Route 241
The last route to receive brand new RFs, the 241 was one of
those busy routes targeted to receive double-deckers as soon as
physical restrictions were removed.
Dates of RF
operation
1 Mar 53 to 25 Nov 58
(total 5 years 9 months, all crew operation).
In this well known photo,
brand new RF502 running SP7 picks up passengers in Hook Lane,
Welling. The trolleybus in the background is on the
696 from Woolwich.
Photo © Geoff Morant,
Peter Gomm collection
Destinations
WELLING STN to SIDCUP GARAGE
About five years later, RF466 shows an
intermediate style of blind - still capital letters for the
intermediates, but a 5" high route number rather than the early 7"
number. Indicator 'ears' were fitted in 1956 and the wheel
nut rings and 'dustbin lids' have been painted over. Thank
you to Peter Kennedy who identifies the location as Sidcup
Hill, north-west of the Knoll Road junction. He
adds that virtually none of the original buildings remain, although
the large tree behind the RF survives.
Photo Peter Gomm collection
Route
history
Introduced on 12 Oct 38, the new 241 was originally one-man
operated with 18-seat DA-class Dennis Darts. The route's
success soon led to the need for larger buses, so they were
replaced by elderly 29-seat crew-operated 1T1s at the start of
1939, and these in turn by 37-seat 5Q5s in March 1940.
RF operation arrived in March 1953, using the last red RFs to
be delivered (the very last, RF513, started work on 25
March), and the Qs were withdrawn. The level of
passenger demand can be seen from the peak allocation of 29 buses
to a route that took 23 minutes from end to end. When the
road was lowered under the bridge at Sidcup in 1958, allowing the
route to be double-decked, the Monday to Friday allocation dropped
to 15 RTs. The weekend workings were covered by adjustments
to RT route 51.
Extended from Welling to Woolwich in May 1963, the 241
replaced the 126 between Welling and Plumstead Common and 54 from
there to Woolwich. The route was renumbered 51B in
July 1964.
RF route in
detail, with timing points
SIDCUP GARAGE, Foots Cray High St, Foots Cray Barley Mow, Sidcup
Hill, Sidcup High St, Station Rd, Sidcup Station, Halfway St,
Willersley Avenue, The Oval, Wellington Ave, Blackfen Woodman, Westwood Lane,
Hook Lane, Belle Grove Road, Central Ave, Vaughan Rd, WELLING
STATION (return via Cleveland Rd, Tidford Rd, Central Ave)
Garages
SP Sidcup
Vehicle allocation
PVR 1953: Mon-Fri 29, Sat 22, Sun 12
New RFs delivered Mar 53: 464, 479, 488-498,
500-513 plus 2 second-hand (total 29 + 1 spare). On
conversion to RT in 1958, Sidcup's RFs were sent to HW for 211, UX
for 222, AR/T for 236 and P for 202.
