London doubledeckers overturning

[Busaholic]

The doubledeckers London Transport bought in the 1950s and 1960s (the RT and RM families) were famous for undergoing a tilt test before entering service and after overhaul at Aldenham Works, but on at least one occasion a doubledecker did overturn in service without any other vehicle being involved.

The occasion I am thinking of was an RM on route 141 near to Catford Bus Garage round about 1964: I went to school in Catford, by bus (but not the 141) and there was a picture in the local paper at the time. I'm pretty sure nobody was killed and not many were injured. Does anyone have any information as to the identity of the bus or any similar incidents?

 

[jp4712]

Since at least 1930, all double deckers in the UK have been made to withstand a 28-degree tilt test without falling over (by the way it's 35 degrees for single deckers). 28 degrees doesn't sound much, but as the photo below shows, in reality it's phenomenal.

There have been overturns over the years, in London and outside. They were usually a result of a skid or collision that sent them sideways against a kerb or down a bank, 'tripping' them over.

Paul


London transport RTC1 a unique Greenline coach. by Ledlon89, on Flickr


Wolstenholme.Bus.NOAC by Works on Paper Art Fair, on Flickr


SELNEC Bus 3128, Winter 1978. by Man of Yorkshire, on Flickr

 

[hassaanhc]

There was one in Battersea in December 2009, where a C3 bus (ALX400 Trident) was hit side-on, by a lorry carrying rails which were overhanging the front of the truck.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8415726.stm

But yes, this sort of stuff rarely happens on its own, even when looking at the camber on some roads that deckers traverse!

 

[Busaholic]

There was one in Battersea in December 2009, where a C3 bus (ALX400 Trident) was hit side-on, by a lorry carrying rails which were overhanging the front of the truck.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8415726.stm

But yes, this sort of stuff rarely happens on its own, even when looking at the camber on some roads that deckers traverse!

Remember reading about this one- lorry came out of side road into the side of the bus. Still don't recollect another one going over on its own, though. I do wonder whether the driver wasn't used to the extra power/accelleration of an RM compared to an RT. It was almost certainly a New Cross bus and the 141 was a relatively 'new' route created by merging the Wood Green trolleybus route 641 with the RT route 179, worked by NX, so RTs were still the usual buses at NX.

 

[6Gman]

A Bristol Lodekka tipped over on a steep hill, with bends in Wistaston, Crewe c.1972/73.

 

[starrymarkb]

IIIRC One of the modern East Lancs designs (Olympus I think) failed the tilt test and needed extra ballast.

 

[hassaanhc]

IIIRC One of the modern East Lancs designs (Olympus I think) failed the tilt test and needed extra ballast.

The first ones for London, the 07 reg with Metroline and London United (the latter didn't keep theirs long) failed the test. In the case of London United there were reports that they had to remove a few seats on the upper deck and possibly relocate equipment (not fully sure as I never went on them), while Metroline had the seats in theirs swapped for a more lightweight and slightly less padded design. Never realised seats had so much weight :?

 

[Mikey C]

The first ones for London, the 07 reg with Metroline and London United (the latter didn't keep theirs long) failed the test. In the case of London United there were reports that they had to remove a few seats on the upper deck and possibly relocate equipment (not fully sure as I never went on them), while Metroline had the seats in theirs swapped for a more lightweight and slightly less padded design. Never realised seats had so much weight :?

Yes, didn't East Lancs ultimately go into administration as a result of this test failure, a massive error really!