For those interested in old buses (and coaches)

[SRman]

The UB40 Album advert is a bit of a dead giveaway. 1982 I believe.

 

 

 

As is the LT 'district' roundel although I can't make out which district it represents.

[PhilJ W]

As is the LT 'district' roundel although I can't make out which district it represents.

The squirrel was Forest District.

[runs as required]

A question that came up the other night between a handful of us wrinklies 'over a jar'. We had been discussing how long we might keep driving and one admitted he worried now about how easily one might be involved in a possibly fatal accident - something that had never nagged at him when younger.

We wondered whether that was far more so for a PSV driver with 60 odd souls behind you depending upon your safe driving?

You don't get paid much for all that liability!

And who gets paid most - a Motorway express driver, a rural driver out in the sticks, or a driver in a congested Metropolitan area?

dh

[JDW]

A question that came up the other night between a handful of us wrinklies 'over a jar'. We had been discussing how long we might keep driving and one admitted he worried now about how easily one might be involved in a possibly fatal accident - something that had never nagged at him when younger.

We wondered whether that was far more so for a PSV driver with 60 odd souls behind you depending upon your safe driving?

You don't get paid much for all that liability!

And who gets paid most - a Motorway express driver, a rural driver out in the sticks, or a driver in a congested Metropolitan area?

dh

 

I can only speak for myself here, and I'm assuming I'm much younger than you (mid 30s).  As far as the worry about an accident goes, if we worried about that we'd never go anywhere, from a personal perspective I know that I'm one of the better drivers out there so the chances of an accident are probably much lower despite the much higher mileage.  Whether I'd feel the same in 30 years I don't know - there is an easy argument that the bad luck would catch up with you eventually.  At the end of the day though, I also know that day-to-day I do everything possible to get people where they need to go safely, and there's no reason for that to diminish with time, at least as long as I am physically and mentally fit enough to continue.  In 13 years I've driven more miles not wearing a seatbelt (they aren't fitted to most buses, it wasn't a requirement until recently), and with unsecured children in pushchairs just sat with their brakes on against the side of the bus, and with elderly people standing, others not holding on, than most people have driven in their life, without major catastrophe.  

 

As far as pay goes, generally bus drivers have better pay and conditions than [tour/express] coach drivers but that depends on operators and areas.  

[Rugd1022]

The UB40 Album advert is a bit of a dead giveaway. 1982 I believe.

 

Thanks - hadn't noticed that when I posted it!

 

[runs as required]

As far as pay goes, generally bus drivers have better pay and conditions than [tour/express] coach drivers but that depends on operators and areas.  

Thanks for your answering post - very interesting,

I agree, one cannot drive fearfully;  good PSV driving, I suspect, is like being a well trained pilot, well rehearsed in checks and procedures, especially for emergencies.

As a.child, I imagined bus driving similar to engine driving - you worked your way up to the old guys at the top of the pile - like Driver Sparshatt.!

 

I suppose too (without wishing to get into politics) that the pros and cons of Unionisation come into train versus bus driving.

dh

[RThompson]

The pay does depend on companies and even garages.

 

Agreed coaches do pay less than service buses.

 

As an operator myself who does just private hires and rail replacement services, my pay rate is slightly more than a lot of firms in my area but it's only casual work and not full time.

 

I would go out and say, for the responsibilities drivers have in driving up to 100 people at any one time and driving round in potentially brand new £220,000 to £350,000 buses or coaches, the pay rate is rubbish.

 

In some areas you could earn more stacking shelves in a supermarket than driving a bus.

 

Unfortunately on the other side of the coin, the bus and coach industry is suffering for a variety of reasons and I applaud companies that are doing well and doing a good job.

[Steamport Southport]

The UB40 Album advert is a bit of a dead giveaway. 1982 I believe.

 

Red, Red Bus...

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Gwiwer]

A question that came up the other night between a handful of us wrinklies 'over a jar'. We had been discussing how long we might keep driving and one admitted he worried now about how easily one might be involved in a possibly fatal accident - something that had never nagged at him when younger.

We wondered whether that was far more so for a PSV driver with 60 odd souls behind you depending upon your safe driving?

You don't get paid much for all that liability!

And who gets paid most - a Motorway express driver, a rural driver out in the sticks, or a driver in a congested Metropolitan area?

dh

 

That is one reason why PSV drivers (what ever category they currently fall into - licence details change over the years) are required to take more tests and have medicals at certain intervals later in their working lives.  Subject to fitness there is no real limit but most operators would consider the risks rose with age and potentially redeploy anyone seeking to remain employed much beyond 70.

 

Rates of pay do vary as others have mentioned.  When I last drove professionally we were poorly paid even by industry standards but had one of the only full-time year-round jobs in Cornwall.  Your hourly rate was determined by the size of bus you were rostered to drive with minibuses attracting the lowest rate and 'deckers the top rate.  If you were allocated a vehicle which attracted a higher rate of pay than scheduled (for example if a single decker was not available and you were given a double) you were paid the enhanced rate; if a smaller vehicle was provided you retained your rostered rate.  In our case the National Express coach drivers were the best-paid but local coaching work was poorly paid as much of it relied upon competitive tendering for school runs with numerous other operators ready and willing to pick up the work if you priced too high.

 

The exception to all of this was for the few remaining "commercial" drivers who had been with the company since before privatisation and were guaranteed a rather higher "commercial" rate what ever they drove, contract or otherwise.  Commercial rate approximated to 'decker rate though was I believe slightly better.  Length of service only counted inasmuch as you were on "starter" rate for three months thereafter you earned according to vehicle size as above.  

 

You could certainly earn better money in other jobs but those included trawler deckhand, RAF helicopter mechanic and ambulance paramedic.  Not exactly open to all.

[Mad McCann]

I myself have been driving professionally for 18 months now and (touch wood) so far, so good. It probably helps having come into the game in my fifties which means I'm probably a bit more experienced than younger drivers with the addition of police training too. My work is mainly urban with a bit of short/medium distance country driving thrown in for variety. These days I only work three days per week; having been away from shift work for three years when I took up the buses again. I initially found that full time was very tiring with the long shifts we work in these parts and as it happened, being in receipt of an occupational pension meant I got taxed heavily and dropping the two days wasn't that much of a hit. It certainly made a big improvement in quality of life!  

 

All that said, I do very much enjoy the job on this part-time basis. Road conditions in even this smallish city can be surprisingly challenging at times but one thing this game teaches you is patience and not to fret over situations you have no control over. Yes, you can lose time quite heavily but on a five hour stint here, you can generally make it back up before your stint ends and if you're still struggling before break time, you can always turn the bus and put a lost mileage chitty in. 

 

On the road itself, you do need to be very switched on though. My own driving philosophy is this; if you are approaching a situation where one or more of the drivers you see before you could cause a hazard by executing a particular manouevre, always presume that they actually will and drive in preparation for it.

This has kept me out of serious trouble so far for 30 years and is particularly relevant when you're driving nine tons of bus with potentially three tons of humanity aboard too!

 

Davy.

[Unicorn1]

A very enjoyable trip today on ex LT Private Hire RF19,  its first outing after extensive restoration.

 

 

Seen here stopped outside the former home of the LBPT in Redhill Road, now a nursing home.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by Unicorn1

[Unicorn1]

Also on display in the workshop at Brooklands today was the newly restored ex LT canteen trailer, with its original tractor unit, Bedford Scammel 702B.

 

 

This, the only surviving example, used to be a fixture at Redhill Road, but was in a sorry state - and often full of water!

 

The lovingly restored vehicle, especially the interior, is true testament to the skill and dedication of the  volunteers at the LBPT.

 

Les

Edited March 17, 2019 by Unicorn1
spellin'

[PhilJ W]

12 hours ago, Unicorn1 said:

Also on display in the workshop at Brooklands today was the newly restored ex LT canteen trailer, with its original tractor unit, Bedford Scammel 702B.

 

 

This, the only surviving example, used to be a fixture at Redhill Road, but was in a sorry state - and often full of water!

 

The lovingly restored vehicle, especially the interior, is true testament to the skill and dedication of the  volunteers at the LBPT.

 

Les

Hope to see it at the open day on the 7th April.

[Unicorn1]

It will be on display in the museum by the 7th. It's not likely to go far afield for a while, as there is no know manufacturer for the trailer's tyres.

 

Les

 

 

[Joseph_Pestell]

18 minutes ago, Unicorn1 said:

It will be on display in the museum by the 7th. It's not likely to go far afield for a while, as there is no know manufacturer for the trailer's tyres.

 

Les

 

 

 

Surely not too difficult to change the rims for something that does have available compatible tyres. It's a very interesting vehicle that I remember well and would be nice to see it at other bus events.

[NorthBrit]

Old buses seen at Beamish Museum,  County Durham 12th Feb 2019

 

 

 

[Dave47549]

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Edited October 1, 2021 by Dave47549
Removed pointless guff

[Johann Marsbar]

Had a ride in this rather nice Thomas Tilling Ltd 1925 built Tilling-Stevens Petrol-Electric yesterday..............

 

Part of a rather interesting private collection of rather elderly vehicles in Buckinghamshire. Home to gems like this as well....

 

 

[Oldddudders]

On 17/03/2019 at 20:56, Unicorn1 said:

A very enjoyable trip today on ex LT Private Hire RF19,  its first outing after extensive restoration.

 

 

Seen here stopped outside the former home of the LBPT in Redhill Road, now a nursing home.

 

 

Gorgeous or what? In fact 19, as with all of the 16-25 batch, actually spent its best years in GreenLine service. And not a few old photos of the first 25 RFs are captioned RFW, because of the glass roof panels. Sadly these glamorous vehicles were supplanted by the Routemaster coaches, and all sold in 1963. 

[Dave47549]

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Edited October 1, 2021 by Dave47549
Removed pointless guff

[John M Upton]

Nice to see the Metrobus.  Very few, particularly the Mk1's have survived thanks to the typical MCW build quality feature where the rear sub-frame  holding up the engine often turned to rusty dust and disintegrated.  The same problem also affected the Metrorider as well hence why few of those have survived too.

[PhilJ W]

3 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Nice to see the Metrobus.  Very few, particularly the Mk1's have survived thanks to the typical MCW build quality feature where the rear sub-frame  holding up the engine often turned to rusty dust and disintegrated.  The same problem also affected the Metrorider as well hence why few of those have survived too.

They were built down to a price instead of up to a specification. Thats why there are so many Routemasters still on the road. Indeed there are far more of their contemporary and rival Titans still around and still carrying fare paying passengers.

[RThompson]

The Leyland Olympian is a very good chassis but not the later Volvo Chassis where lots have rotted away despite being newer. 

I know all about the later Optare Metroriders where they suffered as we termed "metrorot".

 

The preserved LT MCW/Scania Metropoliton had to have a lot of its body frame replaced due to severe rot.

[tractionman]

Hope folks won't mind me posting a pic of not an old bus or coach but an old bus garage, I do like these brick-built Modern(e) structures, 1950s in style?

 

 

This is Malton bus garage (and bus station), with some smart-looking (modern) Coastliners.

 

I know there is an old tram depot thread on RMWeb but I could not find a bus garage equivalent, so posted here...

 

all the best,

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RThompson]

I havnt posted anything for a while, been really busy.

 

Currently out working at the minute in this Leyland Olympian, does anyone remember when I first posted pictures of it?

 

A before and after shot of L305 J34KHT, new to China Light and Power as 305 FC7535.

 

a lot of work has gone into its makeover, including the original front but not headlights as they are hard to get hold off.

 

It was decided to paint it into red and black to match the rest of the fleet but has gold lining to match the RMC and add some relief.