Day sixty nine to Ealing for the No 112 and then the No 113 back to Oxford Circus from Edgware.

The first trip in December 2018 saw me on the 1020 to Clapham Junction where I arrived at 1055. I was intending to catch the London Overground to Shepherds Bush thereby to catch the Central line westbound to Ealing Broadway. The display on platform 1 stated that the 1046 to Stratford was waiting but as the train did not depart until 1102 I assumed the system had not updated since the previous train had departed. This train arrived at Shepherds Bush at 1120 and by 1138 I was watching a freight train of 30 hoppers pulled by class 59 59201 through Ealing Broadway station.

Numerous bus stops around the green outside Ealing Broadway stations

DEL2064 approaching Ealing Broadway station

There are a good many bus stops scattered about the roads outside the railway station but eventually I found bus stop F which was where at 1151 I boarded Metroline's DEL2064 bound for Brent Cross Shopping Centre.






The bus headed initially east towards the North Circular and then turned North along this road to the Hangar Lane Gyratory. After this the bus followed a minor road that ran alongside the A406 to Stonebridge Park tube station. As the bus was a single decker it was difficult to take photos when on board so we will have to make do with photos at the beginning and the end of the journey. The entire journey was only booked to take 31 minutes and given after Stonebridge Park we passed swiftly along the North Circular Road I can see how this is achieved. However, in the rush hour there must be great uncertainty as to the arrival of this bus.

Disembarking from DEL2064

DEL2064 running off to rest before returning SW'wards

We finally reached Brent Cross Shopping Centre at 1224.

I could have walked around the corner and caught a No 113 to Edgware, but since I planned to catch that bus back from there I thought it would be more interesting to use another bus. Thus I tried the No 186 which runs from Brent Cross to Northwick Park via Edgware. This bus takes a convoluted route but at times was running parallel with the No 113.

Behind a No 113 in the No 186 as we headed north out of Hendon

Buses awaiting departure at Edgware bus station

Metroline VMH2452 arriving from layover point

The No 113 is now provided by new-well (2018), Volvo MCV Evo Seti hybrids and at 1328 I boarded Metroline's VMH2452 at Edgware bus station. The bus initially repeats the No 107 and for that matter No 186 route back to the A41 along Edgwarebury Lane. At Northway Circus the A41 meets the A1 just after bridging the M1 and the bus run along the A1 crossing the Bunns Lane bridge where there used to be a railway line from Mill Hill East to Edgware. At Five Ways Corner the routes split with the bus following the A41 again towards Brent Cross, 3 miles distant.

View through surprisingly mucky window given newness of the bus of Five Ways Corner

As we waited at Hendon the bus driver received a call on the radio about an incident at Brent Cross and to be wary about hold ups.

The queues in central and left hand lane as we approach Brent Cross Flyover

We were indeed lucky not to be held up as the left and middle lane was solid as we headed to the Brent Cross Flyover. Once on the flyover we could see the problem-there was a motorbike on its side and emergency services in attendance at Brentfield Gardens and because lorries couldn't get past, traffic was backing up in all directions. We were mercifully unaffected and carried on to meet the Finchley Road south of Golders Green to reach Swiss Cottage, St John's Wood and finally Baker Street.

The roadworks next to Baker Street station caused a brief hold up

After a brief hold up at the  road works we crossed the Marylebone Road and on down to Oxford Street. In the changes that happened in April 2017 the No 113 now turns east whereas before it turned west to finish at Marble Arch. Today the bus reaches Oxford Circus and then turns left to disgorge the final tenacious passengers at Margaret Street. This we reached at 1445.

Christmas decorations displayed along Oxford Street

The No 113 should turn away to the layover point before returning to Edgware

I had hoped to catch a train quickly on arrival at Victoria but the 1500 to Epsom was cancelled as were some others, so since it was in I caught the 1506 to West Croydon. This train takes an inordinately long time to reach its destination, not helped by the nine minute wait at Norwood Junction. Thus I didn't reach my home station after a change at West Croydon until 1608.

Day 68 To West London to do the No 110 and from Heathrow Airport the No 111

The day started somewhat inauspiciously, as on my arrival at the local station I found the train I intended to catch to Clapham Junction, the 0950, was not expected until 1001, which became later 1006. Plan B could have been to go to Sutton and round to Wimbledon but the 0936 just said delayed and was later announced as being 26 minutes late. This was all due to a signal failure at Selhurst which would potentially 'muck up' plans whatever train I had hoped to get. However, as I debated what to do, at 0959:45 the 1000 train arrived to take me to Clapham and I hurriedly crossed the bridge to effect such travel.

Class 67 No 67004 running along Platform 6 at Clapham Junction
with a rake of Pullman carriages

From Clapham Junction I caught the 1038, destination Weybridge and alighted at Syon Lane at 1059. From here I needed to walk to the West Middlesex Hospital where I arrived just as a No 110 was leaving.

RATP-DEV 30041 leaving on the No 110  as I reached the hospital

RATP-DEV 30045, my conveyance to Hounslow

The next No 110 arrived exactly 15 minutes later so at 1128 I was aboard AD E20D AD Enviro 200 of RATP-DEV No 30045. This is identical to the type my wife and I travelled on when doing the No 70 route, although despite being 2017 buses these have now been replaced by 2018 electric buses on this route.

Typical shop fronts as the bus runs into Hounslow

The route is fairly unexciting running from the hospital to Twickenham, Whitton and turning back on itself to run into  Hounslow from the west. The destination was Hounslow bus station which was achieved at 1223.

Final stop afore the bus turns into the bus station

Final resting point of 30045 before it heads
 back to the West Middlesex Hospital

My plan was to meet ex colleagues at lunchtime and to do this I needed to catch the Piccadilly line to Hatton Cross and then the No 423 to the Compass Centre. After spending a pleasant hour or so catching up with my mates I then made my way to the Central bus station to catch the No 111 to Kingston.

Buses laying over before return at Heathrow Central bus station

I had occasionally used this bus route after night shifts if I had missed the X26, but for no good reason since I knew at the time it would be a slow slog. It just seemed that in the morning rush hour however I travelled it was over two hours to reach home.

SP40034 awaiting its time for departure

Bus stop were I have spent many hours waiting not only for the X26 but sometimes the 285 to Hatton Cross or Feltham

SP40034 arriving in distance

At 1455 I boarded SP40034, again from RATP-DEV but this is a Scania double decker, a N230D OmniCity to be precise which is ten years old. Progress was as expected: slow and steady. It took the best part of ten minutes before we were at Hanwell Corner and were leaving the Heathrow free-flow zone. After turning north from the A4 and crossing the A312 to approach Heston from the west we reached a width restriction.

Police van blocking our way; had to be a bit surreptitious taking this
as I didn't want the police storming on the bus and taking my camera

At this point a police van blocked the way and there were a good many policeman surrounding a youth on the grass to our left. At the previous stop the bus had filled up with kids from the local school and the bus driver announced he had no idea how long we would be stuck here. Many of the kids who were perhaps only going a few stops got off and started to walk. It was only a little over 10 minutes though before we were underway again at 1525.

Here we are at St Leonards Chuch bus stop at Heston with dot in the sky (the police helicopter) over the spot we had been held up.

We still had a long way to go at this stage however, through Hounslow heading SW and then back east once we had passed under the A316 to reach Hampton. As the bus was approaching Hampton Court it was by now in complete darkness, the driver announced we would be terminating opposite the Cardinal Wolsey as there was a bus right behind us.

Terminal point of SP40034

Queuing to board our 'rescuer' for the final 2-3 miles

 This we did at 1654 and at 1657 were boarding the two years younger but otherwise similar SP40169 to complete our journey to the Cromwell Road bus station at Kingston which we reached at 1710, two and a quarter hours after original departure.

Finally alongside at Cromwell Road bus station at 1710 

I then caught the 1718 to Wimbledon and returned home by tram at 1800.