News

This page gives up-to-date major news items to supplement our monthly newsletter, •The London Bus• (TLB). Items noted here will be incorporated in the next issue of TLB in greater detail. News updates will usually be weekly, by Sunday evening, but if major stories arise we will attempt to announce them sooner. Reports more than a month old and already reported in TLB are deleted. Reports for the TLB Editors and communications to Society Officers can be sent by e-mail to "lotsed@tesco.net" *** TLB covers the operations and vehicles of around 120 companies working local bus services in Greater London and the Home Counties in the region roughly bounded by the old London Transport country-bus operating area. Each issue is typically 40 pages containing references to around 300 routes and 1000 vehicles, together with the business and political news, the publicity output of the companies, forthcoming exhibitions and rallies, and much more. To get the full picture, why not join now? Go to the Membership Page for details.

Forthcoming Conway Hall meetings

Doors open from 6pm. sales stand from 6.30pm, event begins at 7.30 and is finished by 10pm. There is no charge. Visitors are welcome, especially from other societies or if you buy something or join as a new member. Meetings are held monthly (except January, July & August)

Conway Hall is located at Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Nearest Underground station: Holborn (Central and Piccadilly Lines) Buses: 1, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 59, 68, 91, 168, 171, 188, 243 & 521 stop nearby.

Society Meetings: At Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1. Doors open from 6pm. sales stand from 6.30pm, event begins at 7.30 and is finished by 10pm. There is no charge. Visitors are welcome, especially from other societies or if you buy something or join as a new member.

The next meeting is on Monday 17 December: Jeff Tucker, ‘London and the Home Counties in the 1970s’.

Monday 25 February: Jon Batchelor, Head of Ops CT Plus,‘A 40-year journey running buses in London and beyond, ranging from conductor and inspector to general manager with a few ‘moments’ in between.
Monday 25 March: Alan Osborne, slide show.
Monday 29 April: Peter Batty, Commercial Director Arriva London, My 40 years in London’s Transport.
Monday 20 May: Should be a focus on UK trams and trolleybuses. Details to come.
And then Monday 01July (AGM), 22 July (bus rides), 30 Sept, 21 Oct, 25 Nov, 16 Dec.

The London Bus (TLB)

TLB651 was posted on Tuesday 13 November. The closing date for reports for TLB 652 was Wednesday 28 November and it is due for posting on Tuesday 11 December. The closing date for reports for TLB 653 is Wednesday 9 January 2019.

Also note that on the ‘membership’ page of this website is a new membership form. When you are due for renewal you should receive one of these, or you can print the one on the website. Note that at the bottom of the form that there is a new way of renewing. It can be paid directly to our bank account and then you must send the MemSec an email to let him know you have done it.

Please address your orders to LOTS Postal Sales, Unit G16 Lombard Business Park. 8 Lombard Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 3TZ. Make sure that the 'Postal Sales' name is included prominently, so we can give the order the best attention. An updated Sales List was included with TLB636. You can use this list to order, or a letter is perfectly acceptable, and so is the Sales List printed off from our website. In each case, please don’t staple cheques to the form – they really won’t get lost by us but might be when the banks try to process them electronically!

LOTS’ latest publications, available now:

NEW LOTS LBM186 London Bus Magazine Winter 2018/19: (£5.00) Main articles are 'An evening adventure using a 'Rover ticket' and Evolution of the London OMO double decker, Part 2 plus the usual Around & About and letters features.

From Mike Harris, the latest London bus maps:
Greater London Bus Map No.37, 14th April 2018 - £2.00.
Greater London Night Bus Map, 14th April 2018 - £4.00.
From each edition of the series an amount of the price is donated to a charity. In this case it is to the Firefighters Association.

TLB Extra - Vehicle news of 1952: (£7.00) (80 pages illustrated)
TLB Extra - Vehicle news of 1951: (£7.00) (80 pages illustrated)
TLB Extra – Vehicle news of 1950: (£7.00) (80-pages illustrated).
TLB Extra – Vehicle news of 1949: (£7.00) (96-pages illustrated).
TLB Extra – Vehicle news of 1948: (£6.50) (80-pages illustrated)

Recent titles from other publishers:
Stagecoach Group Fleetbook 2018 (all UK) from Andrew Woolhouse (£18.00), 204 pages, A5 size with many colour illustrations .

Eastern National & Thamesway, Part 1 tendered services: 64 pages, many colour pictures, (Alan Osborne, Essex Enthusiasts Group) (£12.99)

SEC Fleetlist 2018 (Stagecoach South, B&H, First H&D) slimline 68 pages (£7.50) (SEC)

Sussex Independents 2018, (including Compass, Renown, Seaford & District) A5, 58 pages £6

2018 routes handbook from PHX Publications, three A5s each £2.00 for Brighton & Hove, First H&D, and Stagecoach South

London Transport 2019 bus calendar from Doug Rose. It includes 12 different drawings of vehicles from 1910 (B Type) to the present day (LT type) - one for each month. £12.

Latest news

1) The 8th December changes in London went ahead as planned with the 79 and 292 swapping operators, 79 gaining SP-class Scanias. At Go-Ahead the 51 is being worked as intended by E400s and WVLs from Orpington, E400s and WVLs from New Cross on the 178, E400s from MG on the 291 and E400s from RR on the 104. The former Tower Transit E400s (batch EN 28-40 less fire victims 33 and 37) are now in service at Orpington while another eight second-hand E400s (EN 41-48) have been acquired from Abellio and are being made ready for service soon.

2) At Arriva the Shires a partial renumbering scheme is to begin shortly involving about 65 of their buses. This is to eliminate duplication of numbers with their parent company Arriva Midlands. At Arriva Southern Counties a batch of new StreetLites is being made ready for service. Most are for Northfleet to replace existing ‘Sapphire’ StreetLites on the 480/490 and two are for Colchester route 133.

3) For the benefit of TLB readers, the LHRG meeting on 13 December has been moved from Palestra to 55 Broadway.

Coming Events (LSS) = LOTS Sales Stand booked to attend
These are publicised as a service to the readership; LOTS has neither any involvement nor responsibility for any event noted. Many events have admission fees, I have included them where they have advised, you should check with organisers or websites before attending if costs worry you. We usually confine this listing to events with an expected London bus interest or within easy reach of London. Full national event lists can be found in the April issue each year of ‘Buses’ magazine and at http://www.classicbuses.co.uk/events.html Our website is regularly updated with other events.

Saturday 16 February: NLETE Enfield Transport Bazaar at St Paul’s Centre, Church Street, Enfield. Open 11.00-14.30, Admission £3 (acc. children free).

Sunday 24 February: Green Line Running Day at Epping Ongar Railway, North Weald.

Saturday 16 March: Transport Collectors Market at Chiswick Town Hall, Turnham Green. (LSS).

Sunday 24 March: An ‘RF event’ at Kingston (40 years since last LT RFs in 1979).

Saturday 30 March: An ‘RT/RF event’ at Barking (BK) and River Road (RR) Garages, Commemoration of 40 years since the end of RTs at
Barking. RTs on 62 and former 23C routes.

Saturday 6 April: South East Bus Festival, Detling, Kent.

Sunday 7 April: Spring Gathering at London Bus Museum, Brooklands. Theme is end of RTs/RFs in 1979.

Sunday 28 April: East Grinstead, Country Bus Running Day.

Sunday 12 May: HCVS London to Brighton commercial vehicle run.

Saturday 18 May: Faversham, Running Day using mostly ex-East Kent buses.

Sunday 19 May: Whittlesey, Cambs, Fenland BusFest.



	Latest Update: 16 December 2018 Society news This page gives up-to-date major news items to supplement our monthly newsletter, •The London Bus• (TLB). Items noted here will be incorporated in the next issue of TLB in greater detail. News updates will usually be weekly, by Sunday evening, but if major stories arise we will attempt to announce them sooner. Reports more than a month old and already reported in TLB are deleted. Reports for the TLB Editors and communications to Society Officers can be sent by e-mail to "lotsed@tesco.net" * TLB covers the operations and vehicles of around 120 companies working local bus services in Greater London and the Home Counties in the region roughly bounded by the old London Transport country-bus operating area. Each issue is typically 40 pages containing references to around 300 routes and 1000 vehicles, together with the business and political news, the publicity output of the companies, forthcoming exhibitions and rallies, and much more. To get the full picture, why not join now? Go to the Membership Page for details. Note that the TLB Editor has a new address: davestewart297@gmail.com Forthcoming Conway Hall meetings Doors open from 6pm. sales stand from 6.30pm, event begins at 7.30 and is finished by 10pm. There is no charge. Visitors are welcome, especially from other societies or if you buy something or join as a new member. Meetings are held monthly (except January, July & August) Conway Hall is located at Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Nearest Underground station: Holborn (Central and Piccadilly Lines) Buses: 1, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 59, 68, 91, 168, 171, 188, 243 & 521 stop nearby. LOTS Meetings and Events Society Meetings: At Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1. Doors open from 6pm. sales stand from 6.30pm, event begins at 7.30 and is finished by 10pm. There is no charge. Visitors are welcome, especially from other societies or if you buy something or join as a new member. The next meeting is on Monday 17 December: Jeff Tucker, ‘London and the Home Counties in the 1970s’. There is no meeting in January. Monday 25 February: Jon Batchelor, Head of Ops CT Plus,‘A 40-year journey running buses in London and beyond, ranging from conductor and inspector to general manager with a few ‘moments’ in between. Monday 25 March: Alan Osborne, slide show. Monday 29 April: Peter Batty, Commercial Director Arriva London, My 40 years in London’s Transport. Monday 20 May: Should be a focus on UK trams and trolleybuses. Details to come. And then Monday 01July (AGM), 22 July (bus rides), 30 Sept, 21 Oct, 25 Nov, 16 Dec. The London Bus (TLB) TLB651 was posted on Tuesday 13 November. The closing date for reports for TLB 652 was Wednesday 28 November and it is due for posting on Tuesday 11 December. The closing date for reports for TLB 653 is Wednesday 9 January 2019. New and Recent LOTS publications: Also note that on the ‘membership’ page of this website is a new membership form. When you are due for renewal you should receive one of these, or you can print the one on the website. Note that at the bottom of the form that there is a new way of renewing. It can be paid directly to our bank account and then you must send the MemSec an email to let him know you have done it. Please address your orders to LOTS Postal Sales, Unit G16 Lombard Business Park. 8 Lombard Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 3TZ. Make sure that the 'Postal Sales' name is included prominently, so we can give the order the best attention. An updated Sales List was included with TLB636. You can use this list to order, or a letter is perfectly acceptable, and so is the Sales List printed off from our website. In each case, please don’t staple cheques to the form – they really won’t get lost by us but might be when the banks try to process them electronically! LOTS’ latest publications, available now: NEW LOTS LBM186 London Bus Magazine Winter 2018/19: (£5.00) Main articles are 'An evening adventure using a 'Rover ticket' and Evolution of the London OMO double decker, Part 2 plus the usual Around & About and letters features. London Bus & Tram Fleetbook 2018: (£6.50). LOTS London Bus Review 2017 (Greater London and Beyond) (£11.00). From Mike Harris, the latest London bus maps: Greater London Bus Map No.37, 14th April 2018 - £2.00. Greater London Night Bus Map, 14th April 2018 - £4.00. From each edition of the series an amount of the price is donated to a charity. In this case it is to the Firefighters Association. TLB Extra - Vehicle news of 1952: (£7.00) (80 pages illustrated) TLB Extra - Vehicle news of 1951: (£7.00) (80 pages illustrated) TLB Extra – Vehicle news of 1950: (£7.00) (80-pages illustrated). TLB Extra – Vehicle news of 1949: (£7.00) (96-pages illustrated). TLB Extra – Vehicle news of 1948: (£6.50) (80-pages illustrated) Recent titles from other publishers: Stagecoach Group Fleetbook 2018 (all UK) from Andrew Woolhouse (£18.00), 204 pages, A5 size with many colour illustrations . Eastern National & Thamesway, Part 1 tendered services: 64 pages, many colour pictures, (Alan Osborne, Essex Enthusiasts Group) (£12.99) SEC Fleetlist 2018 (Stagecoach South, B&H, First H&D) slimline 68 pages (£7.50) (SEC) Sussex Independents 2018, (including Compass, Renown, Seaford & District) A5, 58 pages £6 2018 routes handbook from PHX Publications, three A5s each £2.00 for Brighton & Hove, First H&D, and Stagecoach South London Transport 2019 bus calendar from Doug Rose. It includes 12 different drawings of vehicles from 1910 (B Type) to the present day (LT type) - one for each month. £12. Adverts none Non-members may wish to look at a sample issue of TLB. Hopefully this will whet your appetite for joining LOTS! Latest news Sunday 16 December There are no significant news events to report this week. Sunday 9 December 1) The 8th December changes in London went ahead as planned with the 79 and 292 swapping operators, 79 gaining SP-class Scanias. At Go-Ahead the 51 is being worked as intended by E400s and WVLs from Orpington, E400s and WVLs from New Cross on the 178, E400s from MG on the 291 and E400s from RR on the 104. The former Tower Transit E400s (batch EN 28-40 less fire victims 33 and 37) are now in service at Orpington while another eight second-hand E400s (EN 41-48) have been acquired from Abellio and are being made ready for service soon. 2) At Arriva the Shires a partial renumbering scheme is to begin shortly involving about 65 of their buses. This is to eliminate duplication of numbers with their parent company Arriva Midlands. At Arriva Southern Counties a batch of new StreetLites is being made ready for service. Most are for Northfleet to replace existing ‘Sapphire’ StreetLites on the 480/490 and two are for Colchester route 133. 3) For the benefit of TLB readers, the LHRG meeting on 13 December has been moved from Palestra to 55 Broadway. For earlier reports refer to TLB or join LOTS! Coming Events (LSS) = LOTS Sales Stand booked to attend These are publicised as a service to the readership; LOTS has neither any involvement nor responsibility for any event noted. Many events have admission fees, I have included them where they have advised, you should check with organisers or websites before attending if costs worry you. We usually confine this listing to events with an expected London bus interest or within easy reach of London. Full national event lists can be found in the April issue each year of ‘Buses’ magazine and at http://www.classicbuses.co.uk/events.html Our website is regularly updated with other events. Saturday 16 February: NLETE Enfield Transport Bazaar at St Paul’s Centre, Church Street, Enfield. Open 11.00-14.30, Admission £3 (acc. children free). Sunday 24 February: Green Line Running Day at Epping Ongar Railway, North Weald. Saturday 16 March: Transport Collectors Market at Chiswick Town Hall, Turnham Green. (LSS). Sunday 24 March: An ‘RF event’ at Kingston (40 years since last LT RFs in 1979). Saturday 30 March: An ‘RT/RF event’ at Barking (BK) and River Road (RR) Garages, Commemoration of 40 years since the end of RTs at Barking. RTs on 62 and former 23C routes. Saturday 6 April: South East Bus Festival, Detling, Kent. Sunday 7 April: Spring Gathering at London Bus Museum, Brooklands. Theme is end of RTs/RFs in 1979. Sunday 28 April: East Grinstead, Country Bus Running Day. Sunday 12 May: HCVS London to Brighton commercial vehicle run. Saturday 18 May: Faversham, Running Day using mostly ex-East Kent buses. Sunday 19 May:** Whittlesey, Cambs, Fenland BusFest.

Latest Update: 16 December 2018

Forthcoming Conway Hall meetings

Latest news