Drivers running late or early. Passengers staying on further than they were supposed to on their ticket. Plus the 'I dont need a ticket' fiddle which involved both parties splitting the fare.
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Trivia: What things don't you see on buses these days?
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delt1c
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“Scratching” was term meaning deliberately losing time. Following the bus in front letting them do the work was “measuring them off”
PG
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A hundred and one reasons for running late though. They were far more interested in early running as they could book you for it! Also good for detecting pass sharers who'd 'post' their pass out the window while the driver was distracted.
whoosh
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A great big steering wheel capped with the word Autosteer.
Panoramic windows with hardly any window pillars.
Opening portions of front windows on the top deck - much, much better in the summer than the stuffy busses around now.
Better, more passenger friendly seating layouts with higher floors - but bad luck climbing up the steps if you were unsteady on your feet, or got left behind in your wheelchair or pushchair.
No assault screens outside of big cities, and drivers never got robbed spat at or stabbed.... but there was always inevitably a first time.
A little red light next to the toy gear stick that lit up when the bus was in neutral.
Rearward ascending staircases.
Bench of three (or four!) seats at the very front of the top deck.
Rattling and shaking windows at stops because the driver had left the bus in gear.
Engine emergency stop buttons that didn't involve lifting any engine cover before finding and using them.
Four-leaved doors. Most are only two now aren't they?
Panoramic windows with hardly any window pillars.
Opening portions of front windows on the top deck - much, much better in the summer than the stuffy busses around now.
Better, more passenger friendly seating layouts with higher floors - but bad luck climbing up the steps if you were unsteady on your feet, or got left behind in your wheelchair or pushchair.
No assault screens outside of big cities, and drivers never got robbed spat at or stabbed.... but there was always inevitably a first time.
A little red light next to the toy gear stick that lit up when the bus was in neutral.
Rearward ascending staircases.
Bench of three (or four!) seats at the very front of the top deck.
Rattling and shaking windows at stops because the driver had left the bus in gear.
Engine emergency stop buttons that didn't involve lifting any engine cover before finding and using them.
Four-leaved doors. Most are only two now aren't they?
peterblue
Member
During these times, other passengers 
Geordie driver
Member
Going back in years, driver running early, drivers fiddling, passengers evading fares, bad behaviour.
The latterr 2 were dropped as the years went by. We had a couple of checkies ( both no longer with us now sadly) who would sign your waybill half a dozen times around 7 pm then straight off into the pub, in some ways it was handy as you knew you would be left alone and you knew where to find them.
You wouldn't see that on the buses nowadays.
My local buses don't have these (obviously they have temporary Covid screens at the moment, but these are not solid). They serve Leeds and Bradford.
Eyersey468
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Ww don't have assault screens either with the exception of the 20 reg Enviro400 MMCs, and that was only because Covid and they didn't want to be drilling holes in brand new buses.
Arriva had mostly adjustable ones in Merseyside, about 2years ago they announced every screen was to be fixed shut nationwide after an incident somewhere. Only Birkenhead depot actually did it though. It seems most Merseyside depots have had theirs fixed shut now, Bolton and Winsford etc havnt though.
As a driver, I can't stand them!
Still get that these days… Sometimes when it's still moving but not accelerating.
Jordan Adam
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I take it you've never been on a Streetlite or old E200 with a 4cyl Cummins ISB engine? Some of the Streetlites here can rattle so violently that the windows slam shut!
PG
Established Member
I agree some (maybe all?) Streetlites vibrate something shocking! In general though 4 cylinder diesel engines in buses do vibrate way more than a 6 cylinder.
341o2
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Roof top boxes were nicknamed "Lighthouses"
Exposed radiator buses, with a piece of cardboard partially blocking it on a cold winters morning.
And going through my old LT photographs, one was taken long exposure (no flash), the driver stopped at a petrol station because the bus was low on water and needed a top up.
The handbrake on the RT class was rather awkwardly positioned, I've seen a couple of drivers release it while getting into the cab, relying on quickly hitting the footbrake.
Opening cab doors - hinged as opposed to sliding
Trolleybuses - last ran March 1972
Lowbridge double deckers
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Thank you.
Also, I think this was not just London, conductors and, I think drivers, wearing lightweight, light coloured, jackets with a coloured lapel and cuffs. They looked fairly smart even in the hottest weather.
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