London Buses at West Ham, Upton Park & Stratford 1985 

My Dad's first car was a Cortina Estate....nice motors....

They were Routemasters when i went to school in Canning Town. I used to jump off the 58s (they ran to Canning Town in those days) as they turned into Green Street at the Boleyn, happy days but the route lost its RMs in 1981 (if i remember correctly) when it went crew Titan. I think it then went OPO in 1983 time.

Soi Buakhao ok, thanks for letting me know that, i appreciated, I think I remember I saw a route master on the bus 69 bus when I moved to Leyton in May 1984.

That would have been right at the end of crew operation. By late 84 it was crew Titan and i think went OPO in early 85.

Soi Buakhao I knew it, I thought I was dreaming, lol, I remember asking my mum, that bus, she said no dirty bus, lol, I don’t why she said it, lol? Wow, I can remember it, 1984 was a big year of change, new wave music, I started watching top of the pops early age in 1984, after I left Walthamstow and I moved to Leyton in 1984, thanks for the reply, I appreciate it 😀

I used to compare 1984 and 1985, 1984 looked old, when it came to 1985, it was kind different.

Yes, i too rode on buses along Green Street as a kid, MBS types on the S1 being the oldest. I worked at West Ham in 1985 and was sad to see it demolished.....

Well, Dagenham was only a few miles up the road!

I am planning an upload from the Stratford area i took in 1989 just before the S1 was withdrawn, so there will be a few more there for you to feast upon!

The Boleyn pub stills here

The real West Ham garage is long gone having closed in 1992. You could now live in Routemaster Close if you so desired! Yes, the site is now a housing estate.

Yes I remember them pulling it all down, I lived over the road in st Clair road

Yes, in 1985 all was going well for her. Probably a lot of second hand cars around the East End then, especially being near a bus garage, a lot may well have belong to bus staff!

Torvill and Dean...Jane and Christopher performing on ice in a city theatre...Bucks Fizz...yes and Ford Cortinas and Escorts and Transits...Petrol 43p per litre...nearly 5 times that now...and Margaret Thatcher...some idiots voted for her...oh that'd be me...I was one too...how could I forget...I miss the RouteMasters...took the noisy big reds for granted back in the day...jumping on and off the platforms while it's still moving...now I just became a pensioner...

I worked at West Ham in 1985/86 on the inside staff. It was a lovely place, an old tran shed and really easy to park the buses up at night with its nice long shed which had 13 rows of 10 buses, up to 11 buses when they were shorter RTs and RMs (T's & LS's were longer). Even Upton Park has gone now, i'll have to get some film up i took there one afternoon with RM, RML, RMC & i think an RMA on the run out for the evening peak (the X15 buses ran up to Central London as 15Bs before working back as X15s). Happy days!

Nice Old NB4Ls

It’s funny how West Ham UTD couldn’t expand the stadium because of the bus garage U, 3 years after they know it down the garage closes as well...

Yes, these vids are a great time machine experience! It's great fun looking at what else was around then-enjoy!

A very popular car back in the day especially in the East End.

David Young: Yes the Mk3 Ford Cortina was the UK;s best selling car for 4 of the 6 year production run, 1, 125,559 made, I bought one in 1976, which I still own today, having a full bare shell restoration to brand new on my channel, also Mk.4/5 seen in this,and lots of other lovely cars and vans, a time when cars, and buses were beautiful.

Keep them lit, I have plenty more to upload!

That was on garage journeys only. Half the route was run by Bow (which was on line of route) and the other half West Ham (the original garage on Greengate Street) and in those days all buses ran in service back to their garages!

This the East End (as was), lots of dodgy motors around. The only time i was attacked for my vid camera was outside Upton Park Garage one friday afternoon in broad daylight! The yobs didn't get the camera but it cost a few hundred to have repaired-not happy!!!

Thank you....I do have some of Upton Park Garage at Redcliff Road and do have some more from Upton Park taken in 1989. There might just be some inside Green Street, i will have to look and perhaps get it uploaded.....

The 25 was indeed on a garage journey to West Ham garage via Green Street and the Greengate. Back then all buses were in service on their garage runs even if off main line of route.... The 86s for instance, had a Saturday part allocation from Upton Park. They ran in service along Green Street to & from the Romford Road.....

No, it was just the 15. The 15A came into being around 1984 time. I don't think the Upton Park buses went beyond EAst Acton, it was Middle Row garage vehicles that did the Richmond runs....

Lol......couldn't agre more!

No, i'm afraid not....

Not much in the way of photos really, i got into video in August 85 after using cine for about a yaer or so. Very expensive and only 5 min of silent film, the video camera allowed me to shoot trains & buses properly, no restrictions on how much tape it used, a 3 hour tape cost the same as a 5 min cine film and with sound as well! Plus no waiting to view while it was sent away to be developed or get lost in the post.

This was filmed way back in 1985, not long after i got a video camera.....

Oh that's why the buses looks soo old

It is the past. It is called history.

I will get a Titan vid up in December when i arrive back home from an extended trip away. I have some nice shots of them in South East London.

Soi Buakhao excellent, please do

That was my bus 58, I remember sitting on them in 80's when I small when I living Leyton

I remember them in the late 1970s/early 80s, coming home from school on one and jumping off as they turned the corner from the Barking Road into Green Street, they were Routemasters then, so much more fun!

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus The Titan on the 147 in Little Ilford Lane is one of mine and in storage in Scotland. Superb!

Thank you.....i never did make it to Poplar, i was a Night Generalhand at West ham in thse days, it took much effort to get these shots of my shed with RMs! I remember garage foreman called Paul Dent and Dave Dominee from my time on the LT bus engineering side. I spent 3 days at Poplar when on BM school doing a Titan gearbox change.....happy days!

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus shame that you couldn't make it to PR. As for Paul Dent and Dave Dominee. They would cover the day foreman at Poplar on occasions. They were two good blokes. One of our day foremen at PR in my time was Les Lee. He came off the school and took the foreman's job. With Mick Langley ex electrician at West Ham filling the vacant post. It's hard to believe that it's almost 50 years since I started at Poplar. This particular part of the East End, was badly run down, with many old boarded up houses in Leven Road. It was very sad to see many people squatting in those old dwellings, because they didn't have anywhere else to go. I've been told that Poplar garage along with the old gas works is due for demolition very soon. The gentrification of this area continues at a fast pace, and soon the old place will be all swept away. At least I'll always have my own memories of the garage, and the engineering and platform staff who worked there. Great times and memories for me as a youngster. Hopefully I'll visit one last time before its gone. Cheers.👍

@@jonniejam-shovel6405 Les Lee......he took my BM school.....had started on STLs as he told us! Along with a Loughton BM called Dave Pragnall who also helped out on the WH BM school......Funnily enough part of which survives as it was above the Output.....

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Poor old Les Lee. He was too nice a bloke to be day foreman. A couple of the old hands at PR would tell him to "give the job to someone else", when he gave them a piece of paper with work on it. Les would just smile, and shuffle off. Unfortunately his mental health began to suffer, because of the problems with lost mileage and mechanical work piling up. If you were early turn shift, you'd be dispatched to Bromley By Bow station to collect him and bring him to work. A couple of times we got to the station too late, and he would cross over the station platform and jump onto the next east bound district line heading back to Upminster. Poor old sod. I did see him once in Upminster town with his wife years ago. He did look bloody old and worn out. I think he died soon after, although he was only 50 when he packed up. The worries of the job certainly aged him. As for the tall building at West Ham garage, where the offices were. I was first one up to be tested on the bus mechanic school, 27th December 1973. Bert Hubble was my school master and Mr Doug Whithers, was the acting District Engineer. Fortunately I scored 8 out of 10 pass mark, and Mr Whithers told me I'd passed and was now a bus mechanic. Oh blimey.😀

It was filmed in September 1985 just after i got a video camera, such an improvement on cine film! It was 30+ years ago i shot this but it seems like yesterday! I'm pleased you like it, i like looking at my old footage again when i get it ready to upload, enjoy!

Soi Buakhao thanks for the reply. I lived in that area and it’s great looking at the video, it really is. Your bus info is great too! Looking forward to the next ones 👍👍

There will be more bus ones but i think my next upload will another railway one as i have one all ready!

I'm sure there is some more video lurking on my hard drive......

That's the old Royal Mail Parcelforce depot. To me West Ham will for ever be in Greengate Street! The back wall and part of the side wall is still there, i cn see where the wall mounted table was where i used to allocate buses for the next day's run out-happy days!

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus I think routemaster close is an alleyway now

Yes, i could live right near where i used to allocate buses of an evening back in 1985/86! Or Gadd close of course, named after the longest serving member of staff at West Ham, spent all his working life there as a General Hand (cleaner cum dogsbody).

Except when heading back to West Ham Garage when running in! The S1 was always a West Ham route up until the late 1980s when it was transfered to Upton Park Garage. The one seen here has finished for the day and is running in.....

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Blimy that was a quick response, I get it now, I did think of the garage at Plaistow ( I went to school right next door to it) but I always thought the S1 went into Upton Park garage, obviously I was wrong, thank's for solving that mystery, nice video, good luck .

@@robertgreen941 My pleasure.....

Yes that is an S1 running out of service back to West Ham Garage, one of the routes i used to drive.

A little bit of the insides and a shot of a Tottenham RM in the chassis clean area with a General Hand posing for me! And a few shots on the day it closed when they ran some RMs on some of their old routes. Wow, even that was back in 1992, seems just like yeaterday!

Any idea why they closed the original WH garage and Popular ?

Because it was running in to West Ham Garage in Greengate Street. In those days all buses running to or from their garage off line of route ran in service.

No, this is 1985, i know i filmed it! In November 1985 Poplar garage shut and there were big changes in Forest District. The 5 went OPO and the West Ham share of the 25 went to Bow almost making it a total crew shed (only the dozen or so Titans for the 10 were OPO vehicles). The 15's had at this time got their yellow blinds but the 5 panels were still B&W.

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus ok I'll take your word for it, was only 5 at the time but I remember the sign changing from white to yellow for the 15b to east ham while white was for upton park, or maybe they changed it to 15b after & the yellows signs were before 15 yellow east ham 15 B&W upton park🤔 Nah signs were defo white & changed to yellow😂😂

What sticks in my mind was when they upgraded the indicators above the drivers cab on the route masters

That was when they refurbished them from around 1990 onwards. Most RML's and some RM's were done.

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus well lived round the corner from that bus garage mum used to take me to visit & they'd give you sweets & coloring book, plus there was another garage further down green st near Romford rd

Hi Daniel, yes that's quite correct. At the time West Ham ran half the 25 service (Bow had the other half) and in those days all garage journeys on all routes ran in service back to the garage even if off line of route. The 25s ran in via Stratford & West Ham Lane or via Green Strret & Upton Park. This is why i was at the Boleyn filming, in order to catch a few 25s running in this way, as the route was due to be re-allocated away from West Ham that November to Bow as WH had to take on half of Poplar Gargage's allocation upon its closure.

I remember going to Stratford on an MBS bus on the S1 route from East Ham in about 1969/70. I used to look across from the church in the Broadway to the Station and watch the trains running by, the silver Central Line ones popping up from below ground before diving back down again. Then that monstrosity of a shopping centre went up and blocked the view....And took the market stalls away from the Broadway where they had always been.

Soi Buakhao I miss the old Stratford station, the old one and again u can c the lad central line trains popping up to the station, your like me when I was a kid, watching the central line coming up from the tunnel and going back down the tunnel, even watching the old central line far away passing through peoples gardens

Back then 108 went to stratford

They were on journeys to or from West Ham bus garage, the original one in Greengate Street. In these days all buses ran in service to & from their bus garage, no dead milage then!

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus now I know. Thanks

It was on a garage run-in journey to West Ham Garage, the original one, that was in Greengate Street. Routemaster Close & Gadd Close are now where it stood.....

I'm pretty sure i saw Jaws there when it first came out.......

i saw ghostbusters lol

Ha Ha me too and the Black Hole!!

In the days when it was worth watching.

Indeed, i was standing outside West Ham Garage (the original one) in Greengate Street forsome of the shots on here, and at the Boleyn which was near Upton Park garage, both of which are closed and deemolished.

Soi Buakhao I lived at the flat opposite to that garage I’m 18 now but i still fully remember it but never really thought much of it.

@@T57395 I assume you mean Upton Park rather than West Ham? WH is long gone (apart from the rear wall and part of the offices) and i'm told Upton Park is history now too?....I will have to upload some film taken of the actual garage in Redcliffe Road.....

They didn’t exist back then

Yeah east London 1985........beautiful lol

I lived in Stratford for many years and I can categorically state it was always a dump. But it was ok as well

lol 😂 u wish

@@SpeccyHorace Anyone with " Rose tinted glasses " thinking Stratford was somehow better in the 'Olden days' is utterly deluded. It was known then as the toilet of London and has been transformed today and in nearly every respect better than it used to be. Unless you are hoping to buy a cheap property!

@@johnbeaven8951Indeed. Whilst not perfect, how it been is now compared to the 80s/90s is really night and day.

I used to work there, back in 1985/86.....The back wall of the housing estate that's there now is the old back wall of the garage.....

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus they have an old memorial for the garage workers who died in war

I don't know if you were around in 1985 but that large bus garage in Greengate Street was called.....West Ham Bus Garage, i know, i worked there! Probably called West Ham as it was built as a tram shed for West Ham Corporation Tramways and was situated in the old County Borough of West Ham. It lasted until 1992 when it was shut and is now a housing estate. This upload starts at the Boleyn whichh is Upton Park, then West Ham Bus Garage then a couple of shots in Little Ilford Lane (Manor Park) before finishing at Stratford (where the old WEst Ham Town Hall is). The one thing about the new West Ham garage is that is actually in West Ham!

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus It was not called West Ham look it up on the map. West Ham football ground used to be at West Ham and it then moved to Upton Park. West Ham football ground became West Ham Memorial grounds. What you may have called it is one thing but it was not called West Ham. West Ham football ground moved again and is now at Stratford. West Ham is E15.. The old West Ham police station was demolished and renamed Stratford police station. West Ham Lane across the road from the police station is still called West Ham Lane. Church Street is still called West Ham. Manor road buildings is still called West Ham. West Ham train station is called West Ham. West Ham bus station is now called Stratford bus station. Yes I remember the 80s and the 70s and the 60s. ( this was edited for some reason so I am reposting it. )

@@professormoriarty3005 Yes, i agree, i lived in Newham and went to school in Canning Town...but that large bus garage in Greengate Street, Plaistow was called 'West Ham Bus Garage', with a garage code of WH. It must have sat in what was the County Borough of West Ham (until the Local Government Act in the 1960s almalgamated the County Borough's of East & West Ham into Newham) because it was opened as their municiple tramways depot (East Ham had their tramways depot behind the Town Hall in Nelson Street)....A section of this upload shows Routemaster's running into West Ham Bus Garage hence the West Ham name in the title....Does that make sense to you?.......

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus no it was not. And you mean Star Lane School, or Eastlea school. There was the smaller school call Gainsborough school at Gainsborough Road.

You seem to have a hard time understand things....try again-the garage at the end of Priory Road near the Boleyn was Upton Park bus garage, the bus garage in Greengate Street, next to Barbers Alley was called, by London Transport (and after all they should know the names of their garage's), West Ham! I don't care where you think it sits, that was its name. I worked there, so i speak from first hand knowledege, i know what was printed on my pay-slip, and if you have access to any Ian Allan London fleet list books you will see it in those as well. Try reading this page, it will help explain things to you....commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:West_Ham_(WH)_bus_garage_(1906)

Shut up cars are overpriced dumbass

Life was better.

Lol......i don't think London has got any less chaotic over the years though.....

How old are you?

@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus I agree. It was an idiotic comment.