RM 912 (or Bessie) started off as RM 732 but because of the system London Transport used for overhauling its buses, over the years its identity has changed several times. It still has body, A and B frame 732 (which is unusual) but is numbered 912. In 1961 RM 732 rolled off the production line at Park Royal and was allocated to Highgate garage to replace trolleybuses. From there it worked on routes
253 , 271 , 17 , 63 , 143 , 214 , 239 , 253 and the N93. After its first overhaul in October 1965 body 732 became RM 768 and was sent to Stamford Hill garage for routes 149, 243, 243A and 253. The bus was one of 24 buses used in an experiment to make the Routemaster quieter but it was not continued with because the sound deadening shields got in the way when the buses were being maintained. At its next overhaul the body was numbered RM 783 and it was again allocated to Stamford Hill. Between December 1972 and January 1974 the bus was painted with an all-over advert for Esso Uniflow oil. Its next overhaul in October 1977 the body came out of the works identified as RM 289. In January 1982 the body gained the current fleet number, RM 912 and was sent to Wood Green garage. In 1983 it was overhauled for the last time and emerged as RM 912 as by this time the changing of identities had ceased. The bus moved from garage to garage until March 1989 when it was placed into store for what was known as the Strategic Reserve fleet. This was a group of forty Routemasters put aside in case any bus garage was badly damaged in a terrorist attack and the buses were put out of action. When London Buses was sold off by the Government the reserve fleet was disbanded and RM 912, after moving around several garages, was sent to Highgate, by now known as Holloway and it remained there working on routes 10 and 139 until it was withdrawn for cannibalisation in March 1998. The bus spent nearly all its service life in north London and it is interesting that it started and finished its life at the same garage even though it changed its identity four times. When RM 912 was taken out of service it was bought by Tim Barrington (owner of RM 2197 & RML 2388), and was taken to a farm at Royston in Hertfordshire. There it was cannibalised for scrap and many parts were stolen off it. When I bought it people were still stealing parts off it and we wanted to get it to the Isle of Wight quickly. Before we moved it to the Island another party tried to illegally apply for the log book and put the registration number on their own bus. When he tried he was told by the Ministry of Transport that me and my Dad had already applied for it. They tried to buy the bus off Tim for 1000 pounds but Tim would not sell it to them. He knew they were just going to scrap it and put the I.D on their bus so he sold it to us for 200 pounds. After that there was a huge row over the number plates but eventually we got them, and RM 912 once again became WLT 912.
