RFs on the 227
RF429 departs the Crooked Billet stand in
Penge. As Ian Smith records, in
RF days
there was always a mix of Crystal Palace and
Penge buses on the 227; the Crooked
Billet stand has been in use since 1922. The
Crystal Palace aerial marks the far
terminus.
Photo © Geoff Ragg
The Shortlands rail bridge straddles a road
junction, making lowering the road
impractical. As a result, the 227 has
remained single-deck operated.
Photo © Peter Larkham
Having negotiated the bridge,
RF401 powers away up the hill towards Beckenham.
The pedestrians have
obviously noticed that the bus carries no rear wheel discs,
features that were removed in
the early 1970s.
Photo © Peter Larkham
Bromley is not known to have run green RFs on the 227, but Sidcup did on the
228 and 241. RF600 joined in the day running on
both 227 and 228, and is a little more at home here at Chislehurst
Common on the 228. It is heading (a little mysteriously)
to 'Eltham', meaning Eltham Well Hall Station.
Photo © Clive Burgess
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The Red-RF app
A passenger uses the new
Red-RF app and - just like
that - two RFs appear on
service.
Photo © Peter Larkham
Driver and conductor use the app to produce
a
photographer in the middle of the Pawleyne
Arms
road junction in Penge.
Photo © Geoff Ragg
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Bunching
The 162 now features Metrobus Enviro
200s, as well as occasional RTs. On the 227,
RF486 follows RF401 towards the stop at
Beckenham Church. With buses starting
from Penge, there was always the temptation to
pull out behind a bus from Crystal
Palace, although the route was so busy that it
made little difference to the loadings.
Photo © Geoff Ragg
Rather like this - except RF486 is on meal
relief, so not tempted to swing out behind
RF429. The background is relatively
little changed since the 1920s - see here
(picture Beckenham History).
Photo © Peter Larkham
Since the last Bromley event,
Stagecoach have commenced a new contract on the
227 and replaced the
elderly Darts with new Citaros. 23103 at Crystal Palace
displays the route
number in the ugly non-standard font used on the new
buses.
Photo © Peter Osborn
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