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I travelled to Leas Cross on the last route 60, and I have a photo, which I hope to put on this site within days. Below is a history of the route.



DUBLIN BUS ROUTE 60 - A BRIEF HISTORY

The route 60 dates from 1932 when DUTC (the bus operator for Dublin prior to merging to form CIE in 1945) started a route 51A to Ballymun. It was extended to Boot Inn in 1934, and to Leas X in 1936, and then renumbered as the 60. The route, until 1990, was out and back via Drumcondra, Griffith Ave., Ballymun and Boot Inn.

In 1939 there were 3 services a day (Mon - Fri); 4 on Sat. and 5 on Sun. to Leas X. In addition, there were 3 to Boot Inn (weekdays) and 7 on Sun. The Boot Inn shorts were all later withdrawn, probably war time economies. The 1947 weekday times were:
From Eden Quay 0740 1315 SO 1820 2245
From Leas X 0815 1350 SO 1910 2325
The Sunday service included a Mass bus from Leas X to Ballymun at 0810, returning at 0915.
By 1950, two extra services to Boot Inn only had been introduced, at 0900 and 1440 from Eden Quay. These were later extended to Leas X. The schedule hardly changed at all between the 1950s and 1981, except for some minor change of times, with 5 on Mon to Fri, 6 on Sat, and 5 plus Mass bus on Sun.

The service was originally operated by single deckers, and by 1947 was integrated with the 41. About 1948 the 41 got double deckers, and these were probably used on the 60 from then on. When the two extra journeys were introduced, to Boot Inn only, they were operated out of Clontarf, with N type single deckers. Double deckers were put on these journeys later in the 1950s, but they continued to be operated by Clontarf until the late 60s or early 70s. Apparently the Clontarf crew often did not know where Leas X was, and had to rely on a regular passenger, a Garda sergeant, to tell them!

A new 41 schedule in 1981 saw the introduction of the 41C, and also changes to the 60. The late night journey was withdrawn, and the 0800 and 1515 departures from Leas X operated via Swords. An arrangement was made that passengers could board at Boot Inn and travel via Leas X and Swords without paying twice. Apparently there were two regulars that this applied to. The Mass bus was also withdrawn at the same time, and the Sunday frequency reduced to two journeys. In 1987 the road from Ballymun to Boot Inn was closed to facilitate the new runway at the airport. This added about three or four miles to the route, as the buses had to go all around the new perimeter road.

In July the 1990 OPO timetable saw the end to reverse termini, and all 60s were routed to the city via Swords. The evening journey (1835 from Eden Quay) was withdrawn, Saturday reduced to two journeys, and Sunday service taken off. The outbound route was also changed to operate via Swords Rd. as far as the Airport, instead of via Ballymun.

A book produced in 1967 called Dublins Buses showed a photograph of N15, a pre-war Leyland single decker, parked wrong side of the road at Eden Quay, on route 60. This was a Clontarf bus. In October 1975, R798, a 1958 Leyland, overturned at a sharp turn just north of Ballymun while operating on route 60. The bus was withdrawn.

The buses operating the 41 and 60 would have been as follows:
1936 - 1948 A and N type single deckers
1948 - 1957 R261 - 265 Queen Marys (dated from 1946/7)
1957 - 1964 R700s (new in 1957)
1964 - 1966 R900s (new in 1964/5)
1966 - 1971 RA 81 - 85 (new in 1959)
1971 - 1982 Ds, initially 200s, later 400s
1982 - 1990 KDs, mainly KD71 - 90 batch
1990 - 1998 RH 19 - 30 and 1997 built RVs



The last route 60 journey was the 1544 from Leas Cross on Saturday, 13 June 1998. The bus was RV376 and driver Michael Finglas.




RV376 at Omni on way back to city.

Al,
Would you please check your facts before posting. The statement that "There were but two actual 41A trips, through the 1970s; everything else in the 41A timetable was actually a 41 trip, so the 41A was a sort of redundant service" is probably more incorrect than anything I have ever read on this board. There were loads of 41As in the 1970s. A glance at the timetable for 1981 (the last before the 41C was introduced) shows that there were 17 official 41A journeys on Mon - Fri. In fact, there were lots more, as many universals ran as 41A for airport staff.

Now can you please tell me where you got the idea that buses ran to River Valley as 41 with footnote? There are no such in any timetable that I can find. And my memory is that NO buses ran to River Valley until the new timetable was introduced in 1981, and that from the start these buses were 41C. 41A continued as a City Centre - Airport route until 1990, but from 1981 on was at a very low frequency, officially (again, there were many extra journeys, and there was a Sunday morning service).

It would not have been possible to use 41A for the River Valley service, as this route number was still in use for airport services, and was very much in the consciousness of users as the airport route number. It required time with 41A redundant before its number could be used for an alternative service to Swords (and this was particularly confusing, as the first 41As to Glen Ellan were in fact the only 41s NOT to serve the airport!).