All Over London Bus Blog: Christmas Post - Our best Odd Workings of 2012!

The London bus scene is constantly changing with new buses being introduced and routes being tendered between operator. This year was no different. 2012 has been a fantastic and brilliant year due to the Olympics which were held during the Summer.

But apart from that, so much more has happened. With new buses being introduced, more and more Odd Workings are appearing as well as existing buses being used on non-allocated routes.

The London Vehicle Finder has been a breakthrough for Bus Enthusiasts enabling us to track down these Odd Workings and get a snap of them.

Now, I thought it would be a good idea for the us to post some of the best Odd Working to end such a remarkable year.

So without further ado, enjoy the Odd Workings!

Route 266 was successfully gained by First London and has been operated by Eclipse Gemini 2's (VN's) since May. The route is operated from Atlas Road (AS) which also operates a few Westbourne Park routes from time to time, with buses also being exchanged. 62reg buses were ordered for route 295, but VN37993 was found on the route at Brent Cross Shopping Centre in October. This is my flagship picture of 2012 as it's a good position, crystal clear and a really rare sighting.

Route 210 is operated by Metroline from their main garage: Cricklewood (W). The route is normally allocated Enviro400's (TE), but sometime in October at Golders Green Station, a Hybrid version of the bus (TEH) was found on the route. However, it has been speculated that soon routes 189 and 210 will have a part Hybrid allocation. So for the time being, we'll have to classify this as an odd working.

Route 226's contract was successfully extended this September by First London and has been operated by Enviro 200's (DML's) since mid 2008. The route is operated from Willesden Junction (WJ) which also operates a route 206 which was successfully gained in April with Brand New 10.8m Enviro200's (DMV's). In May, DMV44312 was working route 226. This photo was taken at Golders Green with the bus driver pleased to drive a new bus after driving X772 HLR for the whole week.

Route 221 is operated by Arriva from Wood Green (WN). The garage is home to 8 routes, one being route 144 which is allocated this batch of Enviro400's (T). George managed to wait 2 hours one the first appearance,to snap this rare shot back in the Spring outside North Finchley Bus Station. Here the driver puts his hand up behind the wheel 'I'm Innocent'! These sightings of T's on the route are becoming more and more frequent as oppose to the regular Eclipse Gemini's (VLW's).

Similarly to the T's on route 221, DW's from Wood Green (WN) allocated to routes 29 and N29 also make appearances on the route. George took this shot at Friern Barnet, again on the first day any appearance of this type occurred on the route.

Here above is something you don't see everyday: a VW on route 82. However, this wasn't operating on the route! During late Spring, TFL started filming short videos on how accessible London Buses are. George managed to snap this shot at Lords Cricket Ground while filming. The route is due to get new Enviro400's (TE's) in March 2013, so for now, this is probably as close as we'll get to a VW on route 82.

Route 414 operates between Putney Bridge and Maida Hill, The Chippenham and is operated by Abellio and is allocated 59reg 10.1m Enviro400 buses, but on this occasion, a 61reg hybrid version of the bus allocated for 3, 211 and N3 was found on the route. Robert was fortunate to find this bus and snapped it at Putney Bridge Station.

Once again, Robert caught the above sighting: an Enviro400 on route 321. At the time, the route was operated by both New Cross & Bexleyheath Bus Garages. Routes 12, 453, 436 were converted to a Double Decker operation after Boris Johnson's scheme of removing all Bendy Buses from London as well as the 89 contract, which required new buses. The above bus was ordered as part of the scheme on route 12.

When the buses were originally ordered, Go Ahead planned:

Route 12: 100% Enviro 400 Allocation
Route 453: Part allocation of B5HL Hybrid / Gemini 2s & Enviro 400's
Route 436: Enviro 400's and Enviro 400H's
Route 89: B9TL Gemini 2s.

The allocations were then swapped to:

Route 12 B5LH Hybrid / Gemini 2 and B9TL Gemini 2s and 6 Enviro 400's
Routes 89 & 453: Enviro 400s
Route 436 Enviro 400s and Enviro 400Hs

At the last minute, WVL380-WVL385 from Bexleyheath Garage were swapped for E202-E207 which never saw service on route 12. The reason for this, was Go Ahead decided to make Route 12 100% Volvo, however that has changed as route 345's Enviro 400's have had their blinded replaced and some of them have seen service on other Camberwell Routes including the 12!

The vehicle shown in the picture is allocated to routes 229 and 422. This Odd Working is becoming more frequent as New Cross Garage now have 15 more Enviro 400s allocated to route 36, but spend most of their time on the 171! The photo was taken in Lewisham.

Arriva don't only have London Operations. They operate throughout England, one of their branches 'Arriva Kent Thameside'. One of their garages: Dartford (DT) operate route 428 single decker vehicles: Enviro200's. However, they're no low bridges on the route, thus allowing double deckers to be used as demonstrated in the picture above by Robert in Erith.

Pictured above is an Enviro200 on route R3 in Locksbottom taken by Robert. Metrobus's largest garage for London Operation is Orpington (MB). This garage is home to many routes, including R3, which is allocated Plaxton Pointer 2 vehicles, with a mix of Optare Esteem vehicles. However, it seems that this bus slipped the net. I must say that it definitely suites the route and hopefully sometime in the future, they will actually be allocated to the route!

If you read Dave's 'Just under 40 Hours on the buses' post, you would have already seen this picture. Route 201 is allocated Dart Pointers and Wright Cadet's. The 17th November was one of the first days which a SE appeared on the route and in my opinion are better than the older buses.

The shot above is not actually that rare, but it has an All Over Advert, which Dave thought he would add this to the collection! These are officially allocated to the 118, but do appear on quite a lot of other routes such as this and the 200.

Now here's one that won't be around for long: The Scania loan bus which is covering for other Scania's which are having warranty work done to them. Dave got this bus - numbered 80019 operating on route 96 towards Bluewater.

All Rights Reserved by Rhys Daniel

These two shots, the one above and below, were both taken within seconds of each other, by Herne Hill's famous Brockwell Park!

On the 23rd of June, Rhys managed to snap this odd working, both on the 68 and 468 which both ran from Camberwell Garage. The 68 group (68,468, X68 and N68) has been running out of Camberwell Garage since April 30th 2006, when the contract was successfully won from Arriva London's Norwood and South Croydon garages.

A batch of 62 Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini's were bought for the group. This was Go Ahead London's biggest order of buses in one go, occururing with this changeover. On November 5th, route 12 was converted from a Bendy Bus operation to a Double deck operation with 25 Volvo B9TL/Gemini 2's and 16 Volvo B5LH/Gemini 2's. With this it was estimated that odd workings will happen.

But these odd workings are not very common!

All Rights Reserved by Rhys Daniel
The shot above was taken at Morden Station on the 17th November 2012. Although this now isn't a rare appearance due to one being on the route everyday, it was then!

This batch of buses were originally bought for route 24 back in 2007. But due to London General losing the contract of the 24, at Stockwell Garage, it led to there being a whole load of spares.

The intention was to transfer the whole batch of 32 buses to Merton Garage but it was announced earlier this month that 17 of them will remain at Stockwell Garage and 13 will transfer to Merton Garage!

All Rights Reserved by Rhys Daniel
Likewise with the 68 group shots above, the story is the same just taken on a different date.

The shots above and below were taken back in September within 30mins of each other.

One at Waterloo Bridge, other at Elephant & Castle - some of Rhys' best shot's this year!

2012 had also been a brilliant year for the blog. We reached are 100,000 view mark in September, and are already approaching are 200,000 mark in a short period of time as well as already reaching our 200th post!

We'd like to give a big thank you to you, the viewer, for giving us positive feedback and improvements for the blog, and wouldn't be here without you!

So, from all of us at the All Over London Team, we'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanks for Reading!

Feel free to Comment & Rate Below!

3 comments:

Anonymous8:06 pm, January 15, 2013
Great post as usual! :) About the one with DMV's on 226, 1 day in June I saw a DML (YX09 AEB) on 206!
Tom2:46 pm, February 01, 2013
E40D aren't odd on 428. Check LVF.

We welcome your feedback, as it gives us the opportunity to make changes that will bring about an improved posts. However, if you misuse this facility, we will be forced to contact your Internet Service Provider, so be careful!

Christmas Post - Our best Odd Workings of 2012!

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