|
Red RF routes
Route 208A
Page last updated 27 July
2019
A new route introduced in 1941, serving Carpenters Road,
Stratford, for the first time. The route was replaced by
the RLH-operated 178 in 1959. Carpenters Road has now
disappeared under the preparations for the 2012 Olympic
Games.
A fine early 1950s scene
at Clapton Pond (compare with the Hackney
gallery photos 50 years later), with RF315 on the
208 A leading RF359 and another on the 208.
Photo © Fred Ivey, Peter
Gomm collection
Dates of RF operation
9 Oct 52 to 12 May 59
(total 6 years 7
months, all crew operation)
Destinations
CLAPTON POND and STRATFORD Maryland
Station (Mon-Sat except evenings)
RF Garages
Reasons for single-deck operation
Low bridges in Kenworthy Road and Carpenters Road. The
latter was navigable by low-bridge double-deckers, but on
conversion to double-deck RLH, the route had to be revised between
Hackney Wick and Homerton.
Two years after the route was introduced, it is
11 Jun 43 and Q119 in wartime garb sits on the stand in Wells Road,
Maryland.
Photo © Alan Cross
Route history
Introduced on 30 Apr 41 as the first route serving the
factories along Carpenters Road, the
208 A was operated from Dalston Garage by LT 'Scooters'
for the first year and again from October 1946 to October
1952, with 5Q5s between 1942 and 1946 (and a couple
helping out in the winter of 1948). A busy route, in 1957
there were up to 22 buses per hour between Hackney Wick (where
about half of them turned in the peaks) and Stratford.
The proud crew of RF448, the
conductor complete with Bell Punch, stand at the Maryland
terminus. RF448 was delivered in early 1953 as part of
Dalston's second batch for the conversion of the 208.
Photo © Geoff Rixon, Peter
Gomm collection
The heavy loadings and the worn-out LTs meant this was the second
route (after the 210) to become
RF operated, converting from 9 October 1952. This
was some months earlier than its compatriot, the 208, on which the last Scooters were to run three
months later, although spare RFs from the 208 A helped on
the 208 at weekends. The first 13 RFs were in service by
17 October, spare bus RF324 not being licensed until 1
November.
The route required single-deckers due to low bridges in
Kenworthy Road and Carpenters Road. The latter was navigable
by RLHs (although subject to a speed limit of 5 mph), but on
conversion to double-deck on 13 May 59, the route had to be revised
between Hackney Wick and Homerton, first running via Ponsford
Street and Morning Lane, then after six months via Marsh Hill and
Lee Conservancy Road, the present route of the 276. In
consequence, the double-deck route took a new number, 178.
RF route in detail, with timing
points
CLAPTON POND, Lower Clapton Road, Urswick Road, Homerton High
Street, Kenworthy Road, Cassland Road/Kenworthy Road, Wick
Road, Eastway, Berkshire Road, Wallis Road,
Hepscott Road, Rothbury Road, White Post Lane, Carpenters
Road, Lett Road (towards Stratford), High Street Stratford,
Stratford Broadway, The
Grove, MARYLAND STATION
Terminal workings:
Clapton Pond, anti-clockwise round the pond.
Maryland Station: from The Grove, Windmill Lane, Waddington
Road, Waddington Street, Well Street (stand), direct to The
Grove.
Garage journeys from D: to/from Lower Clapton Rd Urswick
Rd via Hackney Central Station, Mare Street, Westgate
Street
Note to route details: the Red Books never mentioned Eastway,
and some of the bus maps (inconsistently) show the route avoiding
Eastway, but other evidence suggests that the Eastway and Berkshire
Road route was that actually followed. There is no record
in Traffic Circulars of any route change. We have
therefore concluded that the Eastway routing is correct.
208 and 208 A on the 1955 bus map ©
London Transport
Frequency
Year |
Mon-Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
1941 |
8-15 mins |
10-15 mins |
- |
1946 |
8½ mins * |
15 mins * |
- |
1951 |
8 mins * |
15 mins * |
- |
1953 |
8 mins * |
15 mins * |
- |
* frequency halved between Hackney Wick and Maryland Station
(peaks)
The route took about 22 minutes between Clapton Pond and
Maryland Station.
RF allocation
New RFs delivered Oct-Nov 52: 303-314, 324, 330 (13 + 1
spare)
PVR 1952 (Oct): Mon-Fri 13, Sat 6
PVR 1957 (May): Mon-Fri 14, Sat 6
|
|