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Post by MKAY315 on Mar 24, 2023 8:02:25 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end.
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Post by ronnie on Mar 24, 2023 9:22:03 GMT
I have had plans for a havering day (or two!) for quite some time - go to ilford, get the 462 to limes farm estate - 462 to Barkingside - 247 to Romford - 347 to Ockendon (given the time I start the trips I should be in Romford before 12 noon when there is a departure) - 347 to Upminster - 346 to Upminster estate and then onto the last stop of the 248 - 248 to Romford market - schlep back to Romford station Then depending on how much time I have left i can do other routes but would love to do the northern bits of 365, 294, 175 and 252 Day 2: - go to Romford - 103 to Rainham (have already done chase cross - Romford) - 287 to orchard estate - 365 to Romford - 175 to Dagenham - then 174 to its southern terminus - then 174 to its northern end - then the 496 to Harold wood and back to Romford - then 294 to its northern terminus - then 256 And so on and so forth Once you done the 462 at Limes Farm Estate, it can be quicker to walk to one of the stops on New North Road and get the 150/247 to Barkingside to start your 247 end to end ride to Romford, also the 150 does bring closer to the 247's first stop on Tanners Lane than the 462 does.
Top tip with the 294 & 365 is to do them together when you get to Havering Park (If you have the time to do so) and that should save some time of having to get there twice to do each of those routes.
That’s a good point re limes farm - hadn’t realised that there are pedestrian paths which will save a lot of time! I would do 103-287-365-294-256-252-175-174 in that order Hopefully soon! |
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Post by vjaska on Mar 24, 2023 11:16:24 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. The 247 end to end was probably my best - driver floored it pretty much the whole way. The 51 is another when it first started under Stagecoach - driver caned it to Woolwich from Orpington on a X reg Trident Hardest was the 11 - it took three attempts to do and even then, the 3rd attempt took two buses and it was a slog fest. Next was the 453 which took three buses to complete - did Deptford Bridge to Piccadilly Circus, then Piccadilly Circus to Great Portland Street and then Great Portland Street to Marylebone and took far longer than was necessary |
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Post by MKAY315 on Mar 24, 2023 11:23:26 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. The 247 end to end was probably my best - driver floored it pretty much the whole way. The 51 is another when it first started under Stagecoach - driver caned it to Woolwich from Orpington on a X reg Trident Hardest was the 11 - it took three attempts to do and even then, the 3rd attempt took two buses and it was a slog fest. Next was the 453 which took three buses to complete - did Deptford Bridge to Piccadilly Circus, then Piccadilly Circus to Great Portland Street and then Great Portland Street to Marylebone and took far longer than was necessary The 247 I did like that route in my younger days when it was a quicker alternative to get to Barkingside as opposed to sitting on the 128 from Romford. As soon as it goes past Collier Row into Marks Gate you know you're in for a treat. The 02-reg tridents that would appear on that route made it even better. To think at one point that bus used to be a single decker. The 11 I've sat on it on blocks but I could imagine it's an extremely hard route to do. |
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Post by MKAY315 on Mar 24, 2023 11:26:24 GMT
For me the three hardest routes I've done end to end is the 25 (Oxford Circus days). The 36 (Mostly in the New Cross to Queens Park direction) and the 266 (Hammersmith days). The 266 in particular was extremely notorious on those days where you'd be lucky to do a full route as sometimes something would happen and the driver would stop short somewhere. North Acton, Acton High Street, Jubilee Clock and Willesden Junction were the famous turning points. Sometimes I'd get so frustrated trying to do the full route that I'd have to jump on the 220 to get to Hammersmith. I should have said four routes instead of three but the 108 even when it used to go to the Original Stratford terminus was a pain to do and I went on a unlucky dip day when the Blackwall Tunnel decided to fcxk up that day. |
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Post by ronnie on Mar 24, 2023 11:44:47 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. This is a tough one Hardest: - 25: I had done this end to end in tranches (and used it very extensively so know how it works!) and gave it a go for the full distance in the evening peak eastbound in its last week of operation. Only took 2 hours and 20 min, including 30 min between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road! Bus was rammed from the beginning despite a similarly rammed 25 immediately ahead and another one immediately behind, on a day with no tube disruptions! The bus in front of us as well as us didn’t pick up any passengers between Holborn and Aldgate, it was that packed! - 266: I did this end to end from Brent Cross to Hammersmith and struggled to stay awake. Ended up sitting at Nero for 30 min to wake myself up! - 11: while I did it in tranches, this is excruciatingly slow. Want to torture someone? Tell them to get the 11 from Liverpool Street to Fulham. They will never speak to you again which gives me ideas for pesky relatives In general, most central London routes are slow which is what is a big turn off. I resorted to doing some central London routes late at night (remember having done 65-297-6 in one sequence, 13-390 post midnight) Honourable mentions to the 19, 38, 14! Best: - 246: very scenic. Now you also have DDs on the route (I did it to chartwell which won’t take dds though) - 465, again scenic |
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Post by Busboy105 on Mar 24, 2023 12:45:30 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. My three favourite routes to do end to end are: W3 (because of the Alexandra Palace views) A10 (really liked the thrash of the DELs) N271 (my first night route) My hardest routes to do end to end: H13 (first time I done it I done it at night and only walked up halfway up Colchester Road before one just turned up. And there was a diversion on top of that) S3 (had two different diversions on the same day that I done it) E5 (really awkward terminus) |
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Post by borneobus on Mar 24, 2023 13:21:53 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. I'm a humble apprentice with only 39 e2e routes to date...but... BEST11 - Going against the grain! Never tire of seeing iconic Central London landmarks that all the tourists want to visit and best way is to see 'em is from the upper-deck of the iconic 11 - early Sunday morning just 58 minutes from Fulham Town Hall to Appold Street W7 - Short and sweet and travelling from Finsbury Park a nice climb into Muswell Hill - in another life could happily live in Muswell Hill or Crouch End 322 - A bit of a voyage of discovery travelling through (in the main) pleasant parts of South London that I never visit (Gipsy Hill / West Dulwich / Tulse Hill / Brockwell Park) and novelty first ride on Switch Metrocity. MOST DIFFICULT94 - Just west of Marble Arch, pax sitting behind me has a shocking coughing fit - the upper deck is full and I move downstairs where there's about 20 standing - truly awful...even past Shepherd's Bush and with hindsight should have alighted at Lancaster Gate... W6 - The section from Edmonton Green to North Circular awful - packed ENS exacerbated by my suspicion that the previous bus 'didn't run' and school leaving time - cars, vans gridlocking the area and thru' Palmers Green to Southgate not much better
318 - Due to a comedy of errors described in an earlier report spent about 45-60 minutes waiting for the 'right' 318 outside the old SF garage - the temperature was just about freezing and I was bitterly cold - I mis-understood that the 57 plate unblinded EN were about to be withdrawn but you know the punchline...I think Harry Kane will break Alan Shearer's PL 'goals scored' record before the ENs finally go...- I appreciate all these war stories are "First-World Problems"! |
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Post by MKAY315 on Mar 24, 2023 13:44:25 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. This is a tough one Hardest: - 25: I had done this end to end in tranches (and used it very extensively so know how it works!) and gave it a go for the full distance in the evening peak eastbound in its last week of operation. Only took 2 hours and 20 min, including 30 min between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road! Bus was rammed from the beginning despite a similarly rammed 25 immediately ahead and another one immediately behind, on a day with no tube disruptions! The bus in front of us as well as us didn’t pick up any passengers between Holborn and Aldgate, it was that packed! - 266: I did this end to end from Brent Cross to Hammersmith and struggled to stay awake. Ended up sitting at Nero for 30 min to wake myself up! - 11: while I did it in tranches, this is excruciatingly slow. Want to torture someone? Tell them to get the 11 from Liverpool Street to Fulham. They will never speak to you again which gives me ideas for pesky relatives In general, most central London routes are slow which is what is a big turn off. I resorted to doing some central London routes late at night (remember having done 65-297-6 in one sequence, 13-390 post midnight) Honourable mentions to the 19, 38, 14! Best: - 246: very scenic. Now you also have DDs on the route (I did it to chartwell which won’t take dds though) - 465, again scenic The 25 in particular was an interesting one. I'll never forget Saturday 25th June 2011 when I was in Ilford and that was the first day that it went back to Double Decker, the amount of people that were angry about this (possibly fare dodging folks) made it even more hilarious |
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Post by MKAY315 on Mar 24, 2023 13:46:31 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. My three favourite routes to do end to end are: W3 (because of the Alexandra Palace views) A10 (really liked the thrash of the DELs) N271 (my first night route) My hardest routes to do end to end: H13 (first time I done it I done it at night and only walked up halfway up Colchester Road before one just turned up. And there was a diversion on top of that) S3 (had two different diversions on the same day that I done it) E5 (really awkward terminus) The W3 I second that. Though I would hold on for dear life back when the DLAs would operate it. They could not handle those hills at all, especially the early DLAs. The VLWs would breeze it through on the other hand (my personal experience) |
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Post by MKAY315 on Mar 24, 2023 13:50:18 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. I'm a humble apprentice with only 39 e2e routes to date...but... BEST11 - Going against the grain! Never tire of seeing iconic Central London landmarks that all the tourists want to visit and best way is to see 'em is from the upper-deck of the iconic 11 - early Sunday morning just 58 minutes from Fulham Town Hall to Appold Street W7 - Short and sweet and travelling from Finsbury Park a nice climb into Muswell Hill - in another life could happily live in Muswell Hill or Crouch End 322 - A bit of a voyage of discovery travelling through (in the main) pleasant parts of South London that I never visit (Gipsy Hill / West Dulwich / Tulse Hill / Brockwell Park) and novelty first ride on Switch Metrocity. MOST DIFFICULT94 - Just west of Marble Arch, pax sitting behind me has a shocking coughing fit - the upper deck is full and I move downstairs where there's about 20 standing - truly awful...even past Shepherd's Bush and with hindsight should have alighted at Lancaster Gate... W6 - The section from Edmonton Green to North Circular awful - packed ENS exacerbated by my suspicion that the previous bus 'didn't run' and school leaving time - cars, vans gridlocking the area and thru' Palmers Green to Southgate not much better
318 - Due to a comedy of errors described in an earlier report spent about 45-60 minutes waiting for the 'right' 318 outside the old SF garage - the temperature was just about freezing and I was bitterly cold - I mis-understood that the 57 plate unblinded EN were about to be withdrawn but you know the punchline...I think Harry Kane will break Alan Shearer's PL 'goals scored' record before the ENs finally go...- I appreciate all these war stories are "First-World Problems"!The 94 I may need to properly do that route one day. That will be on my to do list |
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Post by greenboy on Mar 24, 2023 13:58:45 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. I'm a humble apprentice with only 39 e2e routes to date...but... BEST11 - Going against the grain! Never tire of seeing iconic Central London landmarks that all the tourists want to visit and best way is to see 'em is from the upper-deck of the iconic 11 - early Sunday morning just 58 minutes from Fulham Town Hall to Appold Street W7 - Short and sweet and travelling from Finsbury Park a nice climb into Muswell Hill - in another life could happily live in Muswell Hill or Crouch End 322 - A bit of a voyage of discovery travelling through (in the main) pleasant parts of South London that I never visit (Gipsy Hill / West Dulwich / Tulse Hill / Brockwell Park) and novelty first ride on Switch Metrocity. MOST DIFFICULT94 - Just west of Marble Arch, pax sitting behind me has a shocking coughing fit - the upper deck is full and I move downstairs where there's about 20 standing - truly awful...even past Shepherd's Bush and with hindsight should have alighted at Lancaster Gate... W6 - The section from Edmonton Green to North Circular awful - packed ENS exacerbated by my suspicion that the previous bus 'didn't run' and school leaving time - cars, vans gridlocking the area and thru' Palmers Green to Southgate not much better
318 - Due to a comedy of errors described in an earlier report spent about 45-60 minutes waiting for the 'right' 318 outside the old SF garage - the temperature was just about freezing and I was bitterly cold - I mis-understood that the 57 plate unblinded EN were about to be withdrawn but you know the punchline...I think Harry Kane will break Alan Shearer's PL 'goals scored' record before the ENs finally go...- I appreciate all these war stories are "First-World Problems"! I don't do end to end journeys very often but I think the 11 would be quite pleasant if I was in no hurry, if I just wanted to get from Fulham Broadway to Liverpool Street ASAP I'd use the tube. |
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Post by aaron1 on Mar 25, 2023 8:33:43 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. 107, 210, N1 and N551 was my best routes to do and out of London being the Humber flyer now renumber 250 |
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Post by MKAY315 on Mar 25, 2023 9:30:43 GMT
That reminds me. Folks I want you to pick your three best routes you've done end to end and why and also your three hardest routes you've done end to end. 107, 210, N1 and N551 was my best routes to do and out of London being the Humber flyer now renumber 250 107 I don't think I've actually done that route as of yet. The 210 I do like it's views especially going through Hampstead Heath and Highate Village |
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Post by ronnie on Mar 25, 2023 19:45:06 GMT
I'm a humble apprentice with only 39 e2e routes to date...but... BEST11 - Going against the grain! Never tire of seeing iconic Central London landmarks that all the tourists want to visit and best way is to see 'em is from the upper-deck of the iconic 11 - early Sunday morning just 58 minutes from Fulham Town Hall to Appold Street W7 - Short and sweet and travelling from Finsbury Park a nice climb into Muswell Hill - in another life could happily live in Muswell Hill or Crouch End 322 - A bit of a voyage of discovery travelling through (in the main) pleasant parts of South London that I never visit (Gipsy Hill / West Dulwich / Tulse Hill / Brockwell Park) and novelty first ride on Switch Metrocity. MOST DIFFICULT94 - Just west of Marble Arch, pax sitting behind me has a shocking coughing fit - the upper deck is full and I move downstairs where there's about 20 standing - truly awful...even past Shepherd's Bush and with hindsight should have alighted at Lancaster Gate... W6 - The section from Edmonton Green to North Circular awful - packed ENS exacerbated by my suspicion that the previous bus 'didn't run' and school leaving time - cars, vans gridlocking the area and thru' Palmers Green to Southgate not much better
318 - Due to a comedy of errors described in an earlier report spent about 45-60 minutes waiting for the 'right' 318 outside the old SF garage - the temperature was just about freezing and I was bitterly cold - I mis-understood that the 57 plate unblinded EN were about to be withdrawn but you know the punchline...I think Harry Kane will break Alan Shearer's PL 'goals scored' record before the ENs finally go...- I appreciate all these war stories are "First-World Problems"! I don't do end to end journeys very often but I think the 11 would be quite pleasant if I was in no hurry, if I just wanted to get from Fulham Broadway to Liverpool Street ASAP I'd use the tube. You may need a few coffees before / after to stay awake! I forgot to mention the 464 - another amazing route! Not a best / worst route but I have been quite amazed as to how squiggly some of the single deck routes are. Have had to do a fair few in recent times (initially I tried avoiding single deckers like plague!) You of course have the 300/325/376 in east London which I had done ages back (in 2019); the 366 I would describe as long but not as squiggly But nothing prepared me for the convoluted routes in SE London! Again 181/284/484/225 are modestly squigglish but when you get to the 273, P12, 352, 354, 356, 367, 386, B11, B12, B13, B14, B15, B16, the R series - you realise how convoluted things can get! I was in Bromley the other day and I got tired of passing through Bromley like 6 times! At least in Romford most routes are DDs |
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