Ok, all done (I hope!) Thank you very much to everyone who entered - it was great fun seeing the answers and I learnt a few things in the process!
Totals are at the bottom, do get in touch if there are any discrepencies! The key to winning here was scooping the points reductions on the relevant questions. The scores were quite close but congratulations to the winner, twobellstogo!
1. Name a route that traverses a barriered railway level crossing.3 points - 121 - Tangy, Trident, Chris (Enfield Lock)
2 points - 440 - Hassaan, Jack, slr (x2 in South Acton)
2 points - 152 - twobellstogo, dml649 (Mitcham Eastfields)
1 point - K5 - romfordbuses, metrobus (x2, one at West Barnes and another at Motspur Park)
1 point - 434 - Steve80 (Whyteleafe)
1 point - 111 - TR* (Hampton)
10 points - Pass - John
Comments; Impressed that the 434 and K5 were given - both very obscure routes! The 434 is a nice little scenic route. I'm surprised nobody went for Feltham - the last time I did the H25, we were sat at the level crossing for 7 minutes. Must've been playing havoc with the QSI results, the routes going towards the High Street are now shown to avoid the level crossing. The 121 crossing can be a bit of a nightmare as well. The 440 crosses two infrequently used level crossings situated on freight lines near South Acton, whilst the K5 goes over two in the Motspur Park area.
The H28 passes over a level crossing in Wood Lane, Isleworth (thanks Hassaan!)
The 969 passes over a level crossing in Mortlake.
2. Name a route that serves a station in two consecutive stops. It can either be the same station, or two different stations. The railway station must be referred in the name of the bus stop(s.)
1 point - 55 - Trident [Hackney Central and Hackney Downs]
1 point - 156 - metrobus [Battersea Park and Queenstown Road Battersea]
1 point - 207 - twobellstogo [Shepherds Bush Market and Shepherds Bush]
1 point - 465 - Jack [Dorking twice]
1 point - K3 - TR* [Surbiton twice]
0 points - 176 - slr [Charing Cross twice, Leicester Square]
0 points - 370 - romfordbuses [Upminster three times]
0 points - N15 - john [Mansion House, Cannon Street and Monument]
0 points - X26 - Steve80 [West Croydon/East Croydon, Hatton Cross/Heathrow T123]
-1 point - 25 - Chris [St Pauls LU + Bank twice] and [Bow Road/Bow Church]
-2 points - 30 - Tangy [Regents Park, Great Portland Street, Warren Street, Euston Square and Euston]
10 points - R6 - dml649
10 points - W14 - Hassaan
Comments; To get the least points, you had to pick routes that serves a station one stop after the other. Well done to Tangy for identifying one where the bus serves 5 different stations consecutively
. One bonus point was to be deducted if a route serves a station in two consecutive stops more than once, hence Chris and Steve80 got one extra point deducted.
Routes serving a station in 5 consecutive stops; 18, 205, N5, N20 (all in the Euston area)
Routes serving a station in 4 consecutive stops; 10, 17 (sb,) 73, 390, 521, N73 (either in the Warren Street or London Bridge/Cannon Street areas.)
Routes serving a station in 3 consecutive stops; Numerous in the City of London. The 185 serves Forest Hill Station 3 times northbound.
3. Name a route with two or more Hail & Ride sections.
2 points - W5 - Hassaan, Chris (
Two H&R sections)
2 points - 193 - romfordbuses, john (
Two H&R sections)
1 point - W12 - Tangy, Trident (
Three H&R sections)
0 points - 434 - metrobus (
Three H&R sections)
0 points - B13 - twobellstogo (
Three H&R sections)
0 points - G1 - Steve80, slr (
Four H&R sections)
-1 point - K5 - TR*, Jack (
Five H&R sections)
-2 points - S4 - dml649 - (
Five H&R sections)
Comments; The best scorers would have been the S3 with its
seven H&R sections, the S4 and K5 which have 5 H&R sections.
4. Name a night or 24 hour route that serves two stations in Zone 6. The railway station must be referred in the name of the bus stops.
2 points - 281 - TR*, Steve80 [Surbiton, Kingston, Hampton Wick and Fulwell]
2 points - N9 - Trident, Jack [Heathrow T123, Heathrow T5]
2 points - N68 - dml649, Chris [Coulsdon Town and Coulsdon South]
2 points - N89 - twobellstogo, slr [Slade Green and Barnehurst]
1 point - 65 - Tangy [Chessington North/South, Surbiton and Kingston]
1 point - 285 - Hassaan [Heathrow T123, Hatton X, Feltham, Hampton Wick, Kingston]
1 point - 365 - john [Elm Park and Romford]
1 point - N47 - metrobus [Orpington, St Mary Cray]
10 points - N86 - romfordbuses
5. Name a bus type currently operated by Go Ahead London Central. Only the chassis and bodywork need to be given.
3 points - Dart/Pointer 2 - Tangy, Steve80, Jack
3 points - Dennis Trident 2/E400 - Hassaan, TR*, romfordbuses
2 points - Dennis Dart/MCV Evolution - dml649, slr
1 point - Volvo B7TL/President - twobellstogo
1 point - Volvo B7TL/Gemini - Trident
1 point - Volvo B9TL/Gemini 2 - metrobus
10 points - Scania Omnicity - john (SOC = GA Docklands Buses)
10 points - MCV DD103, Volvo B9TL - Chris (VM1 = GA Docklands Buses)
Comments; The variety of vehicles they have is almost on a par with Metrobus. Oddities include the Scania/Mylenniums and the VDL SB120s as well as various single and double decker Hybrids. How many bus types does Q alone operate?
6. Name a bus stop that refers to a solid 2D shape.
2 points - The Square [Heathrow]- Hassaan, Jack
1 point - The Triangle [Norbiton] - TR*
1 point - Millenium Villiage / Oval Square - twobellstogo
1 point - Belmont Circle - Tangy
1 point - Beckton Triangle Retail Park - john
1 point - Onslow Square - Steve80
1 point - Kingsbury Circle - dml649
1 point - The Oval [Blackfen] - metrobus
1 point - Wembley Triangle - slr
1 point - Time Square - Chris
Incorrect;
10 points - Pass - romfordbuses
10 points - North Circular Road - Trident
Comments; Plenty of Sqares around London. There's also the Oval in Kennington and the "Circles" in Kingsbury and Queensbury - no idea why they don't just call them roundabouts!
7. Name a bus route which is currently allocated to, or has at some point been allocated to since 2002, operate with any of the Mercedes Citaro family of buses.3 points - X26 - Tangy, romfordbuses, john
2 points - 293 - Steve80, dml649
2 points - 507 - Jack, Chris
2 points - RV1 - metrobus, slr
2 points - 38 - TR*, Trident
1 point - 227 - twobellstogo
1 point - 453 - Hassaan
Comments; 293 was a very good answer, those Citaros disappeared much earlier than the RV1s' and the bendy buses, but they made a brief comeback on the X26 before disappearing again! Other answers included the 12, 18, 25, 29, 73, 203, 207, 436, 521 and N29.
8. Give the name of an operator who has utilised at least one East Lancs Lolyne bodied bus in London since 1999.3 points - Metrobus - TR*, Steve80, metrobus
2 points - East London - Tangy, dml649,
1 point - Metroline - Hassaan
1 point - London General - twobellstogo
1 point - Blue Triangle - romfordbuses
1 point - Thameside - john
1 point - CT Plus - Trident
1 point - Docklands Buses - slr
Incorrect answers;
10 points - Capital Citybus - Chris
10 points - The Big Bus Company - Jack
Comments; Fond memories of the Euro 2 Tridents with Blue Triangle and Metrobus! Well done to those who remembered the East London/London General/Metroline hire-ins.
9. Name a day bus route that is scheduled to be in service for any length of time between 01:30 and 03:30 inclusive on at least one day of the week. The route must not be a 24 hour route or have an N-prefixed night element.
1 point - 34 - romfordbuses
1 point - 132 - dml649
1 point - 157 - TR*
1 point - 158 - Tangy
1 point - 175 - john
1 point - 257 - Trident
1 point - 208 - metrobus
1 point - 225 - slr
1 point - 350 - Chris
1 point - 482 - Hassaan
1 point - 486 - twobellstogo
1 point - 490 - Jack
1 point - C10 - Steve80
Comments; Originally considered using 02:00 as the start time, but changed it to 01:30 to make it a bit easier. Should have added a bonus to routes given still running after 02:00 instead :/. Interesting that most answers given were routes that finish late, rather than those which start early
. It's mainly the airport routes that start really early (most serving Heathrow Central are 24 hour.) Late finishing routes tend to be those running through many areas with no night service, or routes where the garage is close to the last stop. The R68 has a few garage trips that run in service up until almost 02:00. The 358 is a bit of a mystery given that much is it is covered by the N3 and N47 in the small hours.
Some day routes running at or after 02:00; 75, 121, 154, 157, 177, 307, 358, 493
Some day routes running at or before 03:30; 350, 358, 423, 482, 490
The 106 and 422 also start running before 04:00. The 358 route is the only day route I know of that satisfies both criteria.
10. Name a bus route that serves Piccadilly Circus.3 points - 15 - TR*, Trident, Chris
2 points - N136 - metrobus, slr
1 point - 14 - twobellstogo
1 point - 19 - Tangy
1 point - 22 - Hassaan
1 point - 38 - romfordbuses
1 point - 88 - Steve80
1 point - N52 - dml649
10 points - 9 - Jack
10 points - 9H - john
Comments; Just wanted to see if there would be any duplicates
. The answers I wasn't expecting to crop up were the N52, N97 and funnily enough, the N136!
Totals;
1. twobellstogo - 11 points
2. slr - 13 points
2. metrobus - 13 points
4. Tangy - 14 points
5. Steve80 - 15 points
6. TR* - 16 points
7. dml649 - 21 points
8. Hassaan - 24 points
9. Trident - 25 points
10. Jack - 32 points
10. romfordbuses - 32 points
12. Chris - 33 points
13. john - 39 points