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Post by thelondonthing on May 13, 2020 10:32:33 GMT
The coronavirus crisis has given many of us a lot more spare time than we know what to do with - and if you're anything like me, you may well have spent some of that extra time reminiscing of days gone by. Yesterday, I fondly remembered various trips on the 111, from when I lived in Heston back in my childhood. I can still recall, in vivid detail, wonderful journeys on many a Metrobus with much-loved sections during which the driver just seemed to floor it, making the engine roar like it was trying to lift off a space shuttle - whether travelling towards Heathrow (down The Parkway and Bath Road), or on trips to Kingston (down the Hampton Court Road). As a young boy, the sense of speed and power felt every bit as exhilarating as travelling at full beans in a sports car - and I was always furious whenever a passenger would ring the bell on those sections of route, or stick their hand out ahead of us, to slow down our epic high-speed run. But my favourite journeys on the 111 were the rarest of them all: during some of the Hounslow Bus Garage open days. On a handful of occasions, I was able to enjoy my local route on a dizzying variety of buses - whether a classic London Transport RT, a smart Green Line RMC, GM Buses Atlantean, or even a Bristol Lodekka (in, I think, National (NBC) colours). I also remember one particular journey on a 9 when I was younger, during which the Routemaster was - how shall I put this? - insanely, probably dangerously overcrowded. Picture the stereotypical image of a bus in an impoverished nation - people pressed against the windows, probably a few sitting on the roof, maybe a couple of chickens and a pig in there somewhere. The conductor was trapped upstairs as there were people standing all the way up; the bus was stuffed beyond bursting - so of course, my mate and I jumped on the edge of the packed platform as it was pulling away from the stop and practically dangled off the back of the bus all the way down to Hyde Park Corner (as other passengers watched in mild horror), clinging to the pole for dear life and swinging out into the road like absolute fools. It was completely irresponsible, and utterly, utterly stupid, but at the time, it was glorious and we felt invincible; such is the foolish ignorance of youth. Complete morons, both of us, and we were lucky we weren't killed - but it's certainly stuck with me as one of my more memorable journeys. However, two of my most memorable journeys were memorable for reasons I'd rather forget! One was on a H28 during its London & Country days, on a single-door (East Lancs-body?) Dennis Dart. On a late evening journey, the bus was turning right into Summerhouse Avenue from Vicarage Farm Road, in Heston. As the bus turned, a car behind tried to overtake, and smashed into the side of the bus. I was sitting on one of the two fold-down benches in the middle of the bus, and was flung to the floor with the impact. I wasn't really hurt beyond a bruised bum (although there were a few tears once the adrenaline had worn off and the shock had kicked in...!), but I still remember it remarkably clearly almost three decades later! And I recall equally well a journey on the R70 from the time when it was operated by Tellings-Golden Miller. Shortly after passing Fulwell towards the Hamptons, a young woman at the back started screaming incoherently at another passenger, and then moved down the saloon shouting at everyone else, including the driver. By the time we got to Hampton Hill High Street, the driver was concerned enough to stop the bus, switch off the engine, and leave his cab to ask the passenger to get off. She didn't like that at all; she reacted by grabbing another passenger's shopping bag and started flinging items around the bus. At that point, the dozen or so passengers, myself included, quickly freaked out and got the hell off the bus as quickly as we could. The driver, to his credit, was the last one off, physically pulling the doors shut behind him (indeed, the driver was superb - he apologised repeatedly for our journeys being delayed, as if it was somehow his fault, and asked everyone individually if they were okay, if they were injured, if they needed any help). To my dismay, I soon realised that in my haste to escape, I had left my beloved Nokia 7210 on the bus - it suffered a terrible end, being used as one of several tools (including a tin of tomatoes and a high-heel shoe) used by the woman to attempt, and fail, to break a window. Thankfully, I have plenty of somewhat happier memories of London bus journeys to offset those that are better left forgotten... More importantly, what are your most memorable journeys on a London bus?
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Post by Dillon95 on May 13, 2020 11:04:47 GMT
It used to be a treat when I was growing up to get the 233 to Sidcup, and my mum would take me for a McDonald's. It's the small things in life.
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Post by thelondonthing on May 13, 2020 11:16:02 GMT
It used to be a treat when I was growing up to get the 233 to Sidcup, and my mum would take me for a McDonald's. It's the small things in life. I couldn't agree more. Those small things are often the most powerful and most cherished of memories.
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Post by M1199 on May 14, 2020 0:20:38 GMT
I've plenty of happy memories of Metrobuses getting thrashed on the 207, especially on the dual carriageway from Hayes Grapes into Uxbridge. Probably my favourite section would be from the lights at Coney Green down to the stop at The Greenway. Drivers would release the handbrake and it'd be foot to the floor until Hillingdon Cemetery (as long as the stop at St.Johns Church wasn't needed) The vehicle would slam into 3rd just in time for the driver to slam the anchors on for the 40mph speed camera, the sound of the screaming retarder was a joy to behold. One notable 207 journey was on M1400, caught it from Ealing Broadway, it must of been the drivers last run of the day, as he ragged the @rse off the old girl! foot to the floor between every stop, then literally slinging it into every stop and getting the retarder screaming! A 607 never overtook until we reached Uxbridge. Was my last journey on M1400 as it was withdrawn shortly afterwards. Can't believe it's been 20 years since mainstream Metrobus operation ended on the 207. At least my alias, M1199 managed to cling on till 2004. Another memorable M journey was on the 71, going to Chessington, the driver, who was the spit of Errol Brown (of Hot Chocolate fame) M would drop into 2nd early, so he would get it to kickdown back into 1st, by the time it would change back into 2nd, it was flying, this was the only Metro I've ridden that made a funny whining noise whilst in second (only way to describe it is to listen to The Chemical Brothers 'Let forever Be' there like a whining noise in it, which was almost identical!) I remember being on a packed RML on the 9 once, was hanging on at the back, the conductor who was a bit of a rude boy, spent the time from Hyde Park Corner to Hammersmith, trying to chat up a passenger, he was even giving the nod to passengers (including myself) to give the 2 bells to the driver! He didn't get nowhere with the girl and at Hammersmith, when leaving on the H91, I saw him and the driver 'having words'!!! Have also had a fair few memorable journies/memories on my local U3 over the years: You always got a lively ride after 2200 when it was operated with the little MA's, one evening, my journey from Uxbridge to Appletree Avenue could barely of took 10 minutes! I'd struggle to do it in 10 minutes in my car! When it was operated by Capital Logistics/TGM, although the service was terrible, the majority of drivers were lethal on the accelerator! Those Excels went like rockets. Then in 2000/1 once it moved into TF, you'd never know which vehicle would turn up! You had Excels, Green Darts from the 465, Kingston Uni Darts, Darts off the 235, R68 & R70 and MPD's off the H20/H26/H28 - Wish I took photos of all these now! Another on DML41336, we were stuck in traffic at Heathrow, the driver in his boredom, used his keys to prize open the Assault Screen (First had fixed them shut by then) to rest his elbow in the opening portion! More recently, my last journey on Abellio's 9765 is up there as one I'll remember for a long time to come! Luckily I recorded it! Think it's fair to say the driver liked driving those Tridents! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UprsMlwv7cI'll also mention the H91, when it was operated by LLW's but actually it was with whatever HH of V would throw out on it! Waiting at Hammersmith, you'd of seen a big grin appear on my face if I saw A LLW or M come round the corner or a grimace if it was a DR/L, CD or DP!
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Post by vjaska on May 14, 2020 0:46:23 GMT
As M's are a little subtopic of this thread, I can contribute here:
I had two fantastic journeys on the 337 under London United on a M in the 90's doing the full route back when Upper Richmond Road wasn't filled with traffic - both drivers floored it between Putney & Richmond. Closer to home, another memorable M journey was on the 37 when the bridge at North Dulwich was shut for vital strengthening works and the 37 had to divert via Dulwich Village, Dulwich Common, West Dulwuch, Croxted Road & Norwood Road and both drivers there and back were very happy to floor it even through Dulwich Village which from memory, didn't have speed humps at that time. One last memorable M journey was on a 118 under Cowie South London when our M was hit in the side at the front from a car which failed to brake as he approached the top of Mount Ephraim Road in Streatham - light damage only thankfully and enough for the driver to continue his journey. One more M one from me was on the 196 to school one day - we started to climb Knights Hill but about halfway up, the bus conked out but the driver seemingly forgot to apply the handbrake and we suddenly rolled right back down thankfully with no traffic behind us, was a very scary experience though. M's are such fantastic, jointly holding the title of my favourite all time bus alongside the T & LT ECW L's
As for other memorable journeys:
A journey on a S reg DLA on the 109 where a couple of cockroaches crawled out underneath the seats horrifying me & other passengers
A journey on the 333 where two people were smoking drugs out of a massive gold bong on the upper deck
A journey on a Stagecoach 58 reg Enviro 300 in Eastbourne where we were stationary at a stop, picking up passengers. I was sitting on the offside rear seat when a car who was attempting to pull around the bus completely misjudged it and smacked into the corner where I was sitting. The bus received a cut bumper whilst the car had a massive dent in it's bonnet and collected some blue paint for it's troubles as well. My mate who I was with at the time and who lives there told me that's more common than you think!
A journey on London United's RM they used for private hire at the time but was on a shuttle to Cobham Bus Rally due to engineering work on the South West Train network. All went well until we took a wrong turn off the A3 down a country lane covered in woodland - thankfully, we just about managed to find a spot to turn around in but we were mightily close from grounding out.
A journey on a RM on the 159 on Brixton Road where the window I was sitting at was shot at by someone in the house opposite the bus with some sort of gun firing ball bearings or something similar. The glass shattered but didn't break and the bus was taken out of service at Vassall Road
A very early memory of mine was being enchanted by the reversing mirror on the rear window of T's and watching the outside world looking very distorted through one
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Post by paulo on May 14, 2020 6:53:13 GMT
I've plenty of happy memories of Metrobuses getting thrashed on the 207, especially on the dual carriageway from Hayes Grapes into Uxbridge. Probably my favourite section would be from the lights at Coney Green down to the stop at The Greenway. Drivers would release the handbrake and it'd be foot to the floor until Hillingdon Cemetery (as long as the stop at St.Johns Church wasn't needed) The vehicle would slam into 3rd just in time for the driver to slam the anchors on for the 40mph speed camera, the sound of the screaming retarder was a joy to behold. One notable 207 journey was on M1400, caught it from Ealing Broadway, it must of been the drivers last run of the day, as he ragged the @rse off the old girl! foot to the floor between every stop, then literally slinging it into every stop and getting the retarder screaming! A 607 never overtook until we reached Uxbridge. Was my last journey on M1400 as it was withdrawn shortly afterwards. Can't believe it's been 20 years since mainstream Metrobus operation ended on the 207. At least my alias, M1199 managed to cling on till 2004. Another memorable M journey was on the 71, going to Chessington, the driver, who was the spit of Errol Brown (of Hot Chocolate fame) M would drop into 2nd early, so he would get it to kickdown back into 1st, by the time it would change back into 2nd, it was flying, this was the only Metro I've ridden that made a funny whining noise whilst in second (only way to describe it is to listen to The Chemical Brothers 'Let forever Be' there like a whining noise in it, which was almost identical!) I remember being on a packed RML on the 9 once, was hanging on at the back, the conductor who was a bit of a rude boy, spent the time from Hyde Park Corner to Hammersmith, trying to chat up a passenger, he was even giving the nod to passengers (including myself) to give the 2 bells to the driver! He didn't get nowhere with the girl and at Hammersmith, when leaving on the H91, I saw him and the driver 'having words'!!! Have also had a fair few memorable journies/memories on my local U3 over the years: You always got a lively ride after 2200 when it was operated with the little MA's, one evening, my journey from Uxbridge to Appletree Avenue could barely of took 10 minutes! I'd struggle to do it in 10 minutes in my car! When it was operated by Capital Logistics/TGM, although the service was terrible, the majority of drivers were lethal on the accelerator! Those Excels went like rockets. Then in 2000/1 once it moved into TF, you'd never know which vehicle would turn up! You had Excels, Green Darts from the 465, Kingston Uni Darts, Darts off the 235, R68 & R70 and MPD's off the H20/H26/H28 - Wish I took photos of all these now! Another on DML41336, we were stuck in traffic at Heathrow, the driver in his boredom, used his keys to prize open the Assault Screen (First had fixed them shut by then) to rest his elbow in the opening portion! More recently, my last journey on Abellio's 9765 is up there as one I'll remember for a long time to come! Luckily I recorded it! Think it's fair to say the driver liked driving those Tridents! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UprsMlwv7cI'll also mention the H91, when it was operated by LLW's but actually it was with whatever HH of V would throw out on it! Waiting at Hammersmith, you'd of seen a big grin appear on my face if I saw A LLW or M come round the corner or a grimace if it was a DR/L, CD or DP! I’ve got a feeling the H91 may have been operated by AV back then?
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Post by ServerKing on May 14, 2020 7:17:10 GMT
Fantastic bus journeys? I've had a few memorable ones - Streetlite thrash Tuesday on WS140 on the 232 to Neasden - at one point we were up to 35 miles an hour Earliest memories were of the Daimler Fleetlines on the E1 from Brentford to Ealing Broadway, before the route was split in the early 90's. There was a coin box that popped when you dropped the fare (30p Adult, 10p Child) in Being in west London, nearly everything was Voith Metrobus apart from the 607 which had Leyland Nationals with a beastly Leyland TL11 engine! These made a fantastic noise along the dual carriageway passing Ealing Hospital. The awful Renault / Wright buses with "E-Line" / Ealing Buses, several cramped rides from school on an E3 to Northfields... I remember driver changes on the 207 when it still had RM's, just before Hanwell Broadway. Armchair had won the 65 with their iconic white and orange Atlanteans which used to race each other between Kew and Richmond. Was nice seing a bit of variety. Apart from when I would stay with relatives in Harold Hill, which was Leyland Titan country, but there was the unique T684 (?) which had a Voith box which would do cameo appearances on the 374. Guiding a driver of a new DLA on the 242 out of a tight corner on Chatsworth Road, Hackney as he'd misjudged the turn. I'd moved to Homerton by then and it was nice to see something new. At the same time, Stagecoach had bought the Dennis Trident / TA class which were the noisiest buses I'd ever been on, as I was not used to Euro2 Voith thrash on the 277's A frightening ride on Enfield's DLA106 (T306FGN) where the 149 driver decided to race a van along Shoreditch High Street, I was getting ready to get off the bus and holding the pole by the doors when the bus slammed to a halt after trying to mount the kerb to get around said van... I jarred my neck and ended up in hospital for most of the day at Royal London. (Arriva settled out of court through my health insurance) DLA thrash on the 370 before Grays replaced the buses with noisier VLA's and the route lost interest... I would go back and try a DW ride if I wasn't stuck indoors during the Lockdown A hellfire ride on the 232 with Metroline's 07 plate Voith MM's... only having three gears, they would scream along the North Circular towards New Southgate Waiting for an elderly TA on the 189 to start it's journey at Oxford Circus, whilst the driver decided to have a cheeky CIGAR in the cab and stank out the bus DLA231 on the 123 losing it's silencer near Bruce Grove - the noise was deafening. In 2011 many memorable journeys on the W3's Antiques Roadshow with elderly DLA's on the route, missing blinds, frequent breakdowns and short turns. Watching the driver of DLA144 having to kick the ramp to make it go back in after letting a wheelchair user off the bus near Northumberland Park... the buses giving their best to climb the hills around Ally Pally at 10 miles an hour Though Tottenham's DLA156 was a beast, and one of the quickest I'd been on. DW411, 'son of Streetdeck', making it's first trips on the 349 after months of testing, a race between me and the late snoggle to get a ride first in 2015 - I'd even travelled from Brentford to ride it! A ride on one of Norwood's L's in it's later life with exhaust fumes coming into the cabin. Short trip on a 417 as it struggled up Central Hill. Hellfire thrash on the 19's DW's - a driver ignored a passenger trying to catch the bus at Sadler's Wells - passenger kicks side of bus in protest, causing driver to lose it, as he left the cab to try fight with the passenger. Passenger outran him, and the driver swore at us that he hated the job and if we didn't like the way he drove to get off the bus! Fast and Furious driving towards Bloomsbury where I got off the bus PS thelondonthing, love your new avatar, mate
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Post by thelondonthing on May 14, 2020 15:56:03 GMT
I've plenty of happy memories of Metrobuses getting thrashed on the 207, especially on the dual carriageway from Hayes Grapes into Uxbridge. Probably my favourite section would be from the lights at Coney Green down to the stop at The Greenway. Drivers would release the handbrake and it'd be foot to the floor until Hillingdon Cemetery (as long as the stop at St.Johns Church wasn't needed) The vehicle would slam into 3rd just in time for the driver to slam the anchors on for the 40mph speed camera, the sound of the screaming retarder was a joy to behold. One notable 207 journey was on M1400, caught it from Ealing Broadway, it must of been the drivers last run of the day, as he ragged the @rse off the old girl! foot to the floor between every stop, then literally slinging it into every stop and getting the retarder screaming! A 607 never overtook until we reached Uxbridge. Was my last journey on M1400 as it was withdrawn shortly afterwards. Can't believe it's been 20 years since mainstream Metrobus operation ended on the 207. At least my alias, M1199 managed to cling on till 2004. Another memorable M journey was on the 71, going to Chessington, the driver, who was the spit of Errol Brown (of Hot Chocolate fame) M would drop into 2nd early, so he would get it to kickdown back into 1st, by the time it would change back into 2nd, it was flying, this was the only Metro I've ridden that made a funny whining noise whilst in second (only way to describe it is to listen to The Chemical Brothers 'Let forever Be' there like a whining noise in it, which was almost identical!) I remember being on a packed RML on the 9 once, was hanging on at the back, the conductor who was a bit of a rude boy, spent the time from Hyde Park Corner to Hammersmith, trying to chat up a passenger, he was even giving the nod to passengers (including myself) to give the 2 bells to the driver! He didn't get nowhere with the girl and at Hammersmith, when leaving on the H91, I saw him and the driver 'having words'!!! Have also had a fair few memorable journies/memories on my local U3 over the years: You always got a lively ride after 2200 when it was operated with the little MA's, one evening, my journey from Uxbridge to Appletree Avenue could barely of took 10 minutes! I'd struggle to do it in 10 minutes in my car! When it was operated by Capital Logistics/TGM, although the service was terrible, the majority of drivers were lethal on the accelerator! Those Excels went like rockets. Then in 2000/1 once it moved into TF, you'd never know which vehicle would turn up! You had Excels, Green Darts from the 465, Kingston Uni Darts, Darts off the 235, R68 & R70 and MPD's off the H20/H26/H28 - Wish I took photos of all these now! Another on DML41336, we were stuck in traffic at Heathrow, the driver in his boredom, used his keys to prize open the Assault Screen (First had fixed them shut by then) to rest his elbow in the opening portion! More recently, my last journey on Abellio's 9765 is up there as one I'll remember for a long time to come! Luckily I recorded it! Think it's fair to say the driver liked driving those Tridents! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UprsMlwv7cI'll also mention the H91, when it was operated by LLW's but actually it was with whatever HH of V would throw out on it! Waiting at Hammersmith, you'd of seen a big grin appear on my face if I saw A LLW or M come round the corner or a grimace if it was a DR/L, CD or DP! Your description of the cheeky conductor certainly made me smile with nostalgia; there were so many wonderful characters serving as conductors across the fleet, and they're undoubtedly one of the things I miss most about the Routemaster days! I had similar experiences with the H91 and its extraordinary variety of different vehicles - there was a period of a couple of years during which it was truly a pot luck as to which type would appear on your service. The DRs and DRLs were especially unwelcome! I can just about remember, from my earliest childhood, the days when the H91 used to be the 91... in those days, it was all-Metrobus, all the time
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Post by thelondonthing on May 14, 2020 16:09:48 GMT
As M's are a little subtopic of this thread, I can contribute here: I had two fantastic journeys on the 337 under London United on a M in the 90's doing the full route back when Upper Richmond Road wasn't filled with traffic - both drivers floored it between Putney & Richmond. Closer to home, another memorable M journey was on the 37 when the bridge at North Dulwich was shut for vital strengthening works and the 37 had to divert via Dulwich Village, Dulwich Common, West Dulwuch, Croxted Road & Norwood Road and both drivers there and back were very happy to floor it even through Dulwich Village which from memory, didn't have speed humps at that time. One last memorable M journey was on a 118 under Cowie South London when our M was hit in the side at the front from a car which failed to brake as he approached the top of Mount Ephraim Road in Streatham - light damage only thankfully and enough for the driver to continue his journey. One more M one from me was on the 196 to school one day - we started to climb Knights Hill but about halfway up, the bus conked out but the driver seemingly forgot to apply the handbrake and we suddenly rolled right back down thankfully with no traffic behind us, was a very scary experience though. M's are such fantastic, jointly holding the title of my favourite all time bus alongside the T & LT ECW L's As for other memorable journeys: A journey on a S reg DLA on the 109 where a couple of cockroaches crawled out underneath the seats horrifying me & other passengers A journey on the 333 where two people were smoking drugs out of a massive gold bong on the upper deck A journey on a Stagecoach 58 reg Enviro 300 in Eastbourne where we were stationary at a stop, picking up passengers. I was sitting on the offside rear seat when a car who was attempting to pull around the bus completely misjudged it and smacked into the corner where I was sitting. The bus received a cut bumper whilst the car had a massive dent in it's bonnet and collected some blue paint for it's troubles as well. My mate who I was with at the time and who lives there told me that's more common than you think! A journey on London United's RM they used for private hire at the time but was on a shuttle to Cobham Bus Rally due to engineering work on the South West Train network. All went well until we took a wrong turn off the A3 down a country lane covered in woodland - thankfully, we just about managed to find a spot to turn around in but we were mightily close from grounding out. A journey on a RM on the 159 on Brixton Road where the window I was sitting at was shot at by someone in the house opposite the bus with some sort of gun firing ball bearings or something similar. The glass shattered but didn't break and the bus was taken out of service at Vassall Road A very early memory of mine was being enchanted by the reversing mirror on the rear window of T's and watching the outside world looking very distorted through one I'm sure I remember some of the Ms - at least those that I rode frequently on London United - having a weirdly 'bouncy' handbrake. Sitting at the very front of the bus, closest to the driver on the four-seat bench on the left, always gave me a good view of the cab, and as a kid, I would studiously watch everything that the driver did while driving, and when at stops. I recall many occasions on which the driver would pull the handbrake fully back, but it wouldn't properly 'lock' into position. On some buses, the handbrake handle would literally 'bounce' forward into the 'unlocked' position, and it would take several attempts for the driver to get it to properly engage. On at least one occasion that I can recall, the bus had to be taken out of service for this very reason because it was deemed unsafe. I'm glad to say that I never experienced a Metrobus rolling backwards down a hill, though...! No cockroaches on a bus either (not in the UK, anyway!), but I was explosively vomited on by a stranger on an N10 once (back in the days when it ran through to Richmond). Gawd bless the night bus. *salutes*I can just about remember a similar fascination with the unusual rear window arrangement on the T-class as a very young child - I only experienced a tiny handful of journeys on them, as they weren't in wide usage in my part of town when I was growing up, so it was a very rare treat - but I too remember being quietly mesmerised by it. (I'm sure my parents were just delighted that they'd found something to shut me up for a few minutes...)
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Post by 6HP502C on May 14, 2020 17:41:43 GMT
To my dismay, I soon realised that in my haste to escape, I had left my beloved Nokia 7210 on the bus - it suffered a terrible end, being used as one of several tools (including a tin of tomatoes and a high-heel shoe) used by the woman to attempt, and fail, to break a window. Funny you should say that. I ordered a Nokia 3200 and 7210 last week and received them today. Need a work phone whilst working away from the office and got nostalgic for polyphonic ringtones and long battery life! When the 7210 was hot I was 12 and couldn't afford one so chuffed to have one now! Probably my favourite section would be from the lights at Coney Green down to the stop at The Greenway. Drivers would release the handbrake and it'd be foot to the floor until Hillingdon Cemetery (as long as the stop at St.Johns Church wasn't needed) The vehicle would slam into 3rd just in time for the driver to slam the anchors on for the 40mph speed camera, the sound of the screaming retarder was a joy to behold. ... More recently, my last journey on Abellio's 9765 is up there as one I'll remember for a long time to come! Luckily I recorded it! Think it's fair to say the driver liked driving those Tridents! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UprsMlwv7cIt's not a Metro and I don't know if the bus makes it into 3rd gear (I think it might just enter 3rd about 60 seconds in) but this is an extract from a 607 route visual showing Coney Green to The Greenway - and the speed camera is still there! For some reason the cooling fans always came on going down that hill, never did work out why www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Fw53d3iiENice video of 9765. Asides from the transmission the engine sounds in very good nick. It had its up and down days, sadly my final memory of it was trying and failing to top 15mph with severe fuel pump issues and sounding like a rattly bag of nails . I gather Byfleet made good of it before it was withdrawn for good.
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Post by M1199 on May 14, 2020 19:44:29 GMT
To my dismay, I soon realised that in my haste to escape, I had left my beloved Nokia 7210 on the bus - it suffered a terrible end, being used as one of several tools (including a tin of tomatoes and a high-heel shoe) used by the woman to attempt, and fail, to break a window. Funny you should say that. I ordered a Nokia 3200 and 7210 last week and received them today. Need a work phone whilst working away from the office and got nostalgic for polyphonic ringtones and long battery life! When the 7210 was hot I was 12 and couldn't afford one so chuffed to have one now! Probably my favourite section would be from the lights at Coney Green down to the stop at The Greenway. Drivers would release the handbrake and it'd be foot to the floor until Hillingdon Cemetery (as long as the stop at St.Johns Church wasn't needed) The vehicle would slam into 3rd just in time for the driver to slam the anchors on for the 40mph speed camera, the sound of the screaming retarder was a joy to behold. ... More recently, my last journey on Abellio's 9765 is up there as one I'll remember for a long time to come! Luckily I recorded it! Think it's fair to say the driver liked driving those Tridents! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UprsMlwv7cIt's not a Metro and I don't know if the bus makes it into 3rd gear (I think it might just enter 3rd about 60 seconds in) but this is an extract from a 607 route visual showing Coney Green to The Greenway - and the speed camera is still there! For some reason the cooling fans always came on going down that hill, never did work out why www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Fw53d3iiENice video of 9765. Asides from the transmission the engine sounds in very good nick. It had its up and down days, sadly my final memory of it was trying and failing to top 15mph with severe fuel pump issues and sounding like a rattly bag of nails . I gather Byfleet made good of it before it was withdrawn for good. Nice video! Just how the 607 should be driven! Now it's a Greenford route with Hybrids, it just doesn't feel the same anymore using it! In fact, probably the last decent journies on it were with you behind the wheel, in a B7TL of course! Remember going up to White City and back cause I had nothing else better to do, as we were nearing Uxbridge, we'd of had a similar scenario to your video happening until, if I remember correctly, an idiot decided to run out onto the road in front of you by Hillingdon Fire Station causing you to hit the brakes and blast the horn at him! Shame 9765 ended up like that, those Trident's were (are) probably the most loved on this forum! Always enjoyed reading yours and Steve80's posts regarding them.
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Post by Alex on May 14, 2020 22:43:00 GMT
Unfortunately my most memorable are for the wrong reasons.....
In around 2007 I was on a route 163 LDP in Wimbledon Chase on a Sunday evening (by the now gone Emma Hamilton pub) when a group of kids threw a fencepost through the window I was sat at. I saw them just in time and moved back, the window came into the bus and held together for a few seconds before falling apart. I actually had to tell the driver as he didn't realise it had happened.....
The way I was shouted and sworn at by a 330 driver on the May 2015 bank holiday because he tried to terminate the bus before the last stop at Canning Town with me still on it.
This one I can't describe fully - but it happened on the upper deck of a 93 bus in about 2009/2010, near the George Harvesters past Morden South station. It involves a group of girls, a mobile phone with a bloke on the other end on loudspeaker, then the bloke seeming very embarrassed when everyone else on the bus started shouting that they had heard what he had been up to.....
Kids in South Wimbledon regularly trying to stop the N155 away from bus stops by standing in the road in front of the bus.
The time in 2014 when I was on my way to meet my girlfriend - now wife and it took 1hr40mins to get from East Ham Fire Station to Manor Park Station on the 104 (if I knew the area then like I do now I would have walked).
The journey on a 196 in around 2015 where a 'gentleman' spent ages moving around sitting next to everyone on the top deck trying to sell them a CD he had.
The time in around 2015 on an (N)53 in Charlton where I had to wake someone up as it looked like they had fallen asleep and were choking on their own vomit (this is with everyone else on the top deck saying "that bloke doesn't look well" but nobody wanted to go near him).
I've also managed to wake up in Sutton Garage, Plumstead Garage and Romford Garage as well.....
All fun and games....
EDIT: Don't know why I didn't think of this: Going to a non-league football match early in 2016 (midweek evening game) I got the Northern line at Morden with the idea of going to London Bridge, Jubilee line and towards SE London. Sadly I fell asleep and woke up as the train was approaching High Barnet. There were no trains back. I got the N20 to Trafalgar Square and made a good connection with the 53. Sadly I woke up in darkness on the slip road near PD garage. Then fell asleep again and woke up on the Old Kent Road having gone BACK to Whitehall in the meantime. I got off the second time and got home at 05:35 (I remember the number as after that I adopted it as my bedroom bus - 13023).....
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Post by thelondonthing on May 14, 2020 23:38:05 GMT
Fantastic bus journeys? I've had a few memorable ones - Streetlite thrash Tuesday on WS140 on the 232 to Neasden - at one point we were up to 35 miles an hour Earliest memories were of the Daimler Fleetlines on the E1 from Brentford to Ealing Broadway, before the route was split in the early 90's. There was a coin box that popped when you dropped the fare (30p Adult, 10p Child) in Being in west London, nearly everything was Voith Metrobus apart from the 607 which had Leyland Nationals with a beastly Leyland TL11 engine! These made a fantastic noise along the dual carriageway passing Ealing Hospital. The awful Renault / Wright buses with "E-Line" / Ealing Buses, several cramped rides from school on an E3 to Northfields... I remember driver changes on the 207 when it still had RM's, just before Hanwell Broadway. Armchair had won the 65 with their iconic white and orange Atlanteans which used to race each other between Kew and Richmond. Was nice seing a bit of variety. Apart from when I would stay with relatives in Harold Hill, which was Leyland Titan country, but there was the unique T684 (?) which had a Voith box which would do cameo appearances on the 374. Guiding a driver of a new DLA on the 242 out of a tight corner on Chatsworth Road, Hackney as he'd misjudged the turn. I'd moved to Homerton by then and it was nice to see something new. At the same time, Stagecoach had bought the Dennis Trident / TA class which were the noisiest buses I'd ever been on, as I was not used to Euro2 Voith thrash on the 277's A frightening ride on Enfield's DLA106 (T306FGN) where the 149 driver decided to race a van along Shoreditch High Street, I was getting ready to get off the bus and holding the pole by the doors when the bus slammed to a halt after trying to mount the kerb to get around said van... I jarred my neck and ended up in hospital for most of the day at Royal London. (Arriva settled out of court through my health insurance) DLA thrash on the 370 before Grays replaced the buses with noisier VLA's and the route lost interest... I would go back and try a DW ride if I wasn't stuck indoors during the Lockdown A hellfire ride on the 232 with Metroline's 07 plate Voith MM's... only having three gears, they would scream along the North Circular towards New Southgate Waiting for an elderly TA on the 189 to start it's journey at Oxford Circus, whilst the driver decided to have a cheeky CIGAR in the cab and stank out the bus DLA231 on the 123 losing it's silencer near Bruce Grove - the noise was deafening. In 2011 many memorable journeys on the W3's Antiques Roadshow with elderly DLA's on the route, missing blinds, frequent breakdowns and short turns. Watching the driver of DLA144 having to kick the ramp to make it go back in after letting a wheelchair user off the bus near Northumberland Park... the buses giving their best to climb the hills around Ally Pally at 10 miles an hour Though Tottenham's DLA156 was a beast, and one of the quickest I'd been on. DW411, 'son of Streetdeck', making it's first trips on the 349 after months of testing, a race between me and the late snoggle to get a ride first in 2015 - I'd even travelled from Brentford to ride it! A ride on one of Norwood's L's in it's later life with exhaust fumes coming into the cabin. Short trip on a 417 as it struggled up Central Hill. Hellfire thrash on the 19's DW's - a driver ignored a passenger trying to catch the bus at Sadler's Wells - passenger kicks side of bus in protest, causing driver to lose it, as he left the cab to try fight with the passenger. Passenger outran him, and the driver swore at us that he hated the job and if we didn't like the way he drove to get off the bus! Fast and Furious driving towards Bloomsbury where I got off the bus PS thelondonthing , love your new avatar, mate I have only the very vaguest and most distant recollection of the Fleetlines - I can't have travelled on them more than two or three times - but I'm sure I remember that, in addition to the coinbox you mentioned, there was also a physical barrier and turnstile (a three-pronged, waist-high affair, similar to those still used outside some public toilets) just past the drivers cab. I would have been very young at the time, but I'm reasonably sure I haven't imagined that ...have I? I also recall the Nationals on the 607; did they have coach seats, or was that just the Ms? My memory is getting rather hazy, which I shall choose to blame on the rather delicious bottle of merlot that I've consumed this evening. *hiccups*I also enjoyed many a fine journey on the Nationals in my part of town, although many were phased out by London United relatively early, after serving faithfully on now-long-dead routes like the 202 and 257 (although some soldiered on and got a new lease on life thanks to the Greenway upgrades, and lived on at LU for several years allocated to the H37). But the 'classic' Nationals remained a common sight around Hounslow in service on routes 116, 117 and 417 under Westlink; and a separate fleet of single-door Nationals was procured for the 116 and 117 when they were operated by the ill-fated TGM Buses. Regardless of operator, I always enjoyed travelling on the old-school LS-class - the saloon layout was pleasant, and the distinctive angry whine from the engine was always music to my ears (with Greenway engine upgrades not so much). Did Atlanteans serve on the 65? My recollection of the Armchair days was that it was always operated with Olympians, but I'm quite willing to accept that I'm wrong about that! (And many thanks, I'm glad you like the avatar! )
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Post by thelondonthing on May 14, 2020 23:53:19 GMT
Unfortunately my most memorable are for the wrong reasons..... In around 2007 I was on a route 163 LDP in Wimbledon Chase on a Sunday evening (by the now gone Emma Hamilton pub) when a group of kids threw a fencepost through the window I was sat at. I saw them just in time and moved back, the window came into the bus and held together for a few seconds before falling apart. I actually had to tell the driver as he didn't realise it had happened..... The way I was shouted and sworn at by a 330 driver on the May 2015 bank holiday because he tried to terminate the bus before the last stop at Canning Town with me still on it. This one I can't describe fully - but it happened on the upper deck of a 93 bus in about 2009/2010, near the George Harvesters past Morden South station. It involves a group of girls, a mobile phone with a bloke on the other end on loudspeaker, then the bloke seeming very embarrassed when everyone else on the bus started shouting that they had heard what he had been up to..... Kids in South Wimbledon regularly trying to stop the N155 away from bus stops by standing in the road in front of the bus. The time in 2014 when I was on my way to meet my girlfriend - now wife and it took 1hr40mins to get from East Ham Fire Station to Manor Park Station on the 104 (if I knew the area then like I do now I would have walked). The journey on a 196 in around 2015 where a 'gentleman' spent ages moving around sitting next to everyone on the top deck trying to sell them a CD he had. The time in around 2015 on an (N)53 in Charlton where I had to wake someone up as it looked like they had fallen asleep and were choking on their own vomit (this is with everyone else on the top deck saying "that bloke doesn't look well" but nobody wanted to go near him). I've also managed to wake up in Sutton Garage, Plumstead Garage and Romford Garage as well..... All fun and games.... EDIT: Don't know why I didn't think of this: Going to a non-league football match early in 2016 (midweek evening game) I got the Northern line at Morden with the idea of going to London Bridge, Jubilee line and towards SE London. Sadly I fell asleep and woke up as the train was approaching High Barnet. There were no trains back. I got the N20 to Trafalgar Square and made a good connection with the 53. Sadly I woke up in darkness on the slip road near PD garage. Then fell asleep again and woke up on the Old Kent Road having gone BACK to Whitehall in the meantime. I got off the second time and got home at 05:35 (I remember the number as after that I adopted it as my bedroom bus - 13023)..... With the sheer amount of bad luck you've had on the buses, I'd recommend getting an Uber account! Your post also reminded me of an occasion in my late-teens when I woke up at 6:30am on the floor, at the back of the top deck of a bus, inside Sutton Garage. Needless to say, I was roaringly drunk the previous night, and I can only conclude that I got on a bus on my way home from central London, and assumed that that bus, regardless of number or destination, would take me home, to my bedroom, and tuck me into bed. No services that were operated by Sutton would have gone anywhere near my home in Richmond, so I must have been completely wrecked when I left the club, got on literally the first bus that turned up, and passed out before I knew where we were going. I would guess that at the end of his shift, the driver probably did little more than have a quick glance from the top of the stairs before signing off, leaving me to my slumber. Words cannot describe my total, utter confusion at waking up on a revolting, sticky floor, in a completely unfamiliar place, surrounded by many, many buses.
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Post by Alex on May 15, 2020 0:19:11 GMT
I must have been completely wrecked when I left the club, got on literally the first bus that turned up, and passed out before I knew where we were going. I would guess that at the end of his shift, the driver probably did little more than have a quick glance from the top of the stairs before signing off, leaving me to my slumber. Words cannot describe my total, utter confusion at waking up on a revolting, sticky floor, in a completely unfamiliar place, surrounded by many, many buses. I must admit I can relate to this (but haven't woken up on the floor) but trying to keep a respectable presence on the forum cannot confirm or deny whether I was ever so slightly under the influence at these times The worst thing is I wasn't in my late teens, some of these episodes happened in my thirties!
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