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Post by riverside on Nov 5, 2018 14:24:07 GMT
I'd nominate the 109 for Wild Thing In a nod to the 45's proposed cut - What Have I Done to Deserve This by Pet Shop Boys The Who's I Can See for Miles would be a good one for both the 53 (western side of Blackheath) and W3 (Ally Pally). If the song had been out in January 1962 then you could nominate for the withdrawal of the 666 trolleybus route the Rolling Stones 'Sympathy for the Devil'. Bringing things up to the present day I have an apt song for the whole of TfL. Given the recent regular changes to the bus routes serving the Berkeley Square and British Museum routings, add in the constant glaring mistakes that appear in many TfL consultation documents, plus their failure to adequately publicise some service changes e.g. the recent 303/305 changes, I would nominate Gerry Rafferty's 'Get It Right Next Time'.
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Post by riverside on Nov 4, 2018 17:45:43 GMT
311 when introduced: Eagles' New Kid in Town I like your suggestion, however, I would give the 'New Kid In Town' title to the proposed new 110 that will run from Hammersmith to Hounslow. Here is my reasoning. New Kid in Town from the Hotel California album was recorded in the U.S.A. but the Eagles breakthrough album in 1972 that introduced the world to that quitessentially laid back west coast country rock sound was recorded not in California but in Barnes!. Although the new 110 if implemented will not, like the 209 and 485, pass the doors of Olympic, I feel that being a new kid in Barnes will give it an edge over the 311 for the title.
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Post by riverside on Nov 2, 2018 18:16:31 GMT
PVR wise, I would imagine a plus 8 onto the 110 , minus 6 on the 419 , minus 3 on the H37 minus 3 on the H22 ,and plus 4 on the 267 . Rugby days will be a massive issue for the new 110. It will have to run direct via the A316 from Hospital Bridge Road rather than Warren Road, bringing lengthy delays. It is interesting that the 110 is being elevated in this nature, there was once a proposal for it to replace the 111 to Heathrow. It used to be that the 110 and 111 were interlinked in all but scheduling. They were the chosen routes for the autofare experiments almost fifty years ago when they were converted to one person operation, and London Transport would dearly have loved the ability to switch buses from one route to the other, both on a scheduled and unscheduled basis, but it was a stretch too far for the union, understandably in my opinion, given all the problems of automatic fare collection. The 111 hadn't reached Kingston in those days and (arguably) was the less important of the two routes. Autofare was the term used for the introduction of MBS type buses on London Transport's Country buses. I think the first routes were the 430 and 447 in the Reigate/Redhill area in late 1968. In the Central buses area the MBS types were used on the new satellite flat fare standee routes e.g. E1-E3. Many teething problems were experienced with these buses. This was a time where virtually everybody who boarded a MBS bus had to pay a cash fare and access to the bus was through one of two turnstiles. In an attempt to placate mounting passenger hostility and to slightly minimise the impact of the unreliability of the coin machines, London Transport decided on a new approach with the last MBS types. So in August 1969 the 110 and 111 were selected to be converted from RT to MBS, but for the first time the MBS types would have a split entrance system with the opportunity of paying cash to the driver or using the one remaining turntile and slot machine on the right of the entrance. The routes continued to have a graduated fare scale instead of the flat fare that existed on the other MBS routes. At this time the 111 had reached Kingston albeit just on Saturdays. The draw of Kingston as a shopping destination on Saturdays was such that the two single deck RF routes (216 and 264), that plied between Kingston and Hampton could not cope with the demand and so the 71 (East Acton to Kingston) was extended on Saturdays from Kingston to Sunbury Station to provide some relief. Service changes in 1964 meant that the 71 reverted to Kingston on Saturdays and instead the 111 was extended from Hampton to Kingston on that day. As well as the introduction of the MBSs in 1969 on the 110 and 111 a new RF route the 211 was introduced to help out between Hounslow and Hampton. On Saturdays it replaced the 111 to Kingston. During the week the 211 was one man operated using RFs but on Saturdays reverted to crew operation using RTs. The 211 had a short life and over time the 111 grew to be the trunk route it is today providing a daily service to Kingston. Incidently the 111 replacing the 71 was a reversal of what had happened some years earlier. When a bus service was first introduced on the Great Chertsey Road between Manor Circus and Hammersmith the 111 was selected by way of an extremely long extension from Hanworth to Hammersmith on Saturday and Sunday afternoons to provide a service to relatives wishing to pay a visit to North Sheen and Mortlake Cemeteries. This did not last too long and very soon the newly introduced 71 that had run just between Kingston and Richmond was projected through to Hammersmith on Monday to Saturdays. The proposal for the merger of the 110 and 419 is an intersting one, although I agree with an earlier comment that it would make more sense to passengers to use the 419 number for the merged route, despite the longer history of the 110. When in the 1970s London Transport was being lobbied to provide a bus service to the Lonsdale/Suffolk Roads area of Barnes that the 419 now traverses tentative plans were drawn up to extend the 202. The 202 was RF operated and ran between Hounslow and Richmond via the current H22. The idea was that alternate buses on the 202 would be extended from the Richmond(Dee Road) terminus to Hammersmith via the current 419 providing a bus on the new section every 45 minutes. Such were London Transport's financial difficulties at the time that the proposal stayed very much on the drawing board and that area of Barnes had to wait a lot longer for a bus service, until when the R69 was introduced. A merger of the H22 and the 419 in the current proposals would have meant that a route first proposed in the 1970s would finally come to be, however, such a route will have to remain a fantasy.
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Post by riverside on Oct 3, 2018 10:19:59 GMT
Thanks for sharing this. Pity about all the litter people seem compelled to drop even on a brand new bus!
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Post by riverside on Oct 1, 2018 11:20:44 GMT
On the Today programme on RTE Radio 1 last week the 'Bus Connect' proposals for Dublin were discussed. 20,000 submissions have been received from the public commenting on the proposals. The size of the response seems to have taken the National Transport Authority by surprise. Anne Graham from the NTA promised that all the submissions would be examined. The report included recordings from a meeting that had been organised by Sinn Fein in the East Wall district of inner city Dublin(very near to the ferryport). They will lose their long established 53 service that connects them hourly to the city centre to be replaced by an hourly 63 that will start from City West which is way out on the outskirts of the other side of Dublin. The residents quite rightly say that this new service will be far more prone to disruption than the current route and so the service to East Wall will deteriorate.Also if the residents of the area wished to travel out in the direction of City West they would make that journey by the Luas Red Line which would be far quicker. Of even more concern to them is that the current 151 service that starts by Docklands Station and runs every 20 minutes will be withdrawn completely. Other comments made claimed that Clondalkin will suffer a significant decline in service. I think Leo Varadkar is feeling some heat on this issue as he recently stated that there should be major changes to the plans. The final plan will be published next year. Residents from Kimmage Road in Harolds Cross were concerned about the new bus lanes. They claimed that some of the roads in their area will become one way for cars with just one lane in the middle of the road with bus lanes on either side travelling in opposite directions. The major concern for people was the loss of a direct service to the city centre. The union rep for Dublin Bus also made the point that these proposals had to be viewed in conjunction with plans for a pedestrian plaza at College Green which could make it virtually impossible for some bus services from the south city being able to access O'Connell Street. Over the next 12 months it will be interesting to observe and compare the reactions by the public and politicians in both Dublin and London to the major changes looming on the horizon for their respective bus networks.
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Post by riverside on Sept 7, 2018 15:52:04 GMT
Sundays in Hammersmith & Putney. Yes my favourite day of the week. Why was the Hammersmith Met Station stand only used on Sundays ? The Hammersmith Met. Station stand was first used when the 71 was withdrawn between Hammersmith(Brook Green Hotel) and Richmond (Dee Road) in November 1967. It was replaced by introducing a Monday to Saturday service between Hammermith and Richmond on the previously Sunday only 90C. At Hammersmith instead of running down to the Brook Green Hotel stand the 90C now terminated at the Met. Station. The 90C continued to run through to Staines on Sundays. At the same time the Monday to Friday rush hour journeys on the 116 that previously terminated at Brook Green Hotel were also transferred to the Met. Station. So the Met. Station stand was used on all days of the week. What I think you are referring to is the 267 which in those days stood in the old Hammersmith Grove stand. On Sundays the bus inspectors on duty in Butterwick would get many passengers asking where the 267 for Hampton Court stopped and they would then have to direct them to Hammersmith Grove or King Street. One of the inspectors suggested that now that there was a stand at the Met. Station which at any one time usually had just one RF on the 290 parked, would it be possible to reroute the 267 on Sundays only from the Hammersmith Grove stand to the Met. Station so that in the Hampton Court direction the 267 would serve Butterwick. This was agreed to and so the needs of Hampton Court bound tourists were better met. The 267 stayed at the Hammersmith Grove stand on Monday to Saturdays as London Transport did not wish to subject the route to the delays that might otherwise be caused to the route by the traffic jams that could regularly occur on the Hammersmith gyratory system.
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Post by riverside on Sept 7, 2018 11:41:00 GMT
As all of us are only too aware there are very large bus service changes proposed linked to the opening of Crossrail. 50 years ago today similar changes occurred linked to the opening of the new Victoria Line and the Transport and General Workers Union finally giving agreement to allow the operation of one man large capacity single deck buses. The Victoria Line was the first completely new underground line in nearly sixty years. Others lines had had extensions added in more recent decades. Agreement on the operation of one man double deckers was still to come.
Most of the changes affected E and NE London but also impacted on the Central Area. Some long established routes were radically altered.
The 5A, 5B and 5C all ceased to be, leaving just the plain 5. The 23 was withdrawn west of Aldgate losing its long established routing via Holborn and Oxford Street to Marylebone. The 35 was withdrawn north of Hackney so no longer reached distant Chingford. The 38 was also withdrawn between Walthamstow Garage and Chingford while simultaneously its sister route the 38A (Victoria to Loughton) was withdrawn altogether.
The RML operated 249 and its variants operating from Chingford to Victoria and Albert Docks was also withdrawn. The 123 that had operated between Ilford and Manor House became a major trunk route when diverted over part of the 275 to become an Ilford to Enfield route. At the same time the 269 Enfield to Tottenham Court Road(Post Office Tower) was withdrawn completely. The 275 converted from RM to MB as one of the new feeder services for Walthamstow Central and ran between the new station and Woodford Bridge. Similar new MB route 276 replaced the northern end of the 278, running from Walthamstow Central to Yardley Lane Estate. An MB had a single door at the front but did have 50 seats. The passengers who were to be served by the new Walthamstow circular service the W21 had to put up with the MBS, which was dual doored, with just 25 seats at the back, turnstiles that all passengers had to negotiate with room for 48 standing. The latter number reminds me that also on this day a new RT route the 48 was introduced to run between Whipps Cross and London Bridge to ease the pain of some of the cuts to the 35/38A, but at the same time the 257 London Bridge to Chinford was withdrawn altogether. It is this 48 that could fall to the executioner's axe as a result of present proposals! This was also the first day when all terminating routes in Chingford stood at the station rather than continue to the historic Royal Forest Hotel on the dge of Epping Forest.
Wood Green saw many changes on this day with the introduction of new flat fare routes W1-6. The 233 was withdrawn so top deck travel through Alexandra Park was no longer possible. The route was directly replaced by the W3. The 217, 217A and 231 no longer ran west of Turnpike Lane, being replaced by the new W2. The 29A and 29B were replaced by new RT operated routes the 298 and 298A.
In central London the Red Arrow 500 was finally given siblings with the introduction of new Red Arrow routes 501-507. This resulted in the withdrawal of the old 6A that ran between Waterloo and Hackney Wick( a few journeys ran on to Leyton Town Hall). The 76 lost its peak hour service that ran between Victoria and Liverpool Street. As well as the 76 no longer bifurcating to Liverpool Street it was withdrawn between Waterloo and Victoria apart from peak hour journeys to Westminster(Horse Guards Avenue). The new daily 503 Victoria to Waterloo via Westminster Bridge was the replacement. Cricklewood's long established route 60 that by 1968 ran between Waterloo and Colindale was totally withdrawn being replaced by the introduction of a combination of changes,the new 8B, new Red Arrow 505 and the truncation and diversion of the 245. The 46 that ran between Waterloo and Alperton became a shadow of its former self running between Victoria and Kensal Rise(Monday to Friday) with a peak hour extension to Neasden. Not surprisingly in October 1969 the route was withdrawn entirely. The old Horseferry Road routeing of the 46 was taken over by new Red Arrow 507 that ran between Victoria and Waterloo via Lambeth Bridge. The 70 was also withdrawn between Waterloo and Victoria, thus no longer serving Horseferry Road.
I am sure there are many other changes that happened on that day that I have forgotten to recall. It was the last day of RTLs in the East End. On the day I did travel over to East London to view the changes. In Hammersmith where I lived as a boy the changes were minimal. The main one was the introduction of the new one man operated 290 RF route running between Hammersmith(Met Station) and Richmond(Wakefield Road) from the old Twickenham Garage. As a result the 90C was withdrawn. The 290 served the Great Chertsey Road which was unusual in that the time of week when passenger numbers peaked was on a Sunday afternoon when many people travelled to Mortlake and North Sheen Cemeteries. As it was feared that the RFs on the 290 with their 39 seats might not be able to cope new Sunday RT operated route 90A running from Yeading to Richmond(Dee Road)was extended in the afternoon to Hammersmith(Met. Station). In less than a year the 90A was withdrawn and replaced by the reintroduction of a Sunday service on the 90B as far as Richmond as it was found that the extra capacity provided by the 90A was not needed. As a boy I loved seeing in Hammersmith on a Sunday RTs from Barking Garage and RMs from Poplar Garage travelling all the way to distant Becontree Heath but this Sunday extension was withdrawn as part of the changes. Mortlake RMs never ran east of Aldgate in those days. The 9 was replaced in the East End by the introduction of a Sunday service on the 23. Although the 9 now only ran between Mortlake and Aldgate a small Poplar allocation remained and as in those days garage journeys still operated in service I could still see Poplar RMs running through Hammersmith heading for Blackwall Tunnel.
One other change introduced on the 7th of September 1968 was new Cricklewood operated MB route 268 that ran between Golders Green Station and Finchley Road(LT Station) which finally brought buses through the centre of Hampstead, previously a bus free zone. The new 268 was of particular interest to me as it was the first instance of a route number that I had previously known being reused. I had grown up with the old RM operated 268 running between Hanwell/Acton/Harlesden and Fulham(Edgerley Terrace)/Clapham Junction.
So huge changes are nothing new and in 1968 there was no public consultation as far as I knew. Basically posters advertising the changes just appeared at bus stops or on the sides of buses. The current uncertainty about the future of many routes triggered my memory of 50 years ago. Forgive my personal ramblings but maybe they may be of some interest if just for historical record. Maybe in 50 years time if this site is still functioning some of our younger members will be posting with their memories of the large scale changes of 2018/2019.
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Post by riverside on Aug 19, 2018 18:15:25 GMT
Another interesting thing about this photo is the Scanbus operated 283. It is strangely positioned as by this part of Shepherds Bush Green it should really be on the outside lane about to do the u turn at the eastern end of the Green. Can't see any roadworks signage closing off the normal routing. If my memory serves me correctly Scanbus had Finnish connections and on the first day of them taking over the contract, either the Finnish Ambassador or another bigwig from the embassy turned up to launch the service. Err it may have conked out judging from this photo taken a few minutes later. Bus in background empty, bus in main part of photo rather well loaded. I liked those weird Scania things but as discussed on here before they weren't the most reliable of buses. A definite highlight in the "odd buses to work LRT routes" list. Scancoaches C352SVV 283 Shepherds Bush Green by plcd1, on Flickr Thanks for the additional photo. Growing up I lived locally so I was very intrigued to wonder how the 283 in the original photo was going to get across all those lanes of traffic. Just goes to show that every picture tells a story. The Scanias were definitely odd vehicles for London.
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Post by riverside on Aug 19, 2018 15:55:34 GMT
I think the old 88 ran in sections so the 94 was more of a renumbering of one section. An Oxo to Tooting Broadway we route would probably still be quite a useful route but I guess the Northern line killed it. For part of the day possibly but I have photos of the 88 showing Mitcham as the destination when the bus was leaving Shepherds Bush. London General V3 88 Shepherds Bush by plcd1, on Flickr Another interesting thing about this photo is the Scanbus operated 283. It is strangely positioned as by this part of Shepherds Bush Green it should really be on the outside lane about to do the u turn at the eastern end of the Green. Can't see any roadworks signage closing off the normal routing. If my memory serves me correctly Scanbus had Finnish connections and on the first day of them taking over the contract, either the Finnish Ambassador or another bigwig from the embassy turned up to launch the service.
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Post by riverside on Aug 8, 2018 10:27:06 GMT
I’ve tried in vain to find some reliable text on them. Maybe history is about to repeat itself. It really isn't, Merlins were being withdrawn after barely a few years in service, there's no comparison at all to LT's. There is really no comparison between the introduction of LTs onto some routes and the introduction of the Merlins in 1968. LT conversions have usually involved a double decker bus with a reasonably high seating capacity being replaced by another double decker bus which also has a reasonably high seating capacity. Both are one person operated. There are differences in the number of doors, boarding and alighting arrangements, questions about temperature conditions and when first introduced the provision of customer assistants, but the introduction of Merlins was far more radical and a huge shock to the travelling public who overnight suffered a major downgrade in the quality of their local public transport. The first areas to suffer were Wood Green and Walthamstow on 7th September 1968. Although as a boy I travelled to those areas to experience the new vehicles I got a far better understanding of them when they arrived in West London on 30th November that year when the grand Reshaping Plan hit Ealing. The three routes selected for the axe were: 55 Chiswick(Swimming Pool)and Hayes(Bourne Avenue) 97 Brentford(Half Acre) and Greenford(Red Lion). Extended Sundays to Ruislip Station/Ruislip Lido 211 Ealing Broadway to Greenford(Red Lion). Extended Monday to Saturdays to Ruislip Station. The Chiswick to Greenford section of the 55 became and remains to this day the present E3. The Brentford to Greenford section of the 97 became and remains to this day the present E2. The Greenford to Ealing Broadway section of the 211 became the present day E1 which contnued on via the present day E8 to Brentford, replacing the 83 over this section and the Mon-Fri peak hour service on the old 255 between Hanwell and Brentford. Strangely it was the less busy outer sections of these routes that retained crew operation rather than the other way round. The Hayes to Greenford section of the 55 became the new crew operated RT route 274 which had a Monday to Saturday extension to Ealing Broadway providing buses for the first time along most of Argyle Road(present day E7). Another new crew operated RT route the 273 took over the Ruislip to Greenford section of the 97/211 and then continued to Ealing Broadway replacing the 65(apart from Monday to Friday peak hours) between the Argyle Road terminus and Ealing Broadway. In the interest of balance I would suggest that the fact that the E1-3 are very recognisable to this day shows that the actual route restructuring was a success. The other benefit was for longer distance passengers(a minority) who benefitted by the introduction of a flat fare of 6d(2 and a half pence) or for a child, which I was then 3d(one and a half pence). London Transport tried to prepare the populace for the revolution that was to come by parking a new MBS outside Ealing Town Hall on Sat 23rd November and Mon to Fri 25-29 Nov. Officials were on hand to show passengers the bright new future of bus travel. Let's just say these staff really had mission impossible. The 97 and 211 were RT operated. So passengers were used to a 56 seater open platform bus stopping at a stop. All the passenger had to do was get on and find a seat, of which there were a good number. The 55 was RM operated, so provided 64 seats, although as Turnham Green's allocation was larger on a Saturday than Monday to Friday and the 55 was the garage's only RM route, then V still had to put out some RTs on the 55 on that day of the week. At some time in the 1960s HL had a Sunday allocation on the 97 and put out RMs, but the main service was provided by RTs from Southall. One man operation(as it then was)could not be avoided but LT made sure that it would be as passenger unfriendly as possible. First of all as originally put into service the MBSs only had 25 seats! These were all at the rear of the bus, past the centre doors and up quite a high step. The front half of the bus was purely for standing with a claimed capacity of 48. So every bus that came along had well less than half the seats provided by the older buses. Remember we are not talking Red Arrow routes here, but busy suburban services. To board the bus passengers had to negotiate a high step at the front door and then turn to their right, at which point they were greeted by two turnstiles that completely blocked access to the rest of the bus. The passenger then had to get out their money, put it into the machine and hopefully the turnstile would work and you could gain access to the rest of the bus. As I type this I have the original booklet in front of me that LT produced to explain the changes. It states that the driver will give change if necessary. I think that was because the original change giving machines that had been introduced on earlier buses were unreliable. It warns passengers not to press the coin reject lever unnecessarily as it 'will only return your coin---it will NOT open the gate. Don't put money in while the ENTER sign is lit. Children must press the button by the slot and then put in their coins'. In 1968 there were no free fares for children or senior citizens, so everyone had to pay. On the first day of service I tried out all 3 new routes. As you can imagine it was carnage. Women with their children and laden with shopping bags and elderly people with shopping trolleys found it particularly hard to negotiate the new obstacles that now constituted an everyday part of a bus journey. The weather at the end of November was never likely to be good, but by 5pm in the pitch black the heavens had opened and I distinctly remember heading along the Uxbridge Road on a Chiswick bound E3 absolutely crammed with rain sodden disgruntled passengers who could not understand why their routine bus journey had become so tortuous. The 36ft length of the buses began to cause problems on narrow roads such as Pitshanger Lane and soon the buses received many a dent. Bill Haley and the Comets could no way compete with the 'shake, rattle and roll' that very soon afflicted the MBSs. Sometimes if you sat in the wrong place, too near one of the grab rails, the vibrations were so strong that you felt you were turning into a pneumatic drill. The loudspeaker system that the driver was meant to use to tell passengers to move down the bus and to address those waiting at the bus stops, never seemed to work and were soon scrapped. So yes the introduction of the LTs was a significant change for passengers/enthusiasts. There are those on both sides who can argue the merits or otherwise of the class. In 1968, however, it was a revolutionary change and I don't think anyone could seriously argue that the needs of passengers were seriously considered at the time. It was a case of like it or lump it.
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Post by riverside on Jul 2, 2018 11:30:13 GMT
Once again someone at TfL needs to proof read documents. I don't think a 237 is going to help you make a journey between Hammersmith and Gunnersbury/Chiswick Business Park. Neither for that matter will a 190! These proposals are a sign of what is to come across London. The 27 carries very few people to and from Chiswick Business Park. Having a service that runs through the Business Park is a good idea, however, with the 440 terminating at Turnham Green I don't think it will help to greatly improve connectivity. Ideally I would extend the 440 to Hammersmith to part compensate for the withdrawal of the 27 over its western section. As the real purpose of this exercise is axe wielding there is no way that will happen and so the 440 will not fulfill its true potential at the Chiswick end. I think I understand what will happen to the 27 but maybe I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. TfL seem to want to terminate the 27 at Hammersmith but the Bus Station is full, so therefore it is going to be sent to the old 266/267 stand in Hammersmith Grove via the whole of the King Street/Glenthorne Road one way system. If this is the case it would make more sense to create a new stand at Hammersmith Town Hall, then passengers from the east could be transported to the shops in King Street and on the return journey to Chalk Farm the 27 could begin to pick up passengers in Glenthorne Road. Maybe I have misunderstood the proposals. The N27 will terminate in the Bus Station as there are no capacity problems at night. So the 27 continues to whither. As a conductor at Stamford Brook I worked on the route when it still travelled between Archway and Teddington Station at weekends and as a very small boy I remember travelling on the summer Sunday extension to Hampton Court through Bushey Park. Soon after the weight restictions on Hammersmith Bridge were imposed the long established link between Barnes and Kensington was severed, now the same is to happen to the link between Chiswick and Kensington. TfL is definitely focused on making people change buses or transfer to the Underground. Hammesmith which for so many years had many, many through routes is increasingly becoming a place to turf passengers off buses.
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Post by riverside on Jun 29, 2018 16:01:22 GMT
Lol don’t stress, no apology required. I’m just a staunch RATP defender This may be false memory syndrome, but I seem to remember that at one time a long time ago, when the 65 ran Ealing to Chessington, there were times of the day/days of the week, or whatever, that it ran in two distinct sections, Ealing to Richmond (?) and Kingston to Chessington, with another route (71?) filling the gap in the middle. Is this a figment of my fevered imagination? I have very few personal memories of the 65, unfortunately.Put me out of my misery. The 65 in those days would have been worked by Turnham Green (V) and Norbiton (NB), so feasible from that point of view. The traditional 65 ran between Ealing(Argyle Road) and Leatherhead but years ago there was also a 265 that ran from East Acton to Chessington(Copt Gilders). At certain times of the day (I think Mon-Fri off peaks) the 265 had no through service and operated in two distinct sections. At the northern end of the route the 265 ran from East Acton to Kew Green, whilst at the south end it ran from Kingston to Copt Gilders with no service in between. I think it was in 1965 that the 265 was replaced by the introduction of the 27A between Teddington Station and East Acton at its northern end and a daily service being operated on the 65A via Copt Gilders. The other route that had a similar operation in the 1970s was the 141 on Saturdays when WN buses ran from Wood Green to Moorgate and NX buses between Elephant and Brockley Rise with no service between Moorgate and Elephant.
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Post by riverside on Jun 4, 2018 16:58:03 GMT
The 71,72,73 and 74B all touched Hammersmith in the 1960s, I believe at the same time. The first three all went to, or past, Brook Green Hotel, so it was quite possible those three shared a stop. Let me say, before anyone else does, that the MAIN 73 didn't go to Brook Green but there was an in-service section, worked mostly by Mortlake garage buses, that did from the Richmond direction and I'm pretty sure that 73 E-plates existed on those stops. If I were giving out a trophy for the best answer you would definitely be the recipient In Hammersmith during the 1960s at the same time you had the 71,72,73,74(garage journeys) and 74b you also had the 266,267 and 268. The latter 3 all served Hammersmith but were kept apart by a few yards as the 268 navigated the Hammersmith gyratory while the 266 and 267 stopped a few yards short and terminated in the old Hammersmith Grove stand between King Street and Beadon Road. Until the huge reorganisation of services on 31/12/66 the 73 ran daily between Stoke Newington and Hounslow. Monday to Saturday Mortlake 73s provided regular short workings between Hammersmith(Brook Green Hotel) and Hounslow(Bus Station). Busaholic you are correct as there was an e plate for the 73 at the compulsory stop by Hammersmith Library on the Shepherds Bush Road, although 73s rarely ever had to stop there. On 31/12/66 the 33 returned to the area and took over these workings from the 73. The revived 33 only operated Monday to Saturday but on Sundays the 73 would operate all the way through from Stoke newington to Hounslow. In those days we still had a bus service on Christmas Day and although a unique service was planned by LT for the day it was meant to respect the dictates of Sunday operations. So for one day a year the 73 returned to the Brook Green stand operating as far as Twickenham Station. All these journeys were operated by Mortlake Garage and continued right up to the cessation of Christmas Day services. I think Tottenham buses just got as far as Hammersmith on that day so there were no through buses.
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Post by riverside on May 22, 2018 17:44:11 GMT
If we might need blood pressure tablets when this news becomes public then can someone make sure that a defibrilator is on standby for poor Andrew Dismore when he finds out!
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Post by riverside on Apr 30, 2018 15:34:48 GMT
That looks just like the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal, Germany that has been running for I think nearly a hundred years. The system runs above the local streets and above the river. Amazing form of transport. The cars sort of swing as you step onto them at the overhead stations. If you are ever in that part of Germany it is well worth a ride.
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