01.02.61

HT

52RM

42RM

35RM

ALDGATE, Mile End Gate, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Clapton, Stamford Hill, Manor House, Finsbury Park, Holloway, Camden Town, Mornington Crescent Stn, TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD Maple Street
TROLLEYBUS REPLACEMENT ROUTE for Route 653

26.04.61	EM	23RM	16RM	26RM
	HT	29RM	26RM	12RM

Daily Edmonton (EM) allocation added, buses running light to line of route.

11.10.61	HT	31RM	22RM	12RM
	SF	21RM	20RM	23RM

Edmonton (EM) allocation withdrawn, Stamford Hill (SF) added.

08.01.72	CT	13RM	6RM	--
	HT	8RM	12RM	16RM
	SF	38RM	20RM	13RM

Mon-Sat Clapton (CT) allocation added.

11.10.75	CT	20RM	15RM	4RM
	HT	--	5DM	12DM
	SF	36RM	20RM	12DM/1RML

Mon-Fri Holloway (HT) withdrawn. Sunday Clapton (CT) added DM and RML types introduced.

28.10.78	CT	16RM	14RM	8RM
	D	15RM	12RM	--
	HT	--	--	10DM
	SF	22RM	10RM	14RML

Mon-Sat Dalston (D) allocation introduced.

27.09.80	CT	16RM	14RM	8RM
	D	15RM	12RM	4RM
	HT	--	--	10RM
	SF	22RM	10RM	10RML

Sunday Dalston (D) allocation introduced.

25.04.81	AG	--	3RM	2RM
	CT	15RM	15RM	11RM
	HT	--	--	7RM
	SF	38RM	19RM	11RM

Dalston (D) allocation withdrawn with garage closure. Sat-Sun (AG) allocation introduced.

04.09.82	AG	18RM	16RM	7RM
	HT	--	--	10RM
	SF	29RM	18RM	11RM

Clapton (CT) withdrawn. Mon-Fri Ash Grove (AG) allocation introduced.

03.08.85	AG	19RM	16RM	--
	HT	--	--	13RM
	SF	29RM	18RM	11RM

Sunday Ash Grove (AG) allocation withdrawn.

02.11.85	AG	19RM	16RM	13RM
	SF	29RM	18RM	11RM

Sunday only Holloway (HT) allocation transferred to Ash Grove (AG),

21.06.86	AG	19RM	16RM	13RM
	SF	20RML/9RM	18RML	11RML

RML type introduced at Stamford Hill (SF).

21.11.87	AG	21T	15T	13T
	SF	37M	24M	14M

ONE PERSON OPERATION

11.05.91	AG	14T	14T	13T
	SF	33M	23M	14M

ALDGATE - MORNINGTON CRESCENT STN
Withdrawn between Mornington Crescent and Warren Street.

23.11.91

SF

45L/M

38L/M

22L/M

Ash Grove allocation withdrawn.

05.09.82

SF

46L/M

39L/M

23L/M

ALDGATE - EUSTON STATION
Extended from Mornington Crescent to Euston via Eversholt Street.

13.05.95

CT

48L/M

39L/M

25L/M

Stamford Hill (SF) closes, operations transferred to Clapton (CT)

20.07.02	CT	19dd	19dd	13dd
	SF	22dd	18dd	13dd

Part of allocation moved to re-opened Stamford Hill (SF)

31.05.03

CT

24DLA

24DLA

16DLA

EUSTON STATION - HACKNEY CENTRAL STN
Withdrawn between Hackney and Aldgate, this section covered by new Route 254 running between Holloway and Aldgate.

14.01.06

CT

24DLA

24DLA

16DLA

Rerouted northbound in Camden direct via Eversholt Street instead of Harrington Square.

01.04.06

SF

25DLA

24DLA

16DLA

CT garage closure, reallocated to Stamford Hill (SF)

01.12.07

SF

25DLA

24DLA

16DLA

Introduction of additonal turning point at Clapton Pond for buses from Euston

HT Holloway
Changeover point Nags Head.

SF Stamford Hill
Changeover point Stamford Hill Common

CT Clapton
Changeover point outside garage.

AG Ash Grove
Changeover point outside garage

D Dalston
Changeover point - see email below

Hi Ian,

I was just looking at the histories of various London bus routes at your site "Buses at Work".

I was started working as a conductor with London Transport at Dalston in June 1979, and transferred to Stamford Hill in the autumn of 1980, and left this job in about March 1981. The 253 was my regular "road" at Dalston, and I also worked quite a lot on the 253 from Stamford Hill, which had a common rota in those days - i.e. you did not work on one regular route. In fact, I worked an early shift on the 253s on the first Sunday on which Dalston had a contingent on this route!

I notice that you have a question mark as to the changeover point for Dalston crews on this route. The point used was Hackney Well Street in both directions. Interestingly, I noticed that when I switched to Stamford Hill, the running cards for the 253 at this garage did not have a timing point at Hackney Well Street, while those from Dalston did - regardless of whether there was a changeover on that journey.

Strictly speaking, crews were expected to use the 236 bus to travel the appproximate half mile from Dalston Garage to this changeover point. However, the 236 was not a frequent route and, as I am sure you are aware, the bus service in London was crippled at that time by a tripple whammy of traffic congestion, staff shortages and frequent vehicle breakdowns. Consequently, there was no point whatsoever in waiting for the 236 when setting out since gaps of up to an hour used to occur on this service, so crews mostly used to make their way on foot to and from this changeover point. Dalston crews on the 253 would take their mealbreaks at Hackney garage canteen, this garage being just round the corner from the Well Street stop.

Of course, the first buses out in the morning set out in service from the garage, and the late buses returned in service to the garage. One well-kept secret was that garage journeys to/from Aldgate (or Mile End Gate) were actually supposed to follow the 236 route up to Dalston Lane then proceed along Graham Road and pick up the 253 route from Hackney Station. There was a time for Hackney Station on the running card for such garage journeys. I say this was a well-kept secret because the crews in practice just turned right when leaving the garage and went straight down to Cambridge Heath Road, missing out even the Hackney Well Street stop. The 253 blinds at Dalston even included the destination "Dalston Garage via Hackney Station", one destination that I doubt was ever displayed, except perhaps by some rookie crew who were still working strictly by the book.

At other times, the distance between the garage and changeover point was the cause of a lot of discontent for the crews on this route. The shortest way of getting from Dalston Garage to Well Street involved walking across a small park known as London Fileds and through an alleyway. As you might appreciate, this was not a very salubrious part of London, and many crews preferred to take the longer walk along the 236 bus route. It was not so bad during daylight hours, but after dark the decision as to the best way to return to the garage always posed a dilema. As a conductor, it was not so bad if you were setting out to start a shift because you would not be carrying any money, but I remember there were a number of shifts that involved coming off at Hackney Well Street in the evening and then you had to make your own way back to the garage to pay in and sign off. You were personally responsible for the money until you paid it in. Crossing London Fields at night was too great a risk, and it is was still possible that you could be robbed while walking along the road served by the 236. In theory we were supposed to be able to get an overtime chit for the time we had to wait for the next 236 to pass by and take us to the garage, but I remember that in practice getting a chit under these circumstances from the garage inspectors was like getting blood from a stone, especially if you were asking for something like 45 minutes overtime - even if that was the actual time you had to wait for the first bus to come.

Anyway, enough about Hackney Well Street. I would also like to point out that the changeover point for buses on the 253 operating from Stamford Hill (at the time I worked there in late 1980 - early 1981) was Stamford Hill Broadway, not Stamford Hill Common. At that time, all routes operating from Stamford Hill changed crews at the Stamford Hill Broadway stop, at which inspectors were on duty. It is true that the Stamford Hill Common stop was actually closer to Stamford Hill garage, and this is where staff travelling to/from work on that route may have alighted or boarded, and I am sure at times conductors on Warren Street bound vehicles may have stretched the rules and jumped off here, leaving the vehicle conductorless for one stop (although I never heard of this being done), but this was not the official relief point at that time - I don't know if this changed later.

I hope some of these points are useful to you. I will look at your descriptions of some other routes I have worked on and see if there is anything I can add.

Regards,
Tim Drayton
Limassol, Cyprus

Page modified Sunday, December 14, 2008