Buses in Surrey
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Leyton Bus Garage.
Post war modernist extension.
Sign surface and colourful wet brickwork.
LR 4168 © Joe O'Malley 2021
Metrobus 953 on route 420 is seen outside Sutton bus garage in Bushey road beofore it's next run to Redhill. 28/01/11.
New Cross SE London with buses on routes 21 and P3 and also in view is the entrance to New Cross bus garage centre right just behind the second bus . 19/11/11.
London Umited SLE14 on route 267 towards Hammersmith bus station is seen outside Fulwell bus garage before it's next run 12/05/12.
Love the lines of these Optare Versa buses, Quality Line's OV01 is seen at rest at the Epsom Coaches depot 28/01/12.
In the winter of 1977-78, a Maidstone Corporation Leyland PD2/Massey heads away from the depot towards the town centre. Maidstone & District's Central Works can be seen in the distance on the right.
Just when you thought that several DMS`s in one picture couldn`t possibly look good..........
Wandsworth Garage on 4 April 1979.
Photographed getting washed at Arriva North West's Winsford Depot is this Dennis Dart SLF 10.7M with Plaxton Pointer bodywork. It is registered R603 MHN with the fleet number of 2103 and was new back in 1997 to Arriva North East.
North Street Garage, Romford on 11 November 1979. So typical of that era when buses lived in `proper` garages and crew changes took place right outside in so many locations around the LT empire.
Barking Garage on 4 April 1979. RT 1301 has just three more days left in service having been transferred in to BK having been briefly at Catford and Harrow Weald garages thus operating on all of the last four routes scheduled for RT`s. The lower rear panel has the dents that were a feature of Barking Garage buses and a close look at RM 7 reveals them too in lesser form. Does anyone know what it was that buses were presumably backed onto to cause this?
The picture is of interest for showing an aspect of the interior cleaning process that was part of the end of service run-in at each garage. On each of the islands, the framework and pipes for the industrial hoover (vac) can be seen. The metal pole was hinged so that it could be pulled towards the bus using the plastic vac pipe that was pulled into the bus and then pushed out and away from the bus when the job was done. The rearmost opening window on the offside lower and upper deck had a winder which was faster geared than on all other windows to enable the speed at which the operative - one assigned to each deck - had to work in order that the vac, fuel, and oil tasks were all completed in the same time frame so that the bus moved quickly on to the wash. The vac pipes were long enough to reach all parts of the respective decks and when the machine was running the pipes were held against the framework by suction. Inside the metal unit was a large bag to contain all the rubbish.
DMS 1665 outside Loughton Garage on 26 January 1979. Plenty of LT `street furniture` visible: the most basic type of bus shelter on the left; two different styles of combining bus and Green Line stop flags and a `buses turning` sign. These seemed to be a bit inconsistent as regards some garages having one and many not having one even though buses would inevitably be turning off a road to enter the garage premises.
Bow Garage on 11 November 1979 with all the familiar signage that pre-dates the privatisation years. I wouldn`t have given the cars a second glance back then but now the presence of them actually adds to the scene from just over forty years ago.
This is 4100 - WIG 570N a small double decker 6ft 2" tall, made years ago by Wigston Mechanics (Fitters). The Bus was Based on the 'M' reg Scania's "4100's" and was originally painted urban fox colours. Dark Blue for one of the fun days. Later it was painted in Arriva colours and now its in Sapphire colours. All the lights works apart from o/s Headlight. Inside theres a cab, stairs and seats upstairs and downstairs and the roof is removable.
This has been edited as I said the bus was based on a 'P' Reg Volvo.
MBS 217 was the Merlin that outlasted all the others - by far and was still in LT use some eighteen years after first delivered. True, it only did about a third of that time in passenger carrying service and then spent the remaining years on a mixture of special projects and periods of disuse. The latter represented here in Stonebridge Park Garage on 7 August 1981 when the coating of exhaust soot on the roof suggests that it hasn`t been outside for quite a while. But it would have to move soon with the upcoming closure of that garage and four weeks later I photographed it again in Clapham Garage.
The last day of RT operation took place at Barking Garage on 7 April 1979 and FRM 1 attended. When in was new in 1966 there must have been some serious intent to have a fleet of FRM`s that would convert RT routes to one person operation. We can only wonder and speculate at how the LT of the late 1960`s might have been had the plug not been pulled on the FRM concept.
I well recall the excitement during my bus spotting days in the late 1960`s / early 1970`s of finding something unexpected in a bus garage that I had been able to sneak into. Several had a privately preserved rent paying bus - or two - but by the early 1980`s a scene such as this in Fulwell Garage on 7 June 1980 was rare. But it had a lot to do with a garage that had spare capacity and a Foreman who was very inclined towards older vehicles.
Here we have the garage social club bus RF 401, RM 2 (which this Foreman had a particular interest in), RTW 467, RLH 23, RFW 14 and to ensure that the spare capacity would be offered to anything needed a temporary home, T 167 is stored awaiting entry into service.
Several new Titans were stored in Fulwell Garage during the spring of 1980 awaiting entry into service including T 168 and T 169 pictured on 7 June 1980. Squashed in between them is M1 though I`m not sure why it is there. Maybe it was to be included in the convoy of buses that was assembled here to go to the open day at Catford Garage but I don`t have pictures of it there and it doesn`t look like a logical parking position had it just returned from that trip.
In the back yard of Fulwell Garage on 7 April 1979, these former and now redundant Airport Routemasters recently bought by LT were in storage pending further use. Looks like someone had put some thought into such an example of precision parking. Can`t think who that might be.............!
A couple of things make this picture taken in Hackney Garage on 26 April 1983 `unusual`.
First, it was rare for a garage to be used for storage two years after it ceased to be operational. Second, it was against normal policy for buses transferred away from a garage to retain blinds as these were always to be removed before departure.
So why has this happened? Route 60 was a short lived crew operation from Croydon Garage. It lasted just a few months before becoming one person operated in April 1983 which caused a reduction of about seven RM`s - five of which are seen here: 781, 594, 796, 2110 and 2040. But route 68 remained at Croydon Garage and the blinds left in the buses that the Licensing Section at Chiswick had requested to be taken from TC should have been kept at the garage as spares for damage replacement.
Fourteen years on Flickr, and I’m still finding new stories in the streets of Dublin—this whimsical scene at Grand Canal Dock stole my heart! A row of Dublin Buses, tucked up in their ‘bed’ behind the garage, caught my eye with the playful graffiti declaring ‘PAST YOUR BEDTIME TOYS!’ The bold street art, with its quirky shapes and vibrant colors, dances across the wall, while the canal’s gentle ripples add a serene contrast. I love how these buses seem to be dreaming of their bustling routes through the city, resting up for another day of ferrying Dubliners. What do you think—are these buses ready for their morning adventures? #DublinBus #GrandCanalDock #StreetArt #DublinMoments #GraffitiMagic #CityVibes #UrbanPhotography
The final months of `Airport Routemaster` operation was a much scaled down service from a new base at Stonebridge Park Garage where BA 31 is seen on 7 January 1979. This would become RMA 48 - one of many to run again when taken into LT stock for use as Staff Buses, Driver Trainers and eventually, in the case of a few, for passenger service in various guises. BA 31 has the third and final `airport livery` representing British Airways - the same colour combination was typical of British Railways as evidenced by the carriages passing by.
Dartford Garage on 2 February 1980 with SM 517, 483 and 476. These were some of the last SM`s in passenger service with London Country. I know which livery I prefer - but you all knew I would say that!
Stonebridge Park Garage on 7 August 1981 - a couple of weeks before the garage closed to be merged with Middle Row garage to form the new Westbourne Park Garage. On the forecourt here are DMS 1879, M 245, DMS 1974 and DMS 2094.
An unusual scene at Sidcup Garage on 8 March 1981 at which point rebuilding of the garage was ongoing. Metrobuses were not allocated to garages in this part of the LT empire at this time. So new M500 `borrowed` to replace Mortlake`s RM 1563 that was unavailable on this day for a rally visit (along with RM 8) is somewhat bizarre as a `one-off` sighting of an M at Sidcup - until a year later when six were allocated for comparison trials with DMS`s and T`s.
Romford North Street Garage on 15 June 1982. In my quest to photograph all of the Leyland RM`s that were deemed to be candidates for withdrawal in September 1982 I probably went looking for RM 1420 and found it next to another Leyland, RM 1417 that wasn`t on the original withdrawal schedule. RM 1417 lasted until 1984 and went on to have several years of use beyond LT but RM 1420 went for scrap having lasted in service just into 1985 such was the inaccuracy of that list.
BL 9 had recently been painted into all over red when I took this picture at North Street Garage on 11 November 1979. It went on to be one of the longest lasting BL`s.
North Street Garage on 15 June 1982. RM 1964 is around three weeks out of overhaul and has still to gain an NS code. It was a shame that the offside illuminated advert concept didn`t survive in full working order through to the end of Routemaster operation - or of RM`s at least. But the cost of maintaining the display was deemed to be prohibitive given the diminishing take up rate for the considerable price uplift to advertisers for a prominent illuminated site. As I recall, by the time that vinyl adverts were stuck onto the perspex panels, CIS Insurance were the only external business associated with this position as LT `in house` vinyls became commonplace.