Route 254

^{Page last update}^{d 14 February
2016}

Loughton's post-war panhandle route, provided with RFs earlier than planned when winter 1953 timetable reductions allowed some to be squeezed out from the schedules of the routes initially converted.

RF433, later a 'last 236' bus, in a peaceful scene from the late 50s. The route had been extended to South Woodford in January 1958 and the bus is seen opposite Station Road in Roding Valley. RF433 ran the 254 again on 9 September 2007.

Photo © C Carter, Peter Gomm collection

Dates of RF operation

7 Oct 53 to 9 Apr 76

Converted to OMO 3 Oct 65

(total 22 years 6 months, of which 12 years crew operation).

Destinations

BUCKHURST HILL and LOUGHTON STATION (7 Oct 53 to 7 Jan 58)

SOUTH WOODFORD and LOUGHTON STATION (8 Jan 58 to 9 Apr 76)

RF Garages

L Loughton

Reason for single-deck operation

The use (twice on every journey!) of the very low bridge in Roding Road immediately east of Loughton Station precludes the use of double-deckers.

Route history

One of the new routes which expanded London's suburban bus services once resources were available after the second world war, the 254 brought single-deckers back to Loughton garage after a gap of four years.

Five years later, on 11 April 1959, RF407 heads for Loughton Station. Despite the new blinds that would have been produced for the route extension the previous year, this one is still in the style of the early 1950s. Thanks to David Trumble, we know that the bus is in Old Station Road (outside Ambrose the Auctioneers ) just before it meets High Road. The bus has just passed Loughton Station and is on route via Debden before returning to Loughton Station.

Photo © Alan Cross, Peter Gomm collection

The new route started on 18 January 1950, serving housing west of Debden, and ran a 'panhandle' shape, from Buckhurst Hill Station via Loughton Way, then a loop passing Loughton Station, via Loughton High Rd and Loughton garage, Debden Station and back to Loughton Station. Initially operated with elderly 11T11s, these were first replaced by ex-Green Line 9T9s, then on 14 Nov 51, 10T10s made available by the first Green Line RFs. In February 1953, these were in turn replaced by TDs from Muswell Hill (themselves replaced by new RFs), but still Loughton's long-standing demand for modern buses was unmet.

Finally, the faster running times of RFs compared with their predecessors, together with the release of training buses at the end of conversion, meant that Loughton could receive nearly-new RFs in October 1953. The allocation moved over the road when the new Loughton Garage opened on 2 Dec 53.

From 8 Jan 58, the 254 was extended south every half hour on Monday to Saturday over new roads to serve Woodford and South Woodford Stations, with alternate journeys running the original route. Initially, the South Woodford journeys did not cross the railway to serve Buckhurst Hill Station, but this changed 14 months later with a double-run to the forecourt.

The route was converted to one-man operation in October 1965, at the same time as the creation of new OMO route 20^B. Thanks to Nicholas Owen for pointing out that there was a subtle route change at the same time, with the journeys passing Loughton calling in at the station itself, rather than just stopping in Old Station Road (northbound) or Alderton Hill (southbound) as before. From 14 Jun 69, additional Monday to Friday journeys were introduced between Buckhurst Hill Station and Loughton Garage to replace the journeys to Buckhurst Hill on the 20^B, but the Saturday frequency was reduced. On 19 Oct 75, improvements to the North Circular, previously crossed at traffic lights, meant that the route had to be diverted and now ran in to South Woodford from the east.

Having passed Loughton Station inbound from Buckhurst Hill, RF503 passes Debden Station before terminating back at Loughton Station. The route always operated in a 'P' shape, rather than a backwards 'S'. Photo © John Parkin

RF operation outlasted the 20^B, the 254 retaining RFs until April 1976, when the route was converted to to SMS operation. At the end, though, RTs lasted longer at Loughton, continuing on the 20^A for another six months.

In 1979, a simplified version of route was renumbered 255, the last day of the 254 being 30 March. The 255 ran from Loughton Garage via Debden and Loughton Station to South Woodford; the Loughton Garage to Buckhurst Hill section was replaced by a short-lived Waltham Cross version of the 250. The 255 itself only lasted until September 1982, when the roads were covered by revised routings of the 167 and 250. Certain 254 roads east of Loughton are no longer served by TfL, as the whole area is outside the London boundary.

The last day of operation of RFs on the 254 was 9 April 1976, when RF685 is seen ready for departure from South Woodford for Loughton. RFs returned on 9 September 2007 for a day. RF685 is one of the green RFs repainted red when at Muswell Hill in 1969. It subsequently worked on the 291 at BK before allocation to L.

Photo © John Parkin

RF route in detail, with timing points

BUCKHURST HILL LT Station, Victoria Road, Roding Lane, Loughton Way, Valley Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Loughton Station Approach, Old Station Road, Loughton High Road, Church Hill, Loughton LT Garage, Rectory Lane, Debden LT Station, Chigwell Lane, Oakwood Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Station Approach, LOUGHTON LT Station (7 Oct 53 to 7 Jan 58)

SOUTH WOODFORD LT Station, (anti-clockwise) Daisy Road, Cowslip Road (return direct), Maybank Road (now Mulberry Road and severed by the North Circular), Latchett Road, St Barnabas Road, Hillside Avenue, Hillside Avenue Snakes Lane (for Woodford LT Station), Hillside Avenue, Buckhurst Way, Albert Road, Buckhurst Hill LT Station (double run from 13 May 59: Roding Lane, Victoria Road, Buckhurst Hill LT Station, Victoria Road, Roding Lane), Loughton Way, Valley Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Loughton Station Approach, Old Station Road, Loughton High Road, Church Hill, Loughton LT Garage, Rectory Lane, Debden LT Station, Chigwell Lane, Oakwood Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Station Approach, LOUGHTON LT Station (8 Jan 58 to 7 Jan 62)

SOUTH WOODFORD LT Station, Daisy Road (clockwise, return via Cowslip Road), Maybank Road, Latchett Road, St Barnabas Road, Hillside Avenue Snakes Lane (later Woodford Station), Hillside Avenue, Buckhurst Way, Albert Road, Roding Lane, Victoria Road, Buckhurst Hill LT Station, Victoria Road, Roding Lane, Loughton Way, Valley Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Loughton Station Approach (Station Approach, Loughton Station, Station Approach, from 3 Oct 65), Old Station Road, Loughton High Road, Church Hill, Loughton LT Garage, Rectory Lane, Debden LT Station, Chigwell Lane, Oakwood Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Station Approach, LOUGHTON LT Station (8 Jan 62 to 18 Oct 75)

Map © London Transport 1955

SOUTH WOODFORD STATION Cowslip Road, Daisy Road, Maybank Road (now Mulberry Way), George Lane, Chigwell Road, Maybank Road, Gordon Road, (return via Latchett Road, Southend Road (A406 slip road) to Chigwell Road), St Barnabas Road, Woodford Station, Hillside Avenue, Buckhurst Way, Albert Road, Roding Lane, Victoria Road, Buckhurst Hill Station, Victoria Road, Roding Lane, Loughton Way, Valley Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Station Approach, Loughton Station, Station Approach, Old Station Road, Loughton High Road, Church Hill, Loughton Garage, Rectory Lane, Debden Station, Chigwell Lane, Oakwood Hill, Roding Road, Alderton Hill, Station Approach, LOUGHTON STATION (19 Oct 75 to 9 Apr 76)

Frequency

Year	Mon-Fri	Sat	Sun
1951	10-15 mins	10-15 mins	20 mins
1953	10-15 mins	8-15 mins	15-20 mins
1959	30 mins *	30 mins *	30 mins †
1964	30 mins *	30 mins *	30 mins
1969	30-32 mins *	26-30 mins *	32 mins
1971	30-32 mins *	24 mins *	32 mins
1976	60 mins *	30 mins *	63 mins

* more frequent between Loughton - Buckhurst Hill

† Loughton - Buckhurst Hill only

From Loughton Station, and via Loughton Station, the route took about 27 minutes to reach Buckhurst Hill and 42 minutes to reach South Woodford. The July 1967 timetable is here.

Faretable

The 1965 faretable is here.

RF allocation

Loughton received no new RFs for the 254, as noted above. Its initial allocation comprised RFs 289, 293, 294, 481, 483, 485, 512.

PVR 1953 (Oct): Mon-Fri 6, Sat 7, Sun 4

PVR 1954 (May): Mon-Fri 5, Sat 6, Sun 3

PVR 1956 (Oct): Mon-Fri 5, Sat 6, Sun 2

PVR 1958 (Jan): Mon-Fri 6, Sat 7, Sun 2

PVR 1965 (Oct, OMO): Mon-Fri 7, Sat 9, Sun 3

PVR 1969 (Jun): Mon-Fri 8, Sat 7, Sun 3

PVR 1971 (Jul): Mon-Fri 8, Sat 6, Sun 2

Memories

John McAlpine writes: I worked in Loughton (not on the buses) 1969-1976 during the time of RFs on the 254, and was fascinated by this weird route. Was it unique, (possibly in the world?) in that it travelled along the same road, in the same direction, and showing the same destination, twice on each journey! How the drivers remembered which way to turn coming out of Loughton Station Approach, and at the southern end of Roding Road - and which stops to use, I'll never know; but suspect an occasional wrong turn was made.

It probably helped that there were separate bus stops for each segment, and this saved the passengers from having to ask the driver which way they were going to turn at the end of Roding Road, or (in the other direction), whether they were going on to Loughton High Road, (if you hadn't noticed from which direction they had turned into Roding Road); and not many people bothered with the buses terminating at the station, as it wasn't much of a walk from here due to the footpath shortcut alongside the railway.

The only problem was, if you wanted to go from the Loughton Way area to Debden or vice versa, you'd have to change buses in Roding Road by crossing the road; or go around three-quarters of the loop, which was slower and probably more expensive [the faretable confirms that it was for some destinations]. Despite this complexity, all the local people seemed to understand it perfectly, and always got to where they wanted to go. I suspect quite a bit of thought went into planning this route, for if it had started the loop clockwise there would have been buses going through Roding Road both ways showing both destinations; even more confusing! As it was, you would still sometimes spot an obvious non-local wandering from stop to stop in Roding Road and scratching their head.

Re-creation

The 254 was operated by RFs at the Loughton Running Day in 2007.

Red RF routes

Route 254