234 Routes RevisitedSunday 17th March 2013Prepared by Ian Smith, 18th March 2013.234: Purley to Selsdon: RT3251New EnviroDart ENX9 came swishing to a halt at a rain-soaked Purley, terminating on a 289 from Elmers End. A few minutes later, right on time, RT3251 came panting along on the 234 to Selsdon.
I climbed aboard, and found a seat close to the front, with a view out the front window. These always seem to get rain-spattered despite being under the canopy. At least it was warm on the RT. We passed under the Purley Station railway bridges, and turned left to climb Downs Court Road up out of the valley. We met DW33 descending on the 412 from Croydon to Purley via Selsdon.
We rumbled along Mitchley Avenue - expensive suburbia on the very edge of the London conurbation. Soon the houses on the right gave way to Mitchley Wood, and then open farmland. The steep climb up Rectory Park took us right down the gearbox, and we ground slowly upwards. We reached the roundabout at the top of Sanderstead Hill, that for years knocked the stuffing out of Chelsham's green RTs, and continued on past Sanderstead Church. The climb resumed up Addington Road, and then we lebvelled off before the dip down into Selsdon. We turned right at the lights, to go round the triangle to the terminus stop outside Sainsbury's. DLA235 pulled away westwards on the 412 as we arrived.
The cold rain pelted down, and for a few minutes we sheltered in the entrance to Sainsbury's, before returning to the RT for the return journey.
234: Selsdon to Woodcote Green: RT3251The return journey to Purley was quieter, being mainly downhill after the initial roll along to Sanderstead Church. We passed through Purley as another RF passed round the other side of the gyratory towards Old Lodge Lane. We climbed up the west side of the valley, up Foxley Lane, and turned north along the ridge.RM1397 came ambling along the other way, and was flagged down. It seems that a passenger had left a push-chair on one of the double-deckers, and it was re-united with its owner. RT3251 went on towards Woodcote Green, where I alighted, letting the RT continue on towards Wallington.
RF486 trundled up the road from Wallington, and paused at the Woodcote Green stop on its way to Purley. The modern-day equivalent on the Purley-Wallington section is the 127, on which Metrobus' Scania 920 was heading past towards Tooting.
Next to arrive was RF395, heading towards Wallington, which rushed past without blinking...
Now where was RF429?...
Photos by Ian Smith. Click on any of them for a larger picture.
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Part Four: RF429 on 234A, 234B
Red-RF
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