Behind the scenes
When you catch a bus, you notice the driver; and hopefully you'll notice that the bus is clean. But passengers rarely give thought to the many jobs that go on to make sure a bus arrives on time, from scheduling timetables and arranging staff duties, to fixing engine defects and maintaining the building that the buses use as their base.
Here's an example - the tyre fitter going about his business. Most larger depots will have someone whose role revolves around tyre management. Repairs happen, of course, but also tyres are rarely owned outright by the operator - they're often leased from teh manufacturer, and keeping track of whose tyre goes where is a job in itself.
The picture also reminds us that maintaining buses can be heavy, hazardous work - it's completely impossible for one person to lift a bus tyre including the metal wheel, and with pressures much highre than on cars it's important to have a very healthy respect for tyre safety - a bus tyre blowing out at 100 pounds per square inch is a very different prospect than a car tyre puncture at less than 30. This is one reason why most bus tyres must be less than ten years old. Historic vehicles have an exemption from this rule but at the Museum of Transport we take tyre safety very seriously, and tyre management is a key part of keeping our restored buses on the road.
If you'd like to know more about the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester and its collection of vintage buses, go to www.motgm.uk.
© Greater Manchester Transport Society. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction is strictly prohibited and may result in action being taken to protect the intellectual property interests of the Society.
Behind the scenes
When you catch a bus, you notice the driver; and hopefully you'll notice that the bus is clean. But passengers rarely give thought to the many jobs that go on to make sure a bus arrives on time, from scheduling timetables and arranging staff duties, to fixing engine defects and maintaining the building that the buses use as their base.
Here's an example - the tyre fitter going about his business. Most larger depots will have someone whose role revolves around tyre management. Repairs happen, of course, but also tyres are rarely owned outright by the operator - they're often leased from teh manufacturer, and keeping track of whose tyre goes where is a job in itself.
The picture also reminds us that maintaining buses can be heavy, hazardous work - it's completely impossible for one person to lift a bus tyre including the metal wheel, and with pressures much highre than on cars it's important to have a very healthy respect for tyre safety - a bus tyre blowing out at 100 pounds per square inch is a very different prospect than a car tyre puncture at less than 30. This is one reason why most bus tyres must be less than ten years old. Historic vehicles have an exemption from this rule but at the Museum of Transport we take tyre safety very seriously, and tyre management is a key part of keeping our restored buses on the road.
If you'd like to know more about the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester and its collection of vintage buses, go to www.motgm.uk.
© Greater Manchester Transport Society. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction is strictly prohibited and may result in action being taken to protect the intellectual property interests of the Society.