Friday 7 June 2013

666 Number Of The Beast

664 Is The Bloke Next Door

My latest blogpost: 666 Number Of The BeastTweet this! Posted by Mark Wadsworth at 21:34

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

In 666 there lives a Mister Miller/He's our local vicar and a serial killer

7 June 2013 at 22:48
Physiocrat said...

Route 666 ran between Edgware (Station Road) and Hammersmith Broadway via Burnt Oak, Colindale, West Hendon, Staples Corners, Cricklewood, Willesden, Church Road, Harlesden, North Acton, Acton, Acton Vale and Starch Green. It is now bus route 266.

8 June 2013 at 07:48
Bayard said...

The Southern Railway chickened out: There was a engine number 665 and one numbered 667, but there wasn't one numbered 666. It would have been called "The Beast" I suppose, whatever its official name was.

8 June 2013 at 23:22
Derek said...

So, Phys, you are saying that 666 was the Number of the Bus...

9 June 2013 at 01:52
Physiocrat said...

666 was a trolleybus. The London trolleybuses routes were numbered in the 500 and 600 series, usually by adding 500 or 600 to the number of the previous tram routes.

But the Southern Railway did have a locomotive number 666 It will not be in the later lists because it was scrapped in 1943. The number was the one given when it was built by the London and South Western Railway in 1895. They did not believe in that sort of nonsense in those days. LSWR locomotives kept the same numbers when the Southern Railway was formed in 1923 and then had 30000 added on nationalisation, so it would have been 30666 if it had lasted till 1948. On nationalisation the LNER did not have any locomotives numbered between 600 and 699 so there was nothing between 60600 and 60699.

9 June 2013 at 06:49
Derek said...

Ah, right. Number of the Trolleybus doesn't have quite the same ring about it. However I am glad to report that as I sat in my hotel this morning eating my breakfast and gazing through the window at the passers-by, a route 666 bus went by. So they still exist in Beijing even if they are a bit thin on the ground in London these days.

9 June 2013 at 10:07
Mark Wadsworth said...

D, I love the idea of "666 number of the bus", but how does the rhyme finish?

9 June 2013 at 11:44
Bayard said...

P, well done for finding a picture. My information must have been based on the later lists. It looks like a handsome locomotive. I wonder if it was known, unofficially, as "the Beast". More people read the Bible in those days.

9 June 2013 at 11:52
Derek said...

Not sure, MW. If we keep the theme the same then I might get away with...
Hammersmith, was spawned to torture us
..and then point out that the last lines of the other two verses mentioning the Beast didn't rhyme in the original either. So...
half-price fares for everyone tonight
...and...
Six-six-six the route for you and me
...will do nicely.

9 June 2013 at 15:55
Mark Wadsworth said...

D, how about

"666 - number of the bus
668 - the number of times it's late"?

9 June 2013 at 16:49
Derek said...

Oh, right. Sounds fine. I thought you meant the Iron Maiden song when you mentioned "rhyme". Hadn't noticed that "door" rhymed with "four" in your original post.


9 June 2013 at 17:12

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