South goes West: A Trip to Uxbridge

Metroline West ADL Enviro200 DE1803 at Brunel University.
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As people who know me may know, I'm on a series of bus trips to get on old buses before they leave London. Today I went to Uxbridge to get on an old Caetano Nimbus (and pick up my brother from an exam on the way) and it ended up being a really hectic journey...

Abellio ADL Enviro400H 2410 at Canada Water.
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It started at Canada Water Bus Station around 9:50am with me waiting for a 188. It pulled up on time and I was off, unfortunately for me this was 2410, the hottest bus in London. Last summer I nearly boiled to death on it. Today it was going very fast but it was almost as hot at it was before. The seats were hard as I was sitting over the wheelarch, a notoriously hard position on Enviro400s but the bus made steady progress and we arrived at Aldwych an uneventful 30 minutes later. I got off and walked to the 23's bus stop. Rather worryingly many 23s were passing bunched on the other side of the road. 20 minutes later, nothing had arrived. Some people were giving up waiting by now and the weather had turned rainy.

Tower Transit ADL Enviro400 DN33785 at Aldwych.
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What seemed like half an hour later, it arrived in the form of DN33785 which amazingly wasn't turned short. The bus soon filled up but there were still seats on the upper deck. It took unusually long for the bus to get to the next stop, and the bus was barely exceeding 10mph until it reached Regent Street and I found the cause of the delays, roadworks. The road had a lane closed causing huge delays. Several extremely tedious minutes later, the bus had escaped from the traffic and was making slow progress towards Paddington. It didn't seem to be going very fast even on the rare empty stretches of road, meaning I was an hour behind schedule by the time the bus reached Paddington.

Even the walk to the platform was really long, with three (yes, three) ticket barriers along the way. I probably missed a shorter route like I usually do, but this was almost funny. I made it to the train just in time, which was a mere two-car Class 165 diesel multiple unit (DMU). Having only been on one DMU before, the train seemed very loud to me. However it felt a bit smoother than many electric ones I've been on. 20 minutes later and now really behind schedule I ran out of West Drayton station and straight for DE1803 on the U1. The trip went smoothly for all of 3 minutes before the bus got stuck behind a bin lorry. There was no room to overtake it so the bus was late by 10 minutes when I arrived to meet my brother. However he had misheard something over the phone and was now in Ealing. Typical.

Metroline West Transbus Dart/Caetano Nimbus DC1546 at Brunel University.
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Giving up on my original plan, I walked to the U2 stop where a Nimbus, DC1546 was already on stand. Feeling confident, I walked calmly towards it until I heard the engine start up. I immediately made a run for it. I made it just in time to get a photo and get on the bus. Apart from a few rattles it was a really nice bus, one of the best single-deckers I've been on. A pleasant half an hour later I was in Uxbridge. Having checked the LVF on my phone I saw that there were no Voith TPs (Trident/Presidents) on the 607. Disappointed, I walked to the bus station to take pictures. It was very crowded and many buses were late for some reason which I would later find out the hard way. TE1582 on the 607 was one of them. I had been hoping to get a Volvo, but this would do.

Metroline West ADL Enviro400 TE1582 at Uxbridge bus station.
  All rights reserved by GloriousWater

The bus filled up very quickly but I got a seat at the front just behind the door, one that's usually very hard on other E400s. This one was actually really comfy, the bus has been refurbished well. The driver wasn't very fast though, which I suspected was the reason for the delay. Still, progress was steady although the bus was becoming very full. Then disaster stuck at Southall. Emergency roadworks due to a burst sewer pipe had created a massive traffic jam. Pretty much everyone got off the bus, including me.

I was now walking forward hoping that was the way to go while really I was hopelessly lost. Rather worryingly, I couldn't see any end to the traffic. I was looking for a bus stop to see the map and get an idea of where to go. A very long and boring walk later I found one, but inexplicably it had a map for Becontree in the case, making it of no use to me. I walked to the next stop and noticed the traffic was thinning, and I had a chance of catching the 607 in front, which was TE1580 which I caught with seconds to spare. This was much faster than TE1582 before and it was a really nice ride. It didn't take long for the bus to reach Ealing where I got off.

1992 stock driving car 91192 at Ealing Broadway.
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At Ealing Broadway station I went for the Central Line platforms intending to go to Liverpool Street. The train itself was stopping a lot outside stations though and was really hot and stuffy inside making it an unpleasant ride. Having endured a really long and hot ride I got out onto Liverpool Street station. Or at least one of the many subways leading to different roads. Having found the right one I walked to the 47's stop to see my bus disappearing into the distance. A long wait later 18463 pulled up bound for Bellingham. It was like almost every other Trident, comfortable and fast. The trip went well despite a full load and I was home after half an hour.

Overall despite all the incidents this was a very fun trip and I think everyone should do such a trip. However try to avoid the peak hours as obviously everything filled up. Also you shouldn't expect to stick to any sort of plan as it can change at any minute.

Thanks you for reading this post and for visiting our blog.
Remember to stay safe.