies are rare. Public libraries may be able to help.
Ian's Bus Stop
RT Contents
RT introduction
RT1