Riding the Routes: Day 171 A refreshing change from getting a train this time to using the bus to do the No 261 followed by the No 262

So to get to the starting point of the No 261 required a tram and bus. I was going to get a bus to the tram but as usual I just missed the bus so walked to Wandle Park tram stop and caught a Beckenham Junction bound tram at 1032. My first bus would be meeting me at Addington Interchange so I had to change at Sandilands to meet the No 353 to Locksbottom. Thus it was 1119 before the brand new Ee106 electric bus arrived to take me to Locksbottom. These only started being used the previous Sunday on the route but had been utilised on the local No 119 and No 264 in the previous year.

Clean interior of very new London General Ee106

Very shiny exterior of the recently introduced
Ee106

I walked to the PRUH, the hospital totally rebuilt from the the time of my and my wife's birth at what was Farnborough Hospital. Here I boarded Stagecoach's No 11070 at 1147 which would take me on route No 261 to Lewisham station.

Stagecoach 11070

Princess Royal University Hospital

The bus stop indicated the journey should take 42 minutes and we departed at 1153 turning North along the A21 towards Bromley as we emerged from the hospital forecourt. At 1157 we stopped at Bromley garage to exchange drivers and were back underway just before 1200. Many years ago, the No 261 which replaced the No 47 bus, and the No 94 which was replaced by the No 208 swapped their routes north of Bromley. Thus on the No 261 I was taken past Sundridge Park and on to Burnt Ash which was reached half an hour after departure at 1223.

Debbie's workplace (Burnt Ash Library) for much
of her
Bromley Libraries employment

Kynaston Road, the road leading to what was
Debbie and John's home.

The road then led on to Grove Park and I was finally on a road not previously used during the Odyssey- Baring Road, although I will be back soon on two other 200 routes. This road eventually took the bus to the South Circular where having been briefly the sole user of the road we joined the No 202 as it turns right then left and heads down Burnt Ash Hill towards Lee Station.

View of Docklands from Baring Road Lewisham

There was a delay with roadworks at this station and it was 1238 before the bus reached the A20 at Lee Green and could turn left and head finally in the direction of Lewisham.

The remains of a gas lamp on the A20 betwixt Lee Green and Lewisham

The bus terminated at Lewisham station at 1250, 57 minutes after departure or a fifteen minute longer journey than stated at the PRUH.

Disembarkation with Southeastern
train in platform at Lewisham

Stagecoach 11070 going
off to lay over

However, I was quickly aboard a Docklands Light Railway train at the platforms below and we departed towards Canary Wharf at 1253. In order to reach Stratford to catch a No 262 I had to change at Canary Wharf station but the wait was very short on the adjacent platform for the Stratford train to depart at 1311.

Looking south from Canary Wharf station to Heron Quay

Stratford was achieved at 1325 and I was able to snap a No 262 laying over as I walked from the station to bus top D to board the next bus.

My No 262 which started moving to the bus stop before I had got there

The bus was a recently transferred Tower Transit machine now numbered 18918 in Stagecoach's number series. We left the bus station at 1332 and from the Broadway took the right turn down Tramway Avenue which morphs into West Ham Lane and then High Street E13 after crossing over the railway tracks at Plaistow Underground station. At Balaam Street the No 241 went right so from here on I was on new territory until we encountered the route of the No 147 just before crossing the Northern Outfall Sewer Greenway. We reached Newham University Hospital at 1345 and continued on towards the A13.

Approaching theA13 with Excel Centre in distance

Just across the A13 the bus turned sharp left signposted Beckton instead of going straight over towards Prince Regent and the Excel Centre. This eventually meant we reached Beckton DLR station and the adjacent bus station which we didn't enter but pressed on to the Gallions Reach roundabout. There the bus turned right under the DLR at Gallions Station and then left into Armada Way.

Arrival at Gallions Reach retail park

The bus followed quite a large loop around the Beckton DLR depot before running into the Gallions Reach shopping centre and terminated at 1406.

Beckton Depot with red and blue trains in foreground but new units in white behind.

New unit No 203

New unit has interconnecting corridors

After a coffee and falafel I walked back to the DLR depot and on towards Gallions DLR station to catch a train. In the depot one of the next generation of DLR trains was evident. These appear to be four car with corridors unlike the current two or three car independent trains that run at present.

British Airways Embraer on BA4456 from Rotterdam
landing as viewed from Beckton depot

I caught a train from Gallions to Royal Albert to spend a little time surveying operations at London City Airport. Then after that I caught a train to Canning Town, the Jubilee line to Canada Water and London Overground back to Croydon arriving home at 1715.