Bus Shite

[lisbon_road]

That Olympian is amazing and thanks for sharing the picture.

But you think that is old?  You need to go to Glastonbury festival. 

[High Jetter]

@Sunny Jim has a bus named after him?.🤣

[Inspector Morose]

1 hour ago, lisbon_road said:

That Olympian is amazing and thanks for sharing the picture.

But you think that is old?  You need to go to Glastonbury festival. 

I can hear the mitre box whine on that from up here.

[Zelandeth]

24 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

I can hear the mitre box whine on that from up here.

I've*still* never even set foot on a bloody VR...I really need to change that one day.

[cms206]

Today's job was an 0416 sign on - those who know me will be aware that 0416 in my world is when you finish work, not start it - at Stockwell.

Today's horse was SE90, now in the commercial fleet but new to Camberwell for the P5, and with it I visited some well known places on the TfL network - Tunbridge Wells and Battle.

It's a fucking horrific livery in my eyes, I'm very much a fan of the red with grey skirt and yellow band scheme that many of the commercial fleet wear.

Originally I should have been working out of New Cross but alas they don't keep many spare singles on strength; signed off at 1616 at Stockwell.

 

Tomorrow is 0555 sign on at Plough Lane for the first of the week's shifts at Wimbledon. These are short duties finishing at 1300 so been trying with mixed success to bulk these out; got a bus move Tuesday (EN14 from Peckham to Bexleyheath) and a couple of extra hours on Thursday at Wimbledon.

[mat777]

One that's just popped up on my Facebook feed - Liverpool's Brownlow Hill, 1980s and 2020s

[High Jetter]

Today was a classic bus running day in Eastbourne. Unfortunately I was in Liverpool for much of the day.

[N19]

 

33 minutes ago, cms206 said:

Tomorrow is 0555 sign on at Plough Lane for the first of the week's shifts at Wimbledon. These are short duties finishing at 1300 so been trying with mixed success to bulk these out; got a bus move Tuesday (EN14 from Peckham to Bexleyheath) and a couple of extra hours on Thursday at Wimbledon.

How much scope is there for bus drivers to work overtime? I assume that they have to still be within the parameters of the drivers hours regs, so presumably can't just do two shifts back to back - is it a case of the inspector chopping up an uncovered shift and getting various people to cover bits of it after their own shift has finished?

[Inspector Morose]

8 hours ago, 83C said:

I’ll see your VRT and raise you this:

One that @Inspector Morose will be familiar with, I passed this today operating on a sightseeing tour from Shrewsbury to Ironbridge.

Ex Chase Coaches 57, one of the ex-LT Nationals we got from Parfitts that had already been converted to single doorway. Worked on it and drove it a good few times.

[lisbon_road]

12 hours ago, 83C said:

I’ll see your VRT and raise you this:

 

One that @Inspector Morose will be familiar with, I passed this today operating on a sightseeing tour from Shrewsbury to Ironbridge.

That's impressive and thanks for sharing.  I feel that the Glastonbury services run by Chepstow Classic are real in service vehicles rather than semi preserved, just very very old - and I don't suppose their passengers mind or even notice.  Here's an early Olympian, easy to forget that this is over 40 years old now.  This has appeared at Winchester bus days and seems to go very well indeed.   Stagecoach provide some smart buses for Glastonbury.

[quicksilver]

16 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Pretty sure that's one of the bendies that was in service in Aberdeen until pretty recently - that looks like First Aberdeen Red Line (service 1 & 2) livery too which adds to my suspicions.

It is indeed. New to York, then went to Aberdeen and now based in Newcastle so this is probably the furthest south it's ever been.

[dollywobbler]

CMS - how the heck do you know all of these different routes? Glad you've got another stint of big smoke variety.

[cms206]

2 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

CMS - how the heck do you know all of these different routes? Glad you've got another stint of big smoke variety.

Honestly I don't know... Tunbridge Wells to Battle was a bit of a stretch when I'd never been to either before in my life, but being able to at least read a map helps!

For the TfL stuff, Go Ahead's route materials are outstanding - far in advance of Stagecoach - though I tend to go out a run for a rounder as a passenger, scribble my own notes with landmarks, then just do it - once I've driven it it tends to stick. Done quite a few routes down here now and building on it as I go... won't lie the bus moves are challenging my geography a bit, especially as I never really did much in south London last time round!

18 hours ago, N19 said:

 

How much scope is there for bus drivers to work overtime? I assume that they have to still be within the parameters of the drivers hours regs, so presumably can't just do two shifts back to back - is it a case of the inspector chopping up an uncovered shift and getting various people to cover bits of it after their own shift has finished?

On domestic work it's a nominal 10hr day/maximum 16hr spreadover/minimum one 24hr break every 13 days so you can generally do a fair bit; EU regulations are quite different.

Manchester in particular were very hot on "Hours and Minutes" either side of a shift due a perpetual inability to cover mileage but even down here if they're short they'll do what they can to cover it.

 

Moving onto today; first bus of the day was Enviro 400 E111 but it was subbed due to a massive air leak; Waterside Way is a *very* basic setup, basically an open yard with a wash, and the fitter on duty today didn't have the right fitting on the van so I was given similar EN13 as a change of bus; it is possibly the fastest Enviro 400 I've ever driven, even with a standing load the climb up to Wimbledon village was dispatched with ease.

The rest of this week I'm on the first Wimbledon shuttle off Merton College, though tomorrow after the shift I've EN14 to collect from Peckham and take to Bexleyheath.

[martc]

Turnham Green Terrace, 1978.

[martc]

More Ikarus fun -

We are in Morgenroutine am Bahnhof, Zittau, 1985. Did I tell you about the Ikarus bendy bus I travelled in in Berlin? It was packed and I had to stand in the concertina section, the bellows on the right were split from top to bottom and when it turned left I was faced with a gaping maw in front of me.

An Ikarus 630.

An Ikarus 66, the big brother of my fave, the 55.

[martc]

Midlands magic

Albert Street, Mansfield.

Victoria Centre, Nottingham, 1995.

And Lancashire....

Eccles Old Road.

That 1967 registered Leyland PD2 will be one of the last deliveries of a half cab bus. Imagine being given that to drive when others are swanning around in Atlanteans.

[Yoss]

2 hours ago, martc said:

Turnham Green Terrace, 1978.

This confused me initially as the route 3 has always been from Crystal Palace to the West End. Since 1909. It's had bits added and withdrawn over the years, reaching Camden in the north and Croydon in the south at various points but never going anywhere near Chiswick. 

Then it occurred to me, what about the E3? There are a number of E prefixed local routes based around Ealing so I had a quick look and the E3 does indeed go to Chiswick via Turnham Green. Furthermore it was converted from Swifts/Merlins to Nationals in September 1978. So one would have to assume this was on its first few days on the route before they had managed to fit an E blind. 

The Nationals were quite short lived on the route being replaced Metrobuses by April 1981. The route remains unchanged to this day but is now in the hands of the ubiquitous Enviro 400s.

[cms206]

1 hour ago, martc said:

And Lancashire....

Eccles Old Road.

That 1967 registered Leyland PD2 will be one of the last deliveries of a half cab bus. Imagine being given that to drive when others are swanning around in Atlanteans.

You would think, but no; Stockpprt Corporation were still taking exposed radiator PD3s as late as 1969 on G-suffix plates!

[lisbon_road]

8 minutes ago, cms206 said:

You would think, but no; Stockpprt Corporation were still taking exposed radiator PD3s as late as 1969 on G-suffix plates!

At least driving the Titan you wouldn't have to put up with all the punters.  I've no idea what the comparison is like in terms of driving though.

[cms206]

Today was once again the 0555 sign on at Waterside Way; as usual I was there at 0530 and opened up the garage... 

First horse of the day, EN2.

A relatively uneventful shift at Wimbledon; returned the bus to the garage then caught a lift down to Colliers Wood station; next stop Peckham to collect EN14 which assures me it is a proper Dennis.

... and at Bexleyheath next to one of these SEL-class... things.

Also a new one on me are these EP-class BYD Enviro 400 electric things with pantograph charging. EP7 demonstrates thusly

 

There were other bus moves on but Orpington takes well over an hour and a half to get to from Bexleyheath garage and the moves are now apparantly covered by a spare driver; boo and indeed hiss.

 

Now awaiting a train at Barnehurst.

 

[auntiemaryscanary]

14 hours ago, martc said:

 

Victoria Centre, Nottingham, 1995.

 

I'd have been going to and from work on one of these and into the city on Fri & Sat nights too for beer and often in the vain hope of meeting a fine* lady/lass. Top deck of course to have a ciggie.

Nottingham City Transport have always been good on discounted in advance weekly/monthly travel passes. In those days they were all paper based of course. There used to be a tear off slip for renewals which at one time the date numerals were the same size as the main pass. My brother and his mate used to cut out the appropriate number off the renewal slip, thin the card down a bit with a knife and stick it onto his then expired pass to get free* travel.

Brother and mate went about a year doing this before getting caught! Not long after the numbers on the renewal slip were made considerably smaller.

NCT were and continue to be council owned. They easily fought off competition when deregulation came in including the operators of the infamous "10p" buses. Local myth reckoned the 10p drivers were ex-NCT staff invariably sacked for drink driving!

[martc]

On 08/07/2025 at 13:55, lisbon_road said:

At least driving the Titan you wouldn't have to put up with all the punters.  I've no idea what the comparison is like in terms of driving though.

I've no idea either but I imagine climbing up to and then sitting in that cab, on your own, with a bellowing motor by your side, a single wiper and I suspect rudimentary heating (if any) would be fairly miserable compared to the next generation of rear engine, open cabbed buses.

[danthecapriman]

5 minutes ago, martc said:

I've no idea either but I imagine climbing up to and then sitting in that cab, on your own, with a bellowing motor by your side, a single wiper and I suspect rudimentary heating (if any) would be fairly miserable compared to the next generation of rear engine, open cabbed buses.

I think I’d rather sit next to the noisy engine all day than be in with the punters!😄

[danthecapriman]

17 minutes ago, 83C said:

I liked driving half cabs on the rare occasions I managed to wangle a go, the concept of being separated from the self loading freight was very appealing!

What are they like to actually sit in and drive?

Ive often wondered watching those old Routemaster vids on YouTube. The doors to the cab look tiny and there doesn’t appear to be much room inside.

[Eyersey1234]

15 hours ago, auntiemaryscanary said:

I'd have been going to and from work on one of these and into the city on Fri & Sat nights too for beer and often in the vain hope of meeting a fine* lady/lass. Top deck of course to have a ciggie.

Nottingham City Transport have always been good on discounted in advance weekly/monthly travel passes. In those days they were all paper based of course. There used to be a tear off slip for renewals which at one time the date numerals were the same size as the main pass. My brother and his mate used to cut out the appropriate number off the renewal slip, thin the card down a bit with a knife and stick it onto his then expired pass to get free* travel.

Brother and mate went about a year doing this before getting caught! Not long after the numbers on the renewal slip were made considerably smaller.

NCT were and continue to be council owned. They easily fought off competition when deregulation came in including the operators of the infamous "10p" buses. Local myth reckoned the 10p drivers were ex-NCT staff invariably sacked for drink driving!

What punishment did they get?

[Eyersey1234]

Saw this beauty in Weston Super Mare yesterday 

[cms206]

Nothing too exciting today, E257 was the horse of the day.

Another peculiarly London thing is the duty log card; these do not exist outwith the M25 but every London operator will tell you that they are a "legal requirement".

One side of today's chicken scratchings included, the other not as it features my signature.

 

... and for the sake of obscurity, a Stagecoach one from my tenure at Barking featuring some filled in curtailment details; the Go Ahead ones don't seem terribly well laid out in my eyes but you get to like familliarity.

[auntiemaryscanary]

2 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

What punishment did they get?

A dressing down/severe bollocking from the bus company. Nothing formal involving the law.

[artdjones]

On 08/07/2025 at 13:46, cms206 said:

You would think, but no; Stockpprt Corporation were still taking exposed radiator PD3s as late as 1969 on G-suffix plates!

Ramsbottom got into H reg.

As did Chester with their last Guy Arabs.

Bedwas and Machen got Massey to knock them up a lowbridge body on a PD3 as late as 1968. The famous PAX466F.

[Yoss]

I suspect a Routemaster is actually more advanced to drive than most contemporary rear engined buses. I'm sure most early Atlanteans and Fleetlines didn't have power steering, no doubt being considered unnecessary with all the weight being at the back. 

As well as the power steering RMs were also semi automatic. As built you could put them in fourth gear and they would be fully automatic but the smoothest way to drive was as a semi auto. In which case you just put them in whatever gear you want, when you want it just backing off the throttle as you did so, just as you would if there was a clutch, except there wasn't one, it just had the two pedals. 

The gear selector was mounted on the left hand side of the steering column. It was in fact just a giant electrical switch, all the actual gear changing went on behind you. But it was both sprung and damped so it had the feel of something far more mechanical than it actually was. 

They also had decent cab heaters and a fully opening windscreen for ventilation on hot days which none of those other half cabs posted above had let alone the one man buses. 

So a Routemaster is much easier to drive than most provincial buses but as mentioned above most drivers would prefer any half cab as that big noisy engine is much better company than the general public.