Colindale Running Day

Route 142

 
An outer London route with a very long history.  Note that we will operate the 1960s routing between Canons Park and Edgware, via the A41 and Edgwarebury Lane not via Stonegrove (which will be covered by the 251).
 
RT3919 based at Edgware on a short working to Cricklewood.
Photo © Mike Beamish
 
Route
STANMORE CHURCH via Stanmore Station, Edgware Way, Edgware Station Road, Burnt Oak, Colindale to COLINDALE RAF Museum
 

Timetable

The 142 will operate every 30 minutes during morning and afternoon. 

 

Main boarding points

Stanmore Station bus stop B

Edgware Station Road bus stop J (towards Colindale), bus stop B (towards Stanmore)

Burnt Oak Broadway bus stop D (towards Colindale), bus stop C (towards Stanmore)

Colindale Annesley Avenue bus stop CS and Station bus stop CB (towards RAF Museum), Annesley Avenue bus stop CN and Station bus stop CA (towards Stanmore)

Colindale RAF Museum forecourt

 

Note that buses will not serve Edgware Bus Station.

 

Route history

London General Omnibus Co route 105, between Watford Junction and Kilburn, was renumbered 142 in 1914.  The route formed part of the development of the northern Country Area when, in 1920, the General opened Leavesden Road depot in Watford and transferred in from Cricklewood garage (W) much of the operation of the 142, along with the 140 (an earlier version) and 141 (later to become part of the 107).  The Central Area rates paid to crews on these buses were higher than the 'country route' rates on other routes, leading to strike action.  Rather than raise wage rates, General handed the garage to National in 1921, as part of an area agreement that was to come to fruition in the formation of London General Country Services in 1932.  The Central routes returned home to W.

 

Saunders-bodied RT1279 sits in the yard at Edgware Garage.

Photo © Paul Redmond

 

Cricklewood took sole ownership of the 142 until 1925, from when the next 20 years saw involvement by Willesden (AC), Hendon (AE), Edgware (EW) and Harrow Weald (HD) garages.  Between 1925 and 1932, the route operated as 142B before reverting to its former number.

 

From at least 1933, the route was operated by STs.  Occasionally during the 1930s STLs appeared, until they replaced the STs completely after the outbreak of war in 1939.  At that time, Hendon's famous pre-war STDs also made an appearance on Sundays.

 

In 1932, the original routing via Stonegrove was replaced by the longer one via Edgware Way (in a swap with route 141), a change that was to endure until 1993, when the original routing was reintroduced on withdrawal of the 251 between Stanmore and Edgware.  The only other significant changes over the last 85 years have been the shortening of the route to Edgware (Colindale Annesley Avenue in peak hours) in 1970, and the re-extension to Brent Cross in 1976.

 

Edgware's STL allocation was replaced by RTWs in 1950, one of the original suburban routes before the 8-footers were accepted by the Police into central London.  In late 1950 and early 1951, the route had the distinction of operating all three RT variants, with EW's RTWs joined by a partial RTL allocation on Saturdays and replaced by RTs from W on Sundays (as well as W STLs on Saturdays and AE STDs on Sundays).

 

The allocation was fully RT from mid-1952, except for 1963 to 1968, when W's RTs were replaced by RTLs, until OMO conversion in 1970.  The allocation was of SMSs, all operated by EW.  Conversion to Metrobus took place in 1980, until the route was contracted out in 1986.  The route is now operated by Arriva from Garston garage.

 

Edgware's SMS77 leaves the A41 and heads for Canons Park and Stanmore en route to Watford.

Photo © Paul Redmond