After visiting Walworth Garage which is literally across the road I took the short trip across the road to London Central's Camberwell Garage which is arguably one of the company's biggest Garages.
The garage is the second maintenance point for London General with the first being Merton which is head office. Although the garage was opened in 1914, it did not operate a single bus service for much over 5 years when it was requisitioned for the war. However when it did start to operate, it became one of the largest garages in London, the mammoth base was used to carry out body overhauls in 1940s, however in that said year, it was severely damaged following a bomb attack during the war. Following the attack, 13 vehicles were seriously damaged while four were completely destroyed.
The garage was promptly repaired, however in early 1950s the garage underwent a modernisation programme which is sounds funny to say considering the 1950s was so many moons ago. However the programme included the reconstruction of the welfare and operational block, with the addition of a new extended parking area which greatly increased capacity of the garage. The new and improved facilities incorporated a new pit and workshop which also took on the duties of heavy maintenance for the Walworth Garage ironically situated across the road from the base. The changes took the the capacity of the garage to a respectable 350 buses.
Despite its mammoth size, the allocation steadily decreased over the years as many routes were shifted out, until the closure of Walworth garage in 1985. This saw the allocation of vehicles rise back up to 142, although a shadow of the amount it did operate in the 1950s, which was close enough to 200 buses.
For a bit of trivia, the garage held three Leyland Titans, that were fitted with electronic blinds on an experimental basis. The vehicles were used on night bus standby duties.
On the 1st of April 2006, the based commenced the running of Routes 68, 468, N68 & X68 often referred to as the '68 group' after respectively winning it off Arriva, the chosen vehicles were Wright Gemini B7TLs, which are said to be some of the best in London.
On the 1st of May 2010, the garage gained more work, as Routes 42 and 185 moved in, following the takeover of East Thames Buses a year earlier.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post as much as I have writing it and more photos are available below. Please do not hesitate to comment as your feedback is much appreciated.
A mini fact file has been provided at the end of the post for those who would rather look at pictures and take out segments of information from the post.
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| WVL233 LX06 DZR |
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| R471 LGH |
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| WVL236 LX06 DZU |
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| WVL309 LX59 CYJ |
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| WVL262 LX06 EBN |
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| VWL4 LB02 YXA |
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| ELS4 YU02 GHK |
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| WVL309 LX59 CYJ |
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| PVL307 PJ02 RGV |
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| WVL309 LX59 CYJ (Rear) |
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| WVL271 LX06 ECE |
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| PVL82 W482 WGH |
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| LDP153 Y853 TGH |
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| PVL300 PJ02 RFN |
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| NML 604E |
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| CUV 305C |
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| PVL60 W996 WGH |
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| PVL331 PJ52 LWL |
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| ELS2 YU02 GHH |
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| R471 LGH (Rear) |
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| London Central E19 |
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| PVL272 PN02 XBW |
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| WHY7 LX57 CLZ |
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| LDP170 Y907 TGH |
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| LX06 EBK |
Garage Fact File
- Opened in 1914
- Did not operate a single bus until 1919
- Bombed in 1940 with 13 buses badly damaged and four being completely destroyed
- Became a major base for overhauls in the 1940s
- Modernised in the 1950s which included a new workshop which undertook maintenance for Walworth Garage
- Capable of holding 300 buses
