Before the Routemaster goes the way of the perch, faggot and furlong, this site attempts to record this universally recognised British measurement unit for posterity. The Routemaster bus may have left the streets of London but the Routemaster Unit (RMU) will always be in our newspaper features, factual TV programmes and our hearts.
Thanks to the Routemaster Association for some of the essential facts and figures.
CONVERTING
RMUs TO OTHER UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
Length
The length of 1 Routemaster
1 RMU-length = 27 ft 6 in = 8.38 metres
Width
The width 1 Routemaster
1 RMU-width = 8 ft = 2.44 metres
Height
The height of 1 Routemaster
1 RMU-height = 14 ft 4.5 in = 4.38 metres
Voume
The volume of 1 Routemaster
1 RMU-vol = 455000 cu ft = 89.6 cubic metres
Mass
The mass of 1 Routemaster
1 RMU-mass = 7 tons 7cwt = 6.41 tonnes
Half-life
The half-life of the Routemaster
1 RMU-HL = approx. 23.8 years
Dielectric constant
The dielectric constant of 1 Routemaster relative to a vacuum
1 RMU-DConst = approx. 2.5
Gravitational attraction at 10 metres
The acceleration of two Routemasters 10 metres apart, in empty space, due to their mutual gravitational attraction
1 RMU-Grav = approx. 30 micrometres per second per second
Copyright Sarah Angliss, Luciana Haill and Ivan Pope 2006
A microsite for Lighthouse, Brighton UK