Black Prince owned a number of AEC Routemasters over the years, but the most memorable period was in the late 1990s when three of the classic type operated on student route 63B.
Much to everyone's excitement, in November 1996, two AEC Routemasters arrived at the Fountain Street depot of Black Prince, joining RM441 which had joined the fleet in September 1990 and had already seen much service in Morley and Leeds on the X51 service.
The two new additions came from United Counties in their distinctive green "Routemaster" branded livery, and had been in store for some time.
Routemasters
Over the coming weeks, the two buses were prepared for service. RM2122 was first onto the road on 16th December 1996 in a Christmas livery (more of which later). Second up was RM2060 (ALM60B), named Rosie, which hit the road on 13th January 1997, in full livery.
The three RMs worked solely on the 63B, linking Bodington Hall, Leeds city centre and the Royal Armouries, competing head on with Yorkshire Rider on this busy student corridor. They all had names, following the Clydeside tradition of naming each Routemaster with a name beginning with the letter "R". RM2212 was named "Rodney", RM441 was Rudolph, and RM2060 was Rosie.
Rodney, along with his brother and sister, moved on to KD, Dyserth, for service along the seafront at Rhyl, before having a full refurbishment and re-engine, for use with Arriva London on route 38 back in the capital. After withdrawal, he was last recorded a long way from home - in Moscow.
Rudolph arrived in Morley in September 1990 from Clydeside Scottish. This was RM441 (LDS341A, ex WLT441), and was perhaps the most famous of the Black Prince Routemasters, having the honour of being immortalised in 1/76 scale model form by both EFE and Corgi. The livery it carried was certainly the most intricate of the three RMs to gain interpretations of Black Prince colours, with lining out and chrome effect fleet names between decks.
Black Prince had a tradition of decorating a bus in a special Christmas livery, and in total, seven vehicles received differing treatments over the years. The first was a Volvo Ailsa, and the second was AEC Routemaster RM2122 (CUV122C), for Christmas 1996. It was decorated in this overall cream scheme, complete with holly, Christmas trees, santa and a snowman on the back.
There's something atmospheric about this shot of RM2122 (CUV122C), proceeding up Piccadilly bound for Victoria Station, catching the last rays of autumnal light, tired zombie-like commuters staring into the sun late in the afternoon on Monday 10th October 2005.
Rudolph arrived in Morley in September 1990 from Clydeside Scottish. This was RM441 (LDS341A, ex WLT441), and was perhaps the most famous of the Black Prince Routemasters, having the honour of being immortalised in 1/76 scale model form by both EFE and Corgi. The livery it carried was certainly the most intricate of the three RMs to gain interpretations of Black Prince colours, with lining out and chrome effect fleet names between decks.
