On 28th July 2018, I took my first trip to a Bus Garage Open Day in years.
Travelling to Potters Bar
To get to Potters Bar (PB) garage, I decided to go the cheap way, not the fast way. By this I mean the really not fast way. It was another one of my GOBLIN adventures, with one of London Overground's dinky 2-car 172 'Turbostar' units sluggishly taking me round to Blackhorse Road before the complete opposite whisked me to Finsbury Park in the form of a 2009 Stock Victoria Line train. After some relatively short journeys, a 30-minute stint to Cockfosters would follow on the Piccadilly line. Sullivan Buses' RML 2272 was scheduled to run a morning single from the aforementioned Station to the Garage. Unfortunately, the best of plans always fail and, after questioning some enthusiasts waiting at the stop, I found out that the Routemaster had left mere minutes before I had arrived... Annoying! As it was, I hopped on a well-refurbished Sullivan Buses Enviro 200 instead, which pounded through the stinking fields to Potters Bar Station, where a short walk took me to the Garage. I could see an impressive line-up of vehicles in the forecourt and it was time to have a look around...
The Garage
Even before paying the £2.50 entry fee, the buses could be seen lined up outside.
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| Bursting at the seams already! |
I walked in and took a quick look at the outside exhibits - RM70, RMC1497, RM1804, TA638, Fleetline 333, RM371, RTW467, RML2272 and RT113 were all lined up on one side, either on display or having worked their first duty already, in the case of the RML. On the other side, VP549 (Seemingly the control bus), President 524, RF518, Dart 238, RM1005 and a Dart in Stagecoach livery were lined up, with the dinky MA1 ready to work a service. I took a quick look inside the garage and browsed the stalls. Whilst in there, I splashed out and purchased a Harrow Weald Ultimate destination from a VW for £10 plus a Bristol VR model for £9. Sadly, the line-up of RTs (1702, 1784, 2083, 3254, 3775 and 4317) in there wasn't set out too well and decent photos couldn't really be taken. After that, I decided it was time for a bus ride - my personal main focus of the day, as I prefer that to static displays. Having consulted the timetable, I found that a bus was due to leave soon on the 242 to South Mimms, so I hopped on board the immaculate RLT139, from the London Bus Museum in Cobham, and we burbled away from the stop a few minutes early along the main road. South Mimms turned out to be a short run, actually much shorter than expected as it was horrendously overtimed; we arrived over 10 minutes early!
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| A rather remote location! |
Then, we set off back for the garage along the same route, passing an RM along the way. The return trip was, again, horribly (or amazingly, depending on how you look at it) overtimed - in total, around 20 minutes was knocked off the 45 minute trip! Back at the garage, I knew that a bus that I like, P238MKN, was doing the other section of the open day 242 and I only had to let LT557 leave on the 716 to Hatfield before it arrived, so I got on for another short (and overtimed) trip, this time to Cuffley. We left the garage with room to spare, as people are generally more interested in 'Routemasters' (RMs, RTs, RFs etc) - P238 is still rather elderly, at 22 years old! When passing the Two Brewers pub, the light was just perfect for a photo stop... but people got in the way while the sun was out, so I had to make do with a less sunny picture.
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| Not sure what the 'festival' was, but it apparently contributed to the passenger numbers somewhat! |
Cuffley wasn't far down the same leafy country lane, where we met DES794 operating a normal 242 towards Waltham Cross. Unlike the previous trip, we waited time before leaving for the Garage again, but when we did it was another brilliant run down the speedy country lanes. When the bus arrived back at Potters Bar, I walked back to the bus stop to see Ensignbus' RM371 (which I had only been on once before, but would end up going on a couple of days after this at the last day of EOS London) ready for a 626 trip as a Dugdale Hill Circular, so I joined the surprisingly short queue and hopped on board. Many recognisable faces were on board, so I said hello before going upstairs to obtain the rearmost seat on the right. The run itself was rather uneventful, but the bus was a fantastic ride - even with the Cummins engine!
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| Sorry about the overexposure, the sun was rather too keen! |
After a quick photo stop, the bus re-loaded and we continued along the more circuitous return route, travelling along faster roads including under the M25! The 626 was the shortest of all the scheduled runs that day, being only around 30 minutes in length. However, the upshot of this was that it allowed me to complete another trip when I returned to the Garage. I was standing opposite the stop when Reading Buses' 'Rooftop Bus' pulled up so, running across the road to avoid other photographers, I enquired about the destination. 'Potters Bar Station and back' was my response, so I bounded up the stairs and enjoyed another 20-minute return trip, albeit also on a rather unexciting route. There was no time for a photo stop at the station and the bus continued on round a different route back to the Garage.
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| Going round in circles! |
I had arrived with time to spare until the departure of RML2272 on the 298 to Cockfosters... Phew! I joined the half-full bus for the final run, a single to Cockfosters. Apart from a little traffic along the way, the trop got me to Cockfosters on, sadly, another re-engined Routemaster (although it was still a nice run) and I left, satisfied, to make my way home.
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| An extra service! |
Overall, it was a fantastic event. Well done to all the staff and preserved vehicle owners, drivers and conductors involved!
