Historical - Unchanged Routes

[wivenswold]

I'm currently collating a history of routes and vehicles at my old "home" garage Barking (BK) and something struck me. Under the infamous Reshaping Plan a few weeks over 45 years ago the 169 had some minor alternations so it would run from Clayhall The Glade to Barking, the same as today. There were Sunday extensions to Oban Road, Barking and Thames View Estate, it was extended to the latter daily replacing the 179 in 1982 then cut back to Barking 11 years later, there was the diversion away from the Station end of Ley Street in Ilford and the multifarious one-way systems around Barking, otherwise it's the same route.  Even more surprising is that it's been operated solely by BK over those 45 years

It got me wondering that there must be other routes in London that have remained as unchanged as that through as many decades. Locally the 179 has changed little north of Ilford but has seen a number of operators and garages in that time. 

There must be others out there, probably obvious ones too.

[Deleted]

101 has changed little apart from when it swapped from N Woolwich to Gallions Reach.

[M1104]

The 200 had changed on the Mitcham end to what is now Clapham Park then got a very brief extension to Tulse Hill prior to the 201 where the 200 then reverted back to Mitcham.

The 57's main change over the years was the small extension beyond Telford Avenue to Clapham Park. Other than that the route has been more or less the same over the decades.

[busaholic]

Oct 4, 2018 20:21:23 GMT wivenswold said:

I'm currently collating a history of routes and vehicles at my old "home" garage Barking (BK) and something struck me. Under the infamous Reshaping Plan a few weeks over 45 years ago the 169 had some minor alternations so it would run from Clayhall The Glade to Barking, the same as today. There were Sunday extensions to Oban Road, Barking and Thames View Estate, it was extended to the latter daily replacing the 179 in 1982 then cut back to Barking 11 years later, there was the diversion away from the Station end of Ley Street in Ilford and the multifarious one-way systems around Barking, otherwise it's the same route.  Even more surprising is that it's been operated solely by BK over those 45 years

It got me wondering that there must be other routes in London that have remained as unchanged as that through as many decades. Locally the 179 has changed little north of Ilford but has seen a number of operators and garages in that time. 

There must be others out there, probably obvious ones too.

I can remember BK sharing the route with Seven Kings (AP) but then I realised that pre-dated the Reshaping Plan!

Quite a few routes have changed very little over the years, and still more that did change have more or less reverted to the original. Ex-trolleybus routes can sometimes be good examples of how little can change, like the 267, 607 (though express) and even, I'd suggest, the 96, if you ignore the express extension to a former quarry.

[wivenswold]

Ah, Seven Kings, I think that will be my next garage as it was only just over a mile away from home. Their fleet was wall-to-wall RTs until their entrances were rebuilt to take modern buses in the late 1970's. Their old staple the 86 remains pretty much the same having lost its extension to Limehouse, I seem to recall it went to Aldgate for a while too.

[vjaska]

The 157 has changed very little bar being cut back from Raynes Lane to Morden.

[ian]

My beloved 113 has basically remained unchanged as Oxford Circus - Edgware for over 80 years bar its temporary and future lopping back to Marble Arch (and various points when shorter versions ran just on certain days/times).

[danorak]

The 24 is the best known example, the only changes being for one way systems. The 240 has remained basically unchanged since introduction. And the 124 has always been based at TL, although the route itself has changed fairly substantially.

[twobellstogo]

99 has had various appendages attached to it East and south of Erith over the years, but the Woolwich-Erith section has been either 99 and/or 99A since around World War I.

[busaholic]

Oct 4, 2018 21:26:38 GMT wivenswold said:

Ah, Seven Kings, I think that will be my next garage as it was only just over a mile away from home. Their fleet was wall-to-wall RTs until their entrances were rebuilt to take modern buses in the late 1970's. Their old staple the 86 remains pretty much the same having lost its extension to Limehouse, I seem to recall it went to Aldgate for a while too.

I'm pretty sure it never went to Aldgate, as the Green Line 721 had the 'monopoly' on any Romford to Aldgate trade, operating up to every 10 minutes, with the 25 supplementing it for most of the route, and the trolleybuses out of Ilford depot too. The 86 when I first knew it had four garages operating it, and (most unusually) they each had about a quarter of the allocation. I've a feeling not every garage operated through to Upminster Park Estate, though.

[paulsw2]

Oct 5, 2018 21:21:31 GMT busaholic said:

Oct 4, 2018 21:26:38 GMT wivenswold said:

Ah, Seven Kings, I think that will be my next garage as it was only just over a mile away from home. Their fleet was wall-to-wall RTs until their entrances were rebuilt to take modern buses in the late 1970's. Their old staple the 86 remains pretty much the same having lost its extension to Limehouse, I seem to recall it went to Aldgate for a while too.

I'm pretty sure it never went to Aldgate, as the Green Line 721 had the 'monopoly' on any Romford to Aldgate trade, operating up to every 10 minutes, with the 25 supplementing it for most of the route, and the trolleybuses out of Ilford depot too. The 86 when I first knew it had four garages operating it, and (most unusually) they each had about a quarter of the allocation. I've a feeling not every garage operated through to Upminster Park Estate, though.

86 never went further then limehouse but did go east to Brentwood
It also went as far as Upminster

[vjaska]

Not as long in existence as others already mentioned but as it’s getting closer to existing for 30 years, the 250 has not changed except for a minor southbound re-routing in Brixton & a diversion at night via East Croydon.

[wivenswold]

I'm not sure why I thought the 86 went to Aldgate. I did used to redesign LT bus routes for them back in the 70's when I was a kid. Maybe it was in my Reshaping Plan for some weird and still unfathomable reason.