Windows!

I'm jumping ahead somewhat with this post, having failed to keep on top of delivering a sequential blog. I'll go back later and provide more for the intervening period; meanwhile, here's an update for those who saw 4779 out and about this summer.

Having a (more or less) completed skeleton, it's time to put some flesh on the bones. Windows are first. As previously noted, many of the window pans were in very poor shape, so either have had patches welded in or have been replaced with others culled from a variety of sources. Glass is all original, again some from elsewhere to replace missing and broken windows, and the winding mechanisms have been refurbished or replaced before reassembly. Anyone who has put RT windows together will know that it takes longer to do than to write about.

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Examining the remains (3)

As expected, the window pans when removed were heavily corroded; when the glass was extracted, some no longer completely surrounded the space.

Internally, there wasn't much left. No seats or seat frames, no panelling or cappings downstairs, incomplete upstairs. The blind boxes were more or less complete, although some of the glass was broken.

The verdict? Nothing that can't be fixed, given time, skill and a supply of components from other sources. The collection of which had already started.

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Examining the remains (2)

There was no ceiling downstairs, but the between-decks structure and upstairs floor were generally good, except that the coving panels and brackets along each side were heavily corroded. The single-piece Jicwood roof was in surprisingly good shape, although the inner and outer front domes had been removed.

The lower deck floor was rotten along the sides, but otherwise solid. Along with as much else as possible, what can be retained and refurbished will be.

The cab and much of the front of the bus had been stripped; the front bulkhead (despite various LT repairs) was cracked on both sides. The main riser and the stairs were good, although the staircase riser (the support for the stairs) turned out to be badly rotten. The platform had fallen off at Billingshurst, leaving the pole swinging in the breeze.

[continued in next post]

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Examining the remains (1)

OK, so what did we have to cope with?

The basic framework was there, except for the waist rail on the offside, and the chassis and mechanicals were intact except for some small items that had been 'removed' (for example the speedo drive), and everything was corroded. The engine had been overhauled in 1976 and little used since 1978, which was promising; the fuel system was blocked between the tank and the header tank.

Two of the wheels were from a Routemaster, similar but not identical. Some of the windows had been smashed for effect during the making of the film, to accentuate the effect of the fire.

[continued in next post]

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Recovering the remains (May 2008)

Poor old 4779. The engine was started, a little reluctantly, but it wasn't going anywhere under its own steam. In May 2008, the Langley Vale wrecker did the honours, moving the bus a short distance from its former Dorking residence.

The project had begun...

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Planning a rescue

Being something of a 'special bus' to me, I had tracked 4779 to its resting place in 2002. Even before I ever dreamed of owning a bus, it seemed important to know that it wouldn't disappear without something being done. At least the bus was now under cover.

Those who knew the bus concluded that it was 'too far gone' and would be one of the ones that got away. I hoped not.

After some years, and with an imminent lifestyle change, I started to think about the possibility of a project. I would need serious help, effectively someone to give me an apprenticeship in coachbuilding with 4779 as the project. Things came together in 2008, Ian was the man to lead the project, and the bus was bought - as a leaving present by a company I had worked with for 15 years.

The photo shows the remains in use as a store. Definitely an RT, but was it too far gone?

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RT4779 starts to rot away (1979 to 2008)

After sale by London Transport, RT4779 was one of a group of 7 RTs and one RTL stored in a field in Billingshurst, Sussex, where they gently rotted for over 10 years. The 'Billingshurst RTs' all eventually found homes, and the majority are now either restored or in course of restoration.

When the owner decided to dispose of the RTs, they were moved to the farmyard, where four (2177, 4045, 4779, 3103) are seen in this view by Danny Richards.

In 1993, the bus was purchased for restoration, but proved in worse condition than expected and work ceased after much of the offside was removed. Its then owner later described removing the timber with a dustpan and brush.

The bus then stood under cover for another 15 years, during which time many items mysteriously vanished. During the period, it performed one task - to be set on fire for the wartime film 'Heart of Me'.

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Finishing its service life

Having worked at Windsor and Leatherhead garages as a green bus and at Plumstead, Catford and Walworth as a red bus, RT4779 finished its service life at Harrow Weald, working the 140 to Heathrow Airport, west London's last RT route. With increasing interest in the last remaining members of the class, RT4779 was for once in its life well photographed. This picture is from Dave Jones' Flickr set, where there are a number of other fine shots.

Route 140 lost its RTs on 14 July 1978. RT4779 moved to Mortlake as a training bus for a year before being sold.

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RT4779 turns red (1969 to 1978)

RT4779 was repainted red in 1969, thus escaping being ejected from London Transport when the country buses became part of the National Bus Company in 1970.

It is seen in Peter Plummer's photo at the Dulwich terminus of the 176A, in September 1976 when based at Walworth Garage.

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RT4779 makes an appearance (1954 to 1969)

Welcome to the story of RT4779 (OLD566), a late example of London Transport's standard double-deck bus of the 1950s.

In this shot, taken in the late 1960s, the bus is still green and is seen inside Leatherhead Garage, from where it worked between 1963 and 1969. Photo Michael Wickham collection.

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