|
|
 Red
RF routes
Route 200
One of the original 1934 single-deck routes and among the
first to be converted to RFs, the 200 was double-decked in 1965
after local opposition to double-deckers was finally
overcome.
Dates of RF operation
1 Dec 52 - 24 Aug 65
(total 12 years, 9 months, all crew operation).
Destinations
Wimbledon Stn to Coombe Lane (to 2 Jan 62)
Wimbledon Station to Raynes Park Stn (from 3 Jan 62)
Fresh from overhaul in
1961, RF398 has just dropped its passengers at Wimbledon Station
and heads off to the stand at the Police Station.
Photo Peter Gomm
collection
Route history
Introduced by the General in the early 30s as the 103, the
route initially ran between Wimbledon Station and Raynes
Park. Renumbered 200 in the 1934 renumbering, the route was
already busy enough to justify LTL operation, from Merton
garage.
 Converted to side-engined 5Q5s in April 1936, the route
was extended the following month to serve Coombe Lane Copse
Hill - always known on the blinds as 'W Wimbledon' - where it
terminated by making a U-turn at the junction. The Qs
continued in service throughout the war, supplemented by Ts in the
winter of 1943/4.
After a post-war repaint,
Q125 sits on the Police Station stand in Wimbledon
Photo Peter Gomm
collection
London Transport would have liked to apply their normal policy
of double-decking the route, but the local residents association
was having none of it. So the busy route was was one of the
first to be converted to RF operation, using new buses in
1952.
The 200 was cut back to its original terminus (complete
with one-way working), Raynes Park Station, in 1962, the remainder
being covered by an extension to the new RT route 286.
Residents overcome, the 200 was finally double-decked
with RTs in 1965. The route has had something of a
chequered history since then, but still covers the Raynes Park to
Wimbledon section as part of a longer single-deck route.
After a number of operators, it returned home to Merton garage in
2006.
RF route in detail, with timing points
WIMBLEDON STATION, Wimbledon Hill Rd, The Ridgeway,
The Ridgeway Christ
Church, Cottenham Pk Rd, Pepys Rd, Cambridge Rd,
Lambton Rd, Raynes Park Raynes
Park Hotel, Coombe La, COOMBE LANE Copse Hill (to 2 Jan
62)
WIMBLEDON STATION, Wimbledon Hill Rd, The Ridgeway,
The Ridgeway Christ
Church, Cottenham Pk Rd, Durham Rd, Coombe La, RAYNES
PARK STN, return via Lambton Rd, Cambridge Rd, Pepys Rd to
Cottenham Pk Rd (from 3 Jan 62)
Faretable
To view the faretable for May 1965, the last applying
to RF operation and including garage journeys, click
here.
Garages
AL Merton
Vehicle allocation
PVR 1952: Mon-Fri 6, Sat 6, Sun 4
PVR 1960: Mon-Fri 4, Sat 5, Sun 3
PVR 1962: Mon-Fri 3, Sat 3, Sun 2
New RFs delivered Dec 52: 354-356, 368, 370-1, 373 (6 + 1
spare)
|
|
