Photo of the Week - Week 26:
Donnybrook's WV51 is seen on a rare allocation to Route 18 appraching its terminus on the Old Lucan Road on the 23rd April 2012.
WVs on the 18 are rare. I love finding these little buses on the rarest of routes. Rush hour can lead to some interesting allocations to Route 18. Routes that pull in and out of a garage can be an enthusiast dream, or an enthusiast nightmare for two different reasons. They are a nightmare in that the schedule is hard to follow, buses aren't simply going back and forth en route, instead they are running light back and forth to garage and then running special to one of the termini, seemingly in a completely random fashion. There is always the possibility that they will not return onto the same route at all, being either pulled or taken onto another route that pulls out of the same garage.
The 2nd June 2012 saw one of those horrible days chasing a bus on the 18. I had been tipped off that AV262 was out on the 18 in its Vodafone wrap, so I made my way to Sandymount and lay in wait. One quick rear shot and it pulled back into the garage. 2 and a half hours, randomly waiting at various locations en route, and it never returned. No idea where it went, though thankfully I caught up with the next day on Route 14 (see here).
The reason that routes that pull out of the garage can be interesting is because sometimes the rarest buses get allocated during peak periods. Depending on breakdowns and other factors during the day, there may not be anything other than a WV or an RV to pull out, and thus the 18 can sometimes be allocated same. Though the 18 is annoying, being a route that pulls in and out of a garage, it has one nice feature which most others don't have. Its a long winding route, whose termini can be much more quickly travelled via the City Centre. On this day WV51 was photographed on Waterloo Road (below), before a 67X drectly to Palmerstown to wait for its arrival at the Old Lucan Road. Unfortunately prior commitments meant I could neither afford the time to walk up to the terminus, not wait for its return. Looking at these photos, I can't help being greedy for just one more shot.
Donnybrook's WV51 is seen operating Route 18 on the Waterloo Road on the 23rd April 2012.