For those interested in old buses (and coaches)

[Dave47549]

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Edited October 1, 2021 by Dave47549
Removed pointless guff

[leopardml2341]

Seeing that pic of DOC26V instantly reminded me of sister vehicle DOC24V which was operated by Northern Blue (Blackburn) for a while.

 

https://eamonnsphotos.smugmug.com/Operators-small-ops/Lancashire/i-M4XbL3K

 

I had the opportunity to drive their rather optimistically named 'X4' service from Colne to Grange-over-Sands, a journey of some 4&1/2 hrs each way.

 

I made it to Grange ok, but on the way back, the bus expired in a huge cloud of grey/white smoke near Arnside, the cause?

 

Shattered fuel pump drive plates, a portion of one I kept as a reminder of what turned out to be a very long day indeed.

 

[coachmann]

Oldham also had Crossley single deckers after the war, some of which arrived with the usual poor engines and later ones with the improved engines. AEC had rtaken over Crossley by the time the final batch arrived and some influence was shown on the radiator. This one is a Shore Edge.....

 

 

One duty had us relieving a crew on the Middleton Junction run while they went for their evening meal, so I took my camera along and changed the destination at Middleton Junc. to Route 10 - Greenfield, the most unlikely place one of these saloons would ever go! Or would it?  In 1965, things were dire and following a duty to bring special needs children from school, the depot foreman asked if we would use the single decker for the teatime portion of our split-shift. So off we went to Delph and just about got all the mill workers on it, so we didn't stop again until Waterhead. At Oldham, I couldn't find Holts on the destination blind, but 'N' was there. Even so, I had a job convincing passengers in Greaves Street that we were not the Upper Mossley saloon, but were going to Holts!

 

The Leyland PD2's had the more powerful 9.8 litlre O.600 engine and synchromesh gearbox, and some lasted into PTE days. This one is at Ashton Market in the late 1950's on the long run from Rochdale....

 

Three 27' long all-Leyland PD2/12's arrived in 1952 and number 370 is climbing away from Mumps Bridge on the Greenacres-Limeside service. Nothing you see in this picture remains today, not even the railway bridge....

 

This photo could have been taken from my memory bank, as it replicates my first sighting of a tin front 'loaf-tin' in Oldham in 1955. They had ultra-lightweight Metro-Cammell bodies and they would bounce along on a billiard table!  When I joined OCPT in 1961, these buses were usually relegated to peak hour duties, as the conductors just did not like them. They got a broad maroon band under the upper deck windows at the next repaint. Number 373 is on Yorkshire Street near the junction with Union Street on the Manchester-Shaw service....

Edited June 3, 2018 by coachmann

[runs as required]

...GDK 401 to 407 delivered in 1948 to 8' width had me fooled as a young lad, as I wondered why they lacked the outward flare of the lower body side. The reality was they were not Weymann bodies, but East Lancashire! When one arrived on the stand in Ashton I just had to ride on it, but the conductor told me to board the bus in front. I hid around the corner until the first bus had departed then climbed aboard. 204 is stood on at that very bus stop in Ashton......

WEB Buses 129.jpg

 

Fleet No.214 is from the 1949 batch showing the 8' wide Weymann body and shallower rain strip over the windows....

WEB Buses 126.jpg

 

HDK 23-32 were delivered in 1950 amnd shows well the original livery with blue swoops on both decks and cream cab front. When the lower deck swoop was abandoned, the split between blue and cream was higher up the bonnet to line up with the body side.... 

WEB Buses 127.jpg

We moved up to the north west in 1949, (my dad getting a job selling the new branded Shell & BP products after the wartime Pool days)

One of his prize hits was securing an exclusive contract for Rochdale Corporation - whereDad said  the Engineer, a Mr Humpage, enjoyed a big reputation . He painted my Dinky (I think an LT STL) in Rochdale streamline colours - but the downside was my dad kept it on his desk in Sunlight House (an art-deco  mini sky scraper) in Deansgate

 

2

Dave45749  Quote

Some selected highlights from today’s open event at National Express West Midlands’ West Bromwich garage:...

XDH516G 020618.JPG

Walsall 116 XDH516G, a 27’ short Daimler Fleetline with NCME body new in February ‘69. It served WMPTE throughout, entering preservation in November ‘86....

From 1947 - 1949 we lived in Sutton Coldfield (where I failed the Warwickshire 11plus - only to find my score had passed Derbyshire's 11plus when we moved NW for Dad's new job in 1949!)

Sutton was full of boring HHA austerity Guy Midland Red deckers, but amazingly individualist Walsall Corp beautiful blue buses parked up in front of the Town Hall. There were all sorts: old (4 cylinder?) painfully slow Dennises and pre and post-war fully fronted (but with open rear platform) bodied vehicles.

Rare plumaged birds indeed.

 

dh

Edited June 4, 2018 by runs as required

[Enterprisingwestern]

We moved up to the north west in 1949, (my dad getting a job selling the new branded Shell & BP products after the wartime Pool days)

One of his prize hits was securing an exclusive contract for Rochdale Corporation - whereDad said  the Engineer, a Mr Humpage, enjoyed a big reputation . He painted my Dinky (I think an LT STL) in Rochdale streamline colours - but the downside was my dad kept it on his desk in Sunlight House (an art-deco  mini sky scraper) in Deansgate

 

2

From 1947 - 1949 we lived in Sutton Coldfield (where I failed the Warwickshire 11plus - only to find my score had passed Derbyshire's 11plus when we moved NW for Dad's new job in 1949!)

Sutton was full of boring HHA austerity Guy Midland Red deckers, but amazingly individualist Walsall Corp beautiful blue buses parked up in front of the Town Hall. There were all sorts: old (4 cylinder?) painfully slow Dennises and pre and post-war fully fronted (but with open rear platform) bodied vehicles.

Rare plumaged birds indeed.

 

dh

 

Is that the C T Humpage?

 

Mike.

[coachmann]

Is that the C T Humpage?

 

Mike.

Mr. Chaseley T Humpidge, started his career as assistant engineer with Birmingham Cty Transport........ Then Chief assistant Engineer at Liverpool........Chief Engineer & Assistant Manager at Portsmouth....then Nottingham City Transport,  President of the municipal Passenger Transport Association during his time as manager of Sheffield, and in 1942 Rochdale's General Manager.

[coachmann]

Ten of the 1955 PD2's had bodies by Roe and also shared KBU registrations. The front upper deck still sloped back quite a lot like previous bodies. I photographed this one in Harry Taylors Pommard & Cream livery at the terminus in Greenfield in the early 1970's. Of note is a Harry Taylor design fible-glass 'tin front'....

 

 

The NBU registration Leylands with Roe bodies had a more upright front. The bodies were of semi-lightweight construction with extensive use of aluminium on the upper decks. I caught this one reversing at Stamford Road on the the old 'O' route, later Route 29. The Pommard red was supposed to brighten the fleet up, but we always knew Harry T. was determined to change Oldham's livery....

 

His first attempt at livery change using blue was simply not 'Oldham' and the townsfolk made their feelings known in the local Chronicle. NBU 502 was known as the 'dowdy-bus'. I had it once from Mills Hill and men with white coats were on both decks promoting 'Go to work on an egg', while everyone boarding the bus traveled free..... A great shift for me......

 

The year 1957 also brought with it  five Leyland PD2/20's with Crossley bodies. These bodies did not taper inward at the front to match the Leyland tin front and they also had a lower window line than other buses. I had to stoop to see where we were when stood in the lower saloon. But they were very comfortable and seemed to iron out any road imperfections. We didnt get them on the express runs often enough as far as i was concerned. Sadly the bodies proved inferior to earlier ones in Oldhams fleet. Number 409 was thoroughly overhauled and was the only one of this batch to pass to Selnec PTE. It is seen at Newhey terminus on Route 2 when new....

 

Seen at the end of its life with fibre-glass grill in early Selnec days at Newhey....

Edited June 5, 2018 by coachmann

[runs as required]

Thanks Coachman for your correct spelling and bio of Mr. Chaseley T Humpidge. So sad how the prestige (and pride) of places such as Rochdale has withered.

 

The Pommard red was supposed to brighten the fleet up, but we always knew Harry Taylor. was determined to change Oldham's livery....His first attempt at livery change using blue was simply not 'Oldham' and the townsfolk made their feelings known in the local Chronicle. NBU 502 was known as the 'dowdy-bus'. I had it once from Mills Hill and men with white coats were on both decks promoting 'Go to work on an egg', while everyone boarding the bus traveled free..... A great shift for me......

Interesting the townsfolk got to using the Chronicle to object.

 

Here on Tyneside we got to voting in wor evening Chronicle about a new integrated bus/Metro  PTE livery in 1980 around the opening of the Metro bridge and tunnels . The oucome was Weymann Metros in traditional Newcastle yellow, but with white (rather than cream) and with blue beading lines.

But this only lasted about a year until Mrs T de-regulated. The inevitable Stagecoach, Arriva and our Gateshead based  Go Ahead applied their corporate 'look' to the various PTE area buses. The residual PTE Metro trains always looked a lot crisper in that yellow & white livery than their subsequent shoddy reprays

 

dh

[coachmann]

Cartoonist for the Oldham Chronicle, Kirkbride (father of the late Corrie star), summed it up neatly when he said Oldham corporation couldn't decide which colour to paint thier buses so they are wallpapering them!

[coachmann]

Among the PBU registration buses delivered in 1958 and 1959 were these handsome PD2/30's with Roe bodies in fully lined out livery but with no window in the staircase.  PBU 952 is on the roundabout at Oldham Market on route 13, the clockwise route that covered Scouthead, Delph and Uppermill in North Western Road Car territory. I new the route well and did it for 4½ years in all weathers.....

 

This photo was taken in January 1961 when I was a raw probationer Number 667. The neck scarf says it all....I was determined to keep warm.....

 

In 1962, OCPT Manager Harry Taylor borrowed this Huddersfield Leyland PD3 and trialed it on several routes although I didn't take much notice at the time. It is seen at Shaw Wrens Nest, on route 8 to Hollinwood via Werneth....

 

Quite why Harry T. chose to buy these 30' PD3's in 1963 is a mystery when all the other deckers in the fleet had rear platforms.  Neither crews nor passenger wanted them and they became the great unwanted!  I watched passenger at bus stops head towards the back of the bus because that's were platforms should be....shouldn't they?  Once on board, they couldn't drop off like they were used to, although some used to resort to turning the emergency 'butterfly' to open the doors.  Conductors never knew where to stand, and had to go upstairs to drop down a flap in order to wind the destination blinds. From a drivers standpoint, they were sluggish and lost time on every local route they were put on. They started on route '0'  then route 9 and so-on and always lost time. Finally they ended up with G-Group on the expresses, though they were not really suited to the Greenfield route....

 

May 1965 saw the delivery of the towns first Atlanteans. The Roe bodies were of distinctive appearance with V-front peak roof, which for me brought back fond memories of the old English Electric bodies. We were encouraged to give our views on these new machines. I booked on one afternoon and James Hartley, the depot inspector, said a message had come down from Harry Taylor asking if i would prepare an illustration of the bus while another guard did my whole late-turn. Great......I took a chair from the canteen to the back of the garage where the bus had been carefully positioned and did a rough sketch before taking it home to make a detailed drawing. Friend John Holmes got the 'task' of driving the bus to Alexander Park to take some official photos. Being enthusiastic about buses and our jobs worked well for both of us. I suspect John's picture below is of a bus before it entered service. A few weeks later I left Oldham Corporation for a new life in Wales.....

Edited June 6, 2018 by coachmann

[RANGERS]

Among the PBU registration buses delivered in 1958 and 1959 were these handsome PD2/30's with Roe bodies in fully lined out livery but with no window in the staircase.  PBU 952 is on the roundabout at Oldham Market on route 13, the clockwise route that covered Scouthead, Delph and Uppermill in North Western Road Car territory. I new the route well and did it for 4½ years in all weathers.....

WEB Buses 24.jpg

 

This photo was taken in January 1961 when I was a raw probationer Number 667. The neck scarf says it all....I was determined to keep warm.....

WEB Larry on buses 1961.jpg

 

In 1962, OCPT Manager Harry Taylor borrowed this Huddersfield Leyland PD3 and trialed it on several routes although I didn't take much notice at the time. It is seen at Shaw Wrens Nest, on route 8 to Hollinwood via Werneth....

WEB Buses 25.jpg

 

Quite why Harry T. chose to buy these 30' PD3's in 1963 is a mystery when all the other deckers in the fleet had rear platforms.  Neither crews nor passenger wanted them and they became the great unwanted!  I watched passenger at bus stops head towards the back of the bus because that's were platforms should be....shouldn't they?  Once on board, they couldn't drop off like they were used to, although some used to resort to turning the emergency 'butterfly' to open the doors.  Conductors never knew where to stand, and had to go upstairs to drop down a flap in order to wind the destination blinds. From a drivers standpoint, they were sluggish and lost time on every local route they were put on. They started on route '0'  then route 9 and so-on and always lost time. Finally they ended up with G-Group on the expresses, though they were not really suited to the Greenfield route....

WEB Buses 26.jpg

 

May 1965 saw the delivery of the towns first Atlanteans. The Roe bodies were of distinctive appearance with V-front peak roof, which for me brought back fond memories of the old English Electric bodies. We were encouraged to give our views on these new machines. I booked on one afternoon and James Hartley, the depot inspector, said a message had come down from Harry Taylor asking if i would prepare an illustration of the bus while another guard did my whole late-turn. Great......I took a chair from the canteen to the back of the garage where the bus had been carefully positioned and did a rough sketch before taking it home to make a detailed drawing. Friend John Holmes got the 'task' of driving the bus to Alexander Park to take some official photos. Being enthusiastic about buses and our jobs worked well for both of us. I suspect John's picture below is of a bus before it entered service. A few weeks later I left Oldham Corporation for a new life in Wales.....

WEB Buses 27.jpg

I always thought those Roe Atlanteans were quite handsome buses, at least one of them ended its days in Northampton where it did school and works contracts for Brittain’s coaches, their two tone blue suited it well. Sadly it was one of the rear engine invasion which sent their half cabs to the grave in the late 70s/ early 80s.

[coachmann]

I always thought those Roe Atlanteans were quite handsome buses, at least one of them ended its days in Northampton where it did school and works contracts for Brittain’s coaches, their two tone blue suited it well. Sadly it was one of the rear engine invasion which sent their half cabs to the grave in the late 70s/ early 80s.

I concur with you, Oldham's first Atlanteans had beautiful lines. Soon after their arrival, I began working behind the desk for several weeks answering phones, usually from mobile inspectors. I only went back out on the road after handing in my notice (!) and so if I worked on an Atlantean, it has not stuck in my mind. In fact I can't even remember which duty or route I was working in the final week.

Edited June 6, 2018 by coachmann

[runs as required]

I always thought Liverpool had the ugliest Atlanteans - they reputedly designed them themselves (and they looked like it with Ford Anglia type lean-backward 'styling' with peaky bits above the Windows)

They replaced a distinctive generation of Crossley bodied tin front AECs and Orions all with very resonant exhausts blasting noisily around the Liverpool 8 streets from about 5 in the morning.

The very first Merseyside Atlanteans were in Wallasey - we used to ride them from Seacombe to the naughty films at the Continental Wallasy art house cinema. They had a neat little wooden slider inside the entrance with the last ferry time back to Liverpool Pierhead

dh

[PhilJ W]

I always thought Liverpool had the ugliest Atlanteans - they reputedly designed them themselves (and they looked like it with Ford Anglia type lean-backward 'styling' with peaky bits above the Windows)

They replaced a distinctive generation of Crossley bodied tin front AECs and Orions all with very resonant exhausts blasting noisily around the Liverpool 8 streets from about 5 in the morning.

The very first Merseyside Atlanteans were in Wallasey - we used to ride them from Seacombe to the naughty films at the Continental Wallasy art house cinema. They had a neat little wooden slider inside the entrance with the last ferry time back to Liverpool Pierhead

dh

IIRC the Wallasey Atlateans were the first of the type to go into service anywhere. Followed by Maidstone and District who used them to replace the Hastings trolleybuses.

[RANGERS]

I always thought Liverpool had the ugliest Atlanteans - they reputedly designed them themselves (and they looked like it with Ford Anglia type lean-backward 'styling' with peaky bits above the Windows)

They replaced a distinctive generation of Crossley bodied tin front AECs and Orions all with very resonant exhausts blasting noisily around the Liverpool 8 streets from about 5 in the morning.

The very first Merseyside Atlanteans were in Wallasey - we used to ride them from Seacombe to the naughty films at the Continental Wallasy art house cinema. They had a neat little wooden slider inside the entrance with the last ferry time back to Liverpool Pierhead

dh

Reminds me of the old scouse comic’s joke, passenger - “does this bus stop at the pier head?”; conductor - “well if it doesn’t, there’s gonna be a helluva splash!”

[E3109]

I always thought Liverpool had the ugliest Atlanteans - they reputedly designed them themselves (and they looked like it with Ford Anglia type lean-backward 'styling' with peaky bits above the Windows)

They replaced a distinctive generation of Crossley bodied tin front AECs and Orions all with very resonant exhausts blasting noisily around the Liverpool 8 streets from about 5 in the morning.

The very first Merseyside Atlanteans were in Wallasey - we used to ride them from Seacombe to the naughty films at the Continental Wallasy art house cinema. They had a neat little wooden slider inside the entrance with the last ferry time back to Liverpool Pierhead

dh

I kind of get that, although I'd respectfully disagree what with being of Scouse stock and all...

Apparently the L500s were pretty much a bespoke design for LCPT and even more for the same type from around L700 upwards as the chassis were supplied from Leyland with a slightly non-standard wheelbase. It may have been all of them, I forget the details nowadays what with senility setting in haha.

 

Living as I do midway between Liverpool and Manchester I suppose I could be a tad biased, but for the record I believe that the Mancunian design is absolutely timeless. We got a few of them as outcasts from Manchester garages in the early 1980s (I hail from Wigan for my sins) and as much as it wasn't nice to see our native Atlanteans being displaced, they were nonetheless welcome.

 

Incidentally, I helped save the last Wigan Corporation Atlantean from scrap, it was withdrawn 25-10-85 and was the last ex-municipal bus in GMT service. Google the reg NEK9K if interested.

We got beasted in the late 1980s for restoring some "rear-engined crap" by the half cab guys, but I know they appreciated its significance and were quietly pleased we got it...

Edited June 7, 2018 by E3109

[runs as required]

I kind of get that, although I'd respectfully disagree what with being of Scouse stock and all...

OK I'd better own up ...

I too worked for the Corpy for 3 years from 1962  (I'd also been a student in Liverpool earlier - from the last year or so of the Overhead)

When I returned back about 5 years later I was surprised to find vinyled high on the sides of those big PTE green Atlanteans the Roundy-Roundy logo I'd devised last thing at night for the front of a report to the City Council about the rail loops (only one got implemented) intended to halt the Inner Ring motorway !

 

 

Reminds me of the old scouse comic’s joke, passenger - “does this bus stop at the pier head?”; conductor - “well if it doesn’t, there’s gonna be a helluva splash!”

And the classic scouse conductor's shout of "If Yer Want It Grrabb It !" down the stairs to the queue as he'd give a quick double-ding of the bell of an 86* outside Lewis's.

dh

 

*The 86 stopped outside the original Hatton's model shop at the bottom end of Smithdown Road

[E3109]

So it was you! ...

 

Always thought the quasi-BL symbol was rather stylish (especially when applied to 502s and 503s) although I suspect that the Sandgrounders (Southport) weren't too happy at being dragged kicking and screaming into a faraway metropolis... Bit like Wigan when the Mancs took over and painted our 'buzzes' insipid orange and white.

 

Incidentally we occasionally saw MPTE Atlanteans in Wigan on the 362 etc from Sintellins... Another district that is still not happy at being tarred as Scousers!

 

Can't blame them TBH.

I blame Purple Aki.....

[E3109]

A word about PTEs if I may.

Now don't get me wrong, they were generally a force for good (anyone here remember the 2p fare to Tinsley?)

But they had a tendency to eradicate local identity via liveries etc, with the possible exception of Merseyside PTE in the early years, they actually respected local liveries up until about 1975 when the insipid puke ER Verona Green took over.

 

Locally we had 600 added to our route numbers in Wigan and sadly this remains to this day.

What's always bugged me is that when our buses were going to Ashton they displayed 'Ashton' but when GMT took over they displayed 'Ashton-in-Makerfield', as though it could be confused with Ashton-under-Lyne over 20 miles away.

 

I could go on and on about how GMT ballsed up our local services... But I won't. Except by request!

[runs as required]

A word about PTEs if I may.

Now don't get me wrong, they were generally a force for good (anyone here remember the 2p fare to Tinsley?)

But they had a tendency to eradicate local identity via liveries etc, with the possible exception of Merseyside PTE in the early years...

See my post #908 above about Tynesiside PTE's vote on livery in the Evning Chron. Yellow also appealed to those who used Venture's saloons from Blaydon up aross former north west Durham up to Consett

2

I've a question to Coachman about School Bus contracts.

I've always wanted to know about the maintenance of these usually second hand PSVs used for 'scholars' - who can use them hard. I was always impressed by the rigorous roadworthiness requirements for service vehicles (a bit like airworthiness certs) - that usually commence with the vehicles being new.

In the US school buses appear to be new vehicles though with spartan military looking bodies with 'hard class' interiors. In the UK, our school buses are usually old, they must require a lot more sweat and ingenuity to keep up to PSV standards (around here they often carry a "Welcome Aboard" invitation for general passengers to use them along the school bus route).

Are there quite different regs for school buses?

dh

Edited June 8, 2018 by runs as required

[coachmann]

SELNEC PTE looked barmy to me, but of course it was bowled along by a Government that devised ways of making sure British Leyland got orders for buses. The reality on the ground was the various corporations in the Manchester area had been hemorrhaging passengers for years. Yet while passenger numbers were reducing, the old corporations suddenly found themselves lumbered with big rear engine buses under Selnec.  The Oldham Atlanteans drove around much of the day with a chain across the stairs so they were effectively single deckers!

 

I borrowed a cine camera and had summer holidays in sunny Oldham (not) in an attempt to film as much of the old order as possible. I visited Oldham Depot and was given permission to look around. Nothing had changed on this first visit and buses were in the old maroon livery as well as the Pommard. The ex.SHMD's ponderosa was impersonating a scrapyard and Ashton-U-Lyne's depot was still a place to see well kept buses, plus it still had its Guys.  A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. 

Edited June 8, 2018 by coachmann

[coachmann]

See my post #908 above about Tynesiside PTE's vote on livery in the Evning Chron. Yellow also appealed to those who used Venture's saloons from Blaydon up aross former north west Durham up to Consett

2

I've a question to Coachman about School Bus contracts.

I've always wanted to know about the maintenance of these usually second hand PSVs used for 'scholars' - who can use them hard. I was always impressed by the rigorous roadworthiness requirements for service vehicles (a bit like airworthiness certs) - that usually commence with the vehicles being new.

In the US they seem to use new vehicles but with spartan WD type 'hard class' interiors. In the UK, our school buses are usually old, they must require a lot more sweat and ingenuity to keep up to PSV standards (around here they often carry a "Welcome Aboard" invitation for general passengers along the school bus  route).

Are they different regs?

dh

I cannot say anything about the maintenance of buses used for school runs. I only drove them.  I took a Regent V out on a school run and had to use hand signals because none of the lights worked, but that was one of those rarities. On another occasion, I took an Ex.Oxford Regent out with a foot of exhaust pipe missing becasue it was needed as a sample for a new exhaust system and we were short of a bus. I did my best to keep the thing quiet, but I was told you could hear the AEC a mile away as it roared up St. Asaph's steep main street!  Another independent operator sent one of his ex.Lancashire United 30' buses out on a school run and it only had a single wheel instead of pair on one side. But that was sheer foolishness and the operator lost the school contract after only one day!  

Edited June 8, 2018 by coachmann

[RANGERS]

See my post #908 above about Tynesiside PTE's vote on livery in the Evning Chron. Yellow also appealed to those who used Venture's saloons from Blaydon up aross former north west Durham up to Consett

2

I've a question to Coachman about School Bus contracts.

I've always wanted to know about the maintenance of these usually second hand PSVs used for 'scholars' - who can use them hard. I was always impressed by the rigorous roadworthiness requirements for service vehicles (a bit like airworthiness certs) - that usually commence with the vehicles being new.

In the US school buses appear to be new vehicles though with spartan military looking bodies with 'hard class' interiors. In the UK, our school buses are usually old, they must require a lot more sweat and ingenuity to keep up to PSV standards (around here they often carry a "Welcome Aboard" invitation for general passengers to use them along the school bus route).

Are there quite different regs for school buses?

dh

Simple answer is no, a PSV has to be maintained to the standard laid down in the PSV Inspection Manual, regardless of what the vehicle is used for.

 

The reality of course is slightly different, certain things such as air-con or audio systems are not mandatory and although would be inspected for safety, wouldn’t be required to work just to keep the little darlings cool or amused. Such are the pressures on local authorities to procure services at the lowest cost, any area for economy is fair game. Regardless of the vehicle’s age, it still needs fuel, tyres, a driver, a traffic operation, an engineering team and insurance (which doesn’t vary that much according to the vehicle). Inevitably the cost of a vehicle is one of the few areas which can be reduced, hence the tendency for older types which are cheap to buy and have minimal depreciation, although keeping them on the road does usually take more general maintenance.

[Gwiwer]

Simple answer is no, a PSV has to be maintained to the standard laid down in the PSV Inspection Manual, regardless of what the vehicle is used for.

 

The reality of course is slightly different, certain things such as air-con or audio systems are not mandatory and although would be inspected for safety, wouldn’t be required to work just to keep the little darlings cool or amused. Such are the pressures on local authorities to procure services at the lowest cost, any area for economy is fair game. Regardless of the vehicle’s age, it still needs fuel, tyres, a driver, a traffic operation, an engineering team and insurance (which doesn’t vary that much according to the vehicle). Inevitably the cost of a vehicle is one of the few areas which can be reduced, hence the tendency for older types which are cheap to buy and have minimal depreciation, although keeping them on the road does usually take more general maintenance.

 

Quite so.  A PSV is a PSV whether used for intensive urban service all day everyday, the market run once a week or taking the kids to school and back for perhaps an hour a day.  The same set of legislation and the same standards apply.

 

What happens in reality can make the school bus look a little second-hand however.  The economics of running any bus company have for some time dictated that a vehicle should earn its keep for as much of as many days as practicable.  Gone are the days - with a few exceptions - where you had your everyday fleet, some dedicated school buses, a couple of old "stand-bys" and a trainer.  Driver training is often done using vehicles in between morning and afternoon school runs.  Those vehicles themselves are not always presented in the finest of condition and are often the most senior.  They get a measure of rough-and-tumble inside from their (ab)users and they then go out on training runs with, typically, less-than-experienced drivers and acquire the odd bump and scrape in consequence.  

 

It all adds up to the sometimes scruffy appearance of British school buses though there are, it must be said, a good many well-presented coaches and some 'deckers to be seen lined up at our schools at times.  

 

We had a couple of "Spare" duties which were assigned to men rostered to work but not assigned a set shift.  These usually involved taking one or other of the pair of elderly Leopard coaches with power doors (only one had bus-grant doors, the other was a powered swing door) on a morning school run.  I was once inspected by a Ministry random check where the tag attached to the offside rear wheel arch was queried. This was the reversing marker used to assist in the reverse-park test but was fitted permanently to the vehicle.  It should have been folded in for school use but on this occasion had either been left out or simply popped out whilst in motion.  It was accepted as within the bounds of reason.  That might well not be the case in 2018.  After the school run the vehicle was handed to the driving instructor while the early-turn Spare man had a break, then undertook what ever work was instructed before completing his day with the afternoon school run.  That was no-one's favourite day on the roster but the job had to be done.

[Co-tr-Paul]

Back when I was driving, our contract vehicles had to have different signage, ie school bus along with first aid kit and contract sheet. Different to stage carriage duties. Also, some councils set an age limit to vehicles used for their duties. For instance, South Glous is 10 years but Cornwall still allow Mounts Bay to run late 90s Van Hools..... .