He (Martin Fisher) also writes "My first involvement with 1456MR was as a Development Office trainee, put out to Camberwell to learn about bus garages; there had been public complaints about smoke from the vehicle and I was deputed to ride with the driver, while the Assistant Divisional Engineer followed in his car to watch for smoke. When we reached the hills near Crystal Palace, the cause became all too evident - after reaching the top of each hill, the driver de-clutched and coasted down the other side, then dropped the clutch to slow the vehicle. The rev counter reached over 2500 rpm, I thought the pistons were about to come through the bonnet and clouds of smoke emerged from the exhaust. The driver's 'excuse' was that she was a bit slow and this was the only way of getting any speed out of her!"