I'm a Routemaster fan. It's in the blood. My grandfather drove a Routemaster for Salford Corporation. Back in the days. Best bus route ever - he would take Coronation Street stars to filming and on the way back Manchester United players to training. Don't laugh. On a bus.
He bought me a toy Routemaster from Stretford Precinct. I loved it. It stood about six or eight inches tall, and had cogs, so that when you gave it a push it carried on driving. One day before I went to school, my mother asked if my brother could pay with my toys. I said yes, everything but my bus, which is locked in the wardrobe. I got home and she told me he had thrown my bus out of the back door and it had shattered. He wasn't tall enough to unlock the wardrobe.
About fourteen years ago he bought me a Routemaster, about 2 inches tall, Route 38. About ten years ago I got a set of six 1960s vehicles - it was a Radio Times/Radio 2/Children in Need offer. One of the six is a Routemaster. About three years ago my nephew and niece bought me four inch tall Routemaster, Route 12.
They're gone from Route 137, which goes past my house, but they're still on the 159. People always opt for the 159 rather than any other route to get them down the A23. It loads faster, spending less time at bus stops for people to fumble for change. The windows open properly with a wonderful mechanical crank handle, not like the new model buses where the windows forbid any air movement. If you're downstairs you can pull the rope to ring the bell. You can jump off at the traffic lights, which, when I lived in Streatham, often made the difference between getting or missing the train from Streatham Hill. It's great to stand on the platform as they sail round Trafalgar Square - old layout Trafalgar Square - better than a trip to Alton Towers.
But they are a relic of a bygone era. The new buses are far better for accessibility, and I have a fondness for Bendy Buses. My nephew said he saw a double decker bendy bus on the M62 the other week.
I must get a photo of 159s before they disappear. I could write half my life story based on the 159 route.
