Plastic model of London's AEC Routemaster bus

The model was made in 1:24 scale. The photos were taken at the 12th International Festival of Plastic Reduction Models Bytom 2015 in Poland.

The Routemaster double-decker bus is considered by many to be one of the symbols of London. 2,876 copies were produced in the years 1954-1968. The red Routemasters served passengers in London for nearly half a century, starting in 1956. The slow process of decommissioning them began in 1982. However, it was intermittent due to public protests. The last Routemaster bus, the plastic model of which you can see above in the photos, was withdrawn from public transport in London at the end of 2005.

The characteristic features of the Routemaster were the driver's cabin isolated from passengers and only one entrance to the bus located at the rear of the vehicle. The lack of doors made it possible to get in and out between stops and when stopping at traffic lights. Until the 1970s, a bus conductor had been selling tickets. You could only sit upstairs, standing traveling was forbidden..

About 92% of all produced copies of the Routemaster buses went to London. These were two versions of the bus differing in length. The RM version was 8.4 m (27 ft 6.71 in) long and the RML 9.12 m (29 ft 11.1 in). The RML version is represented in the photos. There is a half-window section in the center of the bus, which is not present in the RM version. There were eight seats inside more than in a shorter version. Diesel engines with a capacity of 9.6 l (585.8 in³) and 9.8 l (598 in³) were installed in London buses.

Some technical data:

• Width: 2,44 m (8ft),
• Height: 4,38 m (14ft 4.44in),
• Number of seats downstairs (RM): 28,
• Number of seats downstairs (RML): 32,
• Number of seats upstairs (RM): 36,
• Number of seats upstairs (RML): 40,
• Mass of an empty bus (RM): 7,47 t (UK-7.35 t, USA-8.23 t),
• Mass of an empty bus (RML): 7,82 t (UK-7.7 t, USA-8.62 t),
• Maximum mass (RM): 11,68 t (UK-11.5 t, USA-12.87 t),
• Maximum mass (RML): 12,50 t (UK-12.3 t, USA-13.78 t).

Sources:

• http://routemaster.org.uk/pages/history-2120-RM
• http://routemaster.org.uk/pages/history-524-RML
• http://londynek.net/czytelnia/article?start=1&jdnews%5fid=3505779&page=2
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEC_Routemaster
• https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEC_Routemaster

1 Oct 2017