TRIVIA: Things you saw travelling by bus or coach that you don't see today

[telstarbox]

Rural services on Sundays.

 

[alangla]

It was the 52 plate tri axles that had them , only seen them use it once on night service on 66. Yeah Lothian had or still has the,

Sorry, I knew it was something with 3 axles and air con!
Any idea if those 52 plates are still running somewhere?

 

[philthetube]

Signs saying the Children, travelling at less than adult fare must not occupy a seat while adult passengers are standing.

 

[Beemax]

The ticket machines used at least in Southampton in the 1970s which used to take a photocopy of the actual coins you put in, leading to competitions over who could get the longest tickets by putting the most half pence coins in.

 

[Flange Squeal]

Buses with centre exit doors (AFAIK only London still has them; everywhere else uses the front door for both entrance and exit)

Reading Buses’ fleet of Enviro 400 City vehicles on route 17 are dual door.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Standees on coaches, the last coaches up here which legally permitted Standees were the Plaxton Interurbans. Since then it's a thing of the past.

- 70mph actually being legal on motorways

It still is provided the vehicle is 12 Metres or less. Most modern buses are limited to 63MPH.

- Paper strips stuck on the inside of the windscreen in the absence of a suitable destination blind / hand-painted destination boards

Bain's Coaches still do this!...

- Dodge S56s (thank ****)

709D's!!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

709D's!!

709s were considerably better than stuff like 608s and eons ahead of Dodge S56s - one of the very worst vehicles ever turfed onto stage carriage work!!



Other stuff:

Shop at Binns adverts on buses across the North East (and also Humberside)
Keep Britain Tidy logos on Used Tickets bins
The National double N logo
Large rambling central works (like Merseyside's Edge Lane)
Drivers and conductors with PSV badges that had to be legally displayed (red edge for drivers, green for conductors)
NBC brown vinyl seats

 

[Statto]

Dedicated express routes, buses with dual purpose seating & separate liveries from the main fleet, like Greater Manchester had, with GM Buses Express, & virtually every town in the GM area had an express route.

 

[scotrail158713]

Buses with centre exit doors (AFAIK only London still has them; everywhere else uses the front door for both entrance and exit)

The new 100 seat buses that Lothian are getting have double doors. It’s only these buses that’ll have them in Edinburgh - every other bus will still have a single door.

 

[Ken H]

The new 100 seat buses that Lothian are getting have double doors. It’s only these buses that’ll have them in Edinburgh - every other bus will still have a single door.

didnt leeds city transport start the ball rolling with twin door buses.

http://www.bus-and-coach-photos.com/picture/number6969.asp

J reg so 1972

 

[Mal]

didnt leeds city transport start the ball rolling with twin door buses.

http://www.bus-and-coach-photos.com/picture/number6969.asp

J reg so 1972

Edinburgh Corporation (and doubtless other municipalities) had them until about the 1970s, but now Lothians new 100 seaters are turning the wheel full circle.

 

[GusB]

Edinburgh Corporation (and doubtless other municipalities) had them until about the 1970s, but now Lothians new 100 seaters are turning the wheel full circle.

Dual-doors lasted in Edinburgh much later than the 70s. Having done a quick search on Buslists, it would seem that the last ones were delivered in 2001.

 

[Mal]

Dual-doors lasted in Edinburgh much later than the 70s. Having done a quick search on Buslists, it would seem that the last ones were delivered in 2001.

Thanks! I didn't realise it was so recent. I should have known, but don't get back to my roots in Edinburgh too often.

 

[route101]

Dual-doors lasted in Edinburgh much later than the 70s. Having done a quick search on Buslists, it would seem that the last ones were delivered in 2001.

When were double doors stopped in Edinburgh? I remember them on LOs

 

[Dai Corner]

Cigarette stubbers on the back of seats and butts on the floor where smoking was permitted and No Smoking signs elsewhere.

Tickets tucked into the gap between seat back and trim

Lockable compartments for parcels / drivers' bags.

 

[route101]

Sorry, I knew it was something with 3 axles and air con!
Any idea if those 52 plates are still running somewhere?

Not sure , i think they went down south for school work . They had pretty uncomfortable seats

 

[PeterC]

On London buses at least a single bell push on the upper deck. On an RT or RM you had to walk to the top of the stairs before you could even indicate that you wanted to get off at a request stop.

 

[MotCO]

A substantial Green Line network in London. I always felt an air of superiority on a coach as it overtook buses at bus stops full of 'plebs'!

 

[Deerfold]

Stop bells that were strung along the roof that you could pull quite violently which usually annoyed the conductor. (London)

If you like them, I'd recommend visiting Monroe County in Pennsylvania. I caught a couple a few weeks ago. Not the largest area served, though, with the most frequent routes running every 75 minutes.

https://www.gomcta.com/routes.php#sysmap

 

[Skutter]

Simple bench seats seem to be a thing of the past, at least where I live. Even the city buses are individual seats now (though paired)

Also used to allow "three to a seat" on school runs to cram more kids on board.

 

[Deerfold]

Also used to allow "three to a seat" on school runs to cram more kids on board.

West Yorkshire has only just got rid of its school buses that are 3+2

 

[Busaholic]

London - three bells from the conductor, bus full, don't stop (even at 'compulsory' stops.) Cue person halfway down the stairs ''oy, I wanted that stop!''

 

[73001]

West Yorkshire has only just got rid of its school buses that are 3+2

The 3 to a seat was on normal 2 seater seats (for adults) but as children were smaller they could squeeze up.

 

[Andyh82]

West Yorkshire has only just got rid of its school buses that are 3+2

He means 3 to a standard bus 2 seat, not bespoke school buses that are designed as 3+2 seats

 

[philthetube]

London - three bells from the conductor, bus full, don't stop (even at 'compulsory' stops.) Cue person halfway down the stairs ''oy, I wanted that stop!''

Not Just London, used to be on Burnley and Pendle, amd, I suspect everywhere else with conductors.

 

[co-tr-paul]

On coaches, cove windows and skylights (orange preferred!).

 

[MedwayValiant]

I do remember the days of three to a seat intended for two on school buses. A parent at my primary school "helpfully" wrote to the Head pointing out that it was illegal, and as a result the cost of school trips had to be put up quite substantially.

But I also my remember my first ever trip to Scotland, which was in 1989. While the default single deck bus in England at that time was still the Leyland National, in Scotland it was another model that wasn't quite the same shape. (I'm sure someone here will know precisely what it was.) Anyway, some of those had the seats arranged 3 + 2; the first time I encountered this was on Highland Scottish as it was at the time. Whether the vehicle was wider, the aisle was narrower, or Scottish people were thinner than English people, I don't know.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I do remember the days of three to a seat intended for two on school buses. A parent at my primary school "helpfully" wrote to the Head pointing out that it was illegal, and as a result the cost of school trips had to be put up quite substantially.

But I also my remember my first ever trip to Scotland, which was in 1989. While the default single deck bus in England at that time was still the Leyland National, in Scotland it was another model that wasn't quite the same shape. (I'm sure someone here will know precisely what it was.) Anyway, some of those had the seats arranged 3 + 2; the first time I encountered this was on Highland Scottish as it was at the time. Whether the vehicle was wider, the aisle was narrower, or Scottish people were thinner than English people, I don't know.

I imagine it was an Alexander Y type Leopard - the SBG weren’t known for their customer focused specifications!

 

[PeterC]

London - three bells from the conductor, bus full, don't stop (even at 'compulsory' stops.) Cue person halfway down the stairs ''oy, I wanted that stop!''

And the conductor giving two thumps on the sill of the upstairs front window rather than walk all the way back to the single upper deck bell.

I can't remember, did the RTs have a passenger bell push on the platform? I know there was one at the top of the stairs and one in the cubby hole under the stairs for the conductor and the string the length of the lower saloon.

 

[MedwayValiant]

I imagine it was an Alexander Y type Leopard - the SBG weren’t known for their customer focused specifications!

Yes. I've just looked at a couple of photos of Alexander Y Types, and that is precisely the model I had in mind. The thing I particularly remember was the destination blind, which was a completely different shape from the destination blinds I grew up with.

I'm reading that the vast majority of these vehicles went to the SBG, although there were a few operators in the north of England who used them too. IIRC, Universitybus (Hatfield) had one or two of them as well, in its early days when the buses were white with black lettering.