26 Nov 58 to 7 May 63

and

16 Jan 71 to 11 Dec 76

UXBRIDGE to LALEHAM (daily 1959 to 1963, Mon-Fri peaks and Sat shop hours 1971 to May 1976)

UXBRIDGE to STAINES (Mon-Fri off peak and Sat outside shopping hours 1971 to May 1976)

UXBRIDGE to COLNBROOK (Mon-Sat May to Dec 1976)

UXBRIDGE to POYLE GAF Factory (jnys, Mon-Fri peaks May to Dec 1976)

Dating from July 1929 as the General's route 506, Uxbridge to Staines worked by Uxbridge (UX), the route was renumbered 224 in the renumbering of 3 Oct 34.  Initially crew-operated with K and S-type single-deckers, the route was converted to OMO for the first time on 26 Jun 30, using DA-class Darts.  In March 1932, the 506 (since October 1930 running weekdays only) was extended from Staines to Stanwell.

On renumbering in 1934, an additional working from Hounslow garage (AV) was added, also an OMO Dart, running Saturdays and Sundays only between Staines and Stanwell - the beginning of the unsettled Staines to Stanwell Sunday workings that became RF operated as the 203 in 1965.  These comprised the only Sunday workings on the 224.  The Darts continued until the outbreak of war, when they were replaced by diesel-engined CRs (UX) and a Cub (AV).

The war saw a number of route withdrawals at less busy times.  On the 224, this comprised withdrawal south of Harmondsworth in the evening, for various periods.  This left unchanged the busy section from Uxbridge to the 'Peggy Bedford' on the Bath Road, by what is now Heathrow Airport North but was then Fairey's Great Western Aerodrome and no doubt involved in war work.  In March 1942, the southern section was transferred to the 223, including the weekend Hounslow Cub working, and the remaining Uxbridge to Harmondsworth section was upgraded to crew-operated Ts.

On 28 Oct 42, things start getting complicated.  The 223 Stanwell workings were transferred back to the 224, which retained crew-operation on the Uxbridge to Harmondsworth section.  Harmondsworth to Stanwell (Mon-Fri between peaks) and through workings at other times were covered by OMO Cubs (the CRs by now having gone into store).  This was thus the second OMO conversion.  At the same time, the AV weekend Staines to Stanwell workings were also renumbered 224, but three weeks later were taken over by UX (are you paying attention?). 

On 3 Oct 45, between peaks through journeys were reintroduced and the whole route converted to crew-operated Ts, but the Stanwell to Staines weekend journeys were returned to AV-operation, also with a crew T.  In May 1946, Sunday operation was introduced on the northern section from Uxbridge to Harmondsworth, meaning the route ran in two separate sections on that day.  One wonders why the Hounslow-based journeys hadn't been given a separate route number.

On 4 May 47, Sunday working was reintroduced over the whole route for the first time since 1930 and the separate Stanwell to Staines service was withdrawn on that day - but still operated on Saturday for a further six months, even though the route was also covered by through buses.  On 24 Mar 48, the Stanwell to Staines section was withdrawn entirely and replaced by new ST-operated route 162 running between those points only.  In place of Stanwell, the 224 was rerouted to Laleham.  The Uxbridge to Laleham route then continued until the end of the RF era, except that the route was temporarily withdrawn between Uxbridge and West Drayton while the railway bridge was rebuilt, November 1959 to September 1960. 

By 1953, the Ts had been upgraded to post-war 14T12s.  These lasted until 26 Nov 58 and with Southall's 211 allocation were the last of the class in service.  They were replaced at weekends by a mix of TDs and RFs (spare from the 222, initially on Saturday and Sunday, but on Saturday only from 13 May 59) and by TDs during the week, until the TDs were were in turn replaced by further RFs from 1 Jul 59.

With the close inter-relationship after the war between the 222, the 223 and the 224 group, all are considered in detail together under the 222. 

Although the low bridges were removed by May 1962, the 224 held on to its RFs for another year until 7 May 1963 when they were replaced by RTs.  For six weeks only, one Monday to Friday pm journey was extended from Uxbridge to Ruislip Station over the 204.  There followed a period of stability for the rest of the sixties, until the shortening of the 224 on Sundays from Laleham to Harmondsworth in October 1969 (but no Stanwell working, Stanwell had now lost its Sunday buses entirely). 

The next substantial change came on 16 January 1971.  The 224 was converted to OMO RF and withdrawn on Sundays; 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.

RF533 looks very uncared for on 30 Oct 76, with just 6 weeks left to run before its final move to Kingston.  It stands at West Drayton, having worked in on a short working.  This RF was one of the green batch repainted red whilst at Sidcup in 1956 and worked at Uxbridge before an early OMO conversion in 1959 and again in the early 1960s.

Photo © John Parkin

From Dec 1974, Monday to Friday peak hour journeys via Poyle Industrial Estate were re-routed along Blackthorne Road to serve the GAF factory.  In May 1976, the route was cut back from Laleham and Staines to terminate at Colnbrook, but retaining the peak hour journeys to the GAF factory.

The end came for the RFs in December 1976, when the route converted to SMS.  Saturday operation ceased in September 1977 and the route was withdrawn entirely on 21 Apr 78.