•  Kingston 2009
•  Worcester Park event
•  Red RF routes
•  So what is an RF?
•  Routes by date
•  Notes to RF route pages
•  Crew routes 1952
•  Crew routes 1953
•  Crew routes 1955-58
•  Crew routes 1959-64
•  OMO routes 1965-69
•  OMO routes 1970-71
•  Red RF garages
•  LT garage codes
•  Calling RF crews
•  LT bus routes - general
•  Other Red-RF events
•  Other events
•  RF486
•  Archive photos
•  Contact and links

 

On the preceding page is a list of the Central Area garages that received allocations of RFs for service.  Thanks to Jim Andress in the RT/RF Register newsletter, we are able to provide some background to the development of the garage code system.  Much of Jim's information was in turn derived from 'The London B-Type Omnibus' by Robbins & Atkinson.

 

The LGOC had three-letter codes on horse buses, carried in the same familiar position as the garage plates.  The first letter signified the area where the horse-bus was stabled.  It is probable that the other two letters had the same significance as the three-letter codes given to the first motor buses in 1904.

 

 

These three letters indicated, respectively, the depot, the route and the running letter.  The depot letters were based on the horse bus stable codes, which appeared to be randomly allocated.  The second letter indicated the route - at that time, route numbers were not in use.  The running letter indicated the timetable slot, or running/duty number as we know it today.  In 1908, when route numbers were allocated on the amalgamation with Vanguard, the second letter changed to indicate 'early turn' or 'late turn'.

 

It was in November 1911 that the system of garage codes and running numbers that (broadly) still persists was introduced.  The first group of garage codes to be allocated were single letters, usually (but not always) derived from the name.  Thus A was initially used for Albany Street.  Slightly reminiscent of motor index marks, I, O and Z were not used (although Q was). 

 

From 1912, as more garages opened and the existing code sequence was exhausted, two-letter codes were introduced, initially running from AB to AV.  In some cases (such as A), codes from closed garages were reused.  After 1913, codes were allocated that again were derived from the name of the garage (e.g. CF Chalk Farm in 1916).  When Tilling merged with LGOC, their garages received special codes - TB Tilling Bromley, TC Tilling Croydon and TL Tilling Lewisham (Catford).

 

A few of the original single-letter codes are still carried by the smae garages 100 years on, such as U (Upton Park), although most have been rebuilt.  A great many, however, including quite a few of the RF garages, have now sucumbed ot other uses or to housing development.

 

For a listing of the codes used over the years up until privatisation, see John Hinson's site.