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Post by greenboy on Dec 1, 2020 7:28:54 GMT
The 55 used to have single deckers back in the 80's at times. LS's were the Sunday allocation for a few years in the late 80s before the 55 moved to Kentish Bus. |
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Post by M1104 on Dec 1, 2020 10:57:27 GMT
They were indeed used on the 37 as i saw one on that route plus the 63. I sadly was never in the right place to catch the Connex rarities. When rummaging through the Walworth blind store earlier this year there was a job lot of blinds from the W and Y plate DAs which had the 3 and N3 on them - not sure if they ever ran on those routes though. The ELS class appeared on the 185 on occasion as did the SPDs on the 208. London United also put the occasional single doored Excel on the 57 plus one i should have most remembered... DRL class Dennis Darts on the 49 from the Battersea (BB) allocation, the buses themselves being from the 295 allocation. Another one that just came to mind was the 344 temporarily converted to part DRL during the weekdays in the early 90s, the Metros needed elsewhere for a very short period. Presumably the 344 was targeted as the then relatively new DRLs had full blindsets for its Sunday service, although the MAs and MRLs were initially used on that day of the week. |
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Post by greenboy on Dec 1, 2020 11:21:37 GMT
They were indeed used on the 37 as i saw one on that route plus the 63. I sadly was never in the right place to catch the Connex rarities. When rummaging through the Walworth blind store earlier this year there was a job lot of blinds from the W and Y plate DAs which had the 3 and N3 on them - not sure if they ever ran on those routes though. The ELS class appeared on the 185 on occasion as did the SPDs on the 208. Leyland Nationals were quite common on the 208 mid to late 80s. |
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Post by vjaska on Dec 1, 2020 12:25:36 GMT
When rummaging through the Walworth blind store earlier this year there was a job lot of blinds from the W and Y plate DAs which had the 3 and N3 on them - not sure if they ever ran on those routes though. The ELS class appeared on the 185 on occasion as did the SPDs on the 208. London United also put the occasional single doored Excel on the 57 plus one i should have most remembered... DRL class Dennis Darts on the 49 from the Battersea (BB) allocation, the buses themselves being from the 295 allocation. Another one that just came to mind was the 344 temporarily converted to part DRL during the weekdays in the early 90s, the Metros needed elsewhere for a very short period. Presumably the 344 was targeted as the then relatively new DRLs had full blindsets for its Sunday service, although the MAs and MRLs were initially used on that day of the week. In addition for the 57, this trend continued into the low floor era where at least one DPS was used as I managed to bag a ride on a rammed 57 working |
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Post by kmkcheng on Dec 1, 2020 12:41:10 GMT
I remember seeing SD on 142 a few times Yes that was back in the Arriva GR days along with appearances on the 258 as well, plus DD workings on the 288, 303, 305 and H18/19. What used to annoy me was a SD appearing on 142 or 258 whilst at the same time a DD working on one of their SD routes |
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Post by MKAY315 on Dec 1, 2020 16:45:30 GMT
I remembered back in the first capital days the 179, 365 and 252 used have those Marshall bodied dart single deckers and the caetano nimbus from the 364. When the 25 went to stagecoach in 04 they were short on double deckers. They had to do this to make sure the 123 (despite Arriva bagging it in 05) was double deckers at all times. It was crazy times 😂😂
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Post by M1104 on Dec 3, 2020 12:22:34 GMT
One thing I immensely miss about bus routes are garage journeys. Would love the 44 to have done so today between Tooting Station and Merton Garage via Mitcham and Western Road. As a kid one of our most popular garage journeys were the 49 between Tooting Bec and Merton Garage and the 77 between Tooting Broadway and Merton Garage.
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Post by wirewiper on Dec 3, 2020 13:19:02 GMT
One thing I immensely miss about bus routes are garage journeys. Would love the 44 to have done so today between Tooting Station and Merton Garage via Mitcham and Western Road. As a kid one of our most popular garage journeys were the 49 between Tooting Bec and Merton Garage and the 77 between Tooting Broadway and Merton Garage. Yes there were some great garage journeys; I particularly remember the 140 when it ran between Mill Hill Broadway and Heathrow Airport and there were three garage journey routes from HD (Harrow Weald) including two different routes to Mill Hill. As a youngster I liked to get an end-of-evening peak garage journey from Heathrow or Hayes as I could travel through to Wealdstone for the 3p child fare instead of having to change in Harrow and pay again. Later as an adult I sometimes relied on the last Jubilee Line train to Queensbury, from where the last journey from Mill Hill to HD via Christchurch Avenue would get me home - I was usually the only passenger on it. I also remember when HD operated the 183 for a while after Hendon (AE) closed, on Sundays the route terminated Pinner and half the service was extended to and from HD via the 209 (now H12) route; the 209 didn't have a Sunday service. This only lasted for few months in 1987 before the Harrow Buses operation commenced, an operation so dire (due to its shoestring budget) that it quickly became known as "Harrowing Buses". |
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Post by greenboy on Dec 3, 2020 13:56:50 GMT
One thing I immensely miss about bus routes are garage journeys. Would love the 44 to have done so today between Tooting Station and Merton Garage via Mitcham and Western Road. As a kid one of our most popular garage journeys were the 49 between Tooting Bec and Merton Garage and the 77 between Tooting Broadway and Merton Garage. Yes there were some great garage journeys; I particularly remember the 140 when it ran between Mill Hill Broadway and Heathrow Airport and there were three garage journey routes from HD (Harrow Weald) including two different routes to Mill Hill. As a youngster I liked to get an end-of-evening peak garage journey from Heathrow or Hayes as I could travel through to Wealdstone for the 3p child fare instead of having to change in Harrow and pay again. Later as an adult I sometimes relied on the last Jubilee Line train to Queensbury, from where the last journey from Mill Hill to HD via Christchurch Avenue would get me home - I was usually the only passenger on it. I also remember when HD operated the 183 for a while after Hendon (AE) closed, on Sundays the route terminated Pinner and half the service was extended to and from HD via the 209 (now H12) route; the 209 didn't have a Sunday service. This only lasted for few months in 1987 before the Harrow Buses operation commenced, an operation so dire (due to its shoestring budget) that it quickly became known as "Harrowing Buses". Whilst these quirky garage journeys were great for enthusiasts they did cause some confusion for everyone else including staff in some cases. |
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Post by Busboy105 on Dec 3, 2020 14:52:55 GMT
One thing I immensely miss about bus routes are garage journeys. Would love the 44 to have done so today between Tooting Station and Merton Garage via Mitcham and Western Road. As a kid one of our most popular garage journeys were the 49 between Tooting Bec and Merton Garage and the 77 between Tooting Broadway and Merton Garage. I remember when my dad used to drive for Arriva (he used to drive the 29) he brought me and my siblings on a shift (first time I had entered a bus garage) and we did the Wood Green to Trafalgar Square and back. It was funny seeing the people come upstairs at the first stop and their funny expressions into how us kids got onto the bus before the first stop. |
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Post by wirewiper on Dec 3, 2020 17:01:14 GMT
Yes there were some great garage journeys; I particularly remember the 140 when it ran between Mill Hill Broadway and Heathrow Airport and there were three garage journey routes from HD (Harrow Weald) including two different routes to Mill Hill. As a youngster I liked to get an end-of-evening peak garage journey from Heathrow or Hayes as I could travel through to Wealdstone for the 3p child fare instead of having to change in Harrow and pay again. Later as an adult I sometimes relied on the last Jubilee Line train to Queensbury, from where the last journey from Mill Hill to HD via Christchurch Avenue would get me home - I was usually the only passenger on it. I also remember when HD operated the 183 for a while after Hendon (AE) closed, on Sundays the route terminated Pinner and half the service was extended to and from HD via the 209 (now H12) route; the 209 didn't have a Sunday service. This only lasted for few months in 1987 before the Harrow Buses operation commenced, an operation so dire (due to its shoestring budget) that it quickly became known as "Harrowing Buses". Whilst these quirky garage journeys were great for enthusiasts they did cause some confusion for everyone else including staff in some cases. Yes I think that we forget that as enthusiasts we can be fascinated by odd workings and take them in our stride, and not appreciate how confusing they can be for the general public. Whilst I tend to agree that these days journeys to garages off-line of route should be made out of service, I think there could be a more relaxed attitude generally to scheduling journeys to terminate at a garage along the line of route, or to finish part-way along the route to run light to a garage. |
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Dec 5, 2020 20:21:12 GMT
I remember seeing SD on 142 a few times I remember SMSs on route 142 until replaced by Ms in December 1980. |
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Post by martynl on Dec 21, 2020 23:51:24 GMT
When rummaging through the Walworth blind store earlier this year there was a job lot of blinds from the W and Y plate DAs which had the 3 and N3 on them - not sure if they ever ran on those routes though. The ELS class appeared on the 185 on occasion as did the SPDs on the 208. Leyland Nationals were quite common on the 208 mid to late 80s. TB were often likely to throw the odd LS out on usually DD routes such as the 119 and 61 and yes the 208 was a common interloper as well. But I do recall riding one on the 1 as far as Greenwich from Bromley South and it was blinded for Trafalgar Square as well! It was a usual peak hour morning journey and was pretty packed as far as I remember. |
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Post by greenboy on Dec 22, 2020 7:01:18 GMT
Leyland Nationals were quite common on the 208 mid to late 80s. TB were often likely to throw the odd LS out on usually DD routes such as the 119 and 61 and yes the 208 was a common interloper as well. But I do recall riding one on the 1 as far as Greenwich from Bromley South and it was blinded for Trafalgar Square as well! It was a usual peak hour morning journey and was pretty packed as far as I remember. LS's were the allocation on the 61 for a few years, I can certainly remember them appearing on the 119 and 208 although I can't recall ever seeing them on the 1. |
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Post by localet44 on Dec 22, 2020 9:38:17 GMT
TB were often likely to throw the odd LS out on usually DD routes such as the 119 and 61 and yes the 208 was a common interloper as well. But I do recall riding one on the 1 as far as Greenwich from Bromley South and it was blinded for Trafalgar Square as well! It was a usual peak hour morning journey and was pretty packed as far as I remember. LS's were the allocation on the 61 for a few years, I can certainly remember them appearing on the 119 and 208 although I can't recall ever seeing them on the 1. I have a photo of Selkent Leyland National LS247 [THX 247S] crossing Trafalgar Square on service 1 to Bromley Common on the 28th November 1989
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