RT1599

AEC Regent III

RT1599 (KLB721) is a London Transport AEC Regent III with a Park Royal body, new in 1950

RT1599  (KLB721) is owned by Group member Roy Adams.


It is an AEC Regent III with a Park Royal Body and an original AEC engine.  


It was registered on 2nd February 1950 and was put into immediate service by London Transport.  It was allocated to Leyton Garage (T) and began life working on routes 10, 10A, 35, 35A, 38 and 38A.


For the next 26 years, RT1599 was in normal public service, during which time it was based at more than twenty LT garages and ran on over a hundred different routes.


In April 1976 the vehicle was withdrawn from service and transferred to Wood Green Garage where it was stored until early 1977 before being re-certified and repainted ready for a very special occasion.  On Easter Sunday 10th April 1977, RT1599 and three other buses, led twenty-five Routemasters painted in silver livery from Hyde Park through central London to Battersea Park, as part of Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee celebrations.


After this, RT1599 returned to service at Harrow Weald Garage on the long route 140 (Harrow on the Hill to Heathrow Airport Central) until 14th July 1978.  It was then transferred to Bromley Garage, ending its public career on 25th August 1978 on route 119.


After a spell as a driver training bus, it was withdrawn in April 1979, and sold to a dealer on 1st October the same year.  The current owner bought RT1599 on 30th July 1983.


London Transport began to take delivery of the huge RT class of buses before the second world war.  However, the war interrupted supply and when vehicles began to be built again post-war, it was to an improved design.  


Nearly 5000 RTs were built, and the last of them was not withdrawn until early 1979, as one-person-operation began to take over from crew-operated vehicles like this.


Technical stuff:


Manufacturer:  AEC

Type:  Regent III O961

Registration No: KLB721

Date of first registration: 2 nd February 1950

Fleet No: RT1599

Engine: AEC 9.6L

Transmission:  Fluid flywheel, pre-selector 4-speed gearbox

Body manufacturer: Park Royal Vehicles

Body type: H30/26R

Original operator: London Transport

Withdrawn: 25 th August 1978

Subsequent owners:

Livery:  London Transport

Two Londoners togther, RT1599 and RM1363, October 2009.  Photo: Ken Jones

More photos>>

At the Harbourside rally, 2006