East Grinstead Running DaySunday April 28th 2019Prepared by Ian Smith, 8th May 2019.Part 4: 428 Dormansland to East Grinstead: RLH 48I did not have long to wait before the 428 rolled up. It WAS RLH48! Peter Osborne made the acute angled turn to bring the bus round to the Plough stop.
RLH48 arrives at the Plough, Dormansland, on the 428.The bus was well-loaded. Full up downstairs. Would I get a seat? "You can try upstairs" said the conductor. So up I went. There was an empty seat right at the back, at the top of the stairs. Magic! Mind you, the four-seater rows in front of me were mainly occupied by only three per row. Well-filled by three per row: modern people are just bigger than the post-war variety! We set off back for East Grinstead. Views from upstairs in the RLH are rather restricted, unless one is prepared for neck-strain or are a child. Is that why childhood journeys on the 410 seem so wonderful? At Dormansland the route circumnavigates a large triangle to get back on the road to Lingfield. We passed Lingfield Racecourse, and went under the railway bridge. Plenty of room for full-sized double-deckers here, so no problem for the RLH. We climbed the hill to Lingfield Post Office, and turned left towards East Grinstead. We forked right to head up through Baldwins Hill, and faced down some oncoming cars on the awkward-parking section. Then it was left over the three railway bridges and up London Road to the top of the town, High Street, where we pulled up outside The Crown.
Upstairs in RLH48. At The Crown, East Grinstead.There in the High Street was RF429 - the spare bus - buck from its long trip round the 434, 465 and 494, deputising for unavailable RF679. Entering the High Street from the West end was Brighton & Hove 352, a Bristol open-topper, on its very popular tour.
RF429 is back from its tour on the 434,465 and 494. CAP229 arrives back from a local open-top tour.East Grinstead still has service buses on a Sunday. Ex-Brighton Scania 6957 had completed its trip on the 400 and went to turn, passing parked RT1702, bar-bus RML2355 and XF3.
Ex-Brighton Scania 6957 has completed its trip on the 400 and goes to turn.Full-height Maidstone & District Regent V DH478 was there too. Crewed by Peter Aves and Peter Larkham, it was about to set off on a 91 to Hartfield. I was welcomed aboard...
 Ian's Bus-stop
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