Chesham Running Day 2018 - Part 5: Going Home

Check out Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here and Part 4 here.

Having hopped off the bus, I had a little time for some photos of other buses arriving and departing on the last services of the day or feeders. RF406 had just completed the last 336 from Rickmansworth, which had departed 1.5 hours earlier, at 1515.

RLH48 had also just arrived on a 336, having completed the final Chenies run and should've arrived 10 minutes before. RT3491 had come off the marathon Chesham - Slough - Berkhamsted - Chesham run. It was the last bus from Berkhamsted and would go on to form a Windsor feeder, along with RF406 and RM188 (which had already left).

However, MB90 rocked up with '353 Windsor' on the destination, either substituting for RF406, which can be seen picking up at the stop (so very unlikely) or probably just returning home.

and BN45 was sitting there, having terminated on the 1633 from Lee Common, the final 394 of the day. 

Then, RT3254 pulled in on the 724 feeder towards Harlow.

My previous plan was to travel directly home, but since then I had decided to take RLH48 back to Uxbridge. However, throughout the day I had heard many chats with people saying that they were going to catch the 305 service back to Uxbridge, so I opted for 3254 to take me as far as Rickmansworth; closer to home and cheaper on Oyster! It was due to leave at 1650, so obviously pulled in at around 1655 to pick up passengers, which took another 5 minutes and finally we were off, 10 minutes late. This was the first time I'd travelled on that particular RT - I soon realised that it was as sluggish as 604, but still gave a pleasant ride through Amersham to Rickmansworth, where I said my goodbyes and left after a fantastic day on the buses.

Happy travelling!

Chesham Running Day 2018 - Part 4: Going Green

Check out Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

My next jaunt was to be really rather short, but I had never been there before. RML2456 rumbled in on its service from High Wycombe and exchanged passengers for the continuation to Ley Hill.

The (slightly over) half-full bus pulled out of the Broadway, turned left and climbed for most of the way, to reach to aforementioned Ley Hill. The Crown terminus is a 'triangle' shape and the crew were willing to drive round that triangle so that some of their passengers (of which I was one) were able to obtain a photo with the sun shining in about the right direction.

Then, it was time to set off again, making a steady descent through an estate to reach Chesham at 1528. The bus would then continue all the way to High Wycombe as the last 362A (or, indeed, any 362 - excluding RML2412 on the feeder service) of the day, but without me on board as I had a choice to make. I was tempted by MB90 doing the next 353 rounder to Berkhamsted...

but decided not to, as I have travelled to Berkhamsted before on the 353, and hung around for about 30 minutes, in which time I accumulated a large amount of photos of buses turning to pull up to the stand at the Broadway. A selection of these are seen below.

RLH48 readying itself for passengers to board for the final 336 trip of the day, the 1545 to Chenies and return.

 RT604, having arrived and deposited its passengers off the 1435 service from High Wycombe and about to run to Water Meadow Car Park for a rest, before having to complete the 2 hour trip home to Croydon with passengers.

Having arrived on the 1520 short from Hyde End, arriving at 1540, RF673 turns the corner and is about to pull up to the stand to form the 1555 Hyde End service.

 Amersham Station is the destination for RTL554 on a short working from Berkhamsted. I believe this was the only bus terminating at Amersham Station that day - it had a short stand there before returning to Chesham Broadway.

 At 1550, RT3491 forms a service towards Berkhamsted on the only service (except feeders) of the day from Slough. This really was a service only for the 'die hard' enthusiasts, as a round trip from Chesham to Slough, through Chesham to Berkhamsted and back to Chesham began at 1355 and ended at 1639 - that's a round trip of almost 3 hours! Even just Slough and back was scheduled for around 2 hours!

 Arriving on the 1522 service from Gerrards Cross, RM188 has already dropped off its passengers and is about to run back to Water Meadow.

Finally, the time had come for my next (and last) trip which I had chosen because of the earlier trip to Buckland Common being so delightful. RF600, a country bus born and bred, was running the only two trips along the same route, but turning off half-way to become a 349 to Asheridge, one of which was at 1600. The RF pulled up to the stop at a few minutes to 4 with a 'lazy' blind for Asheridge and Chesham Moor, with a massive crowd of people waiting.

Luckily, I made it on and obtained a relatively good seat, with both a forward and side view, for the 50-odd minute return trip. The bus was absolutely jam-packed, with no seats available at all upon departure. We took the same routeing as the 348 to Buckland Common earlier, although the climb was very much taken in 600's stride where 406 had slowed to a crawl earlier in the day. The trip was another fun ride through Bellingdon, but then we turned left to begin the country lanes. We sped down Bank Green (presumably because the crew knew the roads from their earlier trip) and the extremely steep hill at the end didn't catch the driver out. As we followed the road left, a photographer was hanging around in a bush, eagerly awaiting our arrival. Soon after, we had reached the Blue Ball and powered straight past it, before turning into a side street and reaching the pub again, facing in the other direction and ready for the return trip.

Again, remarkably, the bus made it to the terminus 5 minutes early, at 1616, thus leaving a 10 minute turn around for the return trip to Chesham. On board our bus were many photographers - this meant that we were delayed somewhat and departure wasn't until around 1630 (instead of scheduled 1626), but the crew once again worked wonders and safely got the bus back to Chesham on time and in one piece, although the country lanes were 'entertaining', shall we say!

As we arrived back at Chesham, the final arrivals of the day were pulling in with us...

Finished in Part 5