# your favourite London bus route



## Miss-Shelf (Sep 30, 2013)

Inspired by ska invita 's dream of a south circular bus route I want to know your favourite bus route

(I know this has probably been done many a time - I might even have started a similar thread in times ago I don't know)

There are so many that I do find it hard to choose but I have a special place in my heart for the little buses that make akward connecting journeys that big swanky buses are too good to make

Think of the D3 - great little road trip from Bethnal Green all round wapping

The other day I got on the 356 for no other reason than it pulled up as I walked past the bus stop
value for money!  Went past the big sainsburys, skirted penge, waved to birkbeck, past a house with two flags outside and covered in plants [what is the story on that?] went all round the houses and glided to a stop in nowhere in particular.  Ace.

Then I had to get a random bus to get back to somewhere I could name so I got a 194 to west croydon and for no reason a woman at the bus stop immediately flashed me her guinnea pigs - really - they were in a little travelling guinea pig basket and tucked up in a guinnea pig blanket
that sort of magic only happens when you take a random bus to nowhere....

I'm saving the 122 up for a special treat so if you have any 122 stories to wet my appetite bring 'em on

I love to take a random bus trip from bus to bus but sadly I find that I travel alone with this particular hobby


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 1, 2013)

This youtube user (and no it isn't me) has several end to end London bus route videos.

I'd have to nominate the 94.

The real 94 that is, not the recent thing from Acton-ish to central London, which used to be part of the 88.

Lewisham to Orpington by what's now the 261 as far as Bromley then the 208 

like so


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## ska invita (Oct 1, 2013)

I can think of plenty of bus routes ive hated over the years
N176 ...so loooong...
P4 (much improved of late thanks to Ken I think but ive waited an hour + for that many a time)
320 shit bus route of my youth
etc


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## ska invita (Oct 1, 2013)

coooo...look at this beauty


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 1, 2013)

ska invita said:


> coooo...look at this beauty



P4s were even littler when the route first started


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## salem (Oct 1, 2013)

It's the 24 for me. I've lived along it most of my life and must have taken thousands of journeys on it. It goes from Hampstead Heath (probably my favorite place there is) via Camden, the West End, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and on to Pimlico. It's not uncommon to see political types on there. It runs 24 hours a day and is pretty reliable.

As a bit of a bus geek it's a great route too as they seem to get the latest buses first (it seems to be a flagship route). Also the oldest unchanged bus route, the first to be non-red (which was very exciting when it first came while I was on my way to school) and the first to get a full compliment of nbfl.

I even get a little flurry in my stomach when I see a 24 bus abroad. Something about the numbers. When I lived in Barcelona and saw I was on the 24 route. Well I was elated.

So that's my favourite bus route in a nutshell.


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## Ms Ordinary (Oct 1, 2013)

I love the views you get south from the P4 as it goes down past Walters Way.
Top deck, front seat on the 468 all the way to Croydon on a sunny morning is also a pretty good ride.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/ ris useful for checking bus routes, handy if you get on a random bus and want to find out afterwards where you've been.

I will be using it to check out the bus routes mentioned on this thread, the D3 looks great.
I used to get the 100 from Liverpool Street to Wapping years ago, just realised from the map that the 100 starts in Elephant so might have to try a 100 / D3 run soon, with a stop at Hermitage Moorings . Possibly on December 14 when they have their next open day .


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## Ms Ordinary (Oct 1, 2013)

The TFL map doesn't show it properly , but taking the littl'un to Girl Guide camp one summer I discovered the R5 which goes from Orpington station in a loop round loads of little villages & pubs, you could smell the countryside every time the bus doors opened & it seemed amazing that you could use an Oystercard to ride it.

http://www.metrobus.co.uk/download/4531.8/route-r5r10-tfl-timetable/?disposition=inline


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## joustmaster (Oct 1, 2013)

N29
especially when it was free (bendy bus)

crackers people and goings-on


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## blossie33 (Oct 1, 2013)

joustmaster said:


> N29
> especially when it was free (bendy bus)
> 
> crackers people and goings-on


 
yes indeed! I used to live on the N29 route (thankfully not for a good number of years now) and I remember someone getting on in Camden with his bike, he said his friend had told him he was too drunk to cycle home - the driver let him on as well - probably thought it was less hassle than saying no.


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## Pickman's model (Oct 1, 2013)

134 esp between muswell hill and north finchley, goes past a number of significant places from my misspent youth and dumps you o/s the tarty whore in n12


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 1, 2013)

salem said:


> Also the oldest unchanged bus route, the first to be non-red (which was very exciting when it first came while I was on my way to school) and the first to get a full compliment of nbfl.



Just to be pedantic, it was the first non red (privatised) route in central London - there had been others in the outer fringes a year or two earlier.

I can't help thinking that it was chosen both for that and NBFL for the fact that it runs down Whitehall and then Victoria Street, so is highly likely to be in the background on news broadcasts...

Route 24 celebrated its 100th birthday last November, and there was an additional service with aged buses for the day -






Something similar is planned for route 88 on Sunday 8 December this year.

There's also a new open source thingy where you can track buses round the TfL system - here's the one for the 24, menu at bottom of the page for all routes.



Ms Ordinary said:


> The TFL map doesn't show it properly , but taking the littl'un to Girl Guide camp one summer I discovered the R5 which goes from Orpington station in a loop round loads of little villages & pubs, you could smell the countryside every time the bus doors opened & it seemed amazing that you could use an Oystercard to ride it.
> 
> http://www.metrobus.co.uk/download/4531.8/route-r5r10-tfl-timetable/?disposition=inline



It's one of the few 'country bus' routes that TfL took over in recent years, as most of the route's inside the GLA boundary.  These were the standard buses for the route (then the 471) in the 60s






(only the modern TfL bus stop gives away that this was taken at a special event recently, not in the 60s...)


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## colacubes (Oct 1, 2013)

I love all the P buses.  P13, P4, and P5 is prob my fave.  I'm actually slightly obsessed with any local bus with a letter prefix and will go out of my way to travel on them.  My partner bought me a model of a C1 for my birthday


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## pogofish (Oct 1, 2013)

Maybe this thread should be combined with the OP's last thred on the same subject?


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 1, 2013)

pogofish said:


> Maybe this thread should be combined with the OP's last thred on the same subject?



you wait ages for a thread then two come along at once...


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## bi0boy (Oct 1, 2013)

none of them


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## marty21 (Oct 1, 2013)

38 and 73 are faves - got them a lot over the years


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## TruXta (Oct 1, 2013)

322.


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## existentialist (Oct 1, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> (only the modern TfL bus stop gives away that this was taken at a special event recently, not in the 60s...)


Well, that and the UPVC double glazing on the house in the background


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## existentialist (Oct 1, 2013)

The 281. It ran (runs) from Tolworth to Hounslow, which, when I first became aware of it, seemed like half way to the moon. All my most interesting journeys seemed to begin on a 281, and it operated Routemasters which, as a small child, were a lot more fun than some Leyland single-decker.

I have fond memories of hot summer's day trips through Surbiton, Kingston, over the bridge, up past Teddington and Twickenham to go to some place or other, tree branches bashing on the roof , that kind of diesely/fagsmoky/general bus smell, the sound of the conductor's ticket machine (and the way bus tickets tasted when you chewed them ), all very nostalgic.

The rot set in when they stopped running the Routemasters.


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## ska invita (Oct 1, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> There's also a new open source thingy where you can track buses round the TfL system - here's the one for the 24, menu at bottom of the page for all routes.



that is very handy, thanks


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## marty21 (Oct 1, 2013)

joustmaster said:


> N29
> especially when it was free (bendy bus)
> 
> crackers people and goings-on


 253/254 shares some of the route and was equally crazy - ((((night buses around Finsbury Park ))))


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## joustmaster (Oct 1, 2013)

marty21 said:


> 253/254 shares some of the route and was equally crazy - ((((night buses around Finsbury Park ))))



It really is an amazing route. It travels through town, Camden, and Finsbury Park, collecting a fine distillation of people from each place.

A few christmas' ago, after an office party, I woke up on a bus that was terminating at Trafalgar Sq.

Although a bit confused, I smiled to myself, as I knew the N29 would take be homewards.

Being that festive time of the year, and late, it was full of all sorts of "fun" people. And I got too see four bus loads of them, as I kept having to get off to have a sit down in the snow and do a little sicking.


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## marty21 (Oct 1, 2013)

joustmaster said:


> It really is an amazing route. It travels through town, Camden, and Finsbury Park, collecting a fine distillation of people from each place.
> 
> A few christmas' ago, after an office party, I woke up on a bus that was terminating at Trafalgar Sq.
> 
> ...


one night at about 2am i was waiting in Finsbury Park for a night bus and a drunk bloke came up to me and accused me of stealing his mobile phone - told him to fuck off - then he went to the bloke next to me and accused him, he told him to fuck off too - then he laid into the both of us -so we laid into him - his mates turned up, looked a bit  at him - we told them to take him home as the police were on their way (we hadn't called them but could hear sirens)  then I got on the bus and at Manor house I heard a load of commotion downstairs - an old black bloke having an argument with a young black woman - she told him to fuck off, he came upstairs raging about young people and started raging standing next to me - there were some spare seats but it was pretty packed - after listening to him raging for a couple of minutes at high volume - I asked him if he could rage a little quieter - he then accused me of being responsible for slavery - and we started having a debate about who was to blame for slavery - I missed my stop and had to a walk 2 bus stops home -

happy days


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## joustmaster (Oct 1, 2013)

marty21 said:


> one night at about 2am i was waiting in Finsbury Park for a night bus and a drunk bloke came up to me and accused me of stealing his mobile phone - told him to fuck off - then he went to the bloke next to me and accused him, he told him to fuck off too - then he laid into the both of us -so we laid into him - his mates turned up, looked a bit  at him - we told them to take him home as the police were on their way (we hadn't called them but could hear sirens)  then I got on the bus and at Manor house I heard a load of commotion downstairs - an old black bloke having an argument with a young black woman - she told him to fuck off, he came upstairs raging about young people and started raging standing next to me - there were some spare seats but it was pretty packed - after listening to him raging for a couple of minutes at high volume - I asked him if he could rage a little quieter - he then accused me of being responsibile for slavery - and we started having a debate about who was to blame for slavery - I missed my stop and had to a walk 2 bus stops home -
> 
> happy days


Did you manage to work out if slavery was your fault or not


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## 8115 (Oct 1, 2013)

29.  Best bus route ever.  Much better than it's nightime equivalent, which was always full of people shouting "Come on driver" because it was always stopping for ages at a stop for no apparent reason when I used to take it.  The 29 used to be (don't know if it still is) an amazing bus route.


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## mao (Oct 1, 2013)

59
3
RV1


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## Numbers (Oct 1, 2013)

Bus journey I remember the most fondly was on the 207 from Hanwell to Shepherds Bush. First time I got it I was only in London a cpl of days, went up to the top deck and sat at the back, there was a rasta guy with proper dreds (fresh from Ireland this was amazing) smoking a big spliff, got talking to him, had a toke or 2 of his spliff and shot the breeze with him for the journey - I was green to London, he was pointing things/places out.  It was only a half hour journey but it seemed to last forever.

I used to see him occasionally and we always had a chat, never went for a beer or anything but he used to call me Padlock which I absolutely loved.


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## marty21 (Oct 1, 2013)

joustmaster said:


> Did you manage to work out if slavery was your fault or not


no


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## Bungle73 (Oct 1, 2013)

P3 and 184, because they took me home.


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 1, 2013)

I have Greebo 'd this thread because I was so excited to read all your bus stories
colacubes  - I know what you mean about buses with a letter/number combo
I would be *so* up for a trip from letter bus to letter bus (have you tried the ones round the isle of dogs?  that's another little cluster of letter buses)
sounds like Ms Ordinary  you are also a fan of the mystery bus route?  

please keep 'em coming as it has cheered me right up


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## colacubes (Oct 1, 2013)

Miss-Shelf said:


> I have Greebo 'd this thread because I was so excited to read all your bus stories
> colacubes  - I know what you mean about buses with a letter/number combo
> I would be *so* up for a trip from letter bus to letter bus (have you tried the ones round the isle of dogs?  that's another little cluster of letter buses)
> sounds like Ms Ordinary  you are also a fan of the mystery bus route?
> ...



I have been meaning to do a Bill Bryson style travelogue about journeys on the P5 for some time   Maybe I should get my arse together and do it now


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 1, 2013)

talking of finsbury park buses(although we're not)  I used to love the 106 cos each place it went through has such a different population - nearly all Bengali Muslim at Whitechapel then it would go through it's more mixed bethnal green and hackney phases then heading up stamford hill the orthodox jews then more finsbury park allsorts near it's destination


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## 8115 (Oct 1, 2013)

Oh yeah, the 73 is ok too.


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## marty21 (Oct 1, 2013)

Not sure if it still runs, but I used to love the 210 - went from Golders Green (where i lived at the time) to Finsbury Park - (via Hampstead Heath) where I would catch a 106 to go and see Mrs21 in Hackney


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 1, 2013)

marty21 said:


> Not sure if it still runs, but I used to love the 210 - went from Golders Green (where i lived at the time) to Finsbury Park - (via Hampstead Heath) where I would catch a 106 to go and see Mrs21 in Hackney


the love bus


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 1, 2013)

marty21 said:


> Not sure if it still runs, but I used to love the 210 - went from Golders Green (where i lived at the time) to Finsbury Park - (via Hampstead Heath) where I would catch a 106 to go and see Mrs21 in Hackney



yes it does, and it has double deckers now.  Far more about the 210 route than you are ever likely to want to know here.


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## uk benzo (Oct 1, 2013)

Number 7 bus. It was my escape from the shithole that is East Acton.


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## marty21 (Oct 2, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> yes it does, and it has double deckers now.  Far more about the 210 route than you are ever likely to want to know here.


that is quite a bus geeky site !


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## Balham (Oct 2, 2013)

Years ago the 3 . Later the 2b . A good site for bus routes from the past is London Bus Routes by Ian Armstrong.


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## porp (Oct 2, 2013)

The 521-Waterloo to Liverpool Street.

Wouldn't say it's my favourite favourite, but I love the way it sweeps over Waterloo then dives under Aldwych, coming out of the tunnel halfway up Kingsway. Makes me feel like I'm getting one over all those types dicking about in the traffic in Aldwych. Yes,  that doesn't reflect well.


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## TikkiB (Oct 2, 2013)

When I lived in Peckham I loved the old routemaster 12.  To catch a bus that would take me over the Thames, with the best skyline in the world, in such an everyday fashion felt like something magical to me.


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## Ms Ordinary (Oct 2, 2013)

Miss-Shelf said:


> sounds like Ms Ordinary  you are also a fan of the mystery bus route?


 
Not so much now, did a bit more of it when I first moved to London. I tend to try & plan a route now.
But I can easily spend the dead days between Christmas & New Year with a bus map and an A-Z*, zoning out with headphones on the top deck, bit of a walk & another bus back home.

137 up to Sloane Square, then cut across to Brompton Road, down past Harrods, pop into Brompton Oratory for smells & candles, past the V&A & Natural History Museum, back home on the 345 with a lovely view of the Albert Bridge is a nice Christmassy bus ride, especially if you don't head out till it's already getting dark.

*My A-Z is from 1993 so its a bit ropey round North Greenwich, Stratford now


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## _pH_ (Oct 2, 2013)

Anyone else remember those Red Bus Rover day tickets they used to do? When I was about 10-11 we used to get the 65 to Kingston to go to the bus garage (the one up by the hospital, not the bus station in the centre of town) to buy a Red Bus Rover (I think that was the only place you could get them - no travelcards or anything like that on sale in newsagents back then) which cost about 50p then see how far/where we could go, bus hopping on random buses. I vaguely remember getting the 131 to Heathrow and going to the cafe place which all the plane spotters used, playing the Jam on the jukebox and a few games of pool.


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## _pH_ (Oct 2, 2013)

existentialist said:


> The 281. It ran (runs) from Tolworth to Hounslow, which, when I first became aware of it, seemed like half way to the moon. All my most interesting journeys seemed to begin on a 281, and it operated Routemasters which, as a small child, were a lot more fun than some Leyland single-decker.
> 
> I have fond memories of hot summer's day trips through Surbiton, Kingston, over the bridge, up past Teddington and Twickenham to go to some place or other, tree branches bashing on the roof , that kind of diesely/fagsmoky/general bus smell, the sound of the conductor's ticket machine (and the way bus tickets tasted when you chewed them ), all very nostalgic.
> 
> The rot set in when they stopped running the Routemasters.



I have those memories too  I grew up in Tolworth, moved to Hook for a few years, then back to Tolworth. I didn't get the 281 much when it was a Routemaster (too young!) but when we moved to Hook, I got the 65 to school in Kingston every week day and that was still run by Routemasters back then. A school friend of mine used to like jumping off the platform at the back when the bus was at traffic lights, then try to jump back on as the bus pulled away, he wasn't always successful and got left behind at the bottom of Villiers Road once. By the time we moved back to Tolworth, Routemasters had gone from the 281, wasn't the same 

That picture brings back memories too: Studio 7 behind the bus was that really crappy cinema where they never turned the lights on at the end of the film so you couldn't see the damp and paint peeling off the walls. I saw ET there with me mum when it first came out 

The building behind the Capri behind the bus used to have a shop on the ground floor called Books Bits and Bobs - remember that?

Neither of them, or the bus garage, are there any more.


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## Balham (Oct 2, 2013)

_pH_ said:


> Anyone else remember those Red Bus Rover day tickets they used to do?



Had some excellent days out with  friends using those. They go back further than I thought, one here from 1958, cost 5/- !


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## _pH_ (Oct 2, 2013)

colacubes said:


> I have been meaning to do a Bill Bryson style travelogue about journeys on the P5 for some time   Maybe I should get my arse together and do it now


Get on with it then!


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## _pH_ (Oct 2, 2013)

Balham said:


> Had some excellent days out with  friends using those.


When was that? Just wondering if I was right about it being 50p! (that would have been late 70s/early 80s I guess)


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## marty21 (Oct 2, 2013)

I used to get the routemaster 73 from Stoke Newington to Kings Cross for work - it was a better journey as a routemaster (even though it is the same journey iykwim)


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## jakejb79 (Oct 2, 2013)

For me my favourite is the 47


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## existentialist (Oct 2, 2013)

Balham said:


> Had some excellent days out with  friends using those. They go back further than I thought, one here from 1958, cost 5/- !


The first time (of many) I had one of those, I was 9. I have often wondered since if I'd dream of letting a 9 year old of mine gallop all over London on his Tod. 

I'm glad my parents did, though - those are precious memories. 

(_pH_, I'll answer your post when I'm not phoneposting!)


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## salem (Oct 2, 2013)

From year 7 (11 I guess) onwards I used to often spend a day travelling around London with a few friends using a £2 bus pass. Used to do it by bike too. The bike rides were certainly more dangerous!


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## Remus Harbank (Oct 2, 2013)

159


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## salem (Oct 2, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Just to be pedantic, it was the first non red (privatised) route in central London - there had been others in the outer fringes a year or two earlier.
> 
> I can't help thinking that it was chosen both for that and NBFL for the fact that it runs down Whitehall and then Victoria Street, so is highly likely to be in the background on news broadcasts...
> 
> ...



I didn't know about the other privatised routes. But I think you're right that the route it takes through central London ensures it gets good status. It also goes mainly through 'nice' areas which I can imagine helps.

I was sadly away for the vintage day which is fortunate as I only heard about it a good while afterwards and would have been gutted if I could have gone. Well up for checking out some of the buses in December though - thanks for the heads up.


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 2, 2013)

I am on the 453  as I post. First time on this bus and it went over wesminster bridge! 

colacubes whats your view on buses that used to be a double number than get a 4 at the beginning? you know, they follow most of a similar route as an old two number route but with a twist. I 'm thinking this is the 53 route with a magic 4 on it.
468 is the 68 with a magic 4
36  / 436


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 2, 2013)

Miss-Shelf said:


> I am on the 453  as I post. First time on this bus and it went over wesminster bridge!
> 
> colacubes whats your view on buses that used to be a double number than get a 4 at the beginning? you know, they follow most of a similar route as an old two number route but with a twist. I 'm thinking this is the 53 route with a magic 4 on it.
> 468 is the 68 with a magic 4
> 36  / 436



dunno about anyone else, but red buses with numbers starting 3xx / 4xx is just WRONG

buses with numbers above 400 should look like this...


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## Yelkcub (Oct 2, 2013)

134, 43, 234, 144, W7, 260

Some of the best days of my life on those buses.


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 2, 2013)

jakejb79 said:


> For me my favourite is the 47



I preferred it when it went all the way out to Farnborough (it got cut back at Bromley the same time the real 94 ceased to exist)

I suppose I should admit to this - http://47bus.wordpress.com/ - which I ought really add more to sometime...



_pH_ said:


> Anyone else remember those Red Bus Rover day tickets they used to do?



Definitely - although it used to be a pain in the tail if you lived any distance from a bus garage - at that time you could only buy them at bus garage enquiry counters or underground stations, and we were a bit short on the latter in SE London


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## Badgers (Oct 2, 2013)

The one taking me home


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## oryx (Oct 2, 2013)

_pH_ said:


> Anyone else remember those Red Bus Rover day tickets they used to do?



My partner often waxes lyrical about them - will have to show him this thread!

I don't use buses that often these days (tends to be train or car) but my favourites are:

- P4 from Brixton back home to Honor Oak Park - so quick and easy after a night out in Brixton. Though not great in the mornings. 
- 137 (does it even still exist as such?) - my route to Sloane Square and Kings Road when I lived in Battersea. It was my route to central London in a tube-less area and though it could be a real shocker for reliability getting to work, I have happy memories of coming back from Kings Road on a Saturday after a bit of clothes shopping, with the sun setting over Albert Bridge & the Worlds End estate. This was in the days when Kings Road had reasonably-priced shops and wasn't the rich person's playground it is now - FFS it even had punks! (Frequently stopped by tourists for a photo ;-) )


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 2, 2013)

oryx said:


> 137 (does it even still exist as such?)



yes - the 137 is now Oxford Circus - Streatham Hill (Telford Avenue bus garage)

the bit on to Crystal Palace is now the 417 (  as outlined above)

although the night bus version of the 137 runs all the way to Crystal Palace.

the bit north of Oxford Circus (it used to go on to Archway, at least some of the time) became the 135 and has since kinda evaporated.


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## existentialist (Oct 2, 2013)

_pH_ said:


> I have those memories too  I grew up in Tolworth, moved to Hook for a few years, then back to Tolworth. I didn't get the 281 much when it was a Routemaster (too young!) but when we moved to Hook, I got the 65 to school in Kingston every week day and that was still run by Routemasters back then. A school friend of mine used to like jumping off the platform at the back when the bus was at traffic lights, then try to jump back on as the bus pulled away, he wasn't always successful and got left behind at the bottom of Villiers Road once. By the time we moved back to Tolworth, Routemasters had gone from the 281, wasn't the same


Heh, like you, I left Tolworth (1983), then came back (1989, must be something in the water). I can remember the 65 when it was RTs.



_pH_ said:


> That picture brings back memories too: Studio 7 behind the bus was that really crappy cinema where they never turned the lights on at the end of the film so you couldn't see the damp and paint peeling off the walls. I saw ET there with me mum when it first came out


I always heard it referred to as "the fleapit", and it seemed to show the kind of films that didn't get to the Odeon the other side of the bus station - I can remember the poster for Emanuelle being up there, and it was where other "naughty" films tended to get shown.



_pH_ said:


> The building behind the Capri behind the bus used to have a shop on the ground floor called Books Bits and Bobs - remember that?


Those tossers, yes. The bloke who ran it was...odd. And a complete bastard - he sold a lot of tat, and used to rip off his client base something terrible, selling them substandard rubbish and then refusing any kind of refund on it if there was anything wrong. Not that it was really my scene - I was much more interested in the Smokebox - railway books - around the corner 

And the bus garage was, as I recall, where I used to go to get my 50p Red Bus Rover. I loved the smell of bus garages, all those diesel fumes and the strangely jolly noise RF and RT engines used to make when they were idling.

My favourite bus route apart from the 281 must have been the 418, mostly because it was "my" bus route - it ran past the bottom of my road. It was my bus into Kingston for school, but I could never afford to ride it outside London when it went into Foreign Parts, where there was no flat child fare. But it was intriguing, because in the summer they'd put double decker buses on - all kinds, from converted Routemasters with doors to strange yellow things from Bournemouth with slippery leather seats that you slid off when it went around corners - to deal with the Surbiton Lagoon (also long departed) traffic.


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## Maurice Picarda (Oct 2, 2013)

The 125. It goes from North Finchley to Winchmore Hill, which is helpful, and it's a cube route to boot.


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## Yelkcub (Oct 2, 2013)

I forgot the 125, the 263 and the 13.


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## oryx (Oct 2, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> yes - the 137 is now Oxford Circus - Streatham Hill (Telford Avenue bus garage)
> 
> the bit on to Crystal Palace is now the 417 (  as outlined above)
> 
> ...



I well remember the old Crystal Palace to Archway 137 - it was an absolute nightmare! It got permanently snagged up in traffic. 

((((self, circa 1987, trying to get bus to tube station in the days before the bus lane on Queenstown Road.....)))))


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 2, 2013)

oryx said:


> I well remember the old Crystal Palace to Archway 137 - it was an absolute nightmare! It got permanently snagged up in traffic.



that is one of the reasons that the number of routes has mushroomed (hence the need to use 300+ route numbers) what used to be very long routes have been chopped into shorter lumps so that 

a) a delay in one part of London doesn't balls up the bus service the other side of London

b) for 'reliability' - in that shorter routes, and more 'stand time' allowed at each terminus gives buses a better chance of getting back on to time 

c) privatisation and route franchising means that you can't generally have buses running from multiple garages on one route like you used to be able to - the 3 (for example) used to have buses from Norwood and Chalk Farm garages - while the latter no longer exists, the nearest garages up that part of the world are a different company to Norwood...

(although some routes were run exclusively from one end, and the service at the remote end could get a bit patchy)

and having said that, some of the longest routes always ran in overlapping sections and rarely if ever had buses go all the way from one end to the other (e.g. the 12 rarely had buses run all the way from Norwood Junction through to Harlesden) - and it is mildly confusing if you have to catch a number 12 to Peckham and then change on to a number 12...


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 2, 2013)

Silas Loom said:


> The 125. It goes from North Finchley to Winchmore Hill, which is helpful, and it's a cube route to boot.


what is this cube route of which you speak?


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## SarfLondoner (Oct 3, 2013)

Back in the 80,s we used to bunk off school with a 60p red bus rover in hand and go all around London.The 37 from Peckham to Hounslow killed a few hours,159 from Thornton Heath to West Hampstead and the 137 from Crystal Palace to Archway great ways to see out a day!.


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## Maurice Picarda (Oct 3, 2013)

Miss-Shelf said:


> what is this cube route of which you speak?



5^3


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## Balham (Oct 3, 2013)

_pH_ said:


> When was that? Just wondering if I was right about it being 50p! (that would have been late 70s/early 80s I guess)


I suppose about 1972 - 1975.  Found a child ticket from 1972 for 25p.


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## _pH_ (Oct 3, 2013)

existentialist said:


> I always heard it referred to as "the fleapit", and it seemed to show the kind of films that didn't get to the Odeon the other side of the bus station - I can remember the poster for Emanuelle being up there, and it was where other "naughty" films tended to get shown.



It was the Granada back in those days wasn't it? I remember when Star Wars first opened and the queue went all the way round back of the cinema and up the road to what was C&A.



existentialist said:


> Those tossers, yes. The bloke who ran it was...odd. And a complete bastard - he sold a lot of tat, and used to rip off his client base something terrible, selling them substandard rubbish and then refusing any kind of refund on it if there was anything wrong. Not that it was really my scene - I was much more interested in the Smokebox - railway books - around the corner



Books Bits & Bobs was about the only place to go for badges and patches to show your allegiance to a favourite band! There was some proper tat in there though, true. And I remember the Smokebox - used to pop in there after school sometimes and buy second hand train magazines.



existentialist said:


> And the bus garage was, as I recall, where I used to go to get my 50p Red Bus Rover. I loved the smell of bus garages, all those diesel fumes and the strangely jolly noise RF and RT engines used to make when they were idling.



Is that where you got your RBR then? I seem to remember having to go to the garage up near the hospital, but maybe that was after the one next to Studio 7 closed down?



existentialist said:


> My favourite bus route apart from the 281 must have been the 418, mostly because it was "my" bus route - it ran past the bottom of my road. It was my bus into Kingston for school, but I could never afford to ride it outside London when it went into Foreign Parts, where there was no flat child fare. But it was intriguing, because in the summer they'd put double decker buses on - all kinds, from converted Routemasters with doors to strange yellow things from Bournemouth with slippery leather seats that you slid off when it went around corners - to deal with the Surbiton Lagoon (also long departed) traffic.



Surbiton Lagoon! Used to love it there! Sitting on the grass in the sun with an ice cream before diving back in the packed pool. Always very popular and such a shame when it closed down. Not long after it closed, me and some mates climbed over the fence for a last look round - it felt so eerie and desolate being abandoned and quiet after all the happy sunny summer days we'd spent there.


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## existentialist (Oct 3, 2013)

_pH_ said:


> It was the Granada back in those days wasn't it? I remember when Star Wars first opened and the queue went all the way round back of the cinema and up the road to what was C&A.


Yes, you're quite right - the Granada.



_pH_ said:


> Books Bits & Bobs was about the only place to go for badges and patches to show your allegiance to a favourite band! There was some proper tat in there though, true. And I remember the Smokebox - used to pop in there after school sometimes and buy second hand train magazines.


Hmm, I wonder where I got my Deep Purple and Mötörhead ones, then, because it definitely wasn't BBB! 



_pH_ said:


> Is that where you got your RBR then? I seem to remember having to go to the garage up near the hospital, but maybe that was after the one next to Studio 7 closed down?


That's Norbiton Garage, yes. All spiffy and new (well 20 years old) now. Not sure if I ever went there for Red Bus Rovers - but then I'd left the area before Kingston Garage bit the dust...

Interestingly, someone at Berrylands Station once sold me an obsolete ticket which was the train version of that, and I had a great time galloping all over the twists and turns and branch lines of South London's railway network before a sharp-eyed ticket inspector spotted it and wondered WTF was going on! 

Under strict instructions only to use it to return home, he let me go...



_pH_ said:


> Surbiton Lagoon! Used to love it there! Sitting on the grass in the sun with an ice cream before diving back in the packed pool. Always very popular and such a shame when it closed down. Not long after it closed, me and some mates climbed over the fence for a last look round - it felt so eerie and desolate being abandoned and quiet after all the happy sunny summer days we'd spent there.


Mad place. Legendary queues in the summer, and they used to put the water temperature up on a board - how they kept it so fucking freezing I have no idea! My memory of that place is stubbed and grazed toes from all the concrete. I went back and saw the site a long time after it closed - it's all grassed over and filled in now, not a sign it was ever there.

In danger of getting off-topic now, but where were you at school?

Another interesting bus route - the 152. Which went to Mitcham at one end, handy for the grandparents, and (I think) Hampton Court at the other. As ever, sadly truncated now. One of the early routes to get the new "telephone box" OMO (we call them DMS) buses. A really big deal back then - we got leaflets explaining how to use them and everything!


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## existentialist (Oct 3, 2013)

_pH_ said:


> When was that? Just wondering if I was right about it being 50p! (that would have been late 70s/early 80s I guess)


Not sure - I think my idea of it being 50p might have been fond reminiscence. I would have first used one in about 1973. According to this...

 
...a child one was 35p in 1979 (Adult - hand modified! - £1.80)

 
and this suggests that a child one was 20p in 1971. So I expect I was paying about 25p. Probably a week's pocket money.


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## scanner (Oct 3, 2013)

jakejb79 said:


> For me my favourite is the 47


 Mention of the 47 takes me way back to the period '45-50. I used to travel up from Farnborough to Petticoat Lane sometimes on Sundays for the market, an amazing place to visit back then. At summer weekends at that time hundreds of Eastenders used to travel down to Farnborough to visit the lovely countryside around the village, huge queues formed to board the busses back in the evening. At one time the 47 route extended to Pratts Bottom & Knockholt Pound on Sundays.


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 3, 2013)

scanner said:


> Mention of the 47 takes me way back to the period '45-50. I used to travel up from Farnborough to Petticoat Lane sometimes on Sundays for the market, an amazing place to visit back then. At summer weekends at that time hundreds of Eastenders used to travel down to Farnborough to visit the lovely countryside around the village, huge queues formed to board the busses back in the evening. At one time the 47 route extended to Pratts Bottom & Knockholt Pound on Sundays.


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## Lord Camomile (Oct 3, 2013)

Silas Loom said:


> The 125. It goes from North Finchley to Winchmore Hill, which is helpful, and it's a cube route to boot.


125 was the dependable route of my youth. Not as flashy as the more frequent 329, but did the job.

Will always have a soft spot for the W9, took me and my two best friends the last leg of our journey home from school, had some great times on that bus 

Also obviously have a soft spot for my two main night bus routes too, N29 in my younger days, and now the 53, both from Trafalgar Square. By God I've been happy to live on those two routes! Actually prefer the N1 if I can get it, as it's generally a quieter ride, but usually it's just easier to head straight for Trafalgar.


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## toblerone3 (Oct 3, 2013)

marty21 said:


> 38 and 73 are faves - got them a lot over the years



That one and the 55 are the ones that go to Hackney.


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## Plumdaff (Oct 3, 2013)

196. This ran the absolute closest to my old place in Stockwell and connected lots of useful bits of south London not covered by other routes. 
2. Interesting route, great for London watching on a summer's day. 
155 and N155. My twenties and thirties were lived on various points of this bus route. 
Also fond of the 24, 77, and C1.


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## stethoscope (Oct 3, 2013)

N29 obviously - the service where anything can happen (and frequently does!) 

As my regular buses used to be the 8/N8 and 276, I always enjoy getting the 3 back to Oxford Street when I've been to Brockwell Park.


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 4, 2013)

I really like the 277 as well - been using that for 20+ years since I came to London
I remember the first time I caught it coming out of mile end tube to visit my (yet to be) daughters dad
it seemed like I was in the middle of nowhere going through the middle of viccy park on it 
It's a good route from highbury all the way to canary wharf (plus it connects with a slew of letter/number buses - D3, D7, D6, D3...oh the delight)

I have fallen a little out of love with my new dinky bus the 365 - waited nearly half hour at the horniman museum tonight
I will give it a chance to redeem
 it'self again I expect

but what's this new fangled white bus signage?   I used to see it on the 322 and I thought it was just a cute affectation of that bus but now I see it on more and more buses


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 4, 2013)

Miss-Shelf said:


> but what's this new fangled white bus signage?   I used to see it on the 322 and I thought it was just a cute affectation of that bus but now I see it on more and more buses



It seems to be part of Boris's retro agenda - not exactly new.

Bus destination blinds always (or at least generally) were white on black until the early 90s - research then suggested that yellow on black was easier to read, especially for people who are partially sighted.

Quite a few people had got the general impression that the yellow on black was part of equalities legislation - apparently it's not.

I'm not sure whether the move by TfL is the result of any research, or just a retro agenda.


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## Balham (Oct 5, 2013)

A sense of nostalgia at least for the 157 . As it chugged it's way around south London from Morden to Crystal Palace. Though the route was in two sections, Raynes Park to Carshalton - Wrythe Green being the other section. The noise of the old RTs . . .  chug chug chug chug chug  . . . . .  bang (the preselect gears) chug chug chug chug chug . . . . bang - or something like that. 

I know the RM was more modern, smoother and goodness knows what else but the RT still brings back happy memories.


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 5, 2013)

Balham said:


> A sense of nostalgia at least for the 157 . As it chugged it's way around south London from Morden to Crystal Palace. Though the route was in two sections, Raynes Park to Carshalton - Wrythe Green being the other section. The noise of the old RTs . . .  chug chug chug chug chug  . . . . .  bang (the preselect gears) chug chug chug chug chug . . . . bang - or something like that.
> 
> I know the RM was more modern, smoother and goodness knows what else but the RT still brings back happy memories.




 at video

 at title including the word 'Routemaster' when there isn't one to be seen

and hmm at getting a 'bang' with pre-select gears. It's not compulsory to get a bang, it's a sign the driver's doing it wrong.  You should allow time for the engine revs to reduce / increase to match the gear you're about to go into, but a pre-select will let you engage a gear at the wrong time.  (The Daimler pre-select being spring loaded rather than air operated is less forgiving to any nonsense.)

A well driven RT would generally give a smoother ride than an RM in automatic mode

Have some RT (not my video) from a play in 2010 on the 77A route


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 6, 2013)

well yesterday I tried a 197 and a 75 for short hops
and today I had a bit of the 122
only cos of the rail replacement horror that removes trains from our weekends


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## Maggot (Oct 7, 2013)

So many buses to chose from.  

The 119 used to be my bus of choice because I used to catch it to and from seeing Palace play, when it went to Thornton Heath. After the match we would sometimes sing on the bus such ditties as _Can you hear the bottom deck sing?  No-oo, no-oo!_

Also for going to Croydon as a teenager to hang out with my mates at various record shops.  It doesn't go to Thornton Heath any more, but is much more reliable and frequent - and runs 24hrs too.




TikkiB said:


> When I lived in Peckham I loved the old routemaster 12.  To catch a bus that would take me over the Thames, with the best skyline in the world, in such an everyday fashion felt like something magical to me.



There was a time in the 1990s when there were a few open top number 12s, they had their own timetable, we would catch them whenever possible. As the 12 goes past so many tourist sites it was a great way to see London or take people who were visiting. Liked an expensive tour bus, but only the price of a travelcard.


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## Crispy (Oct 7, 2013)

The X68 Croydon Express, because if your timing is lucky, you can ride a bicycle in its slipstream all the way to Waterloo.


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## TikkiB (Oct 10, 2013)

Maggot said:


> So many buses to chose from.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes!  i got one once and remember how being on the top deck of an open top bus made all the passengers seem much more cheerful and smiley, as though we were all on holiday


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## davesgcr (Oct 12, 2013)

Ex bus driver mate demands to know why the 11 and the 72 are not featured. 

(he loved his time driving RM.s)


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 12, 2013)

The centenary operation on the 88 that I mentioned earlier will not now be happening

There will be an open day event at Merton bus garage (the one near Colliers Wood underground) on Sunday 17 November, and a shuttle to and from Wimbledon with historic buses - more here


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## existentialist (Oct 12, 2013)

davesgcr said:


> Ex bus driver mate demands to know why the 11 and the 72 are not featured.
> 
> (he loved his time driving RM.s)


OOoh, the 72 was great. One bus, all the way from Tolworth Tower right into (nearly) the heart of London - well, Hammersmith (East Acton was a bit of a dead loss for onward bus travel). Many of my Red Bus Rover expeditions started on the 72.

http://www.londonbuses.co.uk/routes/072.html


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## Hollis (Oct 12, 2013)

joustmaster said:


> N29
> especially when it was free (bendy bus)
> 
> crackers people and goings-on


 

yeah the N29 is always a laugh..


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 13, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> The centenary operation on the 88 that I mentioned earlier will not now be happening
> 
> There will be an open day event at Merton bus garage (the one near Colliers Wood underground) on Sunday 17 November, and a shuttle to and from Wimbledon with historic buses - more here


that is my birthday - maybe I should have a special bus trip to wimbledon to celebrate


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## Miss-Shelf (Oct 26, 2013)

today has been a bumper day for buses
walked up one tree hill then down again to catch a train to new cross
straight onto a 171 to Catford, caught a 54 to Lewisham, bought some halloween glitter in 99p shop(big spender)
122 was pulling in which got me out the rain
got out at forest hill to buy some baking soda (exciting)  then a few stops on the 356 hopper where I helped an old lady across the road and home with her shopping
(oh and bumped into boohoo and baby boo at the 356 bus stop)


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## Dr. Furface (Oct 26, 2013)

The 73 - haven't been on it for years but it was the bus I used most when I first moved to London and lived in Stoke Newington.
I also like the 24 which I used to catch from Hampstead to go to work in Westminster - it's a simple and relatively straight route that just cuts straight down the middle of the city, no messing about.


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## hash tag (Nov 2, 2013)

Wthout doubt the two best bus routes in town are the No's 9 & 15 running fromk Kensington High St to Trafalgar Square
and Tower Hill to Trafalgar Sq. But its not about the routes, its about the buses. oth routes are still running
Routemaster buses.


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## SarfLondoner (Nov 2, 2013)

This is a great thread for nostalgia ! It brings back so many memory's, thanks to all.


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## Miss-Shelf (Nov 2, 2013)

SarfLondoner said:


> This is a great thread for nostalgia ! It brings back so many memory's, thanks to all.


although as pogofish suggested I have started an identical thread before now I started this thread because I have just moved to a new area and I'm feeling a bit lonely at times and disorientated and getting buses places is a really quick and cheap way[i have a travelcard for commuting] of breaking out of that when I don't know what else to do plus I get to see how areas connect up 

and this thread has then gone in so many directions I've loved it - thanks all indeed


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 2, 2013)

I used to like the 1, but it doesn't go as far as it used to in the 90s and it is a bit boring now.


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## Kid_Eternity (Nov 2, 2013)

390


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## Miss-Shelf (Nov 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I used to like the 1, but it doesn't go as far as it used to in the 90s and it is a bit boring now.


where does it go?


Kid_Eternity said:


> 390


ditto


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 2, 2013)

Miss-Shelf said:


> where does it go?
> 
> ditto


I can't remember fully anymore. I think I used to call it the Love Bus though, because it was so useful to me.

I think it went from island gardens (at least) to tottenham court road (where the intrepid fox is now) via waterloo. That pretty much covered all my bases for a while. I worked in Island Gardens and lived in Waterloo, then I lived in docklands and worked in waterloo, then I lived in Bermondsey and worked in Waterloo (though I think already by then it stopped going to island gardens, not that I needed that route anymore). In Bermondsey, the number 1 was right at the end of my road, though I would usually walk to work. Great for getting into town at the weekend though.


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## Miss-Shelf (Nov 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX  I love that story for some reason


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## sparkybird (Nov 2, 2013)

159 surely! Houses of Parliament, Horse Guards, no 10, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus... I always recommend it for visitors


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## Maggot (Nov 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I used to like the 1, but it doesn't go as far as it used to in the 90s and it is a bit boring now.





Miss-Shelf said:


> where does it go?


The number 1 (or possibly the number 47, I'm not sure) used to go all the way from Bromley Common bus garage to Trafalgar Square.  I remember this cos of the first job I had after leaving polytechnic. I was a bus surveyor, we used to work in pairs on the buses giving out cards with a short questionnaire about your journey. The data was used to calculate people's travel patterns.  I used to spend all day on the buses and got paid for it.  Anyway, the reason I remember that route is cos it was the longest one we did - 2 hours each way, so we only did one round trip before we got our lunch break.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 2, 2013)

Maggot said:


> The number 1 (or possibly the number 47, I'm not sure) used to go all the way from Bromley Common bus garage to Trafalgar Square.  I remember this cos of the first job I had after leaving polytechnic. I was a bus surveyor, we used to work in pairs on the buses giving out cards with a short questionnaire about your journey. The data was used to calculate people's travel patterns.  I used to spend all day on the buses and got paid for it.  Anyway, the reason I remember that route is cos it was the longest one we did - 2 hours each way, so we only did one round trip before we got our lunch break.


I'm guessing that it was the 47 then unless the route changed since you rode it and I started work in island gardens in the later half of the 90s.


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## Maggot (Nov 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I'm guessing that it was the 47 then unless the route changed since you rode it and I started work in island gardens in the later half of the 90s.


According to this http://www.londonbuses.co.uk/routes/001.html the No.1 never went to Island Gardens. It goes from central London to the South East, but never crosses back over the river to Docklands. 

I expect Puddy_Tat will be able to sort  this out.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 2, 2013)

Maggot said:


> According to this http://www.londonbuses.co.uk/routes/001.html the No.1 never went to Island Gardens. It goes from central London to the South East, but never crosses back over the river to Docklands.
> 
> I expect Puddy_Tat will be able to sort  this out.



Ooh, interesting. What is my memory doing wrong. 
I know for a start that I didn't work in island gardens, it was crossharbor, so that is mistake number one. 
I need to check I guess. I find it odd that even with a brain like mine I could get the number 1 mixed up with something else.


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## Maggot (Nov 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Ooh, interesting. What is my memory doing wrong.
> I know for a start that I didn't work in island gardens, it was crossharbor, so that is mistake number one.
> I need to check I guess. I find it odd that even with a brain like mine I could get the number 1 mixed up with something else.


Maybe you walked through the foot tunnel and got the bus from Greenwich or somewhere?


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Nov 2, 2013)

Maggot said:


> Maybe you walked through the foot tunnel and got the bus from Greenwich or somewhere?


I think I would have remembered that. 

Maybe I just got the 1 from Waterloo to town and some other bus the other way. Odd. I'm sure it was one bus that did all the stuff without changing.


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 2, 2013)

ATOMIC SUPLEX Maggot

Yes, route 1 did extend as far south as Bromley Common (bus garage) until (from memory) the early 80s - possibly the same time as the 47 / 94 to 208 / 261 changes happened.

And yes, at that time it ran Bromley - Catford - Lewisham - Deptford - Bermondsey - Waterloo - Trafalgar Square - Marylebone (at one point the 1 continued up Kilburn High Road to Willesden, but that was before my time, and think at one time it went via Warren Street rather than along Oxford Street.

Not all bits ran every day of the week, and there was a Sunday version 1A which did Trafalgar Square - Deptford - Greenwich.

In the 70s, not many of the buses that started as far south as Bromley went further north than Waterloo, though.  London Transport used to be good at that sort of thing - if you wanted to travel from one end of a bus route to another (which to be fair not that many people do) you had to change somewhere to another bus with the same route number but working the other end of the route...

The 1, 47 and 199 have all exchanged bits of route over the years and the 208 and 261 got in to the mix in the mid 80s.

I am pretty confident that the 1 has never ventured into East London.

There have been one or two incarnations of 'D1' (D for Docklands) - I have a vague memory of one that ran from the City to the Isle of Dogs for a year or so before the Docklands Light Railway started.  Could that be what you're thinking?

ETA - cross river bus routes in East London - not many of them.  The 108 through the blackhole tunnel is pretty long established, there have been a couple of generations of bus through the Rotherhithe tunnel.


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## Maggot (Nov 3, 2013)

Thanks Puddy_Tat!



Puddy_Tat said:


> ATOMIC SUPLEX Maggot
> 
> 
> ETA - cross river bus routes in East London - not many of them.  The 108 through the blackhole tunnel is pretty long established, there have been a couple of generations of bus through the Rotherhithe tunnel.



Is the 108 the only bus to go under the Thames?


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## Mr Blob (Nov 3, 2013)

TikkiB said:


> When I lived in Peckham I loved the old routemaster 12.  To catch a bus that would take me over the Thames, with the best skyline in the world, in such an everyday fashion felt like something magical to me.



and on the other end the 'plough' in Dulwich- best beer


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## Mr Blob (Nov 3, 2013)

route 171 is the best-  Catford to Holborn-  love Waterloo bridge though the IRA blew up a parcel bomb on the top deck of a 171 once whilst in Aldwych.  Yes, the 171 via Peckham and New Cross


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 3, 2013)

Maggot said:


> Is the 108 the only bus to go under the Thames?



No, Ensign Bus route X80 uses the Dartford crossing, so uses the Dartford tunnel in whichever direction that is these days.


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## 19sixtysix (Nov 4, 2013)

N3 to Crystal Palace (the one to Bromley not so good when I fall asleep)

Quicker than the day bus and always brings me home when I've been out having fun.


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## hash tag (Nov 9, 2013)

I also like the 344, great bus. Starts in Tooting and finishes at Liverpool Street. Views include Battersea Dogs Home, Battersea Power Station,
lots of river by MI6 building and Vauxhall. Then parliament, Lambeth Palace, Impreial War Museum, Elephant and Castle, The Shard (can be sen from anywhere though), it also does a strange loop aound the monument on the return journey to Tooting.
It also passes nearby to many other notable places like Borough Market, Kirkaldy Testing Museum, Tate Modern, Globe Theatre Etc. Etc....


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## tbtommyb (Nov 10, 2013)

TikkiB said:


> When I lived in Peckham I loved the old routemaster 12.  To catch a bus that would take me over the Thames, with the best skyline in the world, in such an everyday fashion felt like something magical to me.


I'm like that with the 171. I love blasting out northwards over Waterloo Bridge.


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 10, 2013)

I've always preferred crossing the River in a southerly direction.



Mr Blob said:


> route 171 is the best-  Catford to Holborn-  love Waterloo bridge though the IRA blew up a parcel bomb on the top deck of a 171 once whilst in Aldwych.  Yes, the 171 via Peckham and New Cross



I can't help thinking the 171 would be better if it was still the 35 tram


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## Winot (Nov 13, 2013)

hash tag said:


> Wthout doubt the two best bus routes in town are the No's 9 & 15 running fromk Kensington High St to Trafalgar Square
> and Tower Hill to Trafalgar Sq. But its not about the routes, its about the buses. oth routes are still running
> Routemaster buses.


 
Any idea why No. 9's are parking at Aldwych?  Perhaps they always have and I've only just spotted the new ones.


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## Puddy_Tat (Nov 13, 2013)

Winot said:


> Any idea why No. 9's are parking at Aldwych?  Perhaps they always have and I've only just spotted the new ones.



If we're talking the main service (Aldwych - Hammersmith) the eastern terminus has been Aldwych for several years.  The new 'Boris Bus' things have only been on the route for the last few weeks, though, so they will be noticeable among all the other buses at Aldwych.

The 'heritage' service on the 9 (i.e. with real Routemasters not Boris Buses) now runs Trafalgar Square - Kensington and doesn't run to Aldwych any more.


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## TotallyGreatGuy (Nov 14, 2013)

Definitely the Two Two Two, to, Uxbridge. Although Uxbridge's claim to being in London is weak.


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## hash tag (Nov 29, 2013)

The maddest bus route that goes everywhere and nowhere in particular must be the G (geratric) 1, starting in the Shaftesbury est. Clapham and going to Hermitage Rd, Streatham via St Georges. It seems to take forever and go everywhere to get nowhere in particular


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## vornstyle76 (Dec 5, 2013)

37. Together with the 177 it forms a mighty South London Express.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 5, 2013)

vornstyle76 said:


> 37. Together with the 177 it forms a mighty South London Express.



the 37 used to go all the way to Hounslow - I think it would take most of the day for a bus to do that now...


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## SarfLondoner (Dec 5, 2013)

Puddy_Tat said:


> the 37 used to go all the way to Hounslow - I think it would take most of the day for a bus to do that now...


 we used to bunk off school and get the 37 from Peckham to Hounslow and back which took ages and ages, a great way of wasting an afternoon.


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## hash tag (Jan 6, 2014)

I understand the longest non X bus route in town is the 25, Ilford to Oxford Circus. Will be trying this soon.


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## ddraig (Feb 26, 2014)

Adonis does the buses and blogs http://andrewadonis.com/2014/02/25/london-by-bus-a-week-on-the-buses/
No 25 mentioned here


> Buses are the poor relation of public transport. Train and Tube get the limelight, yet every day twice as many passengers ride London’s buses as the underground.
> 
> The number 25 alone – through Oxford Street, the City, Mile End and Stratford – carries 64,000 people each day, equivalent to the entire population of Crewe. To understand better how London’s bus system works I’m undergoing a week of total immersion, riding 50 routes in inner and outer London, including the most congested and popular.
> 
> I’ll be blogging in the Independent as I go. Here is what I’ll be looking out for.


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## stethoscope (May 12, 2015)

Anyone see Night Bus on C4 last night?  

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-night-bus/on-demand/61073-001


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## ddraig (May 12, 2015)

watching now, cheers


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## hash tag (Oct 27, 2015)

A little piece of madness which only appears to cover a small geographical area

Live London bus map


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## Puddy_Tat (Oct 27, 2015)

hash tag said:


> A little piece of madness which only appears to cover a small geographical area


 
The site covers all of London, but you only get to see what's happening one route at a time - your link is to route 73.  (there's a selector at the bottom left of the page)

At last count, I think there is something like 8,000 London buses on the road during peak hours - not sure getting them all on screen at once would be a good idea!

The 159 might appeal to more on here.  Or for something a bit quieter the R8 (one of London's smallest bus routes - only one bus trundling around, runs about every 80 minutes)


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## jimbarkanoodle (Oct 28, 2015)

176.....to...."PENGE".


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## Miss-Shelf (Nov 19, 2015)

Added a 198 and a 130 today to my bus portfolio Thornton Heath way

And just to balance the extreem southy nature of that I  recently had to visit someone in Barnet general hossie so I tried a 384 and a 107


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## BigMoaner (Nov 20, 2015)

432, next.


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## Pickman's model (Nov 20, 2015)

Miss-Shelf said:


> Added a 198 and a 130 today to my bus portfolio Thornton Heath way
> 
> And just to balance the extreem southy nature of that I  recently had to visit someone in Barnet general hossie so I tried a 384 and a 107


should have got a 263.


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## Miss-Shelf (Nov 20, 2015)

Pickman's model said:


> should have got a 263.


I did but it wasn't a new bus for me - I get it up holloway road most days x


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## hipipol (Nov 20, 2015)

36, the whole world is in it
this is by far my fav ride ever


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## Cowley (Nov 24, 2015)

sparkybird said:


> 159 surely! Houses of Parliament, Horse Guards, no 10, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus... I always recommend it for visitors



Been getting that Bus on and off for years, ever since when I was a little kid growing up in Stockwell. Fond memories of that route, especially around Christmas time.


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## brogdale (Nov 24, 2015)

The old 2B route.

Golders Green to Crystalopolis.


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## Miss-Shelf (Nov 26, 2015)

BigMoaner said:


> 432, next.


I like the 432 a lot


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