Buses: Throwback Thursday

[Csalem]

To Csalem or anyone else who would know , what year did the 83 bus start going to Crumlin and what route did it take

83 started in 1936 and the route it has now is pretty much the same as back then.

This is a 1948 map of Dublin. The yellow on the roads represent the bus routes. The 83 is the yellow line terminating at the schools on Armagh Road:

https://www.swilson.info/maps/Dublinc1948.php

[Csalem]

Another trip back thirty-five years this week, except to the northside of the River Liffey and to D 369 on O'Connell Street. The bus is operating a service on route 3 from Sandymount to Larkhill. Route 3 can trace its origins back to the original Dublin tram network, but the bus route started in 1940. The route was pretty consistent over the decades, although some were extended to UCD Belfield around 1990. The route was abolished in 2012 under Network Direct, when it was mostly replaced by new route 1. This new route had its northern terminus in Santry, with the 44 extended north to terminate in Larkhill.
D 369 was delivered new to Dublin in 1970 and was withdrawn in 1986.
This bus is parked outside the BHS (British Home Stores) shop on O"Connell Street. This opened here in the 1980s but closed in 1992. BHS reopened again in the Jervis Shopping Centre in 1996 but only lasted until 1998. The store on O'Connell Street is now home to Penneys.
27/11/1985

Throwback Thursday (255) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[rasher]

83 started in 1936 and the route it has now is pretty much the same as back then.

This is a 1948 map of Dublin. The yellow on the roads represent the bus routes. The 83 is the yellow line terminating at the schools on Armagh Road:
https://www.swilson.info/maps/Dublinc1948.php

Thanks Csalem for that information

[Csalem]

This week we are going back a mere eight years and two very different generations of buses. Dublin Bus EV 9 is seen parked on Marlborough Street after arriving with a service on route 130 from Castle Avenue. Behind it is preserved RA 37 dressed for the long-gone route 30 to Dollymount.
EV 37 is an Enviro 400 built by Alexander Dennis on a Volvo chassis in 2007. It is currently still in service with Dublin Bus, and has spent all of its career (so far) in Clontarf Garage. RA 37 is a Leyland Titan PD3/2 that was delivered new to CIE in 1959. It spent its entire career in Dublin, initially in Ringsend Garage, and ended its days in Clontarf Garage. It arrived there in 1976 and was withdrawn un 1982, when it passed to preservation.
Route 30 commenced running between the City Centre and Dollymount in 1937. In 1996 it was combined with the 44A to become City Imp route 130. In the early 2000s the route was subsumed into the regular network as the City Imp brand was slowly dropped.
This layover on Marlborough Street has in more recent times become a tram stop on the Luas Green Line. 02/12/2012

Throwback Thursday (256) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we go back thirty-seven years to 1983. KD 110 is seen in Beresford Place with a service on route 27B to Castletimon. This route started operating in 1971 and operated via Fairview, Malahide Road and Ardlea Road. It did a loop around the housing estate in Castletimon. In the late-1990s it started serving Beaumont Hospital by looping in off Kilbarron Road. In the early 200s the route was extended north to Harristown Garage via Santry, but it still did the loop around Beaumont Hospital and the one around Castletimon. Harristown Garage also became responsible for operating the route, although the 27 and 27A stayed in Clontarf Garage. In the early days of Network Direct there was a proposal to merge the route with the 79/A and it would operate from Park West to Coolock Lane. A pull in spot was even built on Coolock Lane but it the merger did not happen. Then in 2016 a timetable appeared where the route would again operate from Coolock Lane to Heuston Station. However, after objections from people in Santry who would lose their link with Beaumont Hospital, this never happened either. Bus Connects may finally see off the 27B over the next few years.
KD 110 was delivered new to Dublin in 1982. It was withdrawn in the mid-1990s.
No bus stops at this point in Beresford Square anymore as it is now the route of the tram tracks for the Luas Red Line. The 27B has its terminus on Eden Quay. 09/12/1983

Throwback Thursday (257) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we are going back ten years and to the final year of another bus route in Dublin. Dublin Bus VG 35 is seen at the terminus of the 20B on Ardlea Road. Except it is not. In reality it is Maryfield Road (just off Ardlea Road) in Beaumont. The 20B has a relatively short history, tracing its roots back to 1979. It was a derivative of the 20, which started running on 1939. However, during the 1980s the 20B came to replace the 20 as the main route to the Beaumont area via the Malahide Road. Initially the 20B had Bulfin Road as its southern terminus but it was cut back to the city centre after a decade. Some peak services continued to serve St Stephen's Green. In August 2011 the 20B was merged with the 14 and became the new cross city route 14 to Dundrum.
VG 35 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2009. It was one of fifty Wright Gemini double-deckers delivered to the company between 2008 and 2009. They marked the beginning of the Wrights dominance on the fleet as they were followed by 160 GTs and over 600 SGs. 2021 will be the first time in a long time that new double-deckers will enter service with Dublin that are not built by Wrights in Northern Ireland. VG 34 - 50 were based in Summerhill Garage. VG 36 - 48 were used on Airlink services and painted in Airlink livery, while the remaining four buses could appear on regular services as well as on the Airlink. However, around 2015 all four were repainted out of the yellow / blue standard livery and into Airlink livery for use on the 747, and later the 757. They can still appear sometimes on routes like the 16. 18/12/2010

Throwback Thursday (258) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we are going back thirty-two years and a look at a future that could have been MD 1 is seen on Marlborough Street after arriving with a service on route 32. MD 1 was one of two demonstrators evaluated by Dublin Bus in late 1988 as it considered what new buses to purchase to modernise its fleet. The bus was an MCW Metrobus with a Cummins engine. The bus was used in all Dublin Bus garages during its time in Ireland. When it returned to the UK it was sold to Stevenson's. MCW were obviously keen to get the contract to supply buses to Ireland as they painted the bus up in Dublin Bus livery. The second demonstrator was a Leyland Olympian and it came in an all white livery. However, between 1990 and 1999, 640 Olympians entered service with Dublin Bus, compared to 0 Metrobus's. The streets of Dublin could have looked very different if the order had gone the other way.
Route 32 can trace its origins back to the Great Northern Railway (Ireland), and passed to CIE in 1958. It mainly operated between Dublin and Portmarnock, with some services to Malahide operating as route 32A. In November 2012, routes 32 and 32A were merged into just the 32 and operates from Dublin to Malahide via Portmarnock.
23/12/1988

Throwback Thursday (259) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

To mark the end of the year we are going back 29 years to 1991. KD 348 is seen on Parnell Square dressed for route 40A to Cappagh Hospital. Route 40A started running to Finglas in 1932, seven years after route 40 started. The 40A terminus was on Cappagh Road, whereas the 40 terminated on Plunkett Road. Up until the early-2000s a number of departures on the 40A were extended to / from Cappagh Hospital. In 2011 the 40A was taken off the bus network when it was merged with the 40 and 78A to become the new cross-city route 40.
The bus is in an all-over ad for Telecom Eireann Callcards. I am sure for a certain generation of people these must seem like a very arcane item, whereas other people may recall them with great fondness. Introduced in the late 1980s the cards were a way for people to make calls on public phones without having to carry a lot of loose change around with them. In some ways they served as the prototype to phone credit that people use on their mobile phones nowadays. The cards were very popular during the 1990s, and even became collectible items with their varied designs and denominations. However, with the arrival of the mobile phones in the late 1990s, the cards along with public pay-phones became a thing of the past. Telecom Eireann also became a thing of the past in 1999 when it was privatised and first rebranded as Eircom, and later as Eir.
KD 348 was one of 366 double-deckers delivered to CIE in the 1980s by Bombardier. It was delivered new in 1983 and was withdrawn around 1999. 31/12/1991

Throwback Thursday (260) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we are going back to 1998 and to KC 121 on Marlborough Street. The bus is dressed for route 42B. This route can trace its origins back to 1958. Initially it terminated in Artane but in 1966 it (and the 42A) was extended to Harmonstown. In the early 1980s it was extended to Blunden Drive and there it remained until 2011, although its routing around the Harmonstown area varied over the years. In September 2011 the 42B effectively became the new route 27A.
KC 121 was delivered new to CIE in 1985. initially it was based in Dundalk Garage, but over its career it operated out of five more garages. In 1986 it moved to Dublin and went to Conyngham Road, 1994 to Summerhill, 1997 to Clontarf, and 1999 to Donnybrook. In 2000 it then returned to the provincial fleet and became a school bus based out of Tralee. It is also worth noting that in 1994 it was stolen and extensively damaged but was repaired by Louth Commercials.
10/01/1998

Throwback Thursday (261) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we go back to 1987 to a very snowy Dublin. R 819 is seen giving D 483 a hand in Earlsfort Terrace. R 819 was delivered new to CIE as a double-decker bus in 1958. It started life in Clontarf Garage but was withdrawn in 1976. The bus was then converted into a tow-car and took up this role in Ringsend Garage around 1978. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus around 1989 and passed to the Transport Museum in Howth as a source of spare parts. It had a longer career than D 483 which was delivered new to CIE in 1973. It started its career in Limerick but moved to Ringsend Garage in Dublin in 1985. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in March 1987.
Dublin Bus itself was formed less than a month after this photo was taken, on the 2nd February 1987.
The National Concert Hall dominates the background. It was built in 1865 for the Dublin International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures. It then became University College Dublin in 1908 before becoming the National Concert Hall in 1981 when most of UCD moved to Belfield.
The snow of 1987 started on January 11th and didn't start to thaw until the 15th. Dublin Airport recorded a depth of 19cm which is not a very common occurrence in Dublin.
13/01/1987

Throwback Thursday (262) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[cogito]

Great pic.... I remember that week - caught everyone on the hop.

[Csalem]

This week we are going back to 1998 and MA 15 at Bray Station (although the destination says Bray Depot Station). The bus is operating a service on route 145. Back then, the 145 was a local service around Bray. Starting in the mid-1990s it served the Palermo estate on the northern side of the town, and Ballywaltrim and Kilmacanogue on the southern side. It was one of those Dublin Bus routes that operated in Wicklow and not Dublin. Also, being a local service, it operated under the Localink brand which had been introduced in the late 1980s by Dublin Bus. Like most brands created by Dublin Bus, it was later phased out. However there was a brief private operated service in the Ballinteer area called Locolink and the current national rural bus service operates as Local Link.
The 145 underwent a massive transformation in 2004 when it became a radial route from Kilmacanogoue to Dublin city centre via Bray and the Stillorgan QBC. For all intents and purposes it became a new route. Later it was revised slightly to run between Heuston Station and Ballywaltrim. It has become one of the busier routes in the city and for a period was a regular home to tri-axle double-deckers.
MA 15 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1993 and withdrawn around 2000/2001.
The railway station in Bray opened in 1854. It became the southern terminus for the DART in 1984.
20/01/1998

Throwback Thursday (263) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we go back thirty-three years to 1988 and D 785 on O'Connell Street. The bus is in an all-over ad for Denny food that is celebrating Dublin's 1000th birthday. It received this late in 1987, or early 1988, and was the first Dublin Bus all over ad. Though not the first all over ad bus in Dublin, but all other previous examples had been in CIE days. In 1989 the ad was modified with the messaging changed to mark 160 years of Denny. In late 1990 the bus was repainted back into standard Dublin Bus livery.
D 785 was delivered new to CIE in 1976 and operated out of Donnybrook Garage. Around 1991 it moved to Ringsend Garage where it went on to be the last D Class to operate there. Its last trip in service was on route 15B on the 22nd April 1995.
Route 11 started in 1939 running between Ballymun Road and Clonskea. Over the years it was extended to Wadelai Park on the northside and Kilmacud on the southside. Under Network Direct in 2011 the southern terminus was relocated to Sandyford Business District.
The bus is stopped outside the BHS department store, though nowadays it is home to Pennys. Easons in the background is still there in 2021.
29/01/1988

Throwback Thursday (264) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we go back twenty-five years to 1992 and RH 132 on Marlborough Street. The bus is dressed for route 20A. The was the first of two derivatives to route 20. The 20 started in 1939 and connected Donnycarney with Bulfin Road. The 20A started in 1948 and ran from Donnycarney North (Killester Avenue) to the city centre via Malahide Road and Fairview. The 20B started in 1980 and ran from Beaumont (Ardlea Road) to ythe city centre. This latter route outlived the other two routes. The 20A started to be merged into the 20B around 1997. Departures were reduced on the 20A and certain departures on the 20B operated via the 20A route. In June 1999 the 20A was finally withdrawn when the 42A was rerouted along Collins Avenue to replace the 20A. The 20A outlasted the 20 by 9 years, and the 20B kept going until it was absorbed into the 14 in 2011. In 1970 the 20A gained one notable footnote in the timetable when one departure in the morning ran from Donnycarney to North Wall for dock workers. There was however no return working.
RH 132 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1992. It was one of twenty-eight Olympians delivered that year. In 1997 it was painted into CitySwift livery, though did not receive the same interior as the new CitySwift Olympians. In 2005 it was withdrawn from the regular fleet and joined the driving school. The following year in 2006 it was sold to Dualway Coaches and became an open-top tour bus. However the bus was destroyed in a fire in the Dualway garage in 2011.
11/02/1996

Throwback Thursday (266) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

[Csalem]

This week we are going back thirty-nine years to 1982 and the last days of an era. CIE's RA 126 is seen on Inns Quay with a service on route 24 from Marino to Heuston Bridge. This bus was delivered new to CIE in 1962. This rear-entry, half cab double-decker bus was one of the last to enter service in Ireland (The final type was the R900s between 1964 and 1965). However, the RAs were the final type to be in service. RA 126 was withdrawn, and scrapped, shortly after this picture was taken. The final day of operation for the RAs was in April 1982. RA 126 initially entered service in Summerhill Garage and moved to Conyngham Road in 1967. Behind RA 126 is the most modern type of bus in Dublin at the time, a KD Bombardier.
Route 24 started in 1938 running between Marino and Parkgate Street initially, though it was quickly extended to Bulfin Road. In the 1970s it was cut back to Sean Heuston Bridge. In 1990 it was extended to Drimnagh but the route was completely replaced by City Imp route 123 in 1994.
Finally it is worth noting the bus is heading westbound on the north quays of the River Liffey. In August 1982 the direction of travel on the north and south quays were reversed and it has remained that way to this day in 2021. 18/02/1982

Throwback Thursday (267) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr