45, 176, 188

It was nonetheless expected the 176 would be lost, it was questionable if Go-Ahead would gain the 188 off of Abellio at Walworth (WL), though they existed it wasn't highly expected I'd say, at least from me, that they'd gain the 45. Out of these three Arriva have been booted out of Camberwell area until March when they reappear with the 468. 197's existence making up for the lack of Arriva in Dulwich.

I'll start off numerically, first up the 45.

PVL298 (PJ02RFK) in Camberwell Green

I've known this route my life mainly as I'd always be in Brixton or Elephant & Castle and I would see the old AVLs on the route, there was one memorable moment with the AVLs that I had also in Brixton, the wheelchair ramp was broken on one and the driver tried to fix the ramp, but to no avail.

185's WVL136 (LX53AXL) also in Camberwell Green
Long gone withdrawn, replaced by released 61-reg Es now
found on the 147 and 468.

Since then the PVLs of which now are withdrawn from the depot, have been the allocation for the 45 having come from different depots like Bexleyheath (BX) for example. As much as Travel London were on 45's route, I always thought 45 belonged at London Central.

Of course the 45 would see workings from other routes, such as WVL212-73 off of 68/468/X68, or Es (345, 185/468), WVLs (12), and I believe WHVs (12) though they were rare, until the Gemini 3 versions ordered for 188 made their early debut in service to iron out teething issues.

185's MHV71 (BV66VGE) on Coldharbour Lane, Camberwell

Service-wise the 45 was exceptionally good, barely any bunchings I'd notice as a child, and I don't think many gaps in service either. One thing I can say is the drivers on the route for the most part, were not a happy bunch at all, more the grumpy type, from my experience.

I'd never see the day I would make a post about the 45 being lost but, it happened.

The 176.

VLA45 (LJ53BCY) at first stop
in Penge

Not only numerically but the route I know less about in order (out of the three), as I would always see 176 in Elephant & Castle but I had no use for the Dulwich area or Penge, at least as a child. Though, like the 45, the 176 has been okay in my eyes, of course 176 being a lot busier than the 45 as it's the flagship in Dulwich alongside the Victoria-bound 185. Unlike the 45 however, I was silently in a corner thinking 'when will Arriva lose the 176', as it was inevitable from the very beginning. You have two garages in the same area on the middle of the route, but you have Norwood (N) which is not far off Penge or Camberwell. I was not knowledgeable in the tendering schemes and whatnot back then but I figured either Travel London or London Central would gain it.

It happened, it was announced the 176 was awarded to Go-Ahead London. Both Walworth (WL) and Camberwell (Q) had their stints on the 176 prior to London & Country's involvement, though not for at least a decade unless you count pre-privatisation.

T94 (LJ59LYT) on Camberwell Road, Camberwell. Having just changed drivers.
This is a type that was allocated on the night service, though it's night service sporadically sees VLAs nowadays

The 176 was said to receive new hybrids, it did get some alright, 9 of them (EH162-70), with the rest of the numbers being made up by cuts in frequencies on other routes like 14/22, releasing WHV112-4, EH74-83 as well as 1's WHV155-7. If you ask me on my opinion on that, I don't quite like the fact 176 doesn't have an entire batch to itself to fit it's PVR, but business is business, for us it's nothing short of an enthusiastic view on it. Much like how 176 was the wayside in Norwood (N) until 68 received brand new VLAs alongside the 2, the 68 already having brand new DLAs to itself I believe. The DLAs freed reallocated to 176 of course, then 68/X68 were lost thus the VLAs were relocated to 176.

One Eight Eight.

9022 (BX55XLT) in Canada Water Bus Station

The route (excluding 1) that I knew the least of in the Elephant area mainly as I rarely required a use to the areas it served. Having said that I did require the 188 to Deptford a few occasions, though I barely remember much of it (yes, as a child).

9031 (BX55XMD) in Canada Water
Bus Station

To be honest, I found 188 as one of the few 'odd' routes, being Travel London. I was used to the 3, 156 and 344 as native Travel London routes. Though I felt the vibe of 188 not being an 'origin' to the company, I discovered later on that it was indeed with Go-Ahead, though at various garages. Stockwell (SW), Camberwell (Q), New Cross (NX).

It was a nostalgic sight to see 188 in the typical Red/grey interior, which then became yellow/red, which will be missed. At least for a few years. The Volvos on it have done well on the route, I guess, though one might not say that's the case.

Arriva also had the route from 1997 to 2000. Norwood (N), Stamford Hill (SF) and Tottenham (AR). With Volvo Olympians I presume and then DLAs.

Having said all that, plus my lack of experience on the 188, brought to the conclusion of the main Volvo B7TL types known to Central London coming from South London.

45 with it's Plaxton President bodied examples
176 with it's (Transbus) Alexander bodied examples
188 with it's Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied examples

Commiserations for the losses and Congratulations for the gains. Anything without a change, is showing off it's age. With fresh faces, there'll be different stances..that look bright for the future.
I admit I'm not good with literature after that so I'll end it here, hope you've enjoyed and until next time, stay safe!

Oh wait, here's some more photos!

2594 (YY67GZP) at the New Park Road stop along Brixton Hill

WHV113 (BV66VHO) in Forest Hill

EH170 (YX67VFP) on London Road

WHV170 (LF67EXC) on London Road

As you can see, the bright new faces of the multi-changeover for South London this week, enjoy peeking through the photos! ;)

45's running numbers of WL being 101-21
176's running numbers of Q being 401-24 (day) and 461-4 (night)
188's running numbers of MG being 1-26 (day), 201-5 (night)

More photos:

68/468/X68's WVL252 (LX06EAY) on Brixton Hill nearing the end of the route

381's 2441 (SN12AUJ) at the first stop in North Greenwich

VLA64 (LJ04YWT) on the Penge stand

9024 (BX55XLT) on Old Kent Road

Logistical spare WVL25 (LG02KJA) on Brixton Hill

VLA51 (LJ53BBF) in Waterloo

VLA66 (LJ04YWV) in Sydenham

VLA77 (LJ54BFA) in Penge West

I hope you enjoyed this post, and until the next one, stay safe!

Note: Usage of any photos on this blog isn't permitted where no name is present (meaning it's mine, ©Unorm), or an All Rights Reserved symbol © is present. If you desire to use a photo, you must contact the original author. In my case, you should contact my Flickr.