Also on the stand was Sunray Travel's E200 Dart, LJ56 LDC, a vast improvement on the second-hand ex-London DR class Dart that I had seen here a couple of years ago. It was heading to Banstead on the 318.
We swung round the one-way system and headed for Leatherhead.
We made decent speed along the Dorking road towards Ashtead, despite the bendy nature of the road. We passed RF269heading for Epsom on the 712 We crossed over the M25 and the following roundabout, and continued, sedately, into Leatherhead. I couldn't find a good place to stop for a photo. A police car tailed us south from Leatherhead along the mile straight to reach the roundabout at the A24, but then disappeared. We turned right for the long wiggly descent down the narrowed dual carriageway past Mickleham, down through the Mole Gap under the trees, with the North Downs towering on both sides and a long tail of frustrated car drivers behind.
We lost the tail when the dual carriageway returned to two-lane status after the Mickleham turn, and we continued down to Burford Bridge, and on past Dorking Station. I dinged the bell for us to pull into the bus-stop layby at the Insurance Company buildings just beyond the station, for en-route photos.
RTL139 drove north, heading to Epsom on the next 93 journey. (Sorry about the timing of this very hurried shot!). RF48 also hurried past, heading for Hook on the 714.
We turned right at the roundabout, and pulled up at Dorking Halls to terminate. The bus turned right into the Pippbrook centre, and I went with it to see what was there.
Lined up in front of me were 971J, the treelopper converted from Country STL 1470; RML2463; RM158 and Greenline RF213.
Down in the corner was GS42, with an unlikely companion in the form of Sullivan Buses' DEL1, a Trident with East Lancs Myllenium Loline bodywork. This would be out and about in some unlikely places during the afternoon, penetrating to Holmbury St.Mary I believe.
A little further down was GS62, also prepared for today's GS route: the 449 to Ewhurst. RT3871 stood behind, awaiting its turn on the 93. RM835, in Strathclyde colours, was soon to go ut on the 414 to Capel.
I passed SNB312 and walked round the loop about the Council buildings, past the line of parked buses. Unfortunately my film of this has gone missing. I went back up to the dining truck, and bought some lunch, watching buses come and go. It was good to relax for a while.
All photos by Ian Smith (unless otherwise indicated). Click on most of them for a larger picture.
Back to Ian's Bus-stop Part 3 Part 5: 412: RF to Sutton: RF486