90sWereBetter
Member
This was the second time I'd attempt London's transport system on my own, the first being back in April of the same year. It was basically taking advantage of the fact that the Olympics/Paralympics meant that there was no tube closures whatsoever.
Anyway, I left Lowestoft with my family at around 7 in the morning. It was a good drive down, we reached the M25 before 9, and by 9:15 I was dropped off at Loughton tube station and told to 'sod off' for the rest of the day!
After a short wait, the Central line took me from Essex into London itself. It was a good journey, and I planned to get off at Liverpool Street to pick up the 153 bus route. But a long stop at Mile End, and a Hammersmith and City line train sitting alongside made me change my plan. So I jumped on that instead, on the basis that I need as many C Stock journeys as I can over the next year. Typically, the bloody train waited ages before it went on. I decided instead to get off at the Barbican, having checked the TFL website beforehand and seeing that there was major roadworks on the London Wall.
The 153 had some of the oldest Darts left in London, so naturally I thought I'd try my luck. And typically, my luck deserted me, as a bog-standard 53 reg Dart turned up at the Barbican bus stop, instead of an X-reg one. No bother though, as the bus was very empty indeed. I was the only passenger between the Angel and the Hemingford Arms, where I bailed off. I had 5 minutes to locate Caledonian Road and Barnsbury station, and I only just did it, the 378 just pulling into the station as I made my way over the footbridge.
This was my longest journey of the day, to Willesden Junction. The 220 bus route sometimes had some old (by London standards) buses, V and W reg ones, so I thought I'd try my luck again. Having found my way out of the station, there was three 53 reg Tridents on the stand. Bugger. I decided not to waste my time letting these three go and hoping an older one turned up, so I caught the first one. An alright journey through an area of London that didn't look rather welcoming followed. Eventually, I got off at Wood Lane station, deciding to get another C Stock ride to Hammersmith instead of staying on the Trident (no, I am sane, believe me!). Typically, I missed one by seconds, and an agonising wait followed, because the next train boards were not working! But eventually, one did turn up, and it ambled its way to Hammersmith. My plan was to make my way to Putney Bridge by 12. I had to make my way over to Fulham Broadway first though, and I had a choice of buses, the 211 or the 295. An old Trident turning up unexepectedly on the 295 was my choice.
In contrast with Wood Lane, I was able to get a train in seconds at Fulham Broadway, this time a D Stock. At Putney Bridge bus station, my choice of bus was a 270, again because occasionally, there will be W and X reg buses on it. Not this time though. Having waited some time (I realised I must have just missed one), I poked myself around the corner to the bus parking arewa and I spotted my 270. It was a 52 reg. Bugger. And it was by far the worst bus I went on that day, as it hadn't been refurbished unlike most of the others (it was a Wright bodied Volvo). But it was empty for most of the journey, until just past Wandsworth it really started to fill up. But no bother, Earlsfield station was coming up, where I decided to bail.
Took me but a few seconds to be on the move again, seeing as there's a train every 4 minutes heading to Waterloo from here, and that's off-peak! A sparkling clean 455/8 was the first train to turn up, so hey ho, I took it. Lovely journey it was. SWT really do well with these trains. Reached Waterloo by 12:45, and it was time for a spot of lunch. After refuelling, I realised that by now, I'd done what I'd wanted to do, and I still had over 5 hours to kill. So I walked down to Waterloo Bridge and decided to catch the first bus heading north...
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(Continued from previous post)
That bus was the 26. Another quiet journey followed, and I decided to bail at Bank station, for the DLR. Waited for the first Lewisham train to turn up, and I managed to get the front seat for the first time in years! Oh yeah!
Of course, as we know, the so-called 'Misery Line' parallels the DLR from here to Limehouse. Sadly, I was but a toddler by the time the old slammers starting coming off service, so I never got the chance to experience the Misery Line before it lost that nickname. So I hatched a plan, and it would involve travelling to West Ham and then back to Fenchurch Street. Dove off my DLR at Heron's Quay, as it's a much better interchange for the Jubilee line than Canary Wharf proper. Typically, I missed a Stratford train by seconds, and the next one was only going to North Greenwich. But that was only a slight bother. Worse was to come, when I reached West Ham. I looked for the C2C platforms, and I found them. But there was Oyster readers in front of them. What the hell am I supposed to do here? I haven't touched out from the Underground? I walked out of the station through the exit, and then walked back through. I then decided that, because I went through the barriers at the entrance, I should be fine. Wish I didn't worry so much! I spent the entire time on the 357 that took me to Fenchurch Street thinking 'oh crap, I'm gonna have to pay the maximum fare'. Got to Fenchurch Street just before 2 o'clock, and it was almost deserted. Brilliant, so I'm gonna be trapped here for ages. Of course, I shouldn't have worried. I went through the barriers easily and I didn't have to pay loads.
Having done that, my formulated plan was to walk round to Tower Hill and catch a Dartmaster on the heritage 15. I wasn't planning on Mother Nature intervening though! The heavens opened just as I made it to a main road, so that plan went in the bin, and I ran to the first bus stop I saw. Which was for the 15, but the normal service. No bother though, I hadn't yet caught a hybrid before. One turned up almost as I reached the stop, so I dived on that. Big mistake, it was packed to the rafters! I endured the crush conditions until it stopped raining, which was the Aldwych. The next bus I caught was a 6, to Piccadilly Circus. The only reason for this was the Bakerloo line platforms, with that weird layout where the northbound platform is part way into the running tunnel. Got a reasonably empty train to Marylebone, where I got soaked for the second time in less than an hour!
The plan was to catch the number 2 to Victoria. Waiting for one to turn up, I finally saw proof that buses really do come in threes, with three number 2s heading to the station to turn around and wait. Another journey followed, which I can't remember much of as I was starting to flag at this point. What I can remember though, was the sky at Victoria. Bloody hell, it was so dark! So I did the sensible thing, and legged it to the safety of the tube before I got soaked again. Caught my third C Stock of the day, to Westminister. I decided to catch a random bus from here to anywhere, and I headed outside. Big, BIG mistake. As I walking to the bus stop, the heavens opened. Again. I have never seen anything quite like it. It was a cloudburst that seemingly didn't stop. And worse, there was no bus at all for about 10 minutes! Eventually, an 88 turned up, by which time I was throughly sodden. But it was a W reg, of the sort I tried and failed to get on the 270 earlier on. It was a good journey, and I bailed at Great Portland Street. I had about an hour and a half left before I had to be back at Walthamstow. I also worked out I had 5 tube lines left to do, the Metropolitan, Victoria, Piccadilly, Waterloo and City, and the Northern. So I waited for a Metropolitan line train to come, fingers crossed that an A-stock straggler might just make an appearance. Wishful thinking.
At Kings Cross, I went to Holborn via the Piccadilly line. I decided to go back to Waterloo from here, which meant yet another bus, and dicing with Mother Nature again. Fortuantly, the next cloudburst held off long enough for me to catch a 171 and get off it again. The plan from here was Waterloo and City to Bank (where else?
), Northern to the Elephant and Castle, and a random bus to a Victoria line station. It would have helped massively if I could have found the bloody Drain platforms though! Conflicting signs and depleting time meant I didn't bother in the end, and instead caught another Bakerloo line train, to the Elephant. I then decided to head to London Bridge, where I could catch a 17 to Kings Cross, after doing the Northern Line. Which I duly did so without complaint. A Victoria line train brought me back to my home for the weekend, Walthamstow. I still miss the old 1967 stock trains. A final bus was needed to take me to the Crooked Billet, and the 97 came up trumps.
So, that's my exhaustive account of my best-ever London transport day. I have another one tentatively planned for some time in mid-February. And musically, it was very good indeed. I went for the most London-centric artists I could think of. Which was Kate Nash, The Libertines, and Blur. Just though you'd like to know.
Anyway, I left Lowestoft with my family at around 7 in the morning. It was a good drive down, we reached the M25 before 9, and by 9:15 I was dropped off at Loughton tube station and told to 'sod off' for the rest of the day!
After a short wait, the Central line took me from Essex into London itself. It was a good journey, and I planned to get off at Liverpool Street to pick up the 153 bus route. But a long stop at Mile End, and a Hammersmith and City line train sitting alongside made me change my plan. So I jumped on that instead, on the basis that I need as many C Stock journeys as I can over the next year. Typically, the bloody train waited ages before it went on. I decided instead to get off at the Barbican, having checked the TFL website beforehand and seeing that there was major roadworks on the London Wall.
The 153 had some of the oldest Darts left in London, so naturally I thought I'd try my luck. And typically, my luck deserted me, as a bog-standard 53 reg Dart turned up at the Barbican bus stop, instead of an X-reg one. No bother though, as the bus was very empty indeed. I was the only passenger between the Angel and the Hemingford Arms, where I bailed off. I had 5 minutes to locate Caledonian Road and Barnsbury station, and I only just did it, the 378 just pulling into the station as I made my way over the footbridge.
This was my longest journey of the day, to Willesden Junction. The 220 bus route sometimes had some old (by London standards) buses, V and W reg ones, so I thought I'd try my luck again. Having found my way out of the station, there was three 53 reg Tridents on the stand. Bugger. I decided not to waste my time letting these three go and hoping an older one turned up, so I caught the first one. An alright journey through an area of London that didn't look rather welcoming followed. Eventually, I got off at Wood Lane station, deciding to get another C Stock ride to Hammersmith instead of staying on the Trident (no, I am sane, believe me!). Typically, I missed one by seconds, and an agonising wait followed, because the next train boards were not working! But eventually, one did turn up, and it ambled its way to Hammersmith. My plan was to make my way to Putney Bridge by 12. I had to make my way over to Fulham Broadway first though, and I had a choice of buses, the 211 or the 295. An old Trident turning up unexepectedly on the 295 was my choice.
In contrast with Wood Lane, I was able to get a train in seconds at Fulham Broadway, this time a D Stock. At Putney Bridge bus station, my choice of bus was a 270, again because occasionally, there will be W and X reg buses on it. Not this time though. Having waited some time (I realised I must have just missed one), I poked myself around the corner to the bus parking arewa and I spotted my 270. It was a 52 reg. Bugger. And it was by far the worst bus I went on that day, as it hadn't been refurbished unlike most of the others (it was a Wright bodied Volvo). But it was empty for most of the journey, until just past Wandsworth it really started to fill up. But no bother, Earlsfield station was coming up, where I decided to bail.
Took me but a few seconds to be on the move again, seeing as there's a train every 4 minutes heading to Waterloo from here, and that's off-peak! A sparkling clean 455/8 was the first train to turn up, so hey ho, I took it. Lovely journey it was. SWT really do well with these trains. Reached Waterloo by 12:45, and it was time for a spot of lunch. After refuelling, I realised that by now, I'd done what I'd wanted to do, and I still had over 5 hours to kill. So I walked down to Waterloo Bridge and decided to catch the first bus heading north...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
(Continued from previous post)
That bus was the 26. Another quiet journey followed, and I decided to bail at Bank station, for the DLR. Waited for the first Lewisham train to turn up, and I managed to get the front seat for the first time in years! Oh yeah!
Of course, as we know, the so-called 'Misery Line' parallels the DLR from here to Limehouse. Sadly, I was but a toddler by the time the old slammers starting coming off service, so I never got the chance to experience the Misery Line before it lost that nickname. So I hatched a plan, and it would involve travelling to West Ham and then back to Fenchurch Street. Dove off my DLR at Heron's Quay, as it's a much better interchange for the Jubilee line than Canary Wharf proper. Typically, I missed a Stratford train by seconds, and the next one was only going to North Greenwich. But that was only a slight bother. Worse was to come, when I reached West Ham. I looked for the C2C platforms, and I found them. But there was Oyster readers in front of them. What the hell am I supposed to do here? I haven't touched out from the Underground? I walked out of the station through the exit, and then walked back through. I then decided that, because I went through the barriers at the entrance, I should be fine. Wish I didn't worry so much! I spent the entire time on the 357 that took me to Fenchurch Street thinking 'oh crap, I'm gonna have to pay the maximum fare'. Got to Fenchurch Street just before 2 o'clock, and it was almost deserted. Brilliant, so I'm gonna be trapped here for ages. Of course, I shouldn't have worried. I went through the barriers easily and I didn't have to pay loads.
Having done that, my formulated plan was to walk round to Tower Hill and catch a Dartmaster on the heritage 15. I wasn't planning on Mother Nature intervening though! The heavens opened just as I made it to a main road, so that plan went in the bin, and I ran to the first bus stop I saw. Which was for the 15, but the normal service. No bother though, I hadn't yet caught a hybrid before. One turned up almost as I reached the stop, so I dived on that. Big mistake, it was packed to the rafters! I endured the crush conditions until it stopped raining, which was the Aldwych. The next bus I caught was a 6, to Piccadilly Circus. The only reason for this was the Bakerloo line platforms, with that weird layout where the northbound platform is part way into the running tunnel. Got a reasonably empty train to Marylebone, where I got soaked for the second time in less than an hour!
The plan was to catch the number 2 to Victoria. Waiting for one to turn up, I finally saw proof that buses really do come in threes, with three number 2s heading to the station to turn around and wait. Another journey followed, which I can't remember much of as I was starting to flag at this point. What I can remember though, was the sky at Victoria. Bloody hell, it was so dark! So I did the sensible thing, and legged it to the safety of the tube before I got soaked again. Caught my third C Stock of the day, to Westminister. I decided to catch a random bus from here to anywhere, and I headed outside. Big, BIG mistake. As I walking to the bus stop, the heavens opened. Again. I have never seen anything quite like it. It was a cloudburst that seemingly didn't stop. And worse, there was no bus at all for about 10 minutes! Eventually, an 88 turned up, by which time I was throughly sodden. But it was a W reg, of the sort I tried and failed to get on the 270 earlier on. It was a good journey, and I bailed at Great Portland Street. I had about an hour and a half left before I had to be back at Walthamstow. I also worked out I had 5 tube lines left to do, the Metropolitan, Victoria, Piccadilly, Waterloo and City, and the Northern. So I waited for a Metropolitan line train to come, fingers crossed that an A-stock straggler might just make an appearance. Wishful thinking.
At Kings Cross, I went to Holborn via the Piccadilly line. I decided to go back to Waterloo from here, which meant yet another bus, and dicing with Mother Nature again. Fortuantly, the next cloudburst held off long enough for me to catch a 171 and get off it again. The plan from here was Waterloo and City to Bank (where else?
), Northern to the Elephant and Castle, and a random bus to a Victoria line station. It would have helped massively if I could have found the bloody Drain platforms though! Conflicting signs and depleting time meant I didn't bother in the end, and instead caught another Bakerloo line train, to the Elephant. I then decided to head to London Bridge, where I could catch a 17 to Kings Cross, after doing the Northern Line. Which I duly did so without complaint. A Victoria line train brought me back to my home for the weekend, Walthamstow. I still miss the old 1967 stock trains. A final bus was needed to take me to the Crooked Billet, and the 97 came up trumps.So, that's my exhaustive account of my best-ever London transport day. I have another one tentatively planned for some time in mid-February. And musically, it was very good indeed. I went for the most London-centric artists I could think of. Which was Kate Nash, The Libertines, and Blur. Just though you'd like to know.
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