Lovely film! Such care and pride taken. When I was a kid, my neighbour drove for Crossville buses in North Wales. Every year he would take his old Ford Cortina into the works where they would steam clean the underside then spray it with that silver paint (probably contained all sorts of harmful chemicals) then cover every moving part in grease. Oddly enough, that car never rusted or wore out and passed the annual inspection without issue. It's all about maintenance!
Aldenham Overhaul Works was a great place to 'bus spot' in the school holidays. We could only dream of actually getting into the place to see the rare treasures within, so wandering the perimeter fence with a good pair of binoculars was the order of the day. When the workers finished their shift a parade of about 20 buses left the Works to carry them to their various 'home' locations, and that was a treat to see as many of the buses were rare, out of service ones like pre war RT's. Happy days!
Makes me feel good to be British to see the pride and care the older generation took in their work and the quality of the finished busses. They looked as good as they day they were built. You never seen such dedication anymore to such things, its all slapdash and done as quick as possible. Im always seeing modern busses with their engine covers open beside a road with smoke or steam coming out. Such a shame. The RT,s and RM,s could have gone on forever if this works still existed, it actually SAVED MONEY for LT. Todays methods are, "oh just rip it out and buy a new one!"
I worked in exactly the same environment in Birmingham’s bus repair works, Tyburn rd in Erdington as a sheet metal worker. I can honestly say we did exactly the same work as London city transport the skill levels of all involved were outstanding and if you needed a job doing from any of the trades on questions ask as long as the favour was reciprocal. Brilliant times never to be repeated unfortunately but glad I was lucky enough to have been part of it .
But BCT/WMPTE weren't allowed to swap vehicle identities like London Transport...most LT RT,RF and Routemasters have carried 4/5 different registrations and fleet numbers as they've passed through the overhaul process in their lifetimes..all to save a road tax. My mate Austin Jones used to work at Tyburn Road...sadly the works has all been knocked down now..
What a shame that the government don't realise that this is the most efficient and environmental way to run a vehicle, it's repaired or overhauled rather than being replaced. A new car takes more energy and causes more pollution to build initially than it will use and produce in its life. Mini turn out 1000 cars a day, if we all kept the cars we had, upgraded the engine to the latest spec every few years (as LT did with Routemasters) we would do far less harm to this planet than buying new all the time.
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Governments don't manufacture vehicles. They are made by private companies.
During the 1970s and 1980s I was a bus conductor at Riverside Bus Garage in Hammersmith and whenever we had a bus come back to us from Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works, it looked and even smelled like a brand new bus.
My goodness how lovely is this. I absolutely adore those red route master buses. I'm an ex Rolls Royce car painter and can relate to the pride in attitude and ability that these workers have. The UK i remember has now long gone, but posts like this puts a smile on my face because this was a time when the 'Great' in Great Britain actually meant something.
I used to work on the rts and rms and rmls on London transport in the 70's as a conductor I worked out of new cross garage and my late father was a chief mechanical engineer at Camberwell bus garage
Aldenham no longer exists now. In 1984, however, my late father and I paid a visit during an open day to the public. It was an interesting experience, and a thoroughly enjoyable day. As well as being able to the various working areas, there was a demonstration of how to "upright" an overturned bus using airbags (I dont think the Routemaster used in the demo ever ran again!!) opportunities to drive a Routemaster supervised on the test track, and a free courtesy bus to and from Stanmore tube station. I was in the industry myself for about 10 years from 2007 onwards, but it's a different world now.
What a great film and it brought fantastic memories back from when I worked there and did my apprenticeship. Great design and layout of the busses in those days and also the Aldenham Works which was a fantastic place to work. Such a shame that it was forced to close down as the care and attention of our public transport has declined ever since!
I used to work at Aldenham up until they closed it in 1986. What a tragedy.There was some great caracters there and a great community spirit. They shipped us off to Chiswick but that didnt last long,
Peter Mash alright mate was it the bus garage in greys inn road ? I’m a Bricky and I worked on that bus garage converting it into flats I was doing my apprenticeship I think it was 87- or 88 I’m not sure 🤔
I took my bus test in an RT, Len Pilgrim was our instructor 1976. He related the time when an instructor told the trainee to go through the roundabout, but the rookie literally tried to, say no more.😮
@@tonydelo7292 They always fleece the public, and they always will: they own the system and the political set-up and there's no way ever that it can be changed: it'll only get worse.
Lovely to watch,I joined the coach industry on the yts in 1987, Working for a local coach operator and loved it, Got made redundant after they were taken over by a bus company, I then worked for vanhool until I changed career in my forties,and Sad to watch the demise of the coach and bus industry in the uk, I was always proud to work and wore the companies named with extra pride, Sadly those days are gone now.
What a fantastic video, it brings back so many memories, I worked at Aldenham bus works from 1979 to 1985 as a vehicle builder it was the best apprenticeship you could have ever had, I didn’t realise it at the time but in later life it has given me so many brilliant skills. Worked in the Highbay the trim shop and various other area. I found some old picture a couple of months ago of the team I worked with waiting in the canteen for the next bus to be dropped in our bay to be refurbished. I wonder where the old team are now.
Hello graham27 I noticed you said you worked in the trim shop I wonder does this name sound familiar David Davies he worked at aldenham bus works in the trim shop as well probably around the same time as you I worked for a small company when I first left school and he was my a fellow member of staff he often you used to talk about aldenham bus works I know he was there up until it shut which was 1986 does this name sound familiar I think he was from boreham wood he drove a scooter and then he had a I think a escort he told me he used to have long hair ( it was the seventies) does this name sound familiar at all
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Incredible documentary. All work done by hand by British craftsmen with virtually no power tools at all. Probably not the most efficient processes and one can only imagine the cost of overhauling a bus to this standard..
Privatisation killed off all those big workshops and the skilled tradesmen that worked there, men took a pride in their trade and work in those days. Buses these days full of plastic and fiberglass "throw away" sections. Lovely video and very informative, enjoyed it. Thank you.
I think we've somehow lost the "plot".....we showed the world how to professionally maintain our buses.....then we "let" politicians destroy a very unique and "British" way of doing things......
Paul Tindall An impressive example would be the tilting train, the concept was made by us, it failed which the Italians took the idea and perfected the concept. Later, they sold the tilting system back to us in the form of the pendilino. I'd prefer the APT over that monstrosity any day of the week because in my opinion, it looks much better than it, not to mention that it is British. We take so much inspiration from other countries that I feel that the UK really is loosing its identity and proud heritage as innovators.
Mike Lloyd To be honest, the old routemasters were ageing, but what replaced them was less efficient so they regretted that they were replaced at all. So much for London's replacement buses. Besides, they look god awful I have to say.
Even before the narrator told us about the 1985 decision to close it down, I knew it would have been impossible to survive Margaret Thatcher's Britain. On the other hand, I was not surprised it survived all the industrial unrest and decline of the competitive motor industry of the 60s and 70s, because it had no natural competitor. So it was a perfect target for closure once 'protected industries' had been exposed. I can imagine people having their cups of tea at tea break, discussing the plant's future and how unionized it must have been.
It’s so healthy to see a collection of hard-core bus nerds in action. Last weekend( 23-03 24), Barking depot held it’s centenary with a rally of thirty or more RT’S to ride for free. Fortunately, there is a bus stop only twenty feet from my home. So of we went freewheeling. The RT is the bus of my youth, if I could own one I would; but parking is a problem.
I had an apprenticeship lined up there. It closed just before I left school. Along with everything else that was closing down just before I left school. ☹️
Excellent movie of LT's good old days, nostalgic for many especially for those of us who worked on London Transport's buses. However, I'm sure it's been pointed out dozens of times already these buses are NOT Routemasters but members of the previous generation of RT and RTL family. This was filmed over a number of months during 1960, a few years before the first Routemasters needed an overhaul. Superb, nevertheless, for one who once cycled from North London to Aldenham on more than a few occasions to bus -spot!
As a kid i recall seeing the chassis's built at Park Royal (AEC) being driven to Aldenham , The driver perched on a seat, hunched over the steering wheel , totally open to the elements, wearing goggles, scarves, lagging etc etc
I was telling someone the other day about the guys driving the bare chassis around and they didn't believe me. I remember seeing them on the M1 both lorry and bus chassis coming from the Midlands to London for the bodywork. There used to be a lot of coach works in Park Royal. Wouldn't happen today of course, health and safety you know. Quite frankly with all the things you can't do today which were the norm back then I wonder how I got to nearly 60 years old.
There's also an RLH on the chassis line. You can see the A208 engine with top mounted air cleaner and the chassis with leg extensions to the rear - RLH only features.
Wow what a wonderful informative historical video. As said the pride put into overhauling these buses is incredible. Many thanks for making such a good video.
Definitely. Hard working bastards from a bygone era. We've lost the skill. Went to India a while back and seen people in the street fixing starter motors, clocks, welding exhausts etc. If you had the money these people could build you any mortal thing. I had an old Peugeot 306 which needed a ton of welding doing. For the love of money I couldn't find anyone willing to do the job. I guarantee that if I went back in time 40+ years I would've found someone to do it.
In an economy where the government actually spent, before all the thick bastards (some in this video and comment thread perhaps) voted in Thatcher's austerity monetarism. Nonetheless plenty would have been on low pay and mostly making do with a lot of things.
I started red rover bus spotting when i was 10 from Kingston bus station ,i filled loads of exercise books with bus tickets from all over London..It was never a craze at my school i did it all on my own sometimes dragging a reluctant school chum with me usually begining my adventure on the 85 to Putney and sometimes take the 38 from Victoria all the way to Loughton then on to visit my Aunty in Epping.
How fitting "The Last Post" at the end ... such painstaking care taken by the workers, you would not get that level of care these days, they run the buses till they fall apart and get new ones. And yes, the buses are the RTs, not Routemasters!
London Transport was a fantastic company, Bus driver training and engineering at Chiswick works and Aldenham overhaul works. Nice footage. RT buses(1939-79) not Routemasters(1956-2005) feature in this video. All swept away by the Tories and privatisation.
@@itcfan It’s always comical when someone gets the ‘truth’ so wrong. So, here are some facts for you. Bus usage in London fell from 4.5bn in 1950 to 3.1bn in 1962, and the decline continued from there. By the end of the 1970s, but usage in London was half of that in 1950. The decline was replicated across the country, and even the establishment of the PTEs did nothing overhaul to halt the decline. Yes, the decline continued after deregulation but at a much slower pace. So, it had everything to do with increased car ownership and wider societal issues and very little to do with who owned and operated the buses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_transport_in_the_United_Kingdom#/media/File:Busgraph1a.png
@@Bungle-UK so then you'll know that numbers rallied from the 00s with congestion charging. And to this day more people travel by bus in London (despite the worst efforts of TFL) than the tube or any other means of public transport. How it is run is obviously relevant too.
@@itcfan yes, the numbers have risen under the private operators/franchise system you complained about. Of course, London’s population has grown by 2.5 million since 2000 so an increase in bus use is to be expected. TfL have been cutting routes and frequencies in Central London recently however which is a backward step.
I must say, this is what an overhaul really is, not the piecemeal remedial repairs that pass for scheduled maintenance these days. My experience of heavy transport is having the owner wait for the equipment to fail, then either replace it or repair/replace parts here and there. A full overhaul leaving no bolt unturned is unheard of these days.
A very interesting film from a time long ago and far away now. The Aldenham works was made famous when Elstree Films went there in 1962 to film the place in CinemaScope and Technicolor as a background to the opening scenes in "Summer Holiday", the big box office hit of 1963, as Cliff Richard, playing a London Transport bus mechanic, sang the opening number 'Seven Days to a Holiday'. I couldn't see any Routemasters in that sequence, so in 1962, the works must have been just for repairing RT's.
Thanks for the info, Christopher. I haven't watched Summer Holiday for some time, but I'll get the DVD out tomorrow and give the beginning a spin. I remember showing the film when I was a cinema projectionist in 1963 and I also remember being very impressed with the sequence done at Aldenham.
As Cliff drives the bus up to the entrance and the film change from black & white to colour the buses stood to the nearside of Cliff's bus are RM's...they are early numbered ones being bought in and stockpiled to start the works float of RM bodies so the overhaul process on RM's can start..RM53 from West Ham garage was the first RM to be overhauled entering the works in April 1962..
I think you'll find that these Double Deckers are not Routemasters, but RT [Regency Type] buses. These started being produced by AEC Park Royal in 1938/9(?), and where in use during the London Blitz in 1940. RTs are easy to differenciate from RMs [Routemasters] by the size of the radiator grills (RTs - Long & narrow, RMs short & squat). Also RTs had a more pronounced (almost art deco streamlined) curve, from Radiator to Roof, then the more modern "chunky" fronted RMs. I visited Aldenham Bus Works in 1983 as part of the 50th anniversary of London Transport. It was there & then that I learn't that only RTs can be seperated from their chassis, whereas RMs have their chassis integrated to the coachbody which prevents them from being seperated. I also drove a RM around the test track for £5 (blueys had such spending power back then). If I had £30 more to spare, I could've spun an RM around the skidpan.
not sure about that. they were serviced to keep availability rates high as well as to ensure they were desirable to ride on by the public. by centralising servicing, economies of scale meant that all repairs could be immediately taken care of instead of the other practice of "well mate, gotta send of for some parts... gonna take a few weeks, guess you are SOL".
What a great video thanks for sharing, being and old man i have been in vehicle engineering all my life and tip my hat to these great people, i have been in london taxi overhauls which happen at 12 monthly intervals the same thing with the busses total overhauls, thats why its important that we try very hard to get the young people of today to get an appreniceship in this feild (very difficult to do ) sadly high spec vehicle engineers are dying out, and this is a shame.
A fine example of craftsmanship and pride in a job well done. No surprise then that secondhand LPTB buses were very well sought-after for further use both a home and abroad. The Aldenham works really was 'recycling' in the truest original sense, sadly not appreciated at all by successive UK governments.
Something else the film doesn't tell you is that identity swapping went on at Aldenham from 1955 onwards. In most instances the incoming bus had its identity transferred to a freshly overhauled bus of the same type i.e. RT, RTL, RTW or RF. In this way full use was made of the road fund licence. It followed on from the same practice which went on at Chiswick from when it opened in 1923 but was suspended during WWII.
Aldenham was actually built to serve as a Tube depot. In 1935 an extension of the Northern Line from Edgware to Bushey had been approved. Construction started in 1938 and was paused in 1939 due to World War Two. Then the greenbelt legislation in 1946 made the Tube extension unnecessary. Aldenham Tube Depot, which was going to be between Elstree South Station and Bushey Heath Station, later became Aldenham Bus Works.
1950s/60s was a time when Britain was far better than it is now. A time when you left school, went into a job, worked your way up if you wanted to, bought your house, raised a decent family and had a future to look forward to without the threat of unemployment, living below the bread line, working for bad management and a society over run with immigrants. My parents left school in the 60s and never had trouble finding work and went on to have very successful careers and as a result, have several properties and a comfortable lifestyle. I can only ever dream of doing that and I'm 34. I may have my own home, but I'll be paying it off until I'm 67. What kind of life is that? I have many qualifications and can't get a decent job. I have A-levels in Physics and Mathematics. I also have HGV as well as the ADR so I can drive petrol tankers, but can't get a job. I'm so glad I have decided not to have children in this day and age. The future is bleak.
Reminds me of my old mum and dad. Bought a four-bed end of terrace in 1962 with just dad working as a semi-skilled TV engineer and raising six kids. You couldn't do that now
Maybe, just maybe have kids anyway. I'm 53 and though I am not wanting desperately for them I can see why the people who loved me desperately did. It makes me sad.
Stagecoach look after their buses, pull the other one, in my town we have had buses were the entry doors have fallen off into the street, drive belts that have caught fire, running on FLAT tires, driving them about with broken off wheel bolts, lose seats, brakes so bad that buses could not pull up in the bay they were to stop at ,so many fumes coming off the engine coming into the bus that the passengers have actually thrown up on the bus, No, stagecoach need their arses kicking hard, they must be back handing the wheel tappers a lot of money in my area to get away with these scrappers being on the road.
@@directech . London Transport never owned the bus tires / tyres. They always contracted it to the big firms who would maintain the tires and have a fitter at each London Transport garage. That’s why they were not bothered about the silver overspray on them!
The pride the workers took in their jobs is amazing....whichever politicians allowed Aldenham works to be closed should hang their heads in shame. Oh for a time when public service was seen as a good thing and not a drain on the rich (in this case the wealthy who would never dream of going by bus!
Never seen this before. I was watching an On the Buses episode then saw this. I used to drive buses and coaches. Late 80s to early 90s. This is a very impressive video to watch and how thorough and detailed the work is. Are buses built to last better today or do they still have to undergo this level of scrutiny and checks? 12,000 buses for LT is mind boggling to have to deal with.
Love the rt and rm buses!! Finest work in British engineering! Why can’t newer buses in the UK be made with brilliant designs like this? Sure it could be modern but still iconic looking. 🙌🇬🇧
No Routemaster bus in this film. Its the RT family buses at Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works, both the AEC and Leyland RT and RTL respectively still very enjoyable to watch. No other livery-in my own opinion-was better worn on red or green London Transport buses than the Chiswick Cream bands yet those at 55 Broadway London, didn't leave well enough alone!
Red Livery,,,,,,No red looked better than on BartoN Transport Ltd buses,, look them up on here,, the company I am proud to have worked for until the end,,
Fantastic film of a time when pride in a job and getting it right was foremost. No wonder these buses did the incredible mileages they did. What difference to today's world of cost cutting and throw it away as its too expensive to repair.
Routemaster buses now upgraded make brand new routemaster is much better looks good to though it is! However watch video this is spirit of old routemaster buses, now who wants open the day ride for tours service in London.
Exactly. That's like the spitfire syndrome of the newspapers where every single engined 'plane is... Terrific film spoilt by fairground music which tries to make a joke of the whole thing: totally demeaning... a bit like the old BBC black and white jokey music used when they shewed film of model railway exhibitions!
Great nostalgic film. The bus featured is NOT the Routemaster [RM], but the RT type [Regent three]. Over seven thousand were made. The privatisation of LONDON TRANSPORT buses in the 1990's was an act of vandalism and greed by the Tories.
This sadly was a different but better world, steady jobs for decent people, and professional workers skilled to the hilt. True recycling and reuse of the vehicles build to last and with pride, surely we are now in decline and going backwards, from the time of recycled bottled milk and returns on the bottles no plastic in sight. Man will look back in many more years to come and think how did we get it so wrong, very sad.
Went to the Routemaster's 60th Anniversary in Finsbury Park yesterday. Can't say I was overwhelmed as I'm not really an anorak on this one (though on plenty of other things). However, my two darling nieces made the most of it and they clambered on the few buses that permitted it and we took some good pics. Them was the days when you could run for a departing bus with some chance of climbing aboard. Couldn't help but notice how deep the stairs had become and the step to get on, or am I just 40 years older?
I worked for London Transport, works & building dept' saw Aldenham just before it was sold off. The film gives an impression of its size, but you had to be in the place to know how massive it was. I wonder what happened to all those skilled men, and all that know how? Those old Gardner 6L engines could have gone on forever, what a fecking waste it all was...............
The chassis were basically modified lorry chassis & the Gardner engines were the same as used in the trucks of the period as ALL buses then were basically trucks with a bus body as they had the engines at the front and drove at the rear as in a truck.Modern buses are totally different as they are all rear engined & drive at the rear like an oversized VW Beetle which is in fact where this idea came from so it can be said that all modern buses owe their existence to the VW Beetle!
It was a originally built to be a tube train depot for the northern line extensions..which where abandon after the war...they biult Halifax bombers in it during the war..
Wow what a great video and insight into routemaster maintenance. I would have loved to have worked there. I have never been on a routemaster but would so love to own one. Thanks for sharing the video it was very very interesting to see how much work went into maintaining these lovely buses.
So did LT overhaul their mk1 Leyland Nationals every four years as well? Very interesting video and a joy watching the many skilled men going about their work. Very sad jobs like these are few and far between nowadays. What I would give to work in a place like that!
Sad the title suggests the person posting does not know their RT from their RM. I had the privilege of driving both back in the day. Bus maintenance has never been bettered.
What a fabulous documentary,this should be compulsory viewing for children in all schools.Then they could see how their great and grandparents worked.
colin mutter I watched it when I was 7
colin mutter - Agreed. But I wish they would please find a way to lose the loud, circus music.
Lovely film! Such care and pride taken. When I was a kid, my neighbour drove for Crossville buses in North Wales. Every year he would take his old Ford Cortina into the works where they would steam clean the underside then spray it with that silver paint (probably contained all sorts of harmful chemicals) then cover every moving part in grease. Oddly enough, that car never rusted or wore out and passed the annual inspection without issue. It's all about maintenance!
Aldenham Overhaul Works was a great place to 'bus spot' in the school holidays. We could only dream of actually getting into the place to see the rare treasures within, so wandering the perimeter fence with a good pair of binoculars was the order of the day. When the workers finished their shift a parade of about 20 buses left the Works to carry them to their various 'home' locations, and that was a treat to see as many of the buses were rare, out of service ones like pre war RT's. Happy days!
Makes me feel good to be British to see the pride and care the older generation took in their work and the quality of the finished busses. They looked as good as they day they were built. You never seen such dedication anymore to such things, its all slapdash and done as quick as possible. Im always seeing modern busses with their engine covers open beside a road with smoke or steam coming out. Such a shame. The RT,s and RM,s could have gone on forever if this works still existed, it actually SAVED MONEY for LT. Todays methods are, "oh just rip it out and buy a new one!"
Re; “rip it out & buy a new one” the irony of save the planet 🤦🏼♂️. 🇬🇧 government gone down hill.
I worked in exactly the same environment in Birmingham’s bus repair works, Tyburn rd in Erdington as a sheet metal worker.
I can honestly say we did exactly the same work as London city transport the skill levels of all involved were outstanding and if you needed a job doing from any of the trades on questions ask as long as the favour was reciprocal.
Brilliant times never to be repeated unfortunately but glad I was lucky enough to have been part of it .
But BCT/WMPTE weren't allowed to swap vehicle identities like London Transport...most LT RT,RF and Routemasters have carried 4/5 different registrations and fleet numbers as they've passed through the overhaul process in their lifetimes..all to save a road tax. My mate Austin Jones used to work at Tyburn Road...sadly the works has all been knocked down now..
@@ianwatts8446
I knew Austin quite well , nice bloke .
What a shame that the government don't realise that this is the most efficient and environmental way to run a vehicle, it's repaired or overhauled rather than being replaced. A new car takes more energy and causes more pollution to build initially than it will use and produce in its life. Mini turn out 1000 cars a day, if we all kept the cars we had, upgraded the engine to the latest spec every few years (as LT did with Routemasters) we would do far less harm to this planet than buying new all the time.
Governments don't manufacture vehicles. They are made by private companies.
There are no Routemasters in this video!
@@andrewstorey3395 Did I say that there were Route masters in this video?
Looks like an interesting job with a lot of potential for taking pride in your work. Nice video.
During the 1970s and 1980s I was a bus conductor at Riverside Bus Garage in Hammersmith and whenever we had a bus come back to us from Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works, it looked and even smelled like a brand new bus.
My goodness how lovely is this. I absolutely adore those red route master buses. I'm an ex Rolls Royce car painter and can relate to the pride in attitude and ability that these workers have. The UK i remember has now long gone, but posts like this puts a smile on my face because this was a time when the 'Great' in Great Britain actually meant something.
Strictly speaking the buses were the much more numerous and in my opinion more handsome RT type AEC Regent IIIs not Routemasters.
Great piece of history. When a man's work was worth something...
Such work would be priceless today. Hardworking, skilled men ! With respect, best regards from south Germany
I used to work on the rts and rms and rmls on London transport in the 70's as a conductor I worked out of new cross garage and my late father was a chief mechanical engineer at Camberwell bus garage
Aldenham no longer exists now. In 1984, however, my late father and I paid a visit during an open day to the public. It was an interesting experience, and a thoroughly enjoyable day. As well as being able to the various working areas, there was a demonstration of how to "upright" an overturned bus using airbags (I dont think the Routemaster used in the demo ever ran again!!) opportunities to drive a Routemaster supervised on the test track, and a free courtesy bus to and from Stanmore tube station. I was in the industry myself for about 10 years from 2007 onwards, but it's a different world now.
I worked here in paint shop 80 to 81 after working at Park Royal vehicles then worked at stonebridge Park garage and Westbourne Park... Great years
What a great film and it brought fantastic memories back from when I worked there and did my apprenticeship. Great design and layout of the busses in those days and also the Aldenham Works which was a fantastic place to work. Such a shame that it was forced to close down as the care and attention of our public transport has declined ever since!
I used to work at Aldenham up until they closed it in 1986. What a tragedy.There was some great caracters there and a great community spirit. They shipped us off to Chiswick but that didnt last long,
Peter Mash alright mate was it the bus garage in greys inn road ? I’m a Bricky and I worked on that bus garage converting it into flats I was doing my apprenticeship I think it was 87- or 88 I’m not sure 🤔
This was when there were actual skilled craftsmen that took pride in what they did. Sadly none left now.
I took my bus test in an RT, Len Pilgrim was our instructor 1976.
He related the time when an instructor told the trainee to go through the roundabout, but the rookie literally tried to, say no more.😮
when public transport was run as a service.... rather than profit
@proteusx Yids with Boris Johnson...again trying to fleece the public
@@tonydelo7292 They always fleece the public, and they always will: they own the system and the political set-up and there's no way ever that it can be changed: it'll only get worse.
What jolly background music - made me think I was listening to a fairground organ.
RIP Bob Grant (Jack Harper) and Reg Varney (Stan Butler).
Every time I see old buses I think of you both laughing.
Great documentary! Love the hyperactive, rumty-tumty music. Despite the "routemaster" reference in the title, we see only the earlier RT family buses.
i was lucky enough to be a conductor on the RM/RML's in the last part of there lives... wonderful vehicles 1000% better than there modern replacements
And with the closure went the quality of service that we all came to appreciate , once it had gone . 👍🇬🇧
Nostalgia for a time when recycling actually meant something. Never again will so many skilled craftsmen be employed in such a worthy enterprise.
Lovely to watch,I joined the coach industry on the yts in 1987,
Working for a local coach operator and loved it,
Got made redundant after they were taken over by a bus company,
I then worked for vanhool until I changed career in my forties,and
Sad to watch the demise of the coach and bus industry in the uk,
I was always proud to work and wore the companies named with extra pride,
Sadly those days are gone now.
Lovely, glad this film survived. Lot of childhood memories on buses such as that.
What a fantastic video, it brings back so many memories, I worked at Aldenham bus works from 1979 to 1985 as a vehicle builder it was the best apprenticeship you could have ever had, I didn’t realise it at the time but in later life it has given me so many brilliant skills. Worked in the Highbay the trim shop and various other area. I found some old picture a couple of months ago of the team I worked with waiting in the canteen for the next bus to be dropped in our bay to be refurbished. I wonder where the old team are now.
Hello graham27 I noticed you said you worked in the trim shop I wonder does this name sound familiar David Davies he worked at aldenham bus works in the trim shop as well probably around the same time as you I worked for a small company when I first left school and he was my a fellow member of staff he often you used to talk about aldenham bus works I know he was there up until it shut which was 1986 does this name sound familiar I think he was from boreham wood he drove a scooter and then he had a I think a escort he told me he used to have long hair ( it was the seventies) does this name sound familiar at all
Incredible documentary. All work done by hand by British craftsmen with virtually no power tools at all. Probably not the most efficient processes and one can only imagine the cost of overhauling a bus to this standard..
Privatisation killed off all those big workshops and the skilled tradesmen that worked there, men took a pride in their trade and work in those days. Buses these days full of plastic and fiberglass "throw away" sections. Lovely video and very informative, enjoyed it. Thank you.
Nothing to do with privatisation.
I think we've somehow lost the "plot".....we showed the world how to professionally maintain our buses.....then we "let" politicians destroy a very unique and "British" way of doing things......
+David Luck The railways are the same too... We no longer make our own trains, instead we import them.
+David Luck spot on mate.
Paul Tindall An impressive example would be the tilting train, the concept was made by us, it failed which the Italians took the idea and perfected the concept.
Later, they sold the tilting system back to us in the form of the pendilino.
I'd prefer the APT over that monstrosity any day of the week because in my opinion, it looks much better than it, not to mention that it is British.
We take so much inspiration from other countries that I feel that the UK really is loosing its identity and proud heritage as innovators.
Mike Lloyd To be honest, the old routemasters were ageing, but what replaced them was less efficient so they regretted that they were replaced at all.
So much for London's replacement buses.
Besides, they look god awful I have to say.
Even before the narrator told us about the 1985 decision to close it down, I knew it would have been impossible to survive Margaret Thatcher's Britain. On the other hand, I was not surprised it survived all the industrial unrest and decline of the competitive motor industry of the 60s and 70s, because it had no natural competitor. So it was a perfect target for closure once 'protected industries' had been exposed. I can imagine people having their cups of tea at tea break, discussing the plant's future and how unionized it must have been.
It’s so healthy to see a collection of hard-core bus nerds in action. Last weekend( 23-03 24), Barking depot held it’s centenary with a rally of thirty or more RT’S to ride for free. Fortunately, there is a bus stop only twenty feet from my home. So of we went freewheeling. The RT is the bus of my youth, if I could own one I would; but parking is a problem.
I've my own Routemaster, parked on my side drive next to my house.
You know what really empress me the most many of the mechanics wearing ties and vest and white shirts and ties,gentlemen absolutely LOL😋
I had an apprenticeship lined up there. It closed just before I left school. Along with everything else that was closing down just before I left school. ☹️
Shame that sort of craftsmanship hardly exists today
A fast run on a newly overhauled RT was always an experience. Fond memories of RTs on 301, Tring - Aylesbury in the 60s.
Excellent movie of LT's good old days, nostalgic for many especially for those of us who worked on London Transport's buses. However, I'm sure it's been pointed out dozens of times already these buses are NOT Routemasters but members of the previous generation of RT and RTL family. This was filmed over a number of months during 1960, a few years before the first Routemasters needed an overhaul. Superb, nevertheless, for one who once cycled from North London to Aldenham on more than a few occasions to bus -spot!
Mally Begon
Mally Begone i
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I bet this was a fantastic place to work. So sad things change and places close.
As a kid i recall seeing the chassis's built at Park Royal (AEC) being driven to Aldenham , The driver perched on a seat, hunched over the steering wheel , totally open to the elements, wearing goggles, scarves, lagging etc etc
I was telling someone the other day about the guys driving the bare chassis around and they didn't believe me. I remember seeing them on the M1 both lorry and bus chassis coming from the Midlands to London for the bodywork. There used to be a lot of coach works in Park Royal. Wouldn't happen today of course, health and safety you know. Quite frankly with all the things you can't do today which were the norm back then I wonder how I got to nearly 60 years old.
There's also an RLH on the chassis line. You can see the A208 engine with top mounted air cleaner and the chassis with leg extensions to the rear - RLH only features.
Was an apprentice welder there in the 70s, then went to Chiswick. Happy days
Wow what a wonderful informative historical video. As said the pride put into overhauling these buses is incredible. Many thanks for making such a good video.
Betya these blokes managed to pay off a mortgage & keep a wife & kids from just the one wage packet.
doubt it
Definitely. Hard working bastards from a bygone era. We've lost the skill. Went to India a while back and seen people in the street fixing starter motors, clocks, welding exhausts etc. If you had the money these people could build you any mortal thing. I had an old Peugeot 306 which needed a ton of welding doing. For the love of money I couldn't find anyone willing to do the job. I guarantee that if I went back in time 40+ years I would've found someone to do it.
@@animal79thecat they did, cause the wife had to give up work, it was law
Before house prices went stupid
In an economy where the government actually spent, before all the thick bastards (some in this video and comment thread perhaps) voted in Thatcher's austerity monetarism. Nonetheless plenty would have been on low pay and mostly making do with a lot of things.
Wow - that is amazingly thorough. London buses must have been REALLY reliable between 1956 and 1986.
I started red rover bus spotting when i was 10 from Kingston bus station ,i filled loads of exercise books with bus tickets from all over London..It was never a craze at my school i did it all on my own sometimes dragging a reluctant school chum with me usually begining my adventure on the 85 to Putney and sometimes take the 38 from Victoria all the way to Loughton then on to visit my Aunty in Epping.
Excellent video of a bygone era that brought pleasant memories back for me as my mum used to drive Routemasters when I was a kid...
Thanks for this...
How fitting "The Last Post" at the end ... such painstaking care taken by the workers, you would not get that level of care these days, they run the buses till they fall apart and get new ones.
And yes, the buses are the RTs, not Routemasters!
This is like a second AEC Southall works. Fantastic seeing the bare chassis undergo a cleaning.
London Transport was a fantastic company, Bus driver training and engineering at Chiswick works and Aldenham overhaul works. Nice footage. RT buses(1939-79) not Routemasters(1956-2005) feature in this video. All swept away by the Tories and privatisation.
Or, in reality, not needed in a world where bus usage halved and the world moved on. But yes, blame your bogeymen 😂
@@Bungle-UK it didn't halve in London but outside London Tory deregulation and privatisation decimated bus services. The truth hurts yes?
@@itcfan It’s always comical when someone gets the ‘truth’ so wrong. So, here are some facts for you. Bus usage in London fell from 4.5bn in 1950 to 3.1bn in 1962, and the decline continued from there. By the end of the 1970s, but usage in London was half of that in 1950. The decline was replicated across the country, and even the establishment of the PTEs did nothing overhaul to halt the decline. Yes, the decline continued after deregulation but at a much slower pace. So, it had everything to do with increased car ownership and wider societal issues and very little to do with who owned and operated the buses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_transport_in_the_United_Kingdom#/media/File:Busgraph1a.png
@@Bungle-UK so then you'll know that numbers rallied from the 00s with congestion charging. And to this day more people travel by bus in London (despite the worst efforts of TFL) than the tube or any other means of public transport. How it is run is obviously relevant too.
@@itcfan yes, the numbers have risen under the private operators/franchise system you complained about. Of course, London’s population has grown by 2.5 million since 2000 so an increase in bus use is to be expected. TfL have been cutting routes and frequencies in Central London recently however which is a backward step.
Fascinating stuff. I practically lived on those double deckers when I was a kid using them pretty much every day. Wonderful to see them again.
I must say, this is what an overhaul really is, not the piecemeal remedial repairs that pass for scheduled maintenance these days. My experience of heavy transport is having the owner wait for the equipment to fail, then either replace it or repair/replace parts here and there. A full overhaul leaving no bolt unturned is unheard of these days.
Alex462047 only time they see a can of paint is when they get rebranded if their lucky
Wow! What an operation and brilliant designs of buses. My Dad drove a routemaster, I still have his badge.
A very interesting film from a time long ago and far away now. The Aldenham works was made famous when Elstree Films went there in 1962 to film the place in CinemaScope and Technicolor as a background to the opening scenes in "Summer Holiday", the big box office hit of 1963, as Cliff Richard, playing a London Transport bus mechanic, sang the opening number 'Seven Days to a Holiday'. I couldn't see any Routemasters in that sequence, so in 1962, the works must have been just for repairing RT's.
Thanks for the info, Christopher. I haven't watched Summer Holiday for some time, but I'll get the DVD out tomorrow and give the beginning a spin. I remember showing the film when I was a cinema projectionist in 1963 and I also remember being very impressed with the sequence done at Aldenham.
+darrenburnfan it repaired Rt's RM and the Daimler buses too
Contrary to popular belief the bus featured in " Summer Holiday" was NOT as many believe to be a routemaster but was actually an RT.
As Cliff drives the bus up to the entrance and the film change from black & white to colour the buses stood to the nearside of Cliff's bus are RM's...they are early numbered ones being bought in and stockpiled to start the works float of RM bodies so the overhaul process on RM's can start..RM53 from West Ham garage was the first RM to be overhauled entering the works in April 1962..
What a Great Film!.......now it's all gone!
Such a shame :-(
Probably not gone really!
Nope I work bus bodywork
I working on restoring it
I think you'll find that these Double Deckers are not Routemasters, but RT [Regency Type] buses. These started being produced by AEC Park Royal in 1938/9(?), and where in use during the London Blitz in 1940. RTs are easy to differenciate from RMs [Routemasters] by the size of the radiator grills (RTs - Long & narrow, RMs short & squat). Also RTs had a more pronounced (almost art deco streamlined) curve, from Radiator to Roof, then the more modern "chunky" fronted RMs. I visited Aldenham Bus Works in 1983 as part of the 50th anniversary of London Transport. It was there & then that I learn't that only RTs can be seperated from their chassis, whereas RMs have their chassis integrated to the coachbody which prevents them from being seperated. I also drove a RM around the test track for £5 (blueys had such spending power back then). If I had £30 more to spare, I could've spun an RM around the skidpan.
Seems like a better time. Great video
When things were done to a standard and not to a cost.
not sure about that. they were serviced to keep availability rates high as well as to ensure they were desirable to ride on by the public. by centralising servicing, economies of scale meant that all repairs could be immediately taken care of instead of the other practice of "well mate, gotta send of for some parts... gonna take a few weeks, guess you are SOL".
It's all about making as much money as possible. Back in the day this film was made the top priority was actually providing a decent service.
What a great video thanks for sharing, being and old man i have been in vehicle engineering all my life and tip my hat to these great people, i have been in london taxi overhauls which happen at 12 monthly intervals the same thing with the busses total overhauls, thats why its important that we try very hard to get the young people of today to get an appreniceship in this feild (very difficult to do ) sadly high spec vehicle engineers are dying out, and this is a shame.
A fine example of craftsmanship and pride in a job well done. No surprise then that secondhand LPTB buses were very well sought-after for further use both a home and abroad. The Aldenham works really was 'recycling' in the truest original sense, sadly not appreciated at all by successive UK governments.
Something else the film doesn't tell you is that identity swapping went on at Aldenham from 1955 onwards. In most instances the incoming bus had its identity transferred to a freshly overhauled bus of the same type i.e. RT, RTL, RTW or RF. In this way full use was made of the road fund licence. It followed on from the same practice which went on at Chiswick from when it opened in 1923 but was suspended during WWII.
Aldenham was actually built to serve as a Tube depot. In 1935 an extension of the Northern Line from Edgware to Bushey had been approved. Construction started in 1938 and was paused in 1939 due to World War Two. Then the greenbelt legislation in 1946 made the Tube extension unnecessary. Aldenham Tube Depot, which was going to be between Elstree South Station and Bushey Heath Station, later became Aldenham Bus Works.
1950s/60s was a time when Britain was far better than it is now. A time when you left school, went into a job, worked your way up if you wanted to, bought your house, raised a decent family and had a future to look forward to without the threat of unemployment, living below the bread line, working for bad management and a society over run with immigrants. My parents left school in the 60s and never had trouble finding work and went on to have very successful careers and as a result, have several properties and a comfortable lifestyle. I can only ever dream of doing that and I'm 34. I may have my own home, but I'll be paying it off until I'm 67. What kind of life is that? I have many qualifications and can't get a decent job. I have A-levels in Physics and Mathematics. I also have HGV as well as the ADR so I can drive petrol tankers, but can't get a job. I'm so glad I have decided not to have children in this day and age. The future is bleak.
Reminds me of my old mum and dad. Bought a four-bed end of terrace in 1962 with just dad working as a semi-skilled TV engineer and raising six kids. You couldn't do that now
Maybe, just maybe have kids anyway. I'm 53 and though I am not wanting desperately for them I can see why the people who loved me desperately did. It makes me sad.
A time when single mothers were ostracised, gay people were criminalised and the state still executed its own people. Any you call it better 🤷♂️
transport aren't looked after like this any more
These Stagecoach buses are lucky if they ever get a service never mind an overhaul, most of them are death traps.
Stagecoach look after their buses, pull the other one, in my town we have had buses were the entry doors have fallen off into the street, drive belts that have caught fire, running on FLAT tires, driving them about with broken off wheel bolts, lose seats, brakes so bad that buses could not pull up in the bay they were to stop at ,so many fumes coming off the engine coming into the bus that the passengers have actually thrown up on the bus,
No, stagecoach need their arses kicking hard, they must be back handing the wheel tappers a lot of money in my area to get away with these scrappers being on the road.
Missing these Leyland Titan double decker buses today very much. Had a lot of them plying on Indian roads till the early 80s era.
It was depressing to watch. Common sense and good engineering practice gone forever.
Totally and completely agree with you good engineering all gone and common sense also all gone.
Well, it looked very thorough... But they forgot to replace the tyres. WTF?
@@directech . London Transport never owned the bus tires / tyres. They always contracted it to the big firms who would maintain the tires and have a fitter at each London Transport garage. That’s why they were not bothered about the silver overspray on them!
The pride the workers took in their jobs is amazing....whichever politicians allowed Aldenham works to be closed should hang their heads in shame. Oh for a time when public service was seen as a good thing and not a drain on the rich (in this case the wealthy who would never dream of going by bus!
My brother-in-law worked at Aldenham as an uphosterer renewing all the seats.
Those workers took a lot of pride in their jobs and things were built to last th the 60s and 70s.
How time's have changed 🤔.. Interesting watch 👍
The perpetrators of the throw away world we live in, might want to watch this.
Never seen this before. I was watching an On the Buses episode then saw this. I used to drive buses and coaches. Late 80s to early 90s. This is a very impressive video to watch and how thorough and detailed the work is. Are buses built to last better today or do they still have to undergo this level of scrutiny and checks? 12,000 buses for LT is mind boggling to have to deal with.
Love the rt and rm buses!! Finest work in British engineering! Why can’t newer buses in the UK be made with brilliant designs like this? Sure it could be modern but still iconic looking. 🙌🇬🇧
very great to see this production line of routemaster!!! thank you for sharing, Good!!!
No Routemaster bus in this film. Its the RT family buses at Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works, both the AEC and Leyland RT and RTL respectively
still very enjoyable to watch. No other livery-in my own opinion-was better worn on red or green London Transport buses than the Chiswick Cream bands yet those at 55 Broadway London, didn't leave well enough alone!
+Christopher Dalton The reason why there are no Routemasters in the video theywere not built till a few years later the RT Buses ruled at the time
Red Livery,,,,,,No red looked better than on BartoN Transport Ltd buses,, look them up on here,, the company I am proud to have worked for until the end,,
Fantastic film of a time when pride in a job and getting it right was foremost. No wonder these buses did the incredible mileages they did. What difference to today's world of cost cutting and throw it away as its too expensive to repair.
I saw the works when it was completely empty, I couldn't believe the size of the place. My old foreman, was the last works and building manager there.
Great film,thanks for posting. I much preferred the old London buses, the new ones rattle so much!
What did 25 people dislike about that?
NO ROUTEMASTERS , these are RTs or similar. Routemasters weren't introduced till 1961
Routemaster buses now upgraded make brand new routemaster is much better looks good to though it is! However watch video this is spirit of old routemaster buses, now who wants open the day ride for tours service in London.
Exactly. That's like the spitfire syndrome of the newspapers where every single engined 'plane is... Terrific film spoilt by fairground music which tries to make a joke of the whole thing: totally demeaning... a bit like the old BBC black and white jokey music used when they shewed film of model railway exhibitions!
What a beautiful documentary
amazing, what a great film of times gone by, of course a wheelchair user struggled with these buses but could have caught a cab I expect
There are two Routemasters that have been adapted to carry wheelchairs, so it can be done.
Great nostalgic film. The bus featured is NOT the Routemaster [RM], but the RT type [Regent three]. Over seven thousand were made. The privatisation of LONDON TRANSPORT buses in the 1990's was an act of vandalism and greed by the Tories.
There are no busworks in the UK that would put that amount of effort into refurbishing buses now.
This sadly was a different but better world, steady jobs for decent people, and professional workers skilled to the hilt. True recycling and reuse of the vehicles build to last and with pride, surely we are now in decline and going backwards, from the time of recycled bottled milk and returns on the bottles no plastic in sight. Man will look back in many more years to come and think how did we get it so wrong, very sad.
The powers that be got it wrong by supporting Thatcher and her short term, devil take the hindmost, greed is good dogmas.
Went to the Routemaster's 60th Anniversary in Finsbury Park yesterday. Can't say I was overwhelmed as I'm not really an anorak on this one (though on plenty of other things). However, my two darling nieces made the most of it and they clambered on the few buses that permitted it and we took some good pics. Them was the days when you could run for a departing bus with some chance of climbing aboard. Couldn't help but notice how deep the stairs had become and the step to get on, or am I just 40 years older?
Fantastic video nicely narrated. So important that these are kept for posterity.
I have driven a Route master , lovely to drive!
I worked for London Transport, works & building dept' saw Aldenham just before it was sold off. The film gives an impression of its size, but you had to be in the place to know how massive it was.
I wonder what happened to all those skilled men, and all that know how?
Those old Gardner 6L engines could have gone on forever, what a fecking waste it all was...............
The chassis were basically modified lorry chassis & the Gardner engines were the same as used in the trucks of the period as ALL buses then were basically trucks with a bus body as they had the engines at the front and drove at the rear as in a truck.Modern buses are totally different as they are all rear engined & drive at the rear like an oversized VW Beetle which is in fact where this idea came from so it can be said that all modern buses owe their existence to the VW Beetle!
It was a originally built to be a tube train depot for the northern line extensions..which where abandon after the war...they biult Halifax bombers in it during the war..
When public services were run for the benefit of 'the public' and not for profit. Such a shame all that talent not replaced
Wow what a great video and insight into routemaster maintenance. I would have loved to have worked there. I have never been on a routemaster but would so love to own one. Thanks for sharing the video it was very very interesting to see how much work went into maintaining these lovely buses.
All the buses shown are actually RT types - pre Routemaster.
So did LT overhaul their mk1 Leyland Nationals every four years as well? Very interesting video and a joy watching the many skilled men going about their work. Very sad jobs like these are few and far between nowadays. What I would give to work in a place like that!
Awesome vedio ❤️🔥
Loved it
Love British Quality 🔥❤️
Sad the title suggests the person posting does not know their RT from their RM. I had the privilege of driving both back in the day.
Bus maintenance has never been bettered.
great film cheers for posting, wonder how many jobs were lost when this great place was shut down.
incredible video,these men were geniuses !
What ever happened to team work I just don’t know. This video is amazing 👍👍👍
Lovely video. Isn't it wonderful how things used to be....
Lovely video, thank you so much. It's my romantic view of the way Britain used to be. As we say "nothing lasts forever"
RT is Regent Three. (Journalists call every red bus a Routemaster)