Two guest vehicles from other parts of the Metroline family came up to work the 84 and 242 for the day, but to the bitter disappointment of myself and numerous others, certain members of staff at Potters Bar refused to take the three Ms out at all to join them, and they stayed in the corner of the garage. For the first time ever in my observation, all seven of the 84's workings were operated by AV-class Volvo Olympians. The 242 saw one AV, a TP and Dart DL 4, which was barely worth bothering with at all. So a lot of wasted time was entailed hanging about waiting for M 1 and RMC 1513 to come back from their jaunts while I would have preferred to bid PB's Ms a send-off in the interim with a few rides, but thankfully Sullivan Buses rescued what was turning into an inglorious finish by operating RM 1069 and M 1309 on their local route 398. The discount passes sold on the RMC and M were thoughtfully extended to the 398's extras for the day, making it a full day out for those who made the trip this far north. Recalling an earlier era of 84s, Merlin MB 641 also came out for a run with invited guests, though not in service.

I do know that step-entrance vehicles are theoretically forbidden from TfL routes as of a few weeks ago (to hell with whether the use of a minibus in their stead, as is now the case at Sutton, or the cutting of the bus altogether, inconveniences any other passengers), but neither the 84 and 242 are wholly TfL services - indeed, I was under the impression that the Ms' stay of execution was due to the unwillingness of Hertfordshire County Council to increase their part-funding of the routes in order to provide full-time low-floor buses.

Intriguingly, there's still an open ending to the story. The timetable for the special workings stated that "this may NOT be the last day that a Metrobus is used", so if an AV goes mechanical (not out of the question - especially with regard to the heating!), one of the three Ms may just be able to get out yet, for one last time. Anybody local to the area, keep a look out, and for those drivers at PB whom I know prefer the Ms over anything built since, take your chance! Unfortunately, I can't spare any more time off to monitor the 84 and 242, so I'm doubly irritated at what happened today. But it would be strangely fitting if nobody ended up being able to record the last scheduled M working, because nobody was able to record the first! Historians (i.e me, who's going to have his work cut out piecing all this together one of these days) can only date the service debut of the M to within a week, when M 1-3 turned out as crew buses on the 16 in November 1978.

TOP: With the withdrawal of M 1189 last month and M 1042 (ironically, a recent repaint) missing, the last three Potters Bar Metrobuses are M 1076, 1197 and 1250 (B76, 197, 250 WUL), all in Metroline livery. They are seen just inside the garage, and all are blinded for the routes they should have been working today.

MIDDLE: The appearance of M 1 (THX 101S) on the 242 later in the day was worth the disappointment of the regular Ms not being allowed to appear, as the 242 is exceptionally picturesque, drifting up and down the rolling hills and farmland of Northaw and Cuffley. Before deregulation took it away from London Transport (although it has remained with Potters Bar under tender to Hertfordshire County Council ever since), it operated beyond Waltham Cross to Chingford, a section pretty much devoid of buses today. The first of the Metrobuses, crew-operated for the day by volunteers (to whom thanks are due!) is seen arriving at Waltham Cross's recently redeveloped bus station at 5:20 pm.

BOTTOM: The 398 saw two oddities to join its regular Dart. For today's purposes I'm featuring M 1309 (C309 BUV), a Metrobus that spent its entire service career at Tottenham garage. It was sold into preservation but passed to Sullivan Buses, retaining the smart and unusual livery given to it by its first post-Arriva London North owner. It is seen drawing up to Potters Bar Station. The 398 was created to cover the withdrawal of the 298's Clare Hall section and runs on to Borehamwood. Many years ago, the trunk route 29 would get all the way out here from Victoria!