Hello

I was fortunate to have this week off from work which meant that I got into
London on the Thursday to sample them on the last 'normal' day and even
then, the photographers were out in force!

I must say there was a very courteous and gentlemanly atmosphere at the head
of the 38 lane at Victoria on the Thursday between us various photographers
who were there.

My regular journey from Vic to Museum Street was one of the few highlights
of London, standing on the rear platform from the New Oxford Street traffic
lights around the curve into the Museum Street stop.

I also made it up on the Friday to witness the amazing festivities. Pics
here BTW:
http://gallery42239.fotopic.net/c741890.html

I tended to concentrate on the 'ordinary' RM's and RML's about but got
plenty of the specials as well.

Best moment was the point when I was on a traffic island about halfway
between Green Park and Piccadilly and the bus lane at one point was filled
with a glut of nothing but half cab RT's RM' etc.

Lowest point of the day (apart from my fourth and last run to Museum Street
again!) was the pratt in the parcel company van who pulled in onto double
yellows in the middle of Piccadilly alongside the bus lane and wrecked the
one decent camera angle view just as a whole line of RMLs and RTs was
approaching. Does our friends at the Met Police no longer employ traffic
wardens anymore?

Being followed by the RMF as far as Shaftesbury Avenue was an interesting
experience, especially watching as people tried to board at the back only to
find no platform!!

Well done to one and all on a memorable event. Sadly I will not be able to
attend the last day of the 159 (As it is all being ditched by lunchtime, no
doubt amid a lunatic media frenzy) I feel there may not be much point
anyway.

I did take a ride to Museum Street on the 38 on Saturday as well, front seat
in the Bendy as well. Oh dear....

If anyone can explain the logic in replacing a seventy seater vehicle with a
forty nine seater vehicle (less than that with standing passengers in the
way so you cannot get to them in reality) and expecting the majority to
stand (up to a 100!) is beyond me. Since when had making the vast majority
of your passengers stand all the way been an 'improvement'? At least the 8
went over to proper double deckers!

Regards
John M Upton

My Fotopic Collections:
South Central/Southern, Model Railway & Other Rail Pictures:
http://gallery39764.fotopic.net/

Bus Pics:
http://gallery42239.fotopic.net/

"JMUpton2000" securitynovels @ freeuk.com wrote in message
eenews.net...

Lowest point of the day (apart from my fourth and last run to Museum
Street
again!) was the pratt in the parcel company van who pulled in onto double
yellows in the middle of Piccadilly alongside the bus lane and wrecked the
one decent camera angle view just as a whole line of RMLs and RTs was
approaching.

To be honest, there were a lot of people with cameras (this is not directed
at you personally) who thought they had the ultimate right to get 'their
shot' and nothing else mattered. To me, people, vehicles etc., that are
visible or prevent 100% visibility of the thing you are photographing only
add to the image - they help make it real. A couple of the nicest photos I
got have actually got people 'in the way' some might say, but they actually
give a nice dose of reality.

Well done to one and all on a memorable event. Sadly I will not be able to
attend the last day of the 159 (As it is all being ditched by lunchtime,
no
doubt amid a lunatic media frenzy) I feel there may not be much point
anyway.

I think effectively splitting the end of the 159 across two days is a very
sensible decision. Certainly more sensible than the decision to end their
use.

I did take a ride to Museum Street on the 38 on Saturday as well, front
seat
in the Bendy as well. Oh dear....

If anyone can explain the logic in replacing a seventy seater vehicle with
a
forty nine seater vehicle (less than that with standing passengers in the
way so you cannot get to them in reality) and expecting the majority to
stand (up to a 100!) is beyond me. Since when had making the vast
majority
of your passengers stand all the way been an 'improvement'? At least the
8
went over to proper double deckers!

The ASA have already agreed it is not an improvement, hence the replacement
tag line on TfL literature. No longer getting better from every angle!

"Harry Spencer" wrote in message
...
"JMUpton2000" securitynovels @ freeuk.com wrote in message
eenews.net...

Lowest point of the day (apart from my fourth and last run to Museum
Street
again!) was the pratt in the parcel company van who pulled in onto double
yellows in the middle of Piccadilly alongside the bus lane and wrecked
the
one decent camera angle view just as a whole line of RMLs and RTs was
approaching.

To be honest, there were a lot of people with cameras (this is not
directed
at you personally) who thought they had the ultimate right to get 'their
shot' and nothing else mattered. To me, people, vehicles etc., that are
visible or prevent 100% visibility of the thing you are photographing only
add to the image - they help make it real. A couple of the nicest photos
I
got have actually got people 'in the way' some might say, but they
actually
give a nice dose of reality.

Fair enough! My only real gripe about this parcel van guy was that he was
dangerously parked, illegally and his driving was atrocious. The fact it
ruined my view was secondary...

I also thought that abandoning a large van in the middle of a busy
throughfare in Central London in light of the current 'Security Crisis' was
a bit of a dumb thing to do but unusually there was no plod about to feel
his collar!

Regards
John M Upton

My Fotopic Collections:
South Central/Southern, Model Railway & Other Rail Pictures:
http://gallery39764.fotopic.net/

Bus Pics:
http://gallery42239.fotopic.net/

In message ws.net,
JMUpton2000 writes
I also thought that abandoning a large van in the middle of a busy
throughfare in Central London in light of the current 'Security Crisis'
was a bit of a dumb thing to do but unusually there was no plod about
to feel his collar!
Perhaps he didn't look innocent enough for the filth to take an interest
in him?
--
Clive

"JMUpton2000" securitynovels @ freeuk.com wrote in message
eenews.net...

Fair enough! My only real gripe about this parcel van guy was that he was
dangerously parked, illegally and his driving was atrocious. The fact it
ruined my view was secondary...

Well, to be fair, it happens all the time along there, and (although I
cannot be certain) from memory, it's just normal double yellows - i.e.
loading/unloading -is- allowed. But I guess if it was parked dangerously,
that's a different matter; it depends where it was.

I also thought that abandoning a large van in the middle of a busy
throughfare in Central London in light of the current 'Security Crisis'
was
a bit of a dumb thing to do but unusually there was no plod about to feel
his collar!

Along Piccadily it happens all the time, ditto elsewhere in the centre of
town. Now, parking on red lines is a bit different ;-)

In article ws.net,
securitynovels @ freeuk.com (JMUpton2000) wrote:

I was fortunate to have this week off from work which meant that I
got into London on the Thursday to sample them on the last 'normal'
day and even then, the photographers were out in force!

I must say there was a very courteous and gentlemanly atmosphere at
the head of the 38 lane at Victoria on the Thursday between us
various photographers who were there.

My regular journey from Vic to Museum Street was one of the few
highlights of London, standing on the rear platform from the New
Oxford Street traffic lights around the curve into the Museum Street
stop.

I also made it up on the Friday to witness the amazing festivities.
Pics here BTW:
http://gallery42239.fotopic.net/c741890.html

[snip]

Great photos! I saw now fewer than 6 Routemasters on the 38 on my bike
rides between King's Cross and Westminster and back on Thursday but had
to take the tube on Friday so missed the last day entirely.

BTW, Ex London Transport RT LLU670 and KYY529 have no fleet numbers
given. They should be RT3871 and RT1702 according to an old ABC of mine.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
Pics here BTW:
http://gallery42239.fotopic.net/c741890.html

[snip]

Great photos! I saw now fewer than 6 Routemasters on the 38 on my bike
rides between King's Cross and Westminster and back on Thursday but had
to take the tube on Friday so missed the last day entirely.

BTW, Ex London Transport RT LLU670 and KYY529 have no fleet numbers
given. They should be RT3871 and RT1702 according to an old ABC of mine.

Duly noted and altered thanks! I have to admit that RT's are a little
before my time and none of the registration numbers match up unlike the
Routemasters so if I cannot see the fleetnumber clearly on the picture, I
get a bit stuck!

Regards
John M Upton

In article ws.net,
securitynovels @ freeuk.com (JMUpton2000) wrote:

"Colin Rosenstiel" wrote in message
...
Pics here BTW: http://gallery42239.fotopic.net/c741890.html

[snip]

Great photos! I saw now fewer than 6 Routemasters on the 38 on my
bike rides between King's Cross and Westminster and back on Thursday
but had to take the tube on Friday so missed the last day entirely.

BTW, Ex London Transport RT LLU670 and KYY529 have no fleet numbers
given. They should be RT3871 and RT1702 according to an old ABC of
mine.

Duly noted and altered thanks! I have to admit that RT's are a
little before my time and none of the registration numbers match up
unlike the Routemasters so if I cannot see the fleetnumber clearly on
the picture, I get a bit stuck!

Fair enough. I had to go back to my oldest (1963) edition to get both of
those! I looked in a later edition first and LLU670 wasn't there.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message ws.net,
JMUpton2000 writes
Duly noted and altered thanks! I have to admit that RT's are a little
before my time and none of the registration numbers match up unlike the
Routemasters so if I cannot see the fleetnumber clearly on the picture,
get a bit stuck!
In the back of my mind is the idea that RTs were pre-selector boxes and
the RM(L)s were fully auto boxes. Can anyone confirm or deny?
--
Clive

In article ,
(Clive) wrote:

In message ws.net,
JMUpton2000 writes

Duly noted and altered thanks! I have to admit that RT's are a
little before my time and none of the registration numbers match up
unlike the Routemasters so if I cannot see the fleetnumber clearly
on the picture, get a bit stuck!

In the back of my mind is the idea that RTs were pre-selector boxes
and the RM(L)s were fully auto boxes. Can anyone confirm or deny?

That's my understanding.

--
Colin Rosenstiel