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Red RF
routes
Route 224
One of the Uxbridge routes serving West Drayton, the 224
featured RFs twice in its history, for two different reasons -
first the low bridge at West Drayton, then later when converted to
OMO (for the third time - read on).
Dates of RF operation
26 Nov 58 to 7 May 63
and
16 Jan 71 to 11 Dec 76
(total 10 years 4 months, of which 4
years 5 months crew operation).
RF407 seen in OMO
configuration, sitting in Uxbridge Bus Station (before the garage
was built over this area) awaiting departure for Laleham.
Photo Peter Gomm
collection
Destinations (see map here)
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)
Route history
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.
RF route in
detail, with timing points
UXBRIDGE STATION, Belmont Road, High Street Uxbridge, Vine
Street (return via Windsor Street), Cowley Road, High Street
Cowley, Cowley Station
Road, High Street Cowley, High Road Cowley, High
Street Yiewsley, Station Approach, West Drayton Station, Station
Approach, Station Road, Harmondsworth Road, Holloway Lane,
Harmondsworth High
Street, Hatch Lane, Hatch Lane Bath Road, Bath Road,
Bath Road Colnbrook, Park Street, Bridge Street, High Street
Colnbrook, Colnbrook Horton
Road, Horton Road, Horton
Crown, Stanwell Road, Coppermill Road, Wraysbury Station, Station Road, High
Street Wraysbury, Staines Road, Wraysbury Road, Church Street,
Staines Clarence
Street, High Street Staines, London Road, Kingston
Road, Worple Road Withygate
Avenue, Worple Road, Staines Road, Broadway, LALEHAM
Broadway (daily, 26 Nov 58 to 7 May 63).
This version of the 224 is shown on the 1949 bus map
here.
UXBRIDGE STATION, Belmont Road, High Street Uxbridge,
Harefield Road, Oxford Road, Trumpers Way (northbound), Cross
Street (southbound) (rerouted from 1963 routing on 19 Aug 73),
Cowley Road, High Street Cowley, Cowley Station Road, High Street
Cowley, High Road Cowley, High Street Yiewsley, Station
Approach, West Drayton
Station, Station Approach, Station Road, Harmondsworth
Road, Holloway Lane, Harmondsworth
High Street, Hatch Lane, Hatch Lane Bath Road, Bath Road,
Bath Road Colnbrook, Park St, Bridge Street, High Street Colnbrook,
Colnbrook Old George,
Horton Road, Horton
Crown, Stanwell Road, Coppermill Road, Wraysbury Station, Station Road, High
Street Wraysbury, Staines Road, Wraysbury Road, Bridge Street,
Clarence Street, STAINES High Street (return via South
Street, Thames Street, rerouted from 1963 route on 6 Jan 74),
extended Mon-Fri peaks and Sat shop hours via High Street
Staines, London Road, Kingston Road, Worple Road, Worple Road Staines Road, Staines
Road, Broadway, LALEHAM Church (Mon-Sat, 16 Jan 71
to 14 May 76).
Mon-Fri peak journeys diverted from Bath Road Colnbrook via
Poyle Trading Estate as follows: (16 Jan 71 to 1 Dec 74) Poyle Rd,
Poyle Golden Cross,
Stanwell Road to Coppermill Road; (2 Dec 74 to 14 May 76) Poyle
Road, Blackthorne Road, Poyle Trading
Estate GAF Works, Blackthorne Road, Poyle Road,
Poyle Golden Cross,
Stanwell Road to Coppermill Road.
UXBRIDGE STATION, Belmont Road, High Street Uxbridge,
Harefield Road, Oxford Road, Trumpers Way (northbound), Cross
Street (southbound), Cowley Road, High Street
Cowley, Cowley Station
Road, High Street Cowley, High Road Cowley, High
Street Yiewsley, Station Approach, West Drayton Station, Station
Approach, Station Road, Harmondsworth Road, Holloway Lane,
Harmondsworth High
Street, Hatch Lane, Hatch Lane Bath Road, Bath Road,
Bath Road Colnbrook, COLNBROOK Coleridge Crescent;
extended Mon-Fri peak journeys via Poyle Rd, Blackthorne
Road, POYLE GAF Works (Mon-Sat from 15/5/76).
Garages
UX Uxbridge
Vehicle allocation
PVR 1958: Mon-Fri 6 TD, Sat 2 + 5 TD, Sun 3 + 3 TD
PVR 1959 (May): Mon-Fri 6 TD, Sat 2 + 5 TD, Sun 6
TD
PVR 1959 (Jul): Mon-Fri 6, Sat 7, Sun 6
PVR 1959 (Nov): Mon-Fri 4, Sat 5, Sun 4
PVR 1960 (Sep): Mon-Fri 6, Sat 7, Sun 6
PVR 1961: Mon-Fri 6, Sat 7, Sun 7
PVR 1971: Mon-Fri 5, Sat 5, Sun -
PVR 1976: Mon-Fri 3, Sat 4, Sun -
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