This page is for bus related articles, detailed or reminiscent, amusing or serious, long or short, with or without pictures, in fact, anything goes, something is always interesting to somebody.
In the early 1950s, a few municipal operators experimented with dual entrance/exit underfloor engined saloons, although the entrance was at the extreme rear, and the exit at the front beside the driver.
Prior to 1876 there existed no provision for regular public transport within the town of Kingston upon Hull, such transport as was available being in the form of horse-drawn wagonettes.
The evolution of bus design is a fascinating subject and probably happened faster in the 1929-1939 period, than in any other period.
In July 2002 I spent some time working in Scotland and travelled home by many routes.
One such journey was on a B road in Central Scotland and I saw a derelict coach parked in an orchard. I could not see sufficient detail to identify the coach so I made a note to bring my camera the following week.
I purchased this machine from a chap in Kent who had used it as a corporate hospitality vehicle and therefore it had lost two or three rows of seats upstairs to make way for food storage cupboards. Apart from this it seemed to be in good original condition, and, with the need for ongoing reliability, had been kept in good mechanical fettle.
I have owned a picture of a Motor Traction Co. Ltd. bus for over fifty five years and have yet to find anyone who can identify the make of this vehicle with any certainty.
A heavy snowfall starting about 18:00hrs was the prelude to an hour of chaos on services 61/63 on Greystones Road between 19:00 and 20:00hrs.
This is a tale of coincidence and collaboration that shows how shared research between enthusiasts can solve mysteries.
Although I was at one time a member of The Omnibus Society, I have never seen any reference to the LGOC ever experimenting with the conversion of horse buses to petrol power.
It is easy to forget how heavily we relied on buses during the 1950s when car ownership was so much lower than it is today. Any major function was an occasion to run a special bus service.
The English Electric Company, and its predecessors in the Dick Kerr group, were the largest producers of tramcar bodies in the UK, and had established a sound business platform in the successor business of bus and trolleybus bodies by 1932.
A question regarding the origin of the Halifax Corporation Livery was asked on the 'Q&As' page, there was only one answer, and it was far too good to be lost in a long list on the 'Previous Q&As' page.
I am sorry if you have read it before but archiving informative 'Q&As' either as a 'Top Question' or as in this case an 'Article' gives it its own identity on the search engines Google for example.
The pleas for a stop continued, I continued to ignore them for which, the next day I was to be read the riot act by F.E. – on reflection well justified!
When I was nobbut a very young lad, we used to go on holiday to Morecambe or Bridlington, as did most Bradfordians.
By 1945, after six years of warfare, the nation’s bus and coach fleets were in desperate need of renewal or replacement. PSV production during the years of the conflict had been limited, by and large, to two types of vehicle – a double-decker available in highbridge or lowbridge forms (initially on Guy Arab chassis but later also offered on AEC, Bristol, and Daimler running units) and a 32-seat single-decker based on a simplified Bedford chassis known as the OWB.
This sparked off comments from several people listing known Non London Transport RTs this in return intrigued me enough to do a little research of my own and I came up with the following
Now back in nineteen seventy, when I was ne’r but twenty
I had call for swift employment, as was best
Leaving College prematurely, it was only proper surely
As my love life had given birth to an extra quest
To the south of Great Bridgewater Street things were less precise. The central “island” shelter carried signs indicating stands 18-21, but as far as I can remember there were no destination signs. Generally speaking the area to the west of the “island” was North Western territory while that to the east was a Ribble zone
AS AN ENERGY-storage system for a bus, a tank of diesel takes some beating: it is compact, fits whatever shape is available, providing plenty of operating range. And, crucially, the up-front cost is modest...
There have been several non too complimentary comments about AEC in these pages over the last few months. Are they justified? For the most part, yes – but they need to be taken in context.
My father worked for British Railways in Nottingham, so we made the very best use of our free rail travel. A favourite destination was Cornwall, and since the railway came to an end at Penzance, it was usually Penzance!
Few would disagree that the most elegant of all the new offerings of 1950-51 came from H V Burlingham of Blackpool.
Looking up, a full moon was shining out of a starry sky. Looking down, I couldn't see my feet!
Although the Guy was flat out at around 34-35 mph it would, in true Gardner style, maintain almost the same speed with a full load ‘up a house side’.
At this the French lady became even more agitated, and cried out “It is too dangerous. We cannot go on.
Most nights laying in bed you could hear the last bus around 10.50pm pulling away from St. Stephens in the so quite nights back then.
"Where were you at 2.50pm yesterday (Saturday) and for the ensuing four hours"
I triumphantly peeled off the greased paper, set the piston on the table and said: "Here's your ashtray---but treat it with care, because you never know when we might need it!" That was intended as a joke...
Returning to the bus at 11.00pm we found the usual full load on board and set forth for Ilkley.
"I missed them when they went, but a kid of ten can't just go out and buy a bus for posterity."
"There are many things about old buses that interest us fans, and for me this includes memories of the people who worked them."
"From home a trip to visit him was at first an epic journey involving 3 different buses, run by 3 different operators, with 3 different coloured liveries and just for good measure they had 3 different ticket systems too."
"I hope to prove this by taking you on this "virtual" journey by bus over what was Leeds City Transport's route 54 from Rodley to Halton Moor via the city centre."
Like most of us, I've got a long "If only..." list
A lot has been said about Sheffield not having a standard bus - unlike London, Manchester and Birmingham. This may have been true but...
I blame my dad.
He just happened to be an inspector with Potteries Motor Traction in Stoke-on-Trent when I was growing up...
What does Ebeneezer do for New Year? He goes to bed early so that he can get to Winchester for 08:30 on New Year’s Day.
I guess Bartons didn’t want their regular clientele to be invaded by a marauding crowd of 8-11 year olds, who had just been let out of school.
Jack emerged with the enquiry “Will you work your rest day on Monday at The Moorfield, Kid ??”
I agreed at once – I might just have thought twice about it if long range weather forecasts had been around in those days !!
Here are some happy reminiscences from personal experience on a class of Daimler vehicles which hold a very special place in Samuel Ledgard history.
It is fascinating how wide spread were bodies that I thought were in the minority in the early post-war boom.
I grew up in York in the 1950's; it was quite a good town to observe different bus operators.
transmission music of a pre-selector was quite different from the Mark II crash gearbox
Information regarding front entrance London Transport, BEA and Northern General Routemasters and why there was only one rear engined version.
A very well detailed description of the maroon and cream paintwork on the Willowbrook Leyland Tigers and the body styles of the utility Guy Arabs of Yorkshire Woollen District.
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