It's been a long, long time since the last conductor was seen on the 85, which has ploughed between Putney Bridge Station and Kingston with barely a change since it took over this routeing from the southernmost end of the 14, which was curtailed at Putney and now terminates at Putney Heath. One-man operation arrived on 2nd January 1971 with SMS single-deckers, which were not welcomed at all and departed in just a year when DMSs arrived to restore the upper deck. In 1982 Norbiton gained an allocation with Ms, and the following spring Metrobuses came to Putney too. In 1987 the 85 became part of the ill-fated Kingston Bus tendered scheme, the cheap-rate nature of which damaged industrial relations for many years. Adding insult to injury, the newish Metrobuses were rotated away and replaced by resuscitated DMSs taken from the training fleet. After three years, the unit lost most of its work on tender and London & Country won the 85, with smart and very high capacity East Lancs-bodied Volvo Citybuses. In 1998 these were replaced by DAF DB250s in Arriva blue, but Arriva was already starting to disintegrate in this part of the country and had to start dumping both routes and garages in order to survive. London United hosted the 85 at their own Fulwell garage for some months, then took it over in their own right, along with the buses (which were treated to the smart London United livery of the day and DN class codes). In 2003 the next (and current) contract was won by London General, bringing the story full circle with the permanent return of Putney garage alone. Their buses on the 85 comprise WVL-class Volvo B7TLs from a dedicated batch that was swiftly followed by a large order for use on the 74 and 430.

In this shot RML 2535 swings into Eden Street through the hopelessly complicated Kingston one-way system, ready to take up the 14:12 journey to Putney Bridge Station (or at least close to that point, as the station forecourt is closed for reconstruction). Thanks to all concerned for providing an enjoyable day out, and let's have more excursions of this kind!