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Post by dla314 on Sept 21, 2019 12:49:42 GMT
Night Time Adventures N86 - Ilford to Stratford 257 - Stratford to Walthamstow Central N38 - Walthamstow Central to Victoria N11 - Victoria to Trafalgar Square N21 - Trafalgar Square to Bexleyheath, Shopping Centre 422 - Bexleyheath, Shopping Centre - Woolwich N1 - Woolwich - Aldwych 341 - Aldwych to Harringay Green Lanes Station London Overground Class 710 - Harringay Green Lanes to Woodgrange Park 474 - Manor Park to Canning Town, Barking Road 115 - Canning Town, Barking Road to Upton Park 330 - Upton Park to Wanstead Park
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Post by VWH1414 on Sept 22, 2019 16:19:22 GMT
This is the journey's I have done the last 2 days: Yesterday: 221 - HV59 Mill Hill Broadway > Edgware Station Then a bit later: 340 - HV82 Edgware Station > Stanmore Broadway 324 - DE1605 Stanmore Broadway > Kingsbury Station (First time doing this section of the route - slowly but surely covering a majority of this route unintentionally) Then later on: 324 - DE1318 Kingsbury Station > Kingsbury Green 302 - VW1290 Kingsbury Green > Mill Hill Broadway
Today: 302 - VWH2370 Mill Hill Broadway > Kingsbury Green 204 - TE1307 Kingsbury Green > Kingsbury Station Then later on: 324 - DE867 Kingsbury Station > Kingsbury Green (Got absolutely thrashed all the way through Roe Green) 302 - VWH1412 Kingsbury Green > Mill Hill Broadway
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Post by COBO on Sept 22, 2019 18:17:51 GMT
This was my bus journey on Monday: Walk to the Keble Close 487 - to Hanger Lane Station (DE) 483 - to Hanwell Broadway (VW) E8 - to Brent Lea (VW) Walk to Maidenhead Aqutics in Syon Park Garden Centre and Pick up some fish Walk to Busch Grove H28 - to Osterley Tecso's - I had to wait 22 minutes for this one. I wish there was a route that could take me from Brentford to Osterley. (Enviro 200 Dart) Walk to Maidenhead Aquatics in Osterley Garden Centre Then I made my mistake according to Google Maps there's a road that can take from Windmill Lane to Boston Road. But there was no road I had went all the way up Windmill Road to find that there was no road also on some parts of Windmill Lane there are no pavement for me to walk safely along it well there is but the pavement too small and narrow and I would dangerously be too close to the cars. So I decided that I wasn't going to walk any further so I turned around and I had to walk all the way back to Great West Road to stop Gillette Corner (Stop K). Even though there ain't much along Windmill Lane it could certainly do with a bus route. I could see why TfL wants to send up a bus route to Osterley Tesco's because it's kind of awkard to get from Ealing or Brentford. H91 - to Boston Manor Road (Stop SA) (VH) Walked to Great West Rd Boston Manor Rd (Stop SY) E8 -to Half Acre Road (Stop M) - The bus was surprising full. I did originally wanted to go to Ealing Broadway and catch the 483 from there but the bus was so full I had to get off and get the 483 from there. (VW) E8 - to Ealing Broadway instead of a 483 because I didn't want to wait a long time for the 483 (it was a 20 minute wait) (VW). 483 - I took the 483 to Glacier Way (Stop G). I didn't have to wait long for a 483 when I got to Ealing Broadway. The 483 needs a frequencey increase it's current frequency is stupid. (VW) 487 - to Keble Close. (DE) Then I went home.
All of this was to avoid the horrible traffic in Greenford.
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Post by rif153 on Sept 22, 2019 20:24:14 GMT
E3 to Turnham Green (ADH45045) - A decent ADH, and it didn't feel as horribly slow as some E3 journeys to Turnham Green have lately. 94 to Oxford Circus (VH45200) - I made sure I recorded the ibus annoucement, I may not get another chance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTvlZMBBpkWalk down 'car free' Regent Street, then on to Trafalgar Square - It was quite pleasant to walk down the middle of Regent Street with no vehicles there. 176 to Waterloo (LT431) - My first LT on the 176, and hopefully my last. The route is miles better with EHs. Saw the Permanent Way, a great play on rail privatisation 77 to Tooting Station (EH297) - Plenty of enjoyable scenery along the route, and great buses. Its not perfect though with the Earsfield area being a little dry - 8/10 57 to Kingston (WSD22) - I love this route so much. Its not as good with WSDs though, and considering I bust a gut to get this bus, I wish I'd gotten the E seven minutes behind. The WSDs are gutless heaps, and the bus I was on was pretty d*mn slow. It really struggled carrying heavy loads up an incline in Wimbledon. This is only my third time on a Streetdeck in London, I sure hope it'll be my last. The diversion in the Wimbledon/Raynes Park area took me to some pleasant areas, I certainly want to do the 200 with a decker soon. X26 to Teddington (WVL343) - Its not everyday you're waiting at a stop, and an infrequent bus service happens to turn up. This was only the third time I've been on the X26, I sure enjoyed the trip. Its so rare I get an opportunity like this to use the X26 so I grapsed it with both hands, instead of taking my favourite route in London the 65. 281 to Fulwell (SP40128) - Lovely SP, I'm so fond of this type. I regret getting off in Fulwell, I should've stayed on to Twickenham but I bailed because I'd already had to endure two live changeovers in the same day (one of which took 10 minutes) so I chose to get the 267 behind. 267 to Brentford (LT993) - I don't like LTs, however, I did like the sounds that the battery made as the driver floored this bus along Twickenham Road. Sadly all good things must come to an end, and regulation meant I missed the E2 I was aiming to make. Given how rarely I use the 267 (this being my third time on the route this year) I suspect this will be my last journey on the route under RATP, unless I want to sample a SP/VH on the route as a bit of nostalgia for a route I loved using with its SLEs back in the day. E2 Home (VW1065) - Another lively ride which got me home in no time.
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Post by george on Sept 22, 2019 20:38:34 GMT
E3 to Turnham Green (ADH45045) - A decent ADH, and it didn't feel as horribly slow as some E3 journeys to Turnham Green have lately. 94 to Oxford Circus (VH45200) - I made sure I recorded the ibus annoucement, I may not get another chance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTvlZMBBpkWalk down 'car free' Regent Street,' then on to Trafalgar Square - It was quite pleasant to walk down the middle of Regent Street with no vehicles there. 176 to Waterloo (LT431) - My first LT on the 176, and hopefully my last. The route is miles better with EHs. Saw the Permanent Way, a great play on rail privatisation 77 to Tooting Station (EH297) - Plenty of enjoyable scenery along the route, and great buses. Its not perfect though with the Earsfield area being a little dry - 8/10 57 to Kingston (WSD22) - I love this route so much. Its not as good with WSDs though, and considering I bust a gut to get this bus, I wish I'd gotten the E seven minutes behind. The WSDs are gutless heaps, and the bus I was on was pretty d*mn slow. It really struggled carrying heavy loads up an incline in Wimbledon. This is only my third time on a Streetdeck in London, I sure hope it'll be my last. The diversion in the Wimbledon/Raynes Park area took me to some pleasant areas, I certainly want to do the 200 with a decker soon. X26 to Teddington (WVL343) - Its not everyday you're waiting at a stop, and an infrequent bus service happens to turn up. This was only the third time I've been on the X26, I sure enjoyed the trip. Its so rare I get an opportunity like this to use the X26 so I grapsed it with both hands, instead of taking my favourite route in London the 65. 281 to Fulwell (SP40128) - Lovely SP, I'm so fond of this type. I regret getting off in Fulwell, I should've stayed on to Twickenham but I bailed because I'd already had to endure two live changeovers in the same day (one of which took 10 minutes) so I chose to get the 267 behind. 267 to Brentford (LT993) - I don't like LTs, however, I did like the sounds that the battery made as the driver floored this bus along Twickenham Road. Sadly all good things must come to an end, and regulation meant I missed the E2 I was aiming to make. Given how rarely I use the 267 (this being my third time on the route this year) I suspect this will be my last journey on the route under RATP, unless I want to sample a SP/VH on the route as a bit of nostalgia for a route I loved using with its SLEs back in the day. E2 Home (VW1065) - Another lively ride which got me home in no time. sounds like a good trip, I must have to do the full 77 route to appreciate it, I have only taken the route from Clapham junction to Waterloo and visa versa, I have to say I think the section between Clapham Junction to Vauxhall is rather boring IMO but after Vauxhall it's nice as you get good views over the River thames.
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Post by 10121ddo on Sept 24, 2019 15:09:27 GMT
Was very much looking forward to my last journey before heading back to the West Country tomorrow. It ended up being a Tale of Two Operators....
275, Woodford > Thorpe Coombe Hospital; 19794 - big 25 minute gap behind this one so made sure not to miss it, very few people at 1030am made for a speedy journey up to Forest Road 123, Thorpe Coombe > Tot'ham Police Stn; DW460 - fair few kickdowns on the fast(er) section after Blackhorse Road, a good DW 318, Tot'ham Police Stn > South Tot'ham; EN5 - first time on the 318, thankfully on a straight road and not H&R. Much more enjoyable than a double decker down the A10 67, South Tot'ham > Wood Green; LT236 - business as usual through North London, quiet LT for once... will next catch when it goes to NP! 329, Wood Green > Palmers Green; T262 - was hoping for an older E400 or an SW, but this was fine for the short hop 34, Palmers Green > Barnet Church; TE912 - the star of the show. Started its duty at Palmerston Road, so was the only one on the top deck for the duration of the trip. Amazing kickdowns all the way up Barnet Hill, through Arnos Grove and on the A406. A trident E400 from PB is always a blast. 107, Barnet Church > Staples Corner; TE844 - expected more from a 57-reg E400. The one on the 34 gave a better ride, but the scenery always makes up for it along this route. 292, Staples Corner > Apex Corner; VW1208 - after a brief pop to Morrisons, this is one of my favourite batch of B9TLs at Metroline, which aren't ex-First. Great power. 113, Apex Corner > Brent Cross Stn; VMH2446 - one of favourite childhood routes back in the days of the VPLs and early TEs. Pleasant and fast. I waited at Brent Cross for TEH915 on the 210 which was due as soon as I got off, but realised after 5 mins that LVF pulled a fast one on me, and it had in fact left service. So I called it a day, still yet to catch a SN08 E400H. Tube home
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Post by rugbyref on Sept 24, 2019 17:22:45 GMT
I am normally very pleased with the drivers on the R1 route, but today I encountered a different or new one. Perhaps that is why he neglected to stop at Orpington Station despite passengers ringing the bell. But later he tried to set off whilst an old lady near the front of the bus was still getting her balance after standing up to debus. He also switched off the engine at 2 random bus stops. Weird!
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Post by rif153 on Sept 29, 2019 15:32:58 GMT
Finally got a 12-reg Enviro on the 427 today with the lucky bus being 9542.
Felt a bit weird to have one of these buses on the 427 for a change, even though I've seen them on the route plenty of times before, its still odd being on one. I generally don't like these buses, they can be pretty sluggish, and often break down. However, the Enviro 400s suit the 427 better than the 207, and having them on the 427 creates some nice variety, hence why I'm a fan of Abellio West London's flexible allocations. I enjoy the allocations more now the pool of buses intermingled between both garages. The bus was a little slow but for the sake of variety it made a pleasant change.
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Post by 10121ddo on Oct 3, 2019 16:44:50 GMT
VLA73 still very much with a loud cooling fan over in Somerset. In vibrant green Camberwick livery, but complete with 100% Arriva interior, minus the iBus. Great ride
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Post by VWH1414 on Oct 6, 2019 16:24:17 GMT
Heres my bus journey's for the last 3 days: Friday: 186 - VW1288 Watling Avenue > Edgware Station Then later in the day: 204 - TE1103 Edgware Station > Burnt Oak Station 302 - VWH1412 Burnt Oak Station > Mill Hill Broadway
Saturday: 302 - VWH1410 Mill Hill Broadway > Kingsbury Green 204 - VW1754* Kingsbury Green > Kingsbury Station Then later on: 204 - TE1103 (Again) Kingsbury Station > Colindeep Lane Quick trip to the shops and then: 32 - TEH1229 Colindale > Burnt Oak Broadway 302 - VWH1362 Burnt Oak Station > Mill Hill Broadway
Sunday: 302 - VWH2341 Mill Hill Broadway > Kingsbury Green 204 - TE1098 Kingsbury Green > Kingsbury Station Then later on: 324 - DE1612 Kingsbury Station > Kingsbury Green 302 - VWH2408 Kingsbury Green > Mill Hill Broadway
* - I love getting on the ex First VWs, their seats are so comfortable and also have that distinct B9TL sound to them. As much as I like the native VWs, I definitely like these that bit more.
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Post by Dillon95 on Oct 9, 2019 14:13:21 GMT
B14 - Sidcup to Bexleyheath 96 - Bexleyheath to Dartford
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Post by 10121ddo on Oct 9, 2019 19:05:42 GMT
Heres my bus journey's for the last 3 days: Friday: 186 - VW1288 Watling Avenue > Edgware Station Then later in the day: 204 - TE1103 Edgware Station > Burnt Oak Station 302 - VWH1412 Burnt Oak Station > Mill Hill Broadway Saturday: 302 - VWH1410 Mill Hill Broadway > Kingsbury Green 204 - VW1754* Kingsbury Green > Kingsbury Station Then later on: 204 - TE1103 (Again) Kingsbury Station > Colindeep Lane Quick trip to the shops and then: 32 - TEH1229 Colindale > Burnt Oak Broadway 302 - VWH1362 Burnt Oak Station > Mill Hill Broadway Sunday: 302 - VWH2341 Mill Hill Broadway > Kingsbury Green 204 - TE1098 Kingsbury Green > Kingsbury Station Then later on: 324 - DE1612 Kingsbury Station > Kingsbury Green 302 - VWH2408 Kingsbury Green > Mill Hill Broadway * - I love getting on the ex First VWs, their seats are so comfortable and also have that distinct B9TL sound to them. As much as I like the native VWs, I definitely like these that bit more. On the asterisk, couldn't agree more!! Catching one before they left the 207 was a good ride, even on a busy Sunday afternoon. And VW1841 on the 483 on a fairly empty night in Wembley and Harrow was a great one. More locally to me, the BL61 WVNs on the 20 section from Whipps Cross to Loughton would pip the usual WVL4** allocation, imo. Although it's now with CTP.
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Post by rif153 on Oct 9, 2019 20:11:37 GMT
Heres my bus journey's for the last 3 days: Friday: 186 - VW1288 Watling Avenue > Edgware Station Then later in the day: 204 - TE1103 Edgware Station > Burnt Oak Station 302 - VWH1412 Burnt Oak Station > Mill Hill Broadway Saturday: 302 - VWH1410 Mill Hill Broadway > Kingsbury Green 204 - VW1754* Kingsbury Green > Kingsbury Station Then later on: 204 - TE1103 (Again) Kingsbury Station > Colindeep Lane Quick trip to the shops and then: 32 - TEH1229 Colindale > Burnt Oak Broadway 302 - VWH1362 Burnt Oak Station > Mill Hill Broadway Sunday: 302 - VWH2341 Mill Hill Broadway > Kingsbury Green 204 - TE1098 Kingsbury Green > Kingsbury Station Then later on: 324 - DE1612 Kingsbury Station > Kingsbury Green 302 - VWH2408 Kingsbury Green > Mill Hill Broadway * - I love getting on the ex First VWs, their seats are so comfortable and also have that distinct B9TL sound to them. As much as I like the native VWs, I definitely like these that bit more. On the asterisk, couldn't agree more!! Catching one before they left the 207 was a good ride, even on a busy Sunday afternoon. And VW1841 on the 483 on a fairly empty night in Wembley and Harrow was a great one. More locally to me, the BL61 WVNs on the 20 section from Whipps Cross to Loughton would pip the usual WVL4** allocation, imo. Although it's now with CTP. I do agree the ex-First VWs are nice anf comfortable but I think it has to be said they some of them are pretty knackered.
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Post by rj131 on Oct 9, 2019 23:09:52 GMT
Finally got round to writing about my travels last week, was mostly a Stagecoach bonanza in East London but I had a few other priorities too with the day replicating a Benny Hill sketch by the end of it de-de-d-d-d-d-duh-duh-de-de-de-de de-de-d-d-d-d-duh-duh-de-de-de-de 😂😂 (here if you don’t know what I’m on about youtu.be/MK6TXMsvgQg)LX11BJV | 86 LX12DHE | 296 YY18TKN | 193 SN16OLJ | 496 LX13CZW | 256 LX11AYW | 248 LX11AZJ | 174 LJ60AUK | 173 YX61BXY | 396 SN68AGD | 25 LA68DXC | 607 LA19KBZ | 214 YJ19HVF | 134 SL14LNZ | 205 The first route on my hitlist was the 296 (end-to-end) seeing as that route has been subject to a lot of discussion lately, which required a quick blast to Ilford on the 86. Getting on this 296 was a nightmare, I needed to get the next one along as it was a DD, the next four were singles and obviously I wanted to do it properly so a decker it had to be. I was waiting at Roden Street and the bl**dy driver didn’t even stop at the bus stop, he just pulled out from the stand, completely skipped the stop I was waiting at and went straight for the bus in Ilford town centre. Luckily the traffic was dreadful as it was rush hour, so I had to absolutely leg it to the Ilford Station stop to get on it there and I just made it, what an idiot that driver was! Would have been fuming if I’d missed it. The bus I had was one of the newly transferred E400s from TB which hadn’t been refurbed, so was pretty tatty. Other than that the 296 is a really really nice route but it needs to be on a decker to really appreciate it, part where it deviates at Barley and runs down the country roads especially, it reminds me of the 247. Also worth mentioning is that quite a few oncoming 296’s were absolutely packed to the windscreen so definitely the frequency increase was required. Hopefully now it officially has a part decker allocation maybe it was get fully converted upon tender? I’m crossing my fingers. The next on my to-do list was the 496 (end-to-end), so this required a quick blast on the 193 to Queen’s hospital to do the whole route. I had the only MMC on the 496 that day and again the 496 is a really really good route. The driver left Queen’s hospital nearly 10 minutes late so he absolutely CANED it throughout the whole route which made the journey better. My bus also was very very quiet throughout the whole route (it was nearly 10am by this point) but I’m reliably informed this route can get completely crush loaded in peaks and school times which I can believe judging by the amount of schools it directly passes. The 496 is a route that generally has a really really low profile on the forum (maybe not at the moment as its tender is coming up), doesn’t get discussed very often at all but it’s a brilliant route that you should definitely try out, by and large a very pretty route. Next was the 256, one of the most eastern-most routes TfL has so thought I may as well do it while I was there seeing as its incredibly far out of the way. Only rode it from Harold Wood to Hornchurch so about half the route and again the bus was really really quiet, probably unsurprising as it was off peak. Can someone comment how this route copes in the peaks? It must struggle in the peaks to warrant getting DDs, but looking at patronage numbers alone it doesn’t look like a particularly busy route. After Hornchurch I headed back to Romford on the 248, really really fast and direct route and I also hear this route also gets very very crowded at the busy times, I can absolutely see why as it’s a really fast and useful route. Next I wanted to finish off the *96 group of routes as they’re all tied up in one way or another. The best way to do this was to finish off the part of the 173 I hadn’t done yet to King George Hospital from Dagenham Heathway, which required yet another quick blast on the 174. Getting the 173 from Dagenham Heathway to KGH turned out to be a really bad decision, the 173 is a really bleak and dry route and this was the bus a serious argument broke out between a mum with a pushchair and a wheelchair passenger .... I’ll give you three guesses as to what the argument was about. I wrote about this in the ranting thread so you can read what happened there. I actually got a bit scared on the bus as it got really really heated with loads of shouting, I’m glad anything didn’t happen to threaten my safety. Anyway luckily I got to KGH in one piece. Sod’s law just as I got off the 173 at KGH a 396 just left so I had a full 20 minute wait. When it finally turned up it was SE118, sadly no DD was out on the route that day so it had to do. My 396 got really really busy (fully seated with quite a few standing) particularly by Newbury Park Station where there was a large exodus, which I found surprising as I thought the 396 was the less busy relief sister route to the 296. Anyway this route is really really boring as it’s really short and only travels along the boring part of the 296 in its entirety so not really worth doing. At least the journey to Ilford was really fast with how short the route is. Next I trekked all the way over to White City from Stratford as I hadn’t done the 607 since it got its hybrids so that was next after a quick journey from Ilford to Stratford on a StreetWreck 25. The Metroline EvoSetis are really nice vehicles and luckily G have finally got their act together on the 607 as I understand it had a really bad start with them. The route was running to perfect 10 minute intervals so it looks like G have cracked it now. I had a really fast run on the 607 over to Ealing Broadway Station which from there I took a TfL Rail train back to Paddington, which was also very fast and very comfortable. The acceleration of those 345 trains is unbelievable. Next I wanted to do some new electric buses, so this involved a trek into North London having already done far East and West London (so basically on this mad journey I replicated a Benny Hill sketch darting all over the place, it’s probably very fitting to listen to the Benny Hill theme tune while reading this ), so I took an electric 214 from KGX to Camden Town (just a basic GAL SEe just a bit shorter) but on the way back I managed to track down one of the eight 134 MetroDeckers, which I have to say I wasn’t too impressed with. Of the two types on the 43 and 134 I’m definitely team BDE, which I reckon most people probably are. On the + side the MetroDeckers acceleration is absolutely unbelievable, but again the BDEs is just as good so nothing superior there. The OME’s interior isn’t as welcoming as the BDE, the bell is too quiet (not that it matters too much as a passenger as long as the driver can hear it), the back of the bus looks ridiculous, it’s really ugly too if you look at it square on at the front (it’s fatter at the bottom than at the top and looks really out of proportion), the iBus announcements are too quiet (not good if you don’t know where you’re going), the battery life is nowhere near as good and a weird little OCD thing I don’t like is that the iBus screen doesn’t fit in the black oval where the stop sign would otherwise be upstairs at the front. Like I think it’s important to be able to see the iBus screen fully wherever you’re sitting on the bus. So yeah in summary I far prefer the BDE 😁 After getting off the 134 at Warren Street it was getting into the peak time but I still had some time to kill, so to finish it off I decided to take the 205 all the way up to Bow Church which fit in well with my generally Stagecoach theme. I touched on this briefly in another thread but the 205’s usage patterns are very very weird, in that it very much bucks the trend of it being least busy in zone 1 due to unbearable traffic. With the 205 it’s very different, every 205 I saw throughout Zone 1 (including my bus) was absolutely packed to the rafters. I find it incredibly weird that the 205 gets busiest in the part where generally bus usage has fallen the most. To make it even weirder by Aldgate there was a mass exodus and the bus was half full at best to Bow Church, so it’s far less busy outside Central London rather than inside like most. Also for a peak time bus one would think a route that ploughs straight through the middle of London one would assume in the peaks it’s a total no-go, but it got from Warren Street all the way to its terminus of Bow Church in only 55 minutes, so really impressive for a Zone 1 route with the only slow point being Liverpool Street. With such good journey times especially for a Zone 1 route no wonder it’s still so busy
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Post by 15002 on Oct 9, 2019 23:53:44 GMT
rj131 in regards to the 256, when I used to go college the bus was very packed in the peak hours and even in the mornings full of college plus school kids due to this bus passing several schools hence it needing Deckers. Sometimes I couldn’t even go on it.
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