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Originally the General's 501 (Uxbridge New Inn to Hounslow Central Stn Bulstrode Hotel), the T-operated route was renumbered to 222 in 1934.  Uxbridge garage's allocation was augmented on Saturdays (when it was half-hourly rather than hourly) by Hounslow garage up to 1936.

The 222 remained unchanged into the RF era, having been upgraded to the post-war 14T12s in 1946 using buses replaced by TDs at Muswell Hill.  These, together with those on the 224 group at Uxbridge and those on the 211 at Southall, were to be the last in service in London.  On conversion of the 222 to RF, the 224 group changed over to TD and the last batch of 14T12s were sold to Ceylon.

Single-deck operations in the Central Area remained remarkably stable in the mid-50s, with the RFs in use at the garages to which they were allocated in 1952-3 and TDs and Ts employed elsewhere and (in some cases) alongside.  This continued until the double-decking of the Sidcup routes in 1958, which released a batch of RFs which were used to replace Ts on the 222 and 211, as well as TDs on the 236.  The TDs from the 236 in turn replaced Ts on the 224 group.

From this point, it is easier to consider the Uxbridge to West Drayton routes, the 222, 223 and 224, as a group, as LT made a series of adjustments over the years to react to the changes in bus use and the growth of Heathrow Airport.  To recap to 1950, as well as the 222 running by the direct routing through Cowley to West Drayton and thence to London Airport North and Hounslow, the 224 ran over the same route to West Drayton and then on to Harmondsworth, Staines and Laleham, and the 223 from Ruislip ran via Uxbridge to West Drayton via Hillingdon Hospital and Colham Green.

RF406, now a regular at running days, in its Uxbridge days on a 224 to Laleham, photographed in West Drayton.  By the time of the picture, the route was single-deck to enable one-man operation, not because of the bridge at West Drayton.

Photo © JGS Smith, Peter Gomm collection

At that time, both the 222 and 224 used Ts, whilst the 223 operated in two parts.  The Ruislip to West Drayton Stn section was double-decked with STLs, whereas Ts operated between Uxbridge and  West Drayton Mill Road, passing under the low bridge at the station.  The STLs on the 223 gave way to RTs between 1951 and 1953, and in February 1955 the single-deck section was discontinued and replaced by the T-operated 224^A, via Cowley to West Drayton Mill Road.  In October 1956, the Ts were replaced by two TDs, Uxbridge's first.

The next route change was the addition, in January 1957, of the Mon-Sat T-operated 224^B, which diverged at West Drayton via Porters Way to Stockley Estate Mulberry Parade.  Destination blinds described this rather bizarrely as 'Stockley Estate _{^{West Drayton}}'. 

As mentioned, November 1958 brought the withdrawal of the Ts, with the 224 group now TD and the 222 RF, plus partial RF operation on the 224 at weekends.  At the same time, the pm-only Sunday service on the 224^A was withdrawn.  As more RFs became available during 1959, the 224/^B were converted in July and the 224^A in November (when joint working with the 224^B was introduced for a brief period).  With the 223 still RT-operated, this marked the end of the TDs at Uxbridge.

In early 1961, the main barrier to double-deck operation, the bridge at West Drayton, was rebuilt.  While the road was closed, RFs on the 222 provided the service through Cowley.  In March 1961, the bridge now open, the 222 was discontinued and the 223 extended from West Drayton to Hounslow.  The road through Cowley, apparently still restricted by a further low bridge at Yiewsley, was now served only by the 224 group, including the new Mon-Fri 224^C, which continued from West Drayton Station to Heathrow Airport Central (as it was now called) at the peaks.

The second low bridge was removed shortly after, allowing the 224^A/^B/^C to be converted to RT on 9 May 1962, although the 224 itself held on to its RFs for another year until 7 May 1963.  The 224^C was withdrawn on that day, being entirely replaced by a horseshoe-shaped extension of the Hayes to Uxbridge 204.

There followed a period of stability for the rest of the sixties, only slightly disturbed by the shortening of the 224 on Sundays from Laleham to Harmondsworth in October 1969. 

The next substantial change came on 16 January 1971.  The headline news was the return of the RFs, this time one-man operated, but the changes were much more complex than just that.  Firstly, the Uxbridge to Heathrow run, originally the 224^C on Mon-Fri peaks and then the 204, was now introduced daily as the OMO RF-operated 223, with the 223's traditional routing via Colham Green.  The 204 was also converted to OMO RF, but cut back to Uxbridge.  The previous section of the 223 from West Drayton to Hounslow was now covered by a reinvented 222, now RT-operated but following the original route except for an extension in Hounslow to the Bus Station. 

There were changes to the 224 group as well.  The 224^A to West Drayton Mill Lane was withdrawn, being partly replaced by a rerouting in West Drayton of the 224^B to Stockley Estate.  Both 224 and 224^B, the remaining members of the group, were converted to OMO RF.  The 224 was withdrawn on Sundays and its journeys beyond Staines to Laleham were now restricted to Mon-Fri peaks and Saturday shopping hours.  Some Mon-Fri peak journeys were diverted to run via Poyle, rather than Colnbrook and Horton, replacing the RT-operated 225 which was withdrawn.

The final batch of RFs converted for one-man operation were known as the 'Uxbridge' RFs and were distinguished by single glass panel in each door, rather than the two-part on earlier conversions and green buses.  The effect is shown by RF409 blinded for the 224^B at Uxbridge.

The picture was taken after the 98 had converted to SMS operation at the start of 1973.

Photo: Peter Gomm collection

So, after all that change, we were left with RF-operated 223 (Ruislip to Heathrow), 224 (Uxbridge to Staines and Laleham) and 224B (Uxbridge to Stockley Estate), plus RT-operated 222 (Uxbridge to Hounslow).  The 222 went OMO with SMSs in December of 1971, although it was double-decked again, with OMO DMSs, in January 1973.

Partial replacement of RFs by SMSs started at the end of June 1973.   As well as full conversion of the 204, the Sunday service on the 223 and the Saturday service on the 224^B were converted.  Both the latter were enhanced to double-deck with DMSs in April 1976.

The end came for the RFs in December 1976, when the 223 and 224^B went to DMS and the 224 to SMS.

The 222, having been DMS operated, went over to Ms in 1981, until 1994 when it went single-deck again.  It still operates between Hounslow and Uxbridge, but now out of Hounslow Garage.