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Red RF routes
Route 251
A remarkable route across north London that has covered the
same roads for over 75 years. RF operation moved in 1963 from
Muswell Hill garage, also home to the 210
and 212, to Edgware, which had just
replaced the last TDs in service with RFs on the 240A.
RF512, later to become
famous at Kingston, pulls up the hill to Totteridge & Whetstone
Station.
Photo
© Paul Redmond
Dates of RF
operation
6 May 53 (weekends), 1 May 57 (daily,
but see below) to 22 Jan 77.
Converted to OMO 27 Jan 65
(total 23 years 9 months, of
which 11 years 9 months crew operation).
Destinations
ARNOS GROVE – BURNT OAK (to 6 Sep 68)
ARNOS GROVE – STANMORE STATION (from 7 Sep 68)
Route
history
Route 551 was introduced on (or about) 4 Jul 25 between
Whetstone Griffin Inn and Edmonton Aerator's
Works, via Arnos Grove (which was then largely undeveloped and
rural) and the North Circular. The Griffin at Whetstone had
long been a staging post on the Great North Road and the 551
provided a connection with General route 84 and Overground route
284.
The route was first worked by Redburn's Motor Services,
followed a month later by Biss Brothers and at the start of 1926 by
Uneedus and HM Merry. All used single-deck Dennises, except
Uneedus who ran Guys. On 27 Jan 26, the General joined in,
with three K-class single-deckers worked from Tottenham
Garage. Later in 1926, more Dennises joined in, from Sear
Brothers, Silver Star and Prince, whilst original operator
Redburn's was absorbed by the General. The other independents
were in turn absorbed by the General, either directly or through
amalgamation into Public (see 236), which
was itself taken over by General in 1929. The exception
was Prince, whose single bus fades from the scene.
In 1928, the entire operation moved into Public's new Enfield
(E) garage at Ponders End, and a year later the route was extended
a small distance westwards to Totteridge Barnet
Lane. In 1931, the Dennises were replaced at E by new
single-deck LTs. August 1933, just after the creation of
London Transport, saw the extension of the route further west
via Mill Hill to Burnt Oak, and on 16 May 34 the Arnos Grove to
Edmonton section was replaced by the 604, leaving the Burnt Oak to
Arnos Grove route in a form that was to remain unchanged for 30
years. Operation moved from Enfield to Palmers Green
(AD).
In common with other routes numbered under the Bassom system, short workings were given
letter suffixes, which in the case of the 551 reached
551 E. This was a weekday working between
Whetstone and Arnos Grove, introduced in February 1934 and
double-decked (with LTs) in May of that year. October
1934 saw the new route numbering
system introduced and the 551 series became the 251. The
double-deck workings were replaced by increased running on the 34
in April 1935.
The 1930s saw the development of much of the rural area that
the route traversed. Arnos Grove Station on the Piccadilly
Line opened in 1932. Mill Hill Broadway had developed
around the 1867 Mill Hill Station, but was surrounded by open
country until the 1930s. The route shared the low
bridge at Mill Hill with the 240 (later split, with the 240A becoming an RF route), requiring
the continued use of single-deck buses until the road was lowered
in 1966.
AD continued to operate single-deck LTs, aided by one T
operated by Edgware (EW) garage on shorts between Burnt Oak and
Mill Hill for one year from 1936. In the summer of 1939,
the whole route move from AD to EW, then in 1941, to increase
the allocation, to Muswell Hill (MH), with EW retaining some
Sundays workings until the following year. From 1936 to 1941,
then again from 1946, Sundays saw an increased allocation
reflecting the rural nature of the route. This peaked in 1947
and 1948 at 15 buses (against a weekday requirement of 9), with the
balance changing by the mid-50s when Sunday allocation fell behind
that on weekdays.
Muswell Hill had received its first TDs - all 31 of the
Weymann-bodied batch of these Leyland single-deckers - between
December 1946 and June 1947, primarily for the 212. A further nine, from the Mann Egerton
batch, were received in spring 1949 to replace the LTs on the
251. The Sunday service still required 11 buses, so two LTs
remained allocated on that day for the summer season (the 244
and part of the 210 were still
LT-operated).
 Having received the first TDs in 1946, MH also received
the first red RFs in 1952. After introduction on the 210
(October 1952) and 212 (February 1953), RFs were also used on the
251 on Saturdays and winter Sundays from 1953 to May
1955. This reflects the reduced requirement on the 212 at
weekends and the 210 on winter Sundays; it is not clear why the
formal allocation excluded RFs from May 1955 to October
1956.
Doorless RF478 at Arnos Grove on 28 August
1961, when the route ran only to Burnt Oak and was operated by
Muswell Hill.
A reduced requirement for the 210 and 212 explains why only an
extra 6 RFs were required to fully convert a route
with a PVR of 9. This was achieved by squeezing the
most out of the central RF fleet of 225 buses. In May
1957, including the 251, 210 RFs were scheduled for service (Monday
to Friday) in the Central Area, higher than the 206 at the end of
1953 when Loughton received the 'extras' released through schedule
improvements. Six red RFs had been converted to Green Lines
in 1956, accompanied by renumbering of several batches of
buses. Through the insistence of the unions that the central
fleet be maintained at 225, six green RFs went to Sidcup on 1 Dec
56. Along with a dozen loaned to cover the first RF overhaul
programme, started in 1956, these allowed a net increase of 6 in
the MH allocation although there was no mass influx. The
allocation schedules show the 251 as fully RF operated from 1 May
57; it seems likely in practice that conversion from TD was a
gradual process.
 Despite
RF conversion by May, the winter 1957 allocation schedule also
shows the requirement for a single TD on Monday to Friday.
This seems to have been TD127 and was the last TD at Muswell
Hill.
Edgware-based OMO RF445
stands at the same terminus in 1972. Compare the scene eleven
years earlier, above.
Photo Ian Armstrong
collection
On 27 February 1963, the route moved unchanged (back) to
Edgware garage as part of a reorganisation involving Enfield and
Potters Bar garages; Muswell Hill gained the balance of the
134. Edgware had only four months earlier replaced the last
TDs by RFs on its long-standing route 240A. October of that year saw
the extension of some Sunday journeys (only) to Edgware,
replacing garage workings from Burnt Oak.
OMO conversion of the 251, still with RFs, came in January
1965, in the second phase along with the 237. The 240 A remained
crew-operated and lost its RFs in favour of RTs (as a
Sunday-only route) in 1966. In September 1968, the 251 was
extended on weekdays to Stanmore via Edgware, to cover part of
trolleybus replacement route 245. On Sundays the route
operated only as far as Edgware Station.
Another period of stability followed until the RFs were
finally replaced by BLs in January 1977, the same day as another
very long running RF route, the 234A, and leaving RFs
running only at Hounslow and Kingston.
BL9 in its final livery in the late
1980s. It waits at Arnos Grove to depart for Stanmore
Station.
Photo © Paul
Davis, Ian Armstrong collection
BLs lasted until 1990, the last route to operate the class
and replaced by a variety of midi-buses. From 1990, the
route was amended to double-run via Edgware Station, before being
cut back to Edgware in 1993. The route still runs, now
operated by Metroline from Cricklewood and still covering General
route 551.
RF route in detail, with timing points
ARNOS GROVE STATION, Bowes Road, Oakleigh Road South,
Oakleigh Road
Woodman, Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone Griffin, Totteridge
Lane, Totteridge War
Memorial, Totteridge Lane, Totteridge Common,
Highwood Hill, Highwood Hill
Marsh Lane, Highwood Hill, Lawrence Street, Mill
Hill Broadway, Mill Hill Station,
LMR (later Mill Hill
Broadway Station), Bunns Lane, Lyndhurst Avenue,
Eversfield Gardens, Woodcroft Avenue (return direct
from Woodcroft Avenue to Bunns Lane), Watling Avenue,
Barnfield Road (return via Edgware Road), BURNT OAK Edgware
Road (to 6 Sep 68).
Crew-operated RF325
working MH1 stands abandoned at the Barnfield Road stand
at Burnt Oak; no doubt the crew are having tea in a cafe
on the Edgware Road. Their passengers look as if they're
getting anxious.
Photo
© JH Aston, Peter Gomm
collection
ARNOS GROVE STATION, Bowes Road, Oakleigh Road South,
Oakleigh Road
Woodman, Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone Griffin, Totteridge
Lane, Totteridge War
Memorial, Totteridge Lane, Totteridge
Common, Highwood Hill, Highwood Hill
Rising Sun, Highwood Hill, Lawrence Street, Mill
Hill Broadway, Mill Hill Broadway
Station, Bunns Lane, Lyndhurst Avenue, Eversfield
Gardens, Woodcroft Avenue (return direct from Woodcroft Avenue
to Bunns Lane), Watling Avenue, Burnt Oak Bald Faced Stag (Sunday
journeys terminate Burnt Oak
Barnfield Road), Edgware Road, High Street Edgware,
EDGWARE STATION (Sun) or Edgware
High Street, Edgware Road, London Road, STANMORE
STATION (Mon to Sat) (from 7 Sep 68).

Based on 1955 map © London Transport
Burnt Oak terminal working: from Watling
Avenue into Barnfield Road, layover on left, forward to Edgware
Road, Watling Avenue.
When operating from Muswell Hill garage, buses entered and left
service at Whetstone, suggesting that garage journeys ran via
Friern Barnet Lane and Colney Hatch Lane. From 9 Oct 63 (8
months after operation moved to Edgware), some Sunday garage
journeys were extended from BURNT OAK Edgware Road to
operate from EDGWARE ABC Cinema via Station Road, Edgware
High Street, Edgware Road. Otherwise until 1968, buses
entered and left service at Burnt Oak or Highwood
Hill.
Faretable
To view the faretable for May 1965, including garage journeys,
click here.
Garages
MH Muswell Hill to 26 Feb
63
EW Edgware from 27 Feb 63
Vehicle allocation (but see notes)
PVR 1953 (May): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 6 RF + 3 TD,
Sun 11 TD
PVR 1953 (Oct): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 8 RF + 1 TD,
Sun 5 RF + 4 TD
PVR 1954 (May): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 5 RF + 4 TD,
Sun 11 TD
PVR 1954 (Oct): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 5 RF + 4 TD,
Sun 9 TD
PVR 1955 (May): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 9 TD, Sun 9
TD
PVR 1955 (Oct): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 9 TD, Sun 7 TD
PVR 1956 (May): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 9 TD, Sun 9
TD
PVR 1956 (Oct): Mon-Fri 9 TD, Sat 6 RF + 3 TD,
Sun 5 RF + 1 TD
PVR 1957 (May): Mon-Fri 9 RF, Sat 9 RF, Sun 8
RF
PVR 1957 (Oct): Mon-Fri 8 RF + 1 TD, Sat 9 RF, Sun 6 RF
PVR 1958 (Apr): Mon-Fri 9, Sat 7, Sun 7, now
all RF
PVR 1958 (Oct): Mon-Fri 9, Sat 7, Sun 5
PVR 1963 (May): Mon-Fri 9, Sat 6, Sun 5
PVR 1963 (Oct): Mon-Fri 9, Sat 5, Sun 4
PVR 1963 (Nov): Mon-Fri 9, Sat 7, Sun 4
PVR 1965 (Jan, OMO): Mon-Fri 11, Sat 9, Sun 5
PVR 1965 (Sep): Mon-Fri 9, Sat 7, Sun 5
PVR 1965 (Oct): Mon-Fri 11, Sat 9, Sun 5
PVR 1966 (Dec): Mon-Fri 11, Sat 7, Sun 4
PVR 1968 (Sep, extended): Mon-Fri 14, Sat 7, Sun 4
PVR 1969 (Jul): Mon-Fri 14, Sat 6, Sun 4
PVR 1971 (Apr): Mon-Fri 14, Sat 5, Sun 4
PVR 1972 (Dec): Mon-Fri 12, Sat 5, Sun 4
Memories
David Mitchell lived in Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone,
until his family emigrated to Australia in September 1956. He
recalls:
'I regularly used the 251 route to school at Mill Hill and
latterly to Stanmore. I can certainly recall RFs running on
the 251 before we left. Although they certainly had not
completely replaced the TDs by September 1956, as suggested
they probably did so on Saturdays and Sundays. My memory
indicates they began running some 18-24 months before the above
date and I can remember being a most excited 12/13 year-old when
they did!'
Ian Rivett, on his website, recalls the early days of
RFs on the 251 from MH, running to the now defunct Barnfield Road
terminus in Burnt Oak. 'MH 5, I think was the first to arrive in
the morning followed by MH 6-9, then MH 1-4. The first four used to
go towards Arnos Grove and the rest towards Burnt Oak. This was
just on conversion after the TD's were withdrawn. MH 1, 4 & 7
used to depart to the garage after the morning peak only to return
out of sequence in the afternoon. MH 1 followed MH 2, 4 after 5 and
7 after 8.
Although some sources list the Saturday 251 allocation as being
mixed TD/RF from May 53 to May 57, I don't recall seeing a mixed
allocation on Saturdays, only TD's.'
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