Colin Rosenstiel wrote:
In article , (Mark
Brader) wrote:

Paul Corfield:
Funny that years ago the Piccadilly Line used to run only as far
as Hounslow West and everyone was kicked off on to a bus to get
to Heathrow.

Yes, well, this might have something to do with the fact that the
line to Hounslow was several decades older than the airport, which
became important at a time when there was very little funding for
Underground extensions.

Annabel Smyth:
... the way you went to Heathrow then was by coach from the West
London Air Terminal ...

Well, you could also go from Hounslow West. On the 1958 sample map
in PDF at http://www.busmap.org, it's the number 91 bus; on the
1970 map, it's route A1. In 1975, due to my father making a side
trip
while we were on vacation in Britain, I ended up traveling to
Heathrow both via that route and from the WLAT.

The A1 was then a single-decker bus service, and I remember that
when
I paid my fare I was given two tickets that added up to the correct
total amount (I have the impression it was 12p + 3p = 15p); being
used to the North American practice that when there is a flat fare
you don't need a ticket at all, this struck me as particularly
quaint. The service from the WLAT, at a rather higher price, was a
double-decker that trundled along the M4, riding very roughly, at
40-45 mph with all the other traffic swishing by.

Was that the era of the RMAs, complete with baggage trailers?

Yes, indeed. Details at Ian's Bus Stop at
http://www.fortunecity.com/silversto...8/RMA/RMA.html
There are photos (the ones labelled BEA...) at
http://www.users.waitrose.com/~vangastow4/rm/rm05.htm

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)