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Post by lonmark on Jun 30, 2021 14:03:09 GMT
When I was little and always traveling with my mum on Red London bus Titan and Kentish bus.
However, suddenly someone posts the Bromley bus map area (TfL) in 1991/2 (I can't remember)
That how I was so into buses thing.
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Post by kmkcheng on Jul 1, 2021 14:23:33 GMT
I always had some sort of attraction to public transport in general since I was a toddler. Then interest in buses grew when I was 6 and we moved round the corner from HD garage and watched the various buses there. It was when I started using buses more regularly for college and university was when it started to be more serious.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2021 6:27:52 GMT
My mum and nan always used buses when I was very young. So I remember travelling on FW M's (routes 90,270,285) and AV LS's (route 111). We also used the old 345 between Great Missenden and High Wycombe or Marlow.
So then I remember studiously looking at timetables, maps etc. Noticing running numbers. Seeing how they ran in a sequence. Watching blind changes at my local terminus in Hampton. Then there was a proper community and the Fulwell drivers were very friendly. I would then sneak out and get on a 270 to go to Hampton Hill and back before anyone knew I was gone. I was probably around ten years old.
Grew from there really. I'll go through lulls of interest, but I'll always feel excited at getting my travel card for the day and setting off destination unknown.. Seeing all of London and beyond.
So now, my kids and my friends and colleagues can't fathom why I can drive from one side of London or Home Counties to another without looking at maps, or sat nav. I also know London very well. (as we all do)
It's a unique hobby. I know we get laughed at, and I have never been able to tell even my closest friends exactly what I do on my days off, as I'm sure they think I'm mad. But then again, people I have told, think it's "cute".
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Post by redexpress on Jul 4, 2021 7:22:04 GMT
My mum and nan always used buses when I was very young. So I remember travelling on FW M's (routes 90,270,285) and AV LS's (route 111). We also used the old 345 between Great Missenden and High Wycombe or Marlow. So then I remember studiously looking at timetables, maps etc. Noticing running numbers. Seeing how they ran in a sequence. Watching blind changes at my local terminus in Hampton. Then there was a proper community and the Fulwell drivers were very friendly. I would then sneak out and get on a 270 to go to Hampton Hill and back before anyone knew I was gone. I was probably around ten years old. Grew from there really. I'll go through lulls of interest, but I'll always feel excited at getting my travel card for the day and setting off destination unknown.. Seeing all of London and beyond. So now, my kids and my friends and colleagues can't fathom why I can drive from one side of London or Home Counties to another without looking at maps, or sat nav. I also know London very well. (as we all do) It's a unique hobby. I know we get laughed at, and I have never been able to tell even my closest friends exactly what I do on my days off, as I'm sure they think I'm mad. But then again, people I have told, think it's "cute". I think I have a map of London permanently seared into my brain now. My friends do take the mickey (gently) about my interest in buses but I'm also the first person they'll ask for directions or travel planning advice - I've been told I should start up as a rival to Citymapper.
I also get asked "what's this area like?" quite a lot. All these years of exploring London by bus gives you a much better feel for different parts of the city than most people ever manage, even those that have lived in London all their lives.
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Post by M1104 on Jul 4, 2021 7:56:05 GMT
- My earliest double-decker memories come from a Metrobus on the 44 and an Olympian/Titan (please correct me) on the 319 It would of been an Olympian on the 319 as BN had L's at that point I don't think BN ever had the production¹ batch Ls allocated there but did have some Titans in the early 90s for the 349 (remembering their use on other BN routes like the 118). The short lived 349 got replaced by the 319, which the Titans continued onto until they were eventually replaced with Metros. ¹ - Evaluation batch L1, L2 and L3 may've been there in the early 80s prior to SW
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Post by redexpress on Jul 4, 2021 8:35:35 GMT
It would of been an Olympian on the 319 as BN had L's at that point I don't think BN ever had the production¹ batch Ls allocated there but did have some Titans in the early 90s for the 349 (remembering their use on other BN routes like the 118). The short lived 349 got replaced by the 319, which the Titans continued onto until they were eventually replaced with Metros. ¹ - Evaluation batch L1, L2 and L3 may've been there in the early 80s prior to SW ECW Ls were allocated to BN for a few months during 2001. This followed the loss of the 118, which removed the last Ms from BN, meaning there were no suitable OPO DDs to work the Sunday 19 (DLAs were banned from the route as they could not negotiate the turn into the Piccadilly bus lane). So a batch of Ls were reallocated from TH, working the 250 on Mon-Sat and the 19 on Sundays. I remember being quite unimpressed by the condition of the Ls when they turned up on the 19.
Later that year a more sensible solution was found by converting the Sunday 19 to RML. Ironically the Piccadilly bus lane was cleared for DLAs after a few months.
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Post by M1104 on Jul 4, 2021 8:45:48 GMT
I don't think BN ever had the production¹ batch Ls allocated there but did have some Titans in the early 90s for the 349 (remembering their use on other BN routes like the 118). The short lived 349 got replaced by the 319, which the Titans continued onto until they were eventually replaced with Metros. ¹ - Evaluation batch L1, L2 and L3 may've been there in the early 80s prior to SW ECW Ls were allocated to BN for a few months during 2001. This followed the loss of the 118, which removed the last Ms from BN, meaning there were no suitable OPO DDs to work the Sunday 19 (DLAs were banned from the route as they could not negotiate the turn into the Piccadilly bus lane). So a batch of Ls were reallocated from TH, working the 250 on Mon-Sat and the 19 on Sundays. I remember being quite unimpressed by the condition of the Ls when they turned up on the 19.
Later that year a more sensible solution was found by converting the Sunday 19 to RML. Ironically the Piccadilly bus lane was cleared for DLAs after a few months.
Thanks on that, never realised their brief stint there.
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Post by WH241 on Jul 4, 2021 9:04:50 GMT
For me it was the very early 90s. For a short time I lived near Eltham but went to school in East London so used the 51 to the Woolwich Ferry I remember how different the Kentish Buses were and the sheer variety of buses on the route. Then after moving back to east London I started using the 241, this route in the 5 years I used it for school had Titans, Metroriders, Leyland Nationals, Starriders, Renaults (RB), Darts (DRL,DWL). I used to also keep hold of tickets and collect the massive fold out bus maps that could be picked up at libraries and bus stations.
Say it a lot bus also the early days of tendering provided such varied fleets with Capital City Bus and Grey Green in east London.
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Post by vjaska on Jul 4, 2021 12:20:47 GMT
I don't think BN ever had the production¹ batch Ls allocated there but did have some Titans in the early 90s for the 349 (remembering their use on other BN routes like the 118). The short lived 349 got replaced by the 319, which the Titans continued onto until they were eventually replaced with Metros. ¹ - Evaluation batch L1, L2 and L3 may've been there in the early 80s prior to SW ECW Ls were allocated to BN for a few months during 2001. This followed the loss of the 118, which removed the last Ms from BN, meaning there were no suitable OPO DDs to work the Sunday 19 (DLAs were banned from the route as they could not negotiate the turn into the Piccadilly bus lane). So a batch of Ls were reallocated from TH, working the 250 on Mon-Sat and the 19 on Sundays. I remember being quite unimpressed by the condition of the Ls when they turned up on the 19.
Later that year a more sensible solution was found by converting the Sunday 19 to RML. Ironically the Piccadilly bus lane was cleared for DLAs after a few months.
Some L’s would also escape onto the 159 as a crew bus, first time I ever encountered one was during secondary school and at the time, it utterly confused me as I was only used to RM’s having crews
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Post by M1104 on Jul 4, 2021 12:35:30 GMT
- My earliest double-decker memories come from a Metrobus on the 44 and an Olympian/Titan (please correct me) on the 319 Was that around the early 90s or early 00s?
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Post by fg49 on Jul 4, 2021 15:27:18 GMT
- My earliest double-decker memories come from a Metrobus on the 44 and an Olympian/Titan (please correct me) on the 319 Was that around the early 90s or early 00s? Early 00s
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Post by mkay315 on Jul 17, 2021 4:57:26 GMT
What got me into London buses was the fact that growing up in East London we had all sorts of buses, from the Wright pathfinders on the 101 to the Northern Counties Palatine Scanias on the 15, 15B (current day 115), 48, 147, 330 (when it used to go to Blackwall), Titans on near enough every stagecoach garage in East London, to the Optare Delta's on the 129, 150, 169, 369. To the Ikarus DAFs on the 167 in it's grey green livery. To Harris bus on the 108, 128, 129 and 150. Also seeing the Leyland Olympians on Hackney's famous route 253 and Kentish buses running on the 22A and B (modern day 242) and also on the 55. To seeing those Dennis Lances on the 369 around Bastable Avenue, 145, 62 and 169.
Going up to see family in North especially around Tottenham, Wood Green, Palmers Green and Edmonton seeing the Ms on most of the routes up there and that was when I lived through seeing the big construction works on the NCR and man did the 34 suffer but it was all good.
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Jul 17, 2021 7:45:12 GMT
What got me into London buses was the fact that growing up in East London we had all sorts of buses, from the Wright pathfinders on the 101 to the Northern Counties Palatine Scanias on the 15, 15B (current day 115), 48, 147, 330 (when it used to go to Blackwall), Titans on near enough every stagecoach garage in East London, to the Optare Delta's on the 129, 150, 169, 369. To the Ikarus DAFs on the 167 in it's grey green livery. To Harris bus on the 108, 128, 129 and 150. Also seeing the Leyland Olympians on Hackney's famous route 253 and Kentish buses running on the 22A and B (modern day 242) and also on the 55. To seeing those Dennis Lances on the 369 around Bastable Avenue, 145, 62 and 169. Going up to see family in North especially around Tottenham, Wood Green, Palmers Green and Edmonton seeing the Ms on most of the routes up there and that was when I lived through seeing the big construction works on the NCR and man did the 34 suffer but it was all good. I think route 34 would have had County Bus Darts around that time.
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Post by Green Kitten on Jul 17, 2021 9:00:05 GMT
I used to dislike buses, then was completely ambivalent towards them, until I was about 18. I was strictly tube and train only.
I loved the tube, from the days when the 1959 stock was still running, trains that creeped me out - I would always ask my mum if we could wait for a new train (at the time the 1995 stock fleet was being rolling out). I was intrigued with all the lines and wanted to ride them all. We did almost all of them over the years - I remember my first journey on each line vividly. When my dad offered a ride to Central London, I was disappointed, I'd much rather take the tube.
When I was about five, walking with my dad from school, a 263 at a bus stop made a loud sound (you know, the loud sound where there's a rush of air coming out of the vehicle) which startled me and got me crying.
We never really took the bus except on odd occasions. It was strictly Northern line, then National Rail when I moved to Potters Bar. When the Northern Line was closed for engineering works, the bus confirmed the disappointment. They were slow and a massive pain. I wanted to be on the tube.
Mind you, I remember the few bus journeys I took before I started taking buses regularly. Journeys on the 43/134 with my aunt to get to Muswell Hill. A journey on the 383 when it used to go to Potters Bar. Journeys on the 263, 313, 626, 692 and 699 when going to my friends' houses. A ride on the 84 with my friends to Barnet (when it had Olympians).
Around the age of 14 when I started going places by myself, the National Rail was too expensive so I took the 84 when it still accepted Oyster cards to get to the Northern Line. I remember numerous times, coming back from seeing my friends in London, having to wait almost up to an hour for one to turn up coming home! (My dad would never pick me up from a station!)
I moved onto the 298 when Oyster cards were no longer valid. The 298 seemed more reliable than the 84 did. The 298 was the way for me for the next few years. Even when starting work, instead of the train from Potters Bar, where I would have to pay; I would catch the 298, the Piccadilly Line, the Victoria Line, the Overground then the 308/W15 to LI. All for free.
Now, how did I get into buses? Many know this story, but essentially, one day in 2013, walking along Oxford Street, I wanted to get back to student halls. I couldn't be bothered to go via tube and change trains, I just wanted a nice direct journey to either South Kensington or the Royal Albert Hall (I would have walked the way back but I had bags and was getting a little tired). Thanks to the very intriguing maps at the bus stop, I noticed the 10 would be the way home. An OmniCity showed up, with the front seats unoccupied. As fate would have it, I very much enjoyed it. It was brilliant.
I started exclusively going places by bus. It was cheaper than the tube (and I had done pretty much all of the tube by that time, bar the Metropolitan Line west of Harrow-on-the-Hill). I started exploring the buses in the area, the 14, 74, 414, 9, C1, 70... the more intriguing 345 and 430 (where on earth is Roehampton? It's not on the tube map). I then started my bus explorations. I had a list of bus routes and would cross off each one when I took a ride of them. I wasn't really interested in bus types at the time, or bus companies (though OmniCitys were my favourite). Over time I started learning more about the companies, the kinds of buses, the tender system, the history, and more. I started attending bus garage open days.
It just seemed like a pointless hobby at the time. Just riding buses aimlessly. It turned out to be one of the most important things I have ever done. Riding all across London, I pretty much knew London like the back of my hand. From Harefield to Green Street Green. From Chessington to Havering-atte-Bower. Some bus rides were particularly memorable. The 34, 107 then 113 remains one of my absolute favourites.
University did not go so well. I missed out on a 2:1, and was very immature at the time. Whilst many of my friends had jobs lined up, going to open days to large finance and consulting organisations in order to try and obtain graduate schemes in those firms, I had nothing. I thought I would get a job related to my degree. A lab technician or researcher. By the time I got my degree classification, there was nothing planned after. I struggled with depression, only the buses could help. 2015 was not a great year.
I never thought I would ever work for TfL or the buses, which was odd, especially since I was always interested in it at a young age. Even when riding these buses, I never once thought working in that industry. I was fixated on chemistry.
But with nothing on the line, I turned to public transport. It was much too late to apply for the TfL graduate schemes. But I struck gold - Arriva London had a job opening for a scheduler. I could do that - I'd have a bloody good chance. This could be a job I would very much enjoy.
The application process was very, very slow. Within that time, there was an open day at X. I figured... why not try and see if I could get some work experience. When it came to the interview at Arriva (I had not been rejected yet, and no news is good news), I would be able to say 'I took the initiative and had some work experience in the London bus industry'. The manager at X was extremely kind and was willing to give me a week - a sampler of the bus industry. Controlling, engineering, and scheduling. Scheduling turned out to be my favourite part. The people in the schedules office were very kind and I enjoyed their crash course on scheduling.
At the end of the week - praise God - I was offered a job in the schedules office. I made it. My life was beginning! I was an adult now. Just the next week - Arriva had offered me an interview (the whole process was slower than molasses). But it was too late for them.
Playing a part in the tendering game and learning more about the industry, and having insider's knowledge was great.
It was sad to leave Tower Transit - but the opportunity to work on the tube was one I couldn't pass up. But buses will always be with me. I still have to timetable the rail replacement bus services as part of closures as they must connect with the first and last train services. Most people in my office hate buses and everyone but me hates having to do the rail replacement bus timetables. But I kind of like it. It's a nod to my previous job. I still get to do the odd bus survey as well. Did the bizarre PL-6 which was Hyde Park Corner to Paddington and back, the looooooooooong PL-1 which was Hammersmith to Heathrow, all stations, and the PL-2 and PL-3 which were coaches from Hammersmith to Heathrow (fast). The office is generally throwing anything RRBS to me. If a station is closed, 'what bus runs between Whitechapel and Aldgate East'? I get all the questions.
After all this, I have a tattoo of an OmniCity on the 10. Not because I like OmniCitys on the 10. Not because the 10 was withdrawn in the great bus massacre. But for all of what happened over the past few years. Without buses, just were would I be.
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Post by Green Kitten on Jul 17, 2021 9:05:19 GMT
For me it was the London bus map that got me interested. As a child I was obsessed with maps, and particularly bus maps, but the all-London one (in the days when LT still produced them) was a work of art. If my dad went up to London for work and didn't bring back a bus map I'd probably sulk for a week Same here, my mum used to bring me tube maps and I still have all of them (and continue to get the latest ones!) Drawing maps is one of my hobbies... when I find rare time for it. As much as lockdown was horrible, it gave me the time to finally finish my handdrawn map of my fantasy city. It's a unique hobby. I know we get laughed at, and I have never been able to tell even my closest friends exactly what I do on my days off, as I'm sure they think I'm mad. But then again, people I have told, think it's "cute". I think it's a bit sad that people have to hide their hobbies There should be no shame having strong interests. Incidentally back in the day I put in my dating profile that I rode lots of London bus routes end to end as a joke, and it got a lot of comments from intrigued people!
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