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Post by busaholic on Jun 3, 2018 16:54:49 GMT
A confession - seeing this film, it was shot around the time I last visited the Barking/Becontree Heath area. It confirmed my impression about the 5, then. Every time a westbound 5 came along from Becontree Heath it was joined by a short working from Barking tagging along behind. Just see how often that happened! Strange selection of destinations, too. Waterloo, Old Street or Plaistow Greengate (not garage journeys to WH either, as these were Upton Park buses). Very strange scheduling!
I always thought the T, many examples of which featured here, was a fine bus. I never liked the M, and I never got to travel in sufficient Ls to form a true opinion.
I have to say I had much the same reaction. You could see there was not much attempt at regulation on route 5. It's not as if any of the buses in shot were exactly overloaded with passengers. Certainly reminded me of my experience, as a newbie to London, of London's buses in the 1980s. Feast or famine on too many routes. I thought the Titan was a very good bus and had no issues with the Metrobus either. Both decently competent for London work once LT had worked out how to look after them. I'm sure the Metrobus served its purpose well, I just didn't like them! I know Peter Hendy found them acceptable when he was in charge of Centrewest. The Mk 2 version I quite liked though.
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Post by vjaska on Jun 4, 2018 13:02:31 GMT
Nah, let’s just cover the place with proper OMO vehicles, particularly L’s, M’s & T’s - now were talking lool. A confession - seeing this film, it was shot around the time I last visited the Barking/Becontree Heath area. It confirmed my impression about the 5, then. Every time a westbound 5 came along from Becontree Heath it was joined by a short working from Barking tagging along behind. Just see how often that happened! Strange selection of destinations, too. Waterloo, Old Street or Plaistow Greengate (not garage journeys to WH either, as these were Upton Park buses). Very strange scheduling!
I always thought the T, many examples of which featured here, was a fine bus. I never liked the M, and I never got to travel in sufficient Ls to form a true opinion.
The original L’s (L1-263) were very similar to the T’s which isn’t surprising as the Olympian was born out of the Titans failure to penetrate provincial markets. The difference was they had a different spec (bar L1-3) with a front staircase & seats facing the rear over the wheel arches and bigger rear windows which let more light in. Ask me to choose between them and I’m afraid I can’t lol.
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Post by sid on Jun 5, 2018 15:29:01 GMT
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Post by busaholic on Jun 5, 2018 21:11:03 GMT
A reminder of how frequent the 15 used to be, all the way through to East Ham (or, on the basis of what was filmed. Upton Park, Priory Rd anyway!) I never realised all those 25s used to operate in service down to Plaistow too from Forest Gate direction - was this a Saturday afternoon operation to aid the 58?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2018 21:38:24 GMT
Amazing to see how frequent buses ran and also how empty so they were too!
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Post by busaholic on Jun 5, 2018 22:30:51 GMT
Amazing to see how frequent buses ran and also how empty so they were too! I think the Barking Road footage at least was shot at the end of the p.m. peak, or possibly the same time on a Saturday, though, and many of the buses were at or near their terminals. The 25 departing Stratford for Ilford, which was about the only longer journey shown on the route, had a very healthy loading.
I noticed the T on the 147 was rear blinded for the 101, so blind banditry is nothing new!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2018 19:31:36 GMT
I am curious about the 25 working now! Been looking online and can't see anything about the Plaistow workings, if these are garage journeys why did the buses run via Green Street/Barking Road instead of West Ham Lane (From Stratford) I assume they ran from Ilford?
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Post by busaholic on Jun 6, 2018 20:39:21 GMT
I am curious about the 25 working now! Been looking online and can't see anything about the Plaistow workings, if these are garage journeys why did the buses run via Green Street/Barking Road instead of West Ham Lane (From Stratford) I assume they ran from Ilford? They were definitely garage workings. Having watched the first part of the footage again, I think I was wrong to surmise these had come from the Ilford direction. The first such working is by a crew Titan which appears to come from the Stratford direction and turns right into Green St. (this one not blinded for Plaistow): the second one, a RM, is seen turning from Green St into Barking Road, is blinded Plaistow via Green St at front but Forest Gate Green Street at back. I now think it was late p.m. M-F rush hour because then, if a Saturday, a 15 from X garage should surely have made an appearance amongst all the Upton Park buses (?). There must have been a perceived need, I guess, for a better service between Stratford and Forest Gate than would have been provided by every WH-bound 25 travelling via West Ham Lane, though examples of the latter operation were visible later in the film. Shows how much the 'culture' of London bus operation has changed over the years, both for good and ill!
One other thing - did anyone else notice WH's 'showbus' RM on the 5 route, complete with offside route number?
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Post by moz on Jun 27, 2018 12:39:38 GMT
Do you like Metrobuses? This is the video for you...
Moz
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Post by snoggle on Jun 27, 2018 13:09:59 GMT
Yes it is a tad Metrobus obsessed isn't it?
Still nice to see a non stop parade of the old whirring boxes in various states of decay. Blue Triangle's perennial Metrobus RRS vehicle MCW463 duly turns up more than once.
Slight shame that he glossed over so many other vehicle types - the Bristol VR which toddled past plus the weird looking single decker about 9 mins in which was skulking behind a Metrobus. I think it might have been one of those East Lancs bodied things (MD?) that ran the Dome services. Also worth noting that the busiest conventional route was the 2 - it was presumably soaking up displaced Victoria Line passengers who opted for a regular bus and not the RRS.
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Post by redexpress on Jun 28, 2018 0:35:15 GMT
Yes it is a tad Metrobus obsessed isn't it? Still nice to see a non stop parade of the old whirring boxes in various states of decay. Blue Triangle's perennial Metrobus RRS vehicle MCW463 duly turns up more than once. Slight shame that he glossed over so many other vehicle types - the Bristol VR which toddled past plus the weird looking single decker about 9 mins in which was skulking behind a Metrobus. I think it might have been one of those East Lancs bodied things (MD?) that ran the Dome services. Also worth noting that the busiest conventional route was the 2 - it was presumably soaking up displaced Victoria Line passengers who opted for a regular bus and not the RRS. Nothing wrong with a bit of Metrobus obsession
Yes it's definitely an MD at 9 minutes. You can just make out the dome branding on the side of the bus. There's also a glimpse of a brand new PVL on the 77 - the type that would replace so many of those London General Ms, but which is now down to just a handful in service.
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Post by rmz19 on Jun 28, 2018 1:54:25 GMT
Slight shame that he glossed over so many other vehicle types - the Bristol VR which toddled past plus the weird looking single decker about 9 mins in which was skulking behind a Metrobus. I think it might have been one of those East Lancs bodied things (MD?) that ran the Dome services. Regarding that full size SD seen around the 9 min mark, it indeed is an East Lancs MD, on a DAF chassis was it? I wonder what route it was on in the video, or it may have been out of service. It is the example that used to operate on the 486, hence the logo of the dome on it. During the early days of North Greenwich Peninsula the MDs operated the M1 and M2 services there. I'm uncertain if these services were withdrawn or effectively renumbered to some of the routes that serve the area today, the 422 and 486 perhaps? I stand corrected. Though I recall the latter acquiring these MDs, can't remember if there was another route in the area that also received them. I vaguely recall riding on one on the 486 before Es operated the route, so it must've been prior to 2006...I wonder what brought me to North Greenwich at that time at such a young age alone...I digress. I remember it being quite an unpleasant ride, unnattractive loud and hot in the inside, but looked great on the outside. Ah the year 2000...what's fascinating in the video is the sheer contrast between the East Lancs SD and the PVL, and the vintage types i.e. the Titans, Metrobuses and Routemasters. This goes to show just how ahead of its time that East Lancs MD was design wise.
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Post by vjaska on Jun 28, 2018 11:13:51 GMT
Slight shame that he glossed over so many other vehicle types - the Bristol VR which toddled past plus the weird looking single decker about 9 mins in which was skulking behind a Metrobus. I think it might have been one of those East Lancs bodied things (MD?) that ran the Dome services. Regarding that full size SD seen around the 9 min mark, it indeed is an East Lancs MD, on a DAF chassis was it? I wonder what route it was on in the video, or it may have been out of service. It is the example that used to operate on the 486, hence the logo of the dome on it. During the early days of North Greenwich Peninsula the MDs operated the M1 and M2 services there. I'm uncertain if these services were withdrawn or effectively renumbered to some of the routes that serve the area today, the 422 and 486 perhaps? I stand corrected. Though I recall the latter acquiring these MDs, can't remember if there was another route in the area that also received them. I vaguely recall riding on one on the 486 before Es operated the route, so it must've been prior to 2006...I wonder what brought me to North Greenwich at that time at such a young age alone...I digress. I remember it being quite an unpleasant ride, unnattractive loud and hot in the inside, but looked great on the outside. Ah the year 2000...what's fascinating in the video is the sheer contrast between the East Lancs SD and the PVL, and the vintage types i.e. the Titans, Metrobuses and Routemasters. This goes to show just how ahead of its time that East Lancs MD was design wise. The MD's were on a DAF SB220 chassis and were fitted with gas tanks as well. The M1 was withdrawn without replacement but the M2 became part of the 486 which was new route in 2001 from North Greenwich to Bexleyheath and used the M1 & M2 MD's.
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Post by rmz19 on Jun 28, 2018 12:06:04 GMT
Regarding that full size SD seen around the 9 min mark, it indeed is an East Lancs MD, on a DAF chassis was it? I wonder what route it was on in the video, or it may have been out of service. It is the example that used to operate on the 486, hence the logo of the dome on it. During the early days of North Greenwich Peninsula the MDs operated the M1 and M2 services there. I'm uncertain if these services were withdrawn or effectively renumbered to some of the routes that serve the area today, the 422 and 486 perhaps? I stand corrected. Though I recall the latter acquiring these MDs, can't remember if there was another route in the area that also received them. I vaguely recall riding on one on the 486 before Es operated the route, so it must've been prior to 2006...I wonder what brought me to North Greenwich at that time at such a young age alone...I digress. I remember it being quite an unpleasant ride, unnattractive loud and hot in the inside, but looked great on the outside. Ah the year 2000...what's fascinating in the video is the sheer contrast between the East Lancs SD and the PVL, and the vintage types i.e. the Titans, Metrobuses and Routemasters. This goes to show just how ahead of its time that East Lancs MD was design wise. The MD's were on a DAF SB220 chassis and were fitted with gas tanks as well. The M1 was withdrawn without replacement but the M2 became part of the 486 which was new route in 2001 from North Greenwich to Bexleyheath and used the M1 & M2 MD's. Thanks. Didn't the M1 go to Charlton and the M2 to Greenwich? So the 486 must've replaced the M1 rather than the M2 which was withdrawn without replacement. Although the 129 can be seen somewhat as a revival of the M2 to Greenwich, albeit via an altered routing. On a side note some of the MDs on the M services were gas powered, as evident by two cylindrical shaped apparitions on some of their roofs, which probably explains why there was a distinct smell of gas on my ride on one of them.
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Post by redexpress on Jun 28, 2018 15:55:18 GMT
The MD's were on a DAF SB220 chassis and were fitted with gas tanks as well. The M1 was withdrawn without replacement but the M2 became part of the 486 which was new route in 2001 from North Greenwich to Bexleyheath and used the M1 & M2 MD's. Thanks. Didn't the M1 go to Charlton and the M2 to Greenwich? So the 486 must've replaced the M1 rather than the M2 which was withdrawn without replacement. Although the 129 can be seen somewhat as a revival of the M2 to Greenwich, albeit via an altered routing. On a side note some of the MDs on the M services were gas powered, as evident by two cylindrical shaped apparitions on some of their roofs, which probably explains why there was a distinct smell of gas on my ride on one of them. Yes, M1 was the Charlton route, replaced by the 486. M2 ran to Greenwich station rather than just the town centre - always thought that would have been a more useful terminus for the 129 if there was still a stand there.
Not surprising that your trip on the MD was hot and uncomfortable. They were fitted with air conditioning that never worked properly, and didn't have opening windows. You'd never get that sort of mistake happening today
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