255, 256, 319, 320 & 321
Long Routemaster Buses (RML & RMF) & Coaches (RCL)
25508A - RML Bus - London Country
25508A - RML Bus - London Country
 
THE REAL VEHICLES
 The RML made it's first appearance on the streets of London in 1961 when a trail batch of 24 vehicles (RML880-903) entered service from Finchley Garage. The only major difference between the RM and the RML was the addition of a centre half bay which allowed seating capacity to be increased from 64 to 72.  The trails were deemed a success and from fleet number 2218 to 2760 all production switched to the lengthened design.

 The RCL class consisted of one batch of vehicles (RCL2218-2260) which were produced to replace the remaining RT's on Greenline services. These vehicles were fitted with power operated rear doors, and also had more comfortable seating and twin front head lamps.

 The green RML's and RCL's passed to the National Bus Company subsidy London Country at the beginning of 1970. However in the early 1980's many of these RML's & RCL's were re-purchased by LT for further service in the capital. The RCL vehicles lost there distinctive twin head lamps before re-entering service however.

A front entrance vehicle RMF1254 was built and used in trials on the B.E.A. West London Air Terminal to Heathrow service, this lend to an order for 65 front entrance vehicles which entered service in 1966, however these were built to the shorter RM length and had twin head lamps like the RMC's.
RMF1254 was also used as a demonstrator and was evaluated by a several operators across the UK, in the end only one other operator purchased Routemasters. Northern General placed a order for 29 long front entrance versions in 1965 and these were similar to RMF1254 which eventually joined it's Northern cousins.
The Northern General examples were all withdrawn by the end of 1980, however 12 examples were purchased by London Transport with a view to returning them to service in the capital, in the end however the project was aborted and all the buses were sold without use.

During the late 1970's early 1980's a number of ex Northern General RMF vehicles did enter service in the Capital on the Original London Sightseeing Tour, the buses were owned by Brakell Buses and the Obsolete fleet who hired them to London Transport for the tour. Three examples are still used by the Big Bus Company on their London Sightseeing Tours today.

 The RML class vehicles under went a major modernization programme in the early 1990's and the class was to remain more or less intact until 2003 when Transport for London finally decided to make a start on replacing all the remaining Routemasters. The last London Routemasters were withdrawn from normal services on the 9 December 2005, a small batch of Routemasters currently continue to operate two special Heritage routes in Central London.

THE EFE MODELS
 Both models entered the range 1998, the RCL can be produced with either single or twin head lamps. Like the other London models, these have proved popular choices for commissioned releases.

During 2006 the RML & RCL casting's were re-tooled, improvements included flush glazing and a bulk head window on the rear platform. A new casting of a front entrance (RMF) as supplied to Northern General was also added to the range in late 2006.

The first releases of the new & improved models were issued in a special "Routemaster Family Collection" the series of eight models depicted each of the Routemaster variate's modeled by EFE. The first of these was released in October 2006.
EFE also made similar improvements to their original short Routemaster models and added new castings of the RMC coach and the RMA front entrance airport bus and luggage trailer. (See the Short Routemaster section)

Extra large pictures of the models covered in this section can be found in
my RML/RMF RML Fotopic Gallery & RCL RCL Fotopic Gallery
25605B - RCL Coach - Blue Traiangle (Modelzone)
25605B - RCL Coach - Blue Triangle
32101 - RMF Bus - Blue LT / BEA
32101 - RMF Bus - LT / BEA
View RCL Section    View RMF Section
Cat No. Operator Fleet No. Registration Route No. Destination
RML (Original Casting)
RML (Re-tooled Casting)
RCL (Original Casting)
RCL (Re-tooled Casting)
Front Entrance RMF / Northern General