With one month to go until the 10th Anniversary of the last day of general Routemaster operations in London, we can now confirm that the venue for the start/end of the anniversary run will be The Ace Café on the North Circular, postcode NW10 7UD.  

http://www.ace-cafe-london.com

Dating back to 1938, the Ace Café has a long association with transport history and being located close to the old Park Royal Factory as well as the northern end of the old 159 route the venues ethos and location makes it an ideal venue to host our event.

We are asking bus owners to arrive from 9am at the Ace café and after time for coffee and photos the buses will be departing in pairs from 11am every 10 minutes for a return trip to Thornton Heath Pond.

Once all the buses are back at the Ace café we are also planning do a Christmas Lights tour around central London from 5pm.  Owners are more than welcome to do all or part of the days’ activities.

The area around the Ace Café can accommodate around 20 buses so we do need to limit bus numbers, therfore early confirmation of your attendance would be much appreciated. Please email events@routemaster.org.uk to register your bus.

Please note - this is a private event for vehicle owners and their family & friends and whilst enthusiasts are very welcome to come along we are not operating a bus service, so any offers of a bus ride would be a private agreement between the vehicle owner and enthusiast.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday 12th December from 9am at the Ace Café.

David Lee
Events Officer
Routemaster Association

With 3 weeks until the 159 Anniversary Run we have the following Routemasters attending...

188, 291, 545, 548, 848, 1033, 1822, 2097, 2276, 2364, 2366

Each bus owner will receive a collectable gift for attending, but ONLY if they register first, so if you are planning to come along please make sure you register by emailing me at events@routemaster.org.uk

Closing date for registrations is Saturday 5th December, anyone just turning up with a bus or registering late will not receive a free gift.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Ace Cafe from 9am on Saturday 12th December.

David Lee
Events Officer
Routemaster Association

Please be aware that the current Bridge works at Neasden on the A406 are causing severe delays of up to 80mins between Park Royal and Neasden so be sure not to miss the slip road for the Ace Cafe if coming from the A40/Ealing side.

Likewise there are acute delays between Staples Corner and Neasden.

The alternative routes can gridlock.

This is even causing delays quite early on weekends so allow good time and again don't miss the turn off, it could take another hour to get back to it.

A really worthwhile bit of advice.

I had the misfortune to get caught in this a couple of weeks ago and it was every bit as bad as Mark suggests. Ok, it was a weekday and just before the evening rush, but heading west we joined the queue well before Staples Corner which was effectively opposite Brent Cross. On the bridge works approach, the outside lane has a 6`6" restriction.

Early arrivals at The Ace Café may find it`s not too bad but if the intention is go back there later in the day I would be very concerned about using any part of the North Circular from Hangar Lane to Staples Corner and the roads immediately off it in that area. Which really isn`t what you want to hear.
Is it too late or impractical to find a way of reaching the West Hampstead terminus then turning around there and going back into town rather than towards the North Circular?

Don`t forget also that the large IKEA close to The Ace Cafe and of course Brent Cross Shopping Centre can both be a traffic magnet on a Saturday close to Christmas thus adding to the misery.


That said, I was thinking of coming along, if only briefly, to leave by 11am but after my traffic bound experience I`m going off the idea.......

Thanks for the 'heads up' on this Mark!

Due to potential traffic problems we are bringing forward the start of the run from midday to 11am so if you are going to join us at the Ace cafe please arrive as early as possible.

David

I had the misfortune to use the North Circular whilst driving the rugby services for Sullivan Buses. Drivers were reporting delays of over an hour in the area; I used an alternative route and even that as mentioned above was gridlocked.

My bus number (if any): RML2532