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Post by N230UD on Jul 10, 2017 22:47:09 GMT
My first memory of a London bus journey, is when I was a child in about 1999 i'm guessing. I travelled up to London with my grandparents (both sadly passed on many years ago, but I have really fond memories of them), on the Chingford-Liv. St. line. The Chingford line is certainly etched into my memory, including the lovely sounds of the Class 315. I remember being awestruck when the train arrived into Liverpool Street Station after going through the dingy cutting. We went to the London Transport Museum, and travelled on the 11 when it was still Routemaster operated. I remember sitting on the lower deck front seats where you get a view of the drivers cab. I was fascinated with watching what the driver was doing, and I remember it was a lady driver.
I do miss travelling on Routemasters in 'normal' service. Obviously there is the great 15H service, but its just not the same.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2017 0:24:58 GMT
LS's on the 111 , M's on the 90 ( Stanies - Richmond ), & 270 ( Hampton - Richmond via Teddington) & 285 .
Oh the excitement of brand new M's reaching FW ( Y & A reg )
But before that it would have been RM's on the 137 when i was an infant.
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Post by vjaska on Jul 26, 2017 1:30:41 GMT
LS's on the 111 , M's on the 90 ( Stanies - Richmond ), & 270 ( Hampton - Richmond via Teddington) & 285 . Oh the excitement of brand new M's reaching FW ( Y & A reg ) But before that it would have been RM's on the 137 when i was an infant. The 137 & 159 were lovely RM routes - had many rides under Arriva on the 137 and many rides under South London, Cowie & Arriva - I wish the 159's LT's would have that lovely red & cream livery with 159 branding
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Post by twobellstogo on Jul 30, 2017 19:49:01 GMT
Can't recall exactly what my first trip would have been, but earliest memories for me would have been RTs on the 122, 161 and 229, RMs on the 21 and 180, DMSs on the 96, 99, 122A, 177 and 272 and green SMs and occasional RFs and even the odd RMC on the 401, 486 and 491. The RTs on 122, 161 and 229 soon gave way to Routemasters, and then there were B20 DMSs in original condition on 89, 96, 269. Also clearly recall the RMLs on the 480, though trips on these were rare.
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Post by Dillon95 on Aug 4, 2017 8:22:28 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses?
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Post by Gellico on Aug 4, 2017 9:13:43 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses? Long before I can even remember.
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Post by snoggle on Aug 4, 2017 9:38:47 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses? I may have said this before but I have a memory of seeing a United Bristol FLF on Percy St in Newcastle. As I think I was with my mum who'd not long since given birth to my brother I must have been about 3 years old. Beyond that hard to say other than we used buses a lot as we had a service that ran down our street. You'd never believe it if you saw the same street today. In time it became one way for the buses with those going into town going on another set of roads nearby. I suspect the presence of 4 United buses an hour going past the house cemented my interest. We also had a railway stn nearby plus a depot for the BR DMUs so I could go and watch the trains. On very rare occasions it was used a diversionary line for the East Coast main line so we got Deltics hauling express trains! One day I helped out as ticket collector as the stn master was so busy coping with all the diverted trains and changes to the service. There was also a mix of bus routes serving the area (United, Gateshead, Tyneside PTE yellow buses) and at peak times we had a mass influx of "weird" buses from all over providing works services to a nearby huge government department. I used to go and sit at the roundabout and watch all these odd buses from Venture and Northern General go past at 1630 on work days. Of course the other thing was that I went with Mum into town on the train and on the bus and other places like the Doctor's surgery. I guess the other aspect was that I wasn't kept on tight apron strings so in time I could go places on my own and was trusted to do some of the shopping. A subtle way of preparing me for adult life and doing things that we all have to do. We did eventually get a car via my Dad's work but I still used the buses and Metro a lot. Over the years things like the Metro being built and integrating bus services created more interest. Heck I even wrote to the PTE and met their senior managers to discuss the integration changes. Quite why they entertained an obnoxious 15 or 16 year old I don't really know. Eric Hutchinson, who was Managing Director, was also an enthusiast so that may have helped matters. I did get regular holiday work and also a placement with the PTE so perhaps being "obnoxious" helped. You don't always realise how these things work. As to why - who knows. People get attracted by different things at different times. When I was on the W11 yesterday a little boy and his Dad where standing by the road. The boy waved at the bus as it went past and had a huge smile on his face. Perhaps a future enthusiast in the making? Who knows.
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Post by vjaska on Aug 4, 2017 10:06:55 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses? Was interested as a kid as being transport dependent, we always used the bus. I always credit the L's, M's & T's with me liking buses as I suspect had they never existed, I may have not got into it.
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Post by kmkcheng on Aug 4, 2017 10:17:59 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses? As a child, I only had a slight interest in buses. I was more into trains really although I seem to recall wanting to be either a bus or train driver. Even when we moved to a house round the corner from HD, that didn't increase my interest in buses that much. It was only when I reached adulthood after leaving high school and sixth form and going to university and started using buses more regularly that my interest grew which actually coincided with the start of everything being low floor. It was certainly whilst at uni that I feel was when I became more serious about buses
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Post by M1104 on Aug 4, 2017 11:44:23 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses? For me it was as a small child where we used to change buses at Merton Garage between the 152/200 and the 57/155. The 200 at the time were using the SMS type, the 57 then DMS and the 155 RTs. On very few occasions we used to go into the office in the depot to buy daily/season bus passes, which is one of the earliest points I remember my interest of buses with all those vehicles inside. One of my Dad's friends used to work there so we would often get to see him on the off chance beeping the RT (then latter RM) horn for us. They were also a few occasions where a bus was coming out the depot and we will often get escorted from the bus stop outside into the garage* so as to board the service-ready bus, not much unlike you saw the fictional passengers do in the old tv series On the Buses. To think that one day I was doing the same thing for passengers when I was employed and given a 152 bus to start from the garage. I even remember the bus I was given, LDP34 and to show Mitcham (was simply one of those events I remembered as it heavily reminisced on my childhood as a very young enthusiast). Regarding the first bus I ever travelled on, I can only surmise that it was either the 152 or 200. The latter was RT operated by the time I was born but I only remember it initially with the SMSs. * - on as far in as by the office windows on the left side
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Post by redexpress on Aug 4, 2017 12:49:55 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses? When? Way before anything that I can remember. How? For me it started with maps. As a child I was always obsessed with maps (still am, to an extent!) and public transport maps were the most interesting of the lot. I must have designed countless fictional bus networks back then. In the early days I had much more interest in routes, route numbers and timetables than in the buses themselves. It probably didn't help that the only buses around when I was a child were dull green VRs, dull green VRs and more dull green VRs. I only gained an interest in the vehicles themselves on trips to London, where I found the bright red Ms and Ts far more interesting with their weird and wonderful sounds. Especially the Ms. I miss Ms
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Post by vjaska on Aug 4, 2017 14:18:06 GMT
So when and how did everyone start getting interested in buses? When? Way before anything that I can remember. How? For me it started with maps. As a child I was always obsessed with maps (still am, to an extent!) and public transport maps were the most interesting of the lot. I must have designed countless fictitional bus networks back then. In the early days I had much more interest in routes, route numbers and timetables than in the buses themselves. It probably didn't help that the only buses around when I was a child were dull green VRs, dull green VRs and more dull green VRs. I only gained an interest in the vehicles themselves on trips to London, where I found the bright red Ms and Ts far more interesting with their weird and wonderful sounds. Especially the Ms. I miss Ms I was a bit of a strange child - despite being an excellent reader in all my classes through primary & secondary schools, the only books I enjoyed reading were maps. I got my first one, given to me around 5-6 years old, was a London A to Z from the 80's and I learnt many places in London from this one map. I was also given one in hardback form - this one survives though the rear cover didn't make it - as a kid, I also had a tendency to colour things in, albeit fairly nicely, so it's only remained for memories sake. My first bus map was a Brixton area bus guide 1995 edition (can't remember the month). This map got me into obtaining more bus maps and seeing how interesting and diverse they can be.
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Post by snoggle on Aug 4, 2017 16:51:49 GMT
When? Way before anything that I can remember. How? For me it started with maps. As a child I was always obsessed with maps (still am, to an extent!) and public transport maps were the most interesting of the lot. I must have designed countless fictitional bus networks back then. In the early days I had much more interest in routes, route numbers and timetables than in the buses themselves. I was a bit of a strange child - despite being an excellent reader in all my classes through primary & secondary schools, the only books I enjoyed reading were maps. I got my first one, given to me around 5-6 years old, was a London A to Z from the 80's and I learnt many places in London from this one map. I was also given one in hardback form - this one survives though the rear cover didn't make it - as a kid, I also had a tendency to colour things in, albeit fairly nicely, so it's only remained for memories sake. My first bus map was a Brixton area bus guide 1995 edition (can't remember the month). This map got me into obtaining more bus maps and seeing how interesting and diverse they can be. I suspect that many enthusiasts have an interest in maps. I can certainly remember a bus map landing through the door when the then Tyneside PTE altered buses in Newcastle in 1972. I quickly grabbed that map and studied it and all the changes described on the back. I may still have it somewhere but goodness knows where. It was something of a treasured possession. I then quickly found that I liked timetables too so would go and get the Tyne and Wear timetable books and maps as well as BR leaflets. I still have a fair number of 80s timetables and have bought some old ones over the years. I also have a nice set of the last pre deregulation timetables for Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham. Shocking to see how many services have been lost in the last 31 years.
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Post by Dillon95 on Aug 4, 2017 18:23:52 GMT
My interest came from trains, like many others on here I had an interest in them before I remember. I studied rail maps from the age of 4, and I could tell which train was coming by the sound of it ! I then got into buses the same way, by going out on them with my mum and nan. I remember going into an old public transport information shop besides The Glades in Bromley when I was about 7 and raiding all of the timetables and maps! I did the same in Bluewater.
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Post by John tuthill on Aug 4, 2017 18:50:51 GMT
I was a bit of a strange child - despite being an excellent reader in all my classes through primary & secondary schools, the only books I enjoyed reading were maps. I got my first one, given to me around 5-6 years old, was a London A to Z from the 80's and I learnt many places in London from this one map. I was also given one in hardback form - this one survives though the rear cover didn't make it - as a kid, I also had a tendency to colour things in, albeit fairly nicely, so it's only remained for memories sake. My first bus map was a Brixton area bus guide 1995 edition (can't remember the month). This map got me into obtaining more bus maps and seeing how interesting and diverse they can be. I suspect that many enthusiasts have an interest in maps. I can certainly remember a bus map landing through the door when the then Tyneside PTE altered buses in Newcastle in 1972. I quickly grabbed that map and studied it and all the changes described on the back. I may still have it somewhere but goodness knows where. It was something of a treasured possession. I then quickly found that I liked timetables too so would go and get the Tyne and Wear timetable books and maps as well as BR leaflets. I still have a fair number of 80s timetables and have bought some old ones over the years. I also have a nice set of the last pre deregulation timetables for Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham. Shocking to see how many services have been lost in the last 31 years. Check out Ian armstrongs bus page, you can purchase facimile bus maps of the 50's and before. The length of some of the routes beggars belief, crash gear boxes and no power steering!
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