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Stake-out along Milton Road, Weston-super-Mare, Friday 22nd August 1980. The 105 was the last of the town's services using FLF Lodekkas. I'm not sure whether the sea-front open-top service may have perpetuated the use of crew-operated FS Lodekkas for another couple of years.
Hey! It's 7182 ...a bus that looms large in my legend, being the first I ever drove in service with passengers on board. I remember the terror of that occasion. I had learned mostly on a particular LD, with a couple of KSWs thrown in. Once I'd "passed out" I was given "MW training", which consisted of an hour or so around Yate and Chipping Sodbury to accustom myself to the famous "treacle-stirring" effect of the MW's allegedly synchromesh gearbox. I must have had RE training, but I don't remember it at all. Special training on FLFs was considered unnecessary, as they were essentially a modernised version of the LD. One was merely "familiarised" My familiarisation consisted of a few circuits of Lawrence Hill yard, passing each time through "No. 1 Shed". Actually, as a complete novice driver, I found the difference between the LD and the FLF very noticeable and the latter considerably more of a handful. After a little experience you can take an unfamiliar type in your stride, but anyone who has driven buses will know that no two, even of the same type, are alike. I remember, in a show of "confidence" for the benefit of my conductor and the supervising driver, setting off at a cracking pace down Bouverie Street, "off service" to the "Charltonmead" terminus of the 88 route, but being unable to discover the whereabouts of fourth gear. Those first two charladies I picked up outside the "Wayfarer" wooden pub clambered aboard without so much as a glance in my direction, ignorant and heedless of my newly exalted state. Perhaps, in this case, ignorance was bliss. There were a few stallings of the engine, but the only hairy moment came the second time in from "Charltonmead", by which time it was the morning rush hour. The traffic came to a standstill on the slope down to the Centre from College Green and I failed to take into account the effect on braking performance of a downhill slope and a fully-laden bus. There were inches in it, but all's well that ends well. The rest is history...
A water reservoir, a huge one, imagine driving a boat over it ... Just gorgeous.
Turkey has a lot of variety to offer and this one sure is a great one!
The water reservoir is located half an hour of a busdrive North of Side, when in the vicinity I recommend you pay it a visit!
Salacgriva, Latvia
Shot during a busdrive out of the window - you have a second for decision and no chance to stop
These two Bristol MW buses lived parallel lives. Each entered service in April 1965 as a coach in the "Bristol Greyhound" fleet of the Bristol Omnibus Co. For as long as they remained coaches they were allocated to Lawrence Hill Depot, but on 1st February 1971 they were downgraded to bus status and reallocated to Marlborough Street Depot ...i.e. Bristol Bus Station. There they remained until their withdrawal from service at the end of June 1978. As we can see, the company never bothered to remove the coach seats or the red interior trim when the vehicles were downgraded.
As a driver at Marlborough Street I drove these two buses often. Having been built for coach work they were fitted with the 6-cylinder version of the Gardner LW engine instead of the "5-pot" job fitted in mere buses. I drove 2429 (furthest from the camera) on Monday 10th April 1978 for an early morning journey to Failand and back, followed by a return trip to Severn Beach. I had previously driven it on Thursday 19th January (nerds love detail) on the 0720 journey to Chippenham and back. During the intervening couple of months the "feel" and sound of the vehicle had changed noticeably. I looked down. Yes, there it was, a little message printed out on a strip of "Dymo" tape and glued to the dashboard ...DRIVE WITH CARE, NEW ENGINE FITTED, followed by the date of the fitting. The new engine had wrought a transformation. Certain buses you remember as a superb drive, and this was one of them. A little vignette has always stayed in my mind. Returning to Bristol from that Severn Beach trip; coming along the wider, but not quite straight part of Berwick Lane at the Hallen end, bowling along at 50mph, almost every seat taken, the bus swaying from side to side on bits of adverse camber, the music of the Gardner chugging away under the floor, a spring morning and Blackthorn in the hedges. Intoxicating. If only the job could always have been like that.
It was the last time I drove 2429 and the only time I drove it in that superb condition. It should come as no surprise that within a few weeks of fitting a new engine to a bus, the Company should condemn it. This sort of thing used to happen quite often. Here 2429 and sister bus 2427 await disposal at Lawrence Hill depot on Saturday 15th July 1978. The winged Bristol-ECW badge has been swiped from the front of 2427. Actually someone did get some further use out of the new engine, for 2429 subsequently passed through the hands of the dealer Paul Sykes to the Rotherham Swimmers and Supporters Club.
Any employee of the Bristol Omnibus Co. was entitled to a try-out at the Company's driving school, irrespective of previous experience. My previous experience amounted to precisely none. I had last ventured onto the roads at the age of 12 in control of a bicycle. Even then, I'm not sure that the word "control" precisely describes my method. I just rode where I liked when I felt like it and expected everyone else to defer to me. The same method may still be seen in use today among cyclists who don't have the excuse of being children. But cycling wasn't really for me; it was far too energetic, and I disliked riding into a strong wind ...one so felt like turning around and going back the other way.
Actually the Company had approached me, not the other way around. I had been a conductor for six years, but now one-man operation was coming in and the Company was eager to train conductors as drivers. I thought it would be an amusing lark, an agreeable break from routine and a good skive. It was quite a shock to find myself, two weeks later, in the cab of a bus ...nothing like the ones I'd trained on... going out to pick up my first cargo of humanity. This was in the mid 1970s, when everything was inefficient and most people had to work their way up a six month waiting list to take their driving tests.
In after years I did sometimes wonder about the wisdom of giving people PSV licences after two weeks' experience of driving and roadcraft. After a couple of narrow squeaks, which still have the power to make me break out in a muck sweat when I think of them, I learned that cockiness was not an option. I'd say it took me a year to feel thoroughly confident.
This was the vehicle on which I passed my test. It was a Gardner-engined Bristol LD-type Lodekka new in 1959. It had originally belonged to the "country" fleet, which meant that it had Bristol's labyrinthine 5-speed "crash" gearbox with its three neutral positions and no way out of 5th except back through 4th ...a ticklish business for a novice driver. Some of the training buses then in use were painted in a livery of cream with orange lettering and "lining out", but a new General Manager had recently been appointed. He had come from the Eastern National company and introduced a number of Eastern National practices, including this colour-scheme for training vehicles. Friday 27th August 1976.
Just got back home after 2 exhausting days in France.
Went to Disney Parc Paris and Paris with 2 friends and had a great time (except for the long busdrive).
In Paris, I found this clochard on the curbs. She managed to find the only dry spot available.
Gave her a couple of euro's after I took the photo... it was the least I could do.
The village of Olveston, seven or eight miles north of Bristol, is associated with a number of my memories. As little more than a boy I sometimes used to come through here on my bicycle for a good long stare at the Severn Bridge, then under construction. I returned to Downend via Avonmouth and the centre of Bristol. Where did I find the energy? Not so very long after ...was it 1967? ...I was making a delivery to the village's general store for my first employer when the very first Concorde prototype passed directly overhead on its maiden flight from Filton.
Ten years later I was driving buses to Olveston. Here, too, there were noteworthy happenings. This duty involved leaving Bristol Bus Station at 05:42. Upon reaching Olveston the bus departed at 06:38 for Filton, being mainly patronised by BAC and Rolls-Royce workers. It returned at 07:13 from Filton to Olveston, leaving the village for the second time at 07:46 for Bristol. One morning, approaching Olveston on the journey from Filton, I noticed something odd about the trajectory of a motor-cycle approaching from the opposite direction. It seemed to be veering out towards the crown of the road ...cripes! ...on a collision course with the bus. With a tall hedge on the nearside there wasn't much I could do by way of "avoiding action". As the motor-bike got closer I could see sparks coming from underneath. I squirmed the bus up against the hedge, the motor-bike zoomed under the cab window and struck the back corner a glancing blow. The rider went sprawling across the tarmac but got up with no more than abrasions and torn clothing. He said that he had lost control when his bike's stand had dropped down into contact with the road.
On another morning when I was doing this same duty I had somehow not particularly fancied my breakfast. Throughout the duration of the two journeys to Olveston I felt progressively queasy. Back at the bus station I pondered whether or not to make an attempt on some canteen toast. But suddenly I knew I was going to be sick. I made a dash for the staff toilets and just made it, slamming and bolting the door behind me ...although hurling is a difficult thing to keep entirely to one's self. There was a hissing noise in my ears and I blacked out, coming to ...I suppose a few moments later... on my knees with my left elbow on the crapper seat. I caught a city bus home, feeling terrible. Wouldn't you know it, there was some sort of "bomb scare" in Stapleton Road and the traffic was at a standstill. I remember the bus was full of Mormon missionaries and we were eventually diverted up Thrissell Street.
This was one of four or five episodes that occurred during my thirties of "stomach upsets" involving near or actual loss of consciousness. I was careful not to mention the loss of consciousness part at work; they'd have taken me off the road, sent me to the Company doctor and I'd have spent the rest of my days sweeping up in the canteen. The scariest incident occurred on the 820 limited stop service from Gloucester. I manoeuvred down Gloucester Road in the Mk II Leyland National, in and out of the ever-present parked cars and double-parked lorries making deliveries from their tail-lifts, hardly knowing who or where I was and actually shaking my head like a dog flicking off water, in order to stay conscious. I "went sick" upon reaching the bus station.
The most embarrassing of these occurrances happened during the minibus era and culminated in a precipitate dash around to the back of the vehicle where, with both hands on the body panels and my head hanging between my shoulders I ralphed onto the asphalt of Brislington Square. I don't think I've had a "stomach upset" since.
The bus, a Bristol LH then little more than a year old, was photographed waiting to depart from Olveston (Post Office) on the journey to Filton. It was Tuesday 12th July 1977 and must have been about 6:30 in the morning. The background is remarkably unchanged. I had feared uPVC windows but, on Google Street View all the correct four-up three-across windows remain ...in fact that one above the bus's destination has had its glazing bars restored. Full marks to the owner.
Seen on Smithhills Street on layover is YY64 GWO or fleet number I8012, an ADL Enviro 200 semi-automatic new to McGills in 2014 originally to their Barrhead depot. Following the closure of Barrhead, it was moved to Inchinnan and is seen just about to operate a 22 to Erskine, Sempill Avenue.
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sr.bussimulator.bus...
Bus Simulator: New City Coach Bus Game will give you real experience of how to run Bus company or how you feel being Bus Driver.
Your job is to transport passengers around an attractive and realistic world’s top class city like London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Dubai etc. Transport passengers from one station to another. People are using public transport so take care of them. You must drive bus on a planned route, whilst obeying traffic rules, and taking care not to upset or injure your passengers. This makes Bus Simulator: New City Coach Bus Game unlike any other bus driving game - the experience of driving a bus is very different from blazing through a racing circuit as in most driving games.
How to play New City Coach Bus Game:
Choose bus from different model of bus
Auto calculation of total expenses and profit
Follow traffic rules and maintain accuracy to get maximum profit
Blow Horn and stop at traffic signal to get more money
Complete given route in given time or else you will lose it.
Feature of Bus simulator 2020 : City coach Bus Game :
An extensive and realistic city environment with various city
World’s top most 5 city’s real bus routes with fluctuating weather conditions
5 different models of bus to drive, such as double-decker and Volvo
Real bus business calculation, Bus wash, repair, passenger tickets calculation.
Living roads, with intelligent traffic controlled by our AI system.
Detail Interior of bus with multiple camera views
It’s a realistic bus driving simulation experience. If you’re looking for a fresh bus driving experience and you’re not afraid to try something new, we highly recommend this bus game. Bus Simulator: Bus wala game is 21st centuries most realistic bus business game.
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sr.bussimulator.bus...
Bus Simulator: New City Coach Bus Game will give you real experience of how to run Bus company or how you feel being Bus Driver.
Your job is to transport passengers around an attractive and realistic world’s top class city like London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Dubai etc. Transport passengers from one station to another. People are using public transport so take care of them. You must drive bus on a planned route, whilst obeying traffic rules, and taking care not to upset or injure your passengers. This makes Bus Simulator: New City Coach Bus Game unlike any other bus driving game - the experience of driving a bus is very different from blazing through a racing circuit as in most driving games.
How to play New City Coach Bus Game:
Choose bus from different model of bus
Auto calculation of total expenses and profit
Follow traffic rules and maintain accuracy to get maximum profit
Blow Horn and stop at traffic signal to get more money
Complete given route in given time or else you will lose it.
Feature of Bus simulator 2020 : City coach Bus Game :
An extensive and realistic city environment with various city
World’s top most 5 city’s real bus routes with fluctuating weather conditions
5 different models of bus to drive, such as double-decker and Volvo
Real bus business calculation, Bus wash, repair, passenger tickets calculation.
Living roads, with intelligent traffic controlled by our AI system.
Detail Interior of bus with multiple camera views
It’s a realistic bus driving simulation experience. If you’re looking for a fresh bus driving experience and you’re not afraid to try something new, we highly recommend this bus game. Bus Simulator: Bus wala game is 21st centuries most realistic bus business game.
Mercedes-Benz OC500RF / Ha'argaz Barak 21.
Egged Driving School.
I had my first bus driving lesson today on this bus, first time behind the steering wheel, felt amazing!
My good friend Jeroen and me travelling back after an afternoon at the tattooshop. I think he's very happy with his new ink.
I made a design for him that he got placed today, both he and I are very pleased.
This was taken just before we ended up doing a 2 hour busdrive home, because of detours, poweroutages etc. we made it home safe but it took us a while.
On the other hand I'm getting my tattoo set tomorrow!!! So excited!!!
Driving cab of London Transport MCW Metrobus M781 at Morecambe Football Club.
This brought back a few memories as I passed my PCV test on Metrobus M198 at Stockwell, South London in 2001.
Can anyone please tell me which authority issued this badge and what year if possible? Thank you.
I was wondering if it could have been issued by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for a commercial bus driving safety campaigns.
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Enamels: 1 (blue).
Finish: Gilt.
Material: Brass.
Fixer: Pin.
Size: 1 1/8” x ¾” (28mm x 19mm).
Process: Die stamped.
Imprint: FATTORINI TEL.021 236 1307.
Seen during a visit to The old London Transort Chiswick works in 1978. These RT trainers. Can I 'av a go mister?