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Eye-catching black and whites


forddeliveryboy

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1 hour ago, Yoss said:

I watched this again at the weekend for the first time in at least a decade, probably more. It was always one of my favourite films but I wondered, having not seen it in so long wether I was remembering it through Rose tinted glasses. I needn't have worried, its still superb. 

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Obviously a low budget film and they couldn't afford any special effects so the first time you see the lorries speeded up you do laugh for the wrong reasons but you sort of get used to it. 

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And what a cast. At the time none of them were particularly big names, but within ten years we have the best James Bond, the first Doctor Who, The Prisoner, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cowley from The Professionals... and whatever Sid James became, he just played Sid in whatever he was in. Still a fabulous film. Have a Sid James - Sean Connery face off. 

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This isn't quite black and white but I couldn't find a b/w poster.

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They missed Gordon Jackson off that list. 

 

One of my all time favourite films that had a great cast, before some of them became well known. It’s this film that inspired me to be a lorry driver, not ‘Convoy’ or ‘Smokey and the Bandit’.

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7 hours ago, lisbon_road said:

Sadly, they are all dead I think.  Peggy Cummins died not long ago but sadly Sid James and Stanley Baker both died in the '70s.  That's a while gone.  RIP.

 

Of the main cast, I think Sean Connery was last to go, that was only a year or so back wasn't it? But David McCallum is still going. He played Tom's (Stanley Baker) younger brother. He's now 87.

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14 hours ago, Leyland Worldmaster said:

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Oh I sort of remember them I had in my mind that they were RTs painted in London County green. This is obviously not an RT.

I also remember the Police 'Rovers. Having to travel behind one when they escorted petrol tankers etc. Not worrying too mush that if it did go up then we would be toast too.

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.d3182405958033760f2417a24c6366a8?rik=ysFvaQA5h%2fo4lA&riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.na3t.org%2fimages%2fphotos%2froad%2fVS01500-Jd2.jpg&ehk=8li3LyZ%2b04sTMDvznyUcVgqfIpp7MVX7JsiBIlDjL2s%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw

 

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3 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Oh I sort of remember them I had in my mind that they were RTs painted in London County green. This is obviously not an RT.

I also remember the Police 'Rovers. Having to travel behind one when they escorted petrol tankers etc. Not worrying too mush that if it did go up then we would be toast too.

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.d3182405958033760f2417a24c6366a8?rik=ysFvaQA5h%2fo4lA&riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.na3t.org%2fimages%2fphotos%2froad%2fVS01500-Jd2.jpg&ehk=8li3LyZ%2b04sTMDvznyUcVgqfIpp7MVX7JsiBIlDjL2s%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw

 

It's based on a Thames Trader and has Strachan bodywork. One survives and is a long-term restoration project... 👍 👍 👍 😎 😎 😎 

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On 7/30/2021 at 7:46 PM, LightBulbFun said:

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Route 22 still covers half that route today, though the Eastern end was chopped off sometime in the 80s when most long distance cross London routes were chopped in half allegedly in the name of reliability but in reality putting ease of operation before the needs of the passengers. 

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50 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Route 22 still covers half that route today, though the Eastern end was chopped off sometime in the 80s when most long distance cross London routes were chopped in half allegedly in the name of reliability but in reality putting ease of operation before the needs of the passengers. 

My Dad reckoned they were cut down because the amount of traffic in central London meant they were almost impossible to keep to the timetable.

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s4h0Qkr.jpg

Hand-formed aluminium body by Williams and Pritchard, skilled craftsmen.  Impressive, wish I had the training and skills to be able to do that.

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Rocketman.  Fantastic.

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Lines not perfect but it was a rough 'that'll-do-for-now' development prototype, that's all it was meant to be.

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19 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

My Dad reckoned they were cut down because the amount of traffic in central London meant they were almost impossible to keep to the timetable.

My dad agrees with your dad. My dad worked as a bus driver in those days.  Another factor is that OMO buses take a longer time at stops, than a crew operated bus. This may have changed now buses no longer take payments for fare with money.

The 25 was said to be the longest route then is still reasonably long now. https://uktransport.fandom.com/wiki/London_Buses_route_25

 

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22 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

My Dad reckoned they were cut down because the amount of traffic in central London meant they were almost impossible to keep to the timetable.

 

3 hours ago, Remspoor said:

My dad agrees with your dad. My dad worked as a bus driver in those days.  Another factor is that OMO buses take a longer time at stops, than a crew operated bus. This may have changed now buses no longer take payments for fare with money.

The 25 was said to be the longest route then is still reasonably long now. https://uktransport.fandom.com/wiki/London_Buses_route_25

 

In theory this was the reason but it doesn't help a passenger who wants to travel from two points either side of where the route was split (I know they put a small overlap in the two replacement routes, but not much). They still have to sit in the same traffic but have the pleasure of getting off and waiting for another bus in between. 

The worst case seems to be the 15. They keep nibbling away at both ends of the route. It used to run from East Ham to Paddington. I think it may have run all the way to Westbourne Park in the west at one point but it was Paddington when I first knew it. Then it was cut back to Canning Town and now it's Blackwall DLR. But at the other end its been cut right back to Trafalgar Square which is nigh on useless, you can't even get into the West End. 

The 12 is nearly as bad. Cut from Penge back to Dulwich in the south but the other end is worse. It used to go all the way to East Acton but was cut back to Shepherds Bush. Fair enough, still a useful destination. Then a few years later back to Notting Hill, okay, still a useful route across Central London, but now it only goes to Oxford Circus which is nearly as useless as the 15. Okay, so the 94 still covers the old 12 route as far as Shepherds Bush but the overlap between the two is very narrow forcing you to change buses in the melee of Regent Street. 

So I stand by my original statement. Its done for ease of operation not ease of use for passengers. And anyway Central London has always suffered from gridlock, whatever the year. 

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23 hours ago, Yoss said:

 

In theory this was the reason but it doesn't help a passenger who wants to travel from two points either side of where the route was split (I know they put a small overlap in the two replacement routes, but not much). They still have to sit in the same traffic but have the pleasure of getting off and waiting for another bus in between. 

The worst case seems to be the 15. They keep nibbling away at both ends of the route. It used to run from East Ham to Paddington. I think it may have run all the way to Westbourne Park in the west at one point but it was Paddington when I first knew it. Then it was cut back to Canning Town and now it's Blackwall DLR. But at the other end its been cut right back to Trafalgar Square which is nigh on useless, you can't even get into the West End. 

The 12 is nearly as bad. Cut from Penge back to Dulwich in the south but the other end is worse. It used to go all the way to East Acton but was cut back to Shepherds Bush. Fair enough, still a useful destination. Then a few years later back to Notting Hill, okay, still a useful route across Central London, but now it only goes to Oxford Circus which is nearly as useless as the 15. Okay, so the 94 still covers the old 12 route as far as Shepherds Bush but the overlap between the two is very narrow forcing you to change buses in the melee of Regent Street. 

So I stand by my original statement. Its done for ease of operation not ease of use for passengers. And anyway Central London has always suffered from gridlock, whatever the year. 

Even back in the 70's my Dad, when driving 15s used to get turned around quite often.  I doubt if it improved. There was also the added factor that the distance travelled was calculated as buses did not have an odd odometer. If the bus was turned then it was a bit out of sync with the servicing schedule.

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25 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Even back in the 70's my Dad, when driving 15s used to get turned around quite often.  I doubt if it improved. There was also the added factor that the distance travelled was calculated as buses did not have an odd odometer. If the bus was turned then it was a bit out of sync with the servicing schedule.

I would love to have seen some of the LT records regarding mileage, servicing etc. I heard that RMs averaged about 33000 miles a year in London which means my bus (ex bus now, I sold it a couple of years back now, but I still consider it mine) covered approximately 825,000 miles in its 25 year London career. It then arrived at Southampton CityBus. I did have the diagrams for the CityBus RMs and they covered between 100 and 120 miles a day so average 110. It was quite an intense service with a loop at each end so the buses never stopped for more than a couple of minutes all day. Six day a week service but even if they averaged five working days a week that's still almost 30,000 miles a year. That's quite impressive considering the shorter working hours in Southampton.  It went on to do another three years with Reading Mainline for which  I have no information but it must have been near the million mile mark by the time it finished there in 2000.

So who knows what miles the Routemasters that made it to 2005 in London reached. But as I say I'd love to see some of the records LT must have kept both at garage and works level so as to know mileages. 

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