BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

WB: I will wager you anything that when the "Booby Trap Specials" were dropping like flies-there those then "working the buses" that were indeed wishing for the good old days when those sturdy and rugged Old Looks and "Pattons" were still their charges-and not these new buses which were literally falling apart right before their eyes------------

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just thinking-----------had FACL stayed independent-and they later ordered "Dangefields" (Flex New Looks)-----do you think that these buses would be equipped with a/c-as were the 1960 "Jetson" TDH-5301 Fishbowls?------"NYO"

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Rear-engined double-deckers..........

FACCo indeed had QUITE a lead in introducing rear-engined ("flat nosed") double-deckers; the fabled "QUEEN MARY"-types began entering service in 1936.

LONDON TRANSPORT, on the other hand, did not see the introduction of rear-engined double-deckers until well over 20 years later.

"FLEETLINES" and "ATLANTEANS" were also the first bus NOT to be designed specifically for London (this honor fell to the iconic "ROUTEMASTERS", which were also the last "half-a-cab" buses built for London)

They were also the first London double-deckers to dispense with the use of conductors, and also the first London double-deckers to have front entrances equipped with automatic folding doors.

With the retirement of the last "ROUTEMASTERS" in 2005, all London buses are now "OMO" (One Man Operation)

Of course, some would say that term is not politically correct these days.

Interestingly, some of the last "ROUTEMASTERS" built were equipped with automatic front doors, for use on the suburban "GREEN LINE" services................

"NYO"

["8 VICTORIA STN."]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Blunderbuses" (open-toppers), FACCO and London

Recall that FACCo retired their last open-toppers in 1946.

In London, however, the remaining buses of this type were retired about 1937.

It should be noted, however, that, by circa-1937, only a few of the oldest (London) buses still retained their open upper decks.

Most such older buses had been upgraded with enclosed top decks as well as with modern pneumatic "tyres", beginning in the late 1920s, when new closed-top buses (such as the once-familiar "ST" and "LT" classes) began arriving in the capital............

"NYO"

["44A BEXLEYHEATH-UXBRIDGE STN."]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The conductor vanishes, and it's now a "one-man show, mate".............

I often wonder how FACCo bus drivers, upon the introduction of the "QM's", felt about now having to collect fares as well as drive.

From what I have read in my many books on LT history, the bus drivers of that particular era (1960s/1970s) indeed were not at all, for the most part, enamored with the new front entrance/rear-engined buses, as now (like their FACCo counterparts "across the pond"); with their conductors now gone, the drivers now had the additional task of collecting fares.

Speaking of LT conductors/ticketing, the ticketing systems was light-years beyond complex; indeed,m it was virtually a science, and remained a massive undertaking for decades.

Not only were their different colored tickets for different routes, but there were also different colored tickets for different cash values, and for distances traveled.

The ticketing used on the trolleybuses and trams were also of a totally different species.

Over 5,000,000 tickets a day were issed (this number does not include the tickets used on the "Tubes")

Both GENERAL and LT employed a fleet of vans to transport the boxes of tickets from the massive Chiswick Works to the various depots and garages; nearly 9,000 boxes a day of tickets were used.

No less than staggering 450,000,000 tickets were kept in stock at Chiswick at any given time......

"NYO"

["91 TURNHAM GRN"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recall, also, that FACCo began operating rear-engine, single-deck YELLOWS in the later 1930s.

It would not be until the early 1950s that local/suburban buses/coaches in and around London began to appear (these were the long-lived "RF"-class)

These coaches replaced the hard-working, resilient "half-a-cab" prewar "T" class (there were also some early postwar "T" types that lasted into the early 1960s)...............

"NYO"

["461A HERSHAM"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Bendies"/"Slinkies"/"Caterpillars"............

Odd how "Slinkies" now dominate many "Em-Tee-Yay" routes, whereas, in London, they were (thankfully) retired after they created more than enough havoc on the streets.

Among the reasons for their VERY early retirement:

1:

They blocked busy intersections ("junctions")

2:

Fare-beaters were becoming more and more abusive to drivers; it had gotten to the point where more and more drivers were flat-out refusing to take these buses out, for fear of unpleasant (often physical) encounters with fare-evaders (sad commentary on the times)

I've also read that, not surprisingly, more then a few drivers greatly lamented the passing of the iconic "ROUTEMASTERS" when the "Bendies": (as they were known to Londoners) entered service...........

"NYO"

["91 CHISWICK HIGH RD"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Though there was much hoopla and flag-waving on the day London's "Bendy" buses first entered service, the gilding soon faded.

As I had noted earlier, these buses were an almost immediate disaster for London.

Drivers had difficulty in getting these big, accordian-pleated behemoths safely through intersections and around the tightest of turns.

Motorists despised them right from the beginning, and cyclists agreed that the "Bendy" were indeed a hazard.

Then, too, the sharp uptick in fare evasion, where passengers not only refused to pay their fares, but also, often resorted to indecent language and physical altercations with divers and fare inspectors.

Though articulated buses are indeed crowd-swallowers (as were their more conventional appearing-ancestors of the 1950s and 1960s) I often wonder just how popular the "Em-Tee-Yay's" oversized caterpillars are with drivers.

Man, these "buses"(like ALL buses these days) are so UGLY they are FRIGHTENING!!!!

"QUICK, HENRY! THE FLIT!"

"NYO"

["12A EPPING"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Mom used to call "En-Jay-Tee's" articulateds "connection buses"(!!)

I was NEVER a fan of NJT's artics, but the long-gone VOLVOs were the WORST; the seat cushions were forever coming lose from the frames, in hot weather, they could only climb a steep grade if the a/c was turned off, and the back section swung far too much for Your's Truly's tastes when the roads were slick.

Give me a "Sherman", a "Patton", a "Dangerfield", or a Fishbowl anyday......

"NYO"

["FLXIBLE"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Ahhh, yes....CANNOT leave out the now-iconic "Torpedoes"; I had always liked them (first I ever rode one was up in "Bah-ston", back in 1991), but never realized just HOW MUCH I liked them until they were all gone.

The day the last "Torpedo" ran in "Noo Yawk" was also the day I lost all interest in present-day "Em-Tee-Yay" bus operations.

Giant human-digesting mutated caterpillars and rolling milk cartons just don't do it for Your's Truly.............

"NYO"

["RTS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Personally speaking...............

I think that the "Torpedo" was a bus that, at the onset, might not have been looked at kindly by some bus enthusiasts, as they were, in fact, the buses that were beginning to replace the classic and time-honored Fishbowls and "Dangerfields" (then, too, think of how some enthusiasts saw the Fishbowl and the "Dangerfield" as the "enemy", when they were replacing vintage classics like the "Sherman" and the "Patton", in earlier years)

However, as we all have seen, the "Torpedo" (RTS) eventually became a bus that was looked at favorably by enthusiasts, photographed frequently, and, in the end, much lamented when they were retired several years ago.

How fast the years fly...........

"NYO"

["RTS II"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]