Epping Ongar Railway Bus Rally Weekend

from Bus Fayre Magazine Spring 2023 issue

Scene Around

The weekend of 18th and 19th February saw the biggest Bus Rally event to date at the Epping Ongar Railway. Maybe the Railway should be renamed Epic Ongar Railway because it was truly an epic event that was very well supported by lots of visitors.

The theme for the event was “From LT to LRT” and a good selection of beautifully presented buses from the era of LT and LRT were on display and in service providing bus rides for visitors around the local area. There was also several stalls selling a huge range of bus and other transport memorabilia.

On Saturday the routes in operation were;

20B North Weald Station to Loughton Station

175A North Weald Station to Passingford Bridge via Ongar.

250 North Weald Station to Passingford Bridge via Epping.

339 North Weald Station to Epping Station.

581A North Weald Station to Passingford Bridge via Toot Hill.

On Sunday the routes in operation were;

201 Ongar to Loughton via North Weald and Epping.

339 North Weald Station to Epping Station.

500 North Weald and Theydon Bois Circular via Epping.

581 North Weald and Toot Hill Circular via Ongar and Stanford Rivers.

I drove DM1052 on route 20B on Saturday morning and Southend Transport 116 Routemaster on route 175A on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday

I drove RMC1513 on route 201.

The bus crews always like to make the event as authentic as possible and we all looked very smart in our uniforms. I wore LT uniform on Saturday and LRT uniform on Sunday. Lots of visitors commented that they enjoy seeing the bus crews in uniform to match the theme of the Bus Rally.

These buses attended the event with most giving bus rides to the many visitors who supported the event.

RT1530 - RT1702 - RT2150 - RT3871

- RT4548 - RF136 - RF392 - RM1527

- RM1993 - RMC1461 from the London Bus Museum - RMC1513 - MBA539

- SM1 - DM1052 - BL88 - T986 - V3

- LS174 - LS444 - GLS490 - Ensignbus MCW 192 and Southend Transport 116 Routemaster 543 CLT - Leyland Lynx G293 KWY in Sovereign Bus livery.

On Sunday afternoon there was a road run to North Weald airfield and several circuits of the perimeter road were completed so that visitors could enjoy further bus rides and alight to take photos of all the buses.

Some of the more unusual buses that attended over the weekend was former London Transport Volvo Ailsa V3 (A103

SUU) with Alexander bodywork. This was one of only three of this type of bus purchased by London Buses for trials in 1984. The unusual thing about this bus is that it has two staircases with doors at the front and the very rear of the bus to allow access to the rear stairs.

RF136 which entered Green Line service in 1952. The RF buses were so reliable that by the mid 1960›s LT decided to refurbish them rather than replace them. By 1966 RF136 had been refurbished to give it a more “modern” look, but what made RF136 a one off was that it was the only RF to have the pale pearlescent grey with a broad green stripe bearing the Green Line fleet name livery.

BL88 is a Bristol LH bus with Eastern Coach Works (ECW) bodywork. There were 95 BL class buses which were in service with London Transport from 1976 to 1981. This type of bus was needed for routes that required buses to be 7ft 6in wide and 30ft long. Having driven several different types of Bristol buses, single and double deck at the start of my career as a bus driver in the 1980’s, I personally think that Bristol buses with ECW bodywork are great looking buses.

SM1 is a Marshall-bodied AEC Swift. SM1 (AML 1H) was the first of its class and entered service in 1970 with London Transport.

Huge thanks must go to everyone involved in organising this event. A lot of hard work is required for this event with everyone involved giving their time for free. Thanks also to all the bus owners who provided buses for this event. See you all at our next bus event. Keep an eye on the Epping Ongar Railway website for details of all their events.

Southend Transport 116 Routemaster (543 CLT) at Passingford Bridge on 18.02.23 which I drove.