The Streetlamps - Route 192 New Buses 24/01/15

Route 192 has now started replacing their old stuff with new stuff. Or rather, finally getting their Arriva buses off-loan and replacing them with Wright Streetlites. Wheel forward, short versions. The wheel being forward has caused handling to be slightly hindered with a larger turning circle. This proves to be a problem, when this route is fairly tight and fairly busy.

London General (on loan from Arriva London) PDL90 and TEN12 on Route 192, Tottenham Hale
Both types will be replaced by these new Streetlites:


London General WS33 on Route 192, Northumberland Park
As of the second day of these entering service, only WS33 and WS37 had entered service.
As of the 31st January, by then, only WS 33, 34, 37, 39 had entered service out of WS33-48.


Rear of WS33, Tottenham Hale

Compared to the Enviro 200s/Darts they have replaced, they all have the same length, but the longer wheelbase in the Streetlite can be difficult.


London General WS33 on Route 192, Tottenham Hale Bus Station

Comments about the buses on Flickr were generally negative. One comment said:
"These are breaking down and being towed in on a daily basis. Also feedback from the drivers is not good, having the wheels at the front is causing problems with some of the roads that have lots of parking and traffic islands to negotiate."

The "aggressive" bumpers with the challenge of driving the route in itself (as one driver stated that he was glad to not be driving the 192) means that the Streetlites will be a challenge on this demanding route. My only experience with this batch of buses was, as predictably, at the front of the bus, standing whilst it was full. It rode like most other Streetlites, and were not too quick compared to the Enviro that was taken towards Northumberland Park. But they are here to stay due to ADL delays. Oh well, at least Arriva London can have their buses back!

The Troubles of London Bridge - Route 21 & 47 Extras

There were extras on Route 21 and 47 during the afternoon peaks to help aid the Jubilee line in handling the crowds caused by the works at London Bridge. What really happened was the Jubilee line took nearly all the slack and extras on the 47 took the rest. The 21 had less people using the extra service. 

The 21 extras ran London Bridge-Lewisham


Go-Ahead London 937 on Route 21 Extra, London Bridge (Aubrey)
Driver complained about the traffic at Elephant and Castle on that day (16/01/15)


Go-Ahead London PVL248 on Route 21 Extra, London Bridge (Aubrey)


London General MEC14 for Route 21 Extra, London Bridge (Aubrey)

The extras on the 47 were more heavily loaded, running between London Bridge and Lewisham (1st journey) then dead to London Bridge, then live London Bridge-Bellingham:


Stagecoach Manchester 17002 on Route 47 Extra, Canada Water (Aubrey)
Tridents loaned from Stagecoach Manchester were used on the 47, which were all coincidentally ex-London


Stagecoach Manchester 17567 on Route 47 Extra, Canada Water (Aubrey)


Stagecoach London 17506 on Route 47 Extra, Canada Water (Aubrey)
Some London and soon to be withdrawn London Tridents were also used on the 47 extras


Stagecoach London 17842 on Route 47 Extra, Canada Water (Jacek)


Stagecoach London 17557 on Route 47 Extra, Canada Water (Aubrey)
This bus had banditry and did not have anyone on it due to the display and the driver not really encouraging people to get on.


Stagecoach Manchester 17011 on Route 47 Extra, Canada Water (Aubrey)


Stagecoach Manchester 17010 on Route 47 Extra, Canada Water (Aubrey)

Well, it seems pointless to run a service in only one direction during only the evening peak but at least somebody used it compared to the Ensignbus extras, which means it runs after the Ensignbus extras were withdrawn. The evening peak direction is usually swallowed well by the Jubilee line. The overcrowding at London Bridge did occur on the first day of the return of people to the reworked London Bridge thanks to the shown staggered ticket line:



This proved to be a problem, along with the reduced Southern service (and two platforms being fairly narrow) leading to overcrowding outside the station on the 5th January (seen here) leading to the extras in the first place!

The Troubles of London Bridge - Ensign Supplement

For one week, Ensignbus were designated to run a Canada Water to Waterloo supplement service in the morning and afternoon peaks to help aid the Jubilee line in handling the crowds caused by the works at London Bridge. What really happened was the Jubilee line took nearly all the slack (extras on the 47 took the rest) and this service did carry fresh air (or the odd enthusiast) until later in the week, after it was due to be withdrawn! Aubrey and Jacek (new member) covered this upon the week it did run.

Ensignbus RML2588 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, London Bridge (Aubrey)

Various buses across the Ensignbus fleet, including the sales and heritage fleet were in service on this service


Ensignbus 109 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (Aubrey)


Ensignbus 829 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (Aubrey)
What is shown is also an example of the 47 extras behind, having a lot more passengers than this Olympian is having!


Ensignbus RM1361 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (Aubrey)


Ensignbus 508 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (Aubrey)
This bus was originally Arriva London HW3, but has ended in the Ensignbus fleet half-painted in Ensignbus livery.


Ensignbus 909 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (Aubrey)
This bus is ex-Wilts & Dorset, and is part of the sales fleet and are for sale!


Ensignbus 910 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (© Jacek/GloriousWater)
These ex-Brighton & Hove Tridents are also on the sales fleet and are also for sale!


Ensignbus 912 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (© Jacek/GloriousWater)
Another ex-Brighton & Hove Trident in action.
Some buses did not even pick up passengers enroute either deliberately or just coincidentially.


Ensignbus DM2646 on Canada Water-Waterloo Supplement, Canada Water (© Jacek/GloriousWater)
Even the Daimler Fleetline had a few runs.

Just as a general overview - this set of extras was proving to be so useless as no one used it, they were withdrawn within a week, even though the extra services were probably supposed to last a lot longer!

By the way, I'm Jacek Herominski (or GloriousWater), and I'm a member of this blog now. This means you'll see a few more of my shots in posts, and maybe an actual post from me once in a while, when my coalputer works!. I'll mainly cover the south east (of England, like everyone else).

My Picture Archive Post 31

First London DML44075 on Route 498, Romford Town Centre, 24/03/12

So the first 2015 Picture Archive brings to a scene from 2012, where DML44075 is seen plying the usually single deck 498 (at that time) which did and still does run between Romford and Brentwood. This bus started out as DML44075 in Dagenham Garage for First London. This was ordered for Route 165 in 2008 for its contract renewal. This bus had since settled at Dagenham running the 165 and 498 amongst other routes, until October 2012, where for some reason, it transferred to Lea Interchange for its single decker routes, including the RV1, 308, 236, W14 and W15. It transferred to Tower Transit on the 22nd June 2013, and is still with them at Lea Interchange today.

The 498 is a route that replaced the 351/551 services run by First Thamesway (Essex) between Romford and Brentwood. The 498 initially ran every 30 minutes run by Arriva Southend from Grays and started on Boxing Day 2005. In January 2006, it was converted to double deckers for the first time with DLAs, before reverting to single deck in June 2006. Even with the 30 minute frequency, there were school time extras run with double deckers. 

In June 2008, it moved to First London where Enviro 200s that had been running at Uxbridge moved to Dagenham after a long awaited extension to Goresbrook got cancelled. The route was re-converted to double deck in October 2012, and was later extended to Romford Queen's Hospital in April 2013 joint with a frequency increase to every 20 minutes. 

The route transferred to Go-Ahead Blue Triangle on the 22nd June 2013. It later had Enviro 400s replaced by Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini (and President) and now the Scania/East Lancs Olympus combination is the main current type.

Route 498 will move to Stagecoach East London on the 27th June with new double deckers from Romford Garage (according to London Bus Routes).

Roving Around On The Rails: Thames Rover. Day1/Part1 (080115)

PLEASE NOTE: I did not complete all three days of this rover, but I will share what I did on the two days I did do the rover.

Taking advantage of my last year of Child Fares, I decided to do some rail rovers. The first of which would be a Thames Rover. The Thames Rover, issued by National Rail is available to purchase at any manned ticket office for £45 Adult, £22.50 child, and £29.70 if in possession of a Railcard. Find out more here.

We started the first day at London Paddington, with the 0918 departure which was pathed as an Adelante (Class 180). This working is known to be subbed for a Turbo, so you can imagine the relief when the ECS move came into Paddington as an Adelante.


We boarded, took our seats in the front coach, and set off for Charlbury.

We timed how long it took the Adelante to get from 0-100mph as we pulled out of Slough. It took around 3 minutes. In train terms, thats bloody quick. The equivalent HST takes 3 times that to get to a ton!

The interior of the Adelante is clean, and sharp. Much better than a Mk. 3 coach. The seats are not as high backed as those in FGW HSTs so it gives the impression of a less cluttered, and spacious atmosphere.


The first class seating area is even more spacious than Standard Class. With 2+1 seating, it offers maximum comfort for those with more money than sense. (Sorry, that's the Socialism talking :P )

We alighted at Charlbury, after an almost 2 hour journey, but we barely noticed it. We were too caught up in the beauty of the Cotswolds. Charlbury is a little secluded country station, with a 3 a week bus service. The station offers a GWR style ticket office complete with name plaque above the counter, one ticket machine, a car park, and a lovely garden full of flowers.

Our train arrived to take us back to Reading. It was pathed to be a turbo, but an Adelante took its place.



Continued in Part 2...

London General LT60 - YOTB Bus Liveries

The General livery has been worn by a multitude of buses over the years to commemorate the predecessor of London Transport (Buses) - London General Omnibus Company (LGOC), which was the largest operator in London by pre-nationalisation in 1933. This includes various Routemasters, a MCW Metrobus and now a Borismaster. Yeah... At least this is the red that later made London famous for its red buses.

London General LT60 on Route 11, Trafalgar Square

In late 2014, LT60 was repainted from original red to a modernised General livery, as shown. Athough the rear application is less than impressive:


Rear of London General LT60 on Route 11, Whitehall

In 1983, M57 was overhauled and repainted into General livery to commemorate the 50th year of London Transport. It adorned the name of "Aldenham Aristocrat" and was displayed in Chiswick Works Open Day in 1983, before moving to Cardinal District at Norbiton Garage. However, that bus was repainted to red in 1984 before moving to and being privatised under Metroline in 1994. In 1999, that bus was purchased by White Rose and restored to General livery by them. It was used on Route 461 before later being sold to Carousel Buses after the demise of White Rose. Carousel kept it in General livery as it was on various routes, including A40. It was later bought by Country Bus & Coach in 2006 and was repainted to green by 2009.


London General LT60 on Route 11, Trafalgar Square (at night)

In 1989, two Routemasters from GM (Victoria) Garage were repainted to General Livery. They were RM89 and RM1590. Both were used on various Central London routes, which included the 9 and 11. RM89 also had early RT hub covers and was later withdrawn in 1994, before being exported to Argentina after a spell in Scotland. RM1590 also was withdrawn in 1994, before going around various firms in the UK, including Ashford Hospital and Pinpoint Training in Leicester.

Later on, in 2005, as the Routemasters were dying in normal London service, Putney Garage of London General (named after LGOC) repainted RML887 to General livery. It later performed the last crewed and Routemaster journey on the 14, with DDA compliant blinds. It then had a spell in the Go-Ahead London commercial fleet, before it was later sold up to Blackpool and was repainted red.

Other Routemasters were also painted in this livery after their public service life:
RMF2809 (former Northern General 2133/3117) was also painted in General livery in 1991 and did the H23 in 1992. After a spell with Big Bus Sightseeing, it is at Wealden PSV as of 2011 not in General livery.
Ex-London United RML881/ER881, was bought in 2005 by Gray Line for sightseeing operations in Halifax,  Nova Scotia, Canada where it was painted into General livery in 2006.


London General LT60 on Route 11, Victoria Station

This leaves to deal with the "modernised" General livery on LT60. This bus also has gold fleetnames and roundels. It has had an unimpressive life, starting out and still on the 11 from Stockwell Garage.

Now Year of the Bus has finished, so far, none of the buses in YOTB liveries has been repainted back to red yet.

Eventual Delivery - Route 100

London General SE219 (YY64 GXF) on Route 100, Aldgate, 19/12/14 (Aubrey)

After nearly three months, the Enviro 200s for the 100 have finally arrived and entered service very nearly three months after the route transferred with its existing buses to London General at Mandela Way. The flywheels will seem to be retrofitted afterwards.


Here is a video of a ride on SE219.

The bus rode with the usual screams and was fast when it needed to be. The gearbox is the ZF AS-Tronic 6-speed semi-automatic, common with the Abellio ones on the S4 and Metroline ones on the 112. This means that both of these have the same problems, including the small flaw when the handbrake is released at a junction (e.g. entering a roundabout), you have to wait like a second for the auto brake to release, by which time the chance for you to pull out has possibly gone.


London General SE219 on Route 100, Aldgate, (© GloriousWater/Jack)
Yeah, this photo was taken when Aubrey was on the bus, showing a better side/front view.

On the 20th, Lewis and Aubrey saw SE215 on the route:


London General SE215 on Route 100, Elephant & Castle (Aubrey)

These buses also have the notable automatic brake which activates when the bus stops. This has caused some problems for those not fully trained on these vehicles, as shown when Lewis and Aubrey got the bus, where the driver swapped buses with the following bus (a hired Abellio London Enviro 200) as that driver was fully type-trained.


London General SE215 on Route 100, Shadwell (Lewis)