TRIVIA: What is the bus that sums up your childhood?

[Mcr Warrior]

This one. Home to/from school and home to/from Lancashire CCC.

And this one as well..

 

[FrodshamJnct]

This one. Home to/from school and home to/from Lancashire CCC.

And this one as well..

Cracking photo of what looks like Piccadilly Gardens?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Yep. Think the old Lewis's department store is in the background (now a Primark) and Debenhams on the right (looking a little bit like one of the "Twin Towers" at the old Wembley Stadium).

 

[86247]

For me it was a crosville Lodekka which appeared on my local services to prescot and liverpool. I have a memory as a kid sitting on the long seat behind the driver pretending that I was driving the bus happy days.

 

[SCH117X]

Barton, South Notts, Nottm City and West Bridgford UDC low bridge double deckers typically with steeply stepped entrances that looked like a cliff face and sunken upper gangways serving 4 a breast seating

 

[hst43102]

I think I'm the youngest to post here yet - mine are Alexander-bodied Olympians and Tridents!
Image shows Stagecoach Northampton Dennis Trident 18151.

 

[High Dyke]

Bristol Lodekkas (Summer holidays in Skegness) or Bristol RELL, in both the normal or dual-door variant. These formed the mainstay of town services, with many rural services in the hands of Bristol MW's - until replaced by LH's. Equally, the odd Midland Red D9 on trips to Leicester.

 

[chris_in_salop]

A Leyland National and a couple of bread vans at Cradley Heath sum up my earliest independent bus travel to and from school



Photo credit to Walsall1955

 

[GusB]

* Mod hat back on *

Please ensure that ALL images have a proper description, and ensure the photographer is credited if you have permission to post it in the first place. "Not my photo is insufficient".

Thanks

 

[randyrippley]

this H&C bus was the vehicle normally used on our school run morning and evening for five years or so

CYA181J - an AEC Reliance / Plaxton bus with quite a turn of speed (a later operator blanked off top gear to slow it down.......)

have to post a link not a photo due to copyright

CYA 181J Hutchings & Cornelius bus photo/magnet /keyring/mousemat • £2.70

CYA 181J HUTCHINGS & Cornelius bus photo/magnet /keyring/mousemat - £2.70. FOR SALE! 283844027295

picclick.co.uk

 

[PeterC]

Without a doubt, for me it was the Red RT. As a young child, I loved to sit on the 'three seats' where I could see all that was going on. Then a bit later, I would appreciate the downstairs front OS where I caould see the speedo and most of the way ahead. On a long journey, sitting upstairs in the front seata was interesting and in my teens the comfort of the upper rear seat was luxury with padded arm rests on both sides, plus the ability to hop off at traffic lights or in queues of traffic!
I used to think that they were a hard ride, but the wallowing of Routmasters' coils spring suspension was not as nice, especially when combined with the spirited style of driving that some drivers practiced once they were confident with the auto transmission taught me to appreciate the RT's more sedate progress.

Oh yes I loved that back seat with the arm rests. Liked the bench seat beside the fare table as well. Did the conductor put it in at the start of the shift? I don't recall ever seeing one for the wrong route. One thing I hated about the RMs was the fare table hidden under the stairs.

 

[AM9]

... One thing I hated about the RMs was the fare table hidden under the stairs.

Given the difficulty of finding what fares are now, maybe that was the start of the plan. More seriously, I think that the conductor/clippie leaning over passengers seated in the offside 3-seats was beginning to be a bone of contention by the '60s.

 

[CBlue]

Remember catching a mixture of Bristol VRT's or Volvo/Leyland Olympians with Cambus when heading into town with my mum, back when we were a one-car family! The VRT in particular had a very unique sound and I'd love to bag a good run on one again some day.

Additional variety was provided when visiting my grandparents, as a trip on a Thamesway Pointer Dart or Leyland Lynx would ensue at some point during the visit.

 

[richw]

Western national VRs, Mercedes bread vans and early darts in the Falmouth area are my earliest memories of my Nan taking me on the buses.
When I get involved at the preservation group I’m a member with these are the vehicles I have most Interest in, and volunteer to drive if offered a chance to drive on run outs.

 

[40129]

Am just about old enough to remember Midland Red introducing Leyland Nationals on Shrewsbury town services. Don't know what they replaced but I hated them from day one and always hoped that a Leopard (LS27 or 28) or in later years a Tiger would appear on the S9/10 (very rarely did). Much preferred the Atlanteans and Fleetlines that we used on summer vacations in Bournemouth (espoecially the open toppers on the 11 and 12).

As a teenager I spent 2 weeks at my Aunt's in Bristol and fell in love with VRs and REs

 

[stuart81]

My local route (the L-series in Lowestoft, can't remember the number) was made up of early 80's Transit and Iveco van conversions.

I remember at a young age hearing and seeing Bristol VR's and National's in the Eastern Counties Red livery with orange and cream stripes craving the day I got to go on one

 

[Flange Squeal]

R-reg Optare MetroRiders in Tillingbourne yellow/blue, and manual K-reg and automatic N-reg Alexander Sprint-bodied Mercedes 709D 'breadvans' in Stagecoach stripes.

503 Tillingbourne R503VOR Optare Metrorider Optare . Cranleigh garage 11.1.98

www.flickr.com

SSC 907 N907NAP

Explore bryanb27m4's 56288 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Class465pacer]

Stagecoach London Trident ALX400s, especially on the 86 and 247

Stagecoach London 17565, LV52HDY- Route 86 | Stratford Bus Station

Stagecoach London 17565, LV52HDY- Route 86 | Stratford Bus Station with a Romford Station Service. Friday 22nd August 2014 © London Transport3 / Mark Mcwalter 2014

www.flickr.com

 

[JetBlast]

The Dennis Darts with Carlyle bodies.

Rossendale Transport 84 (H120MOB) 07091997a

Rossendale Transport Limited acquired sixteen 8.5 metre Dennis Darts with Carlyle 28 seat bodywork from Metroline Travel in 1997. By 7 September 1997 the first of these, including 84 (H120MOB), had been repainted into Rossendale livery with HANDYRIDER branding and had entered service at...

www.flickr.com

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Yorkshire Rider Atlanteans. More specifically, PUA300W (6300) which was in a heritage Huddersfield Corporation livery for years. It later got the hideous Kingfisher green arrows livery before being sold into preservation and returned to the previous celebrity paint scheme. AFAIK it is still in this livery in preservation.
Honourable mentions to Bristol VRs and Leyland Nationals (1s or 2s) in Yorkshire Traction colours for trips to visit grandparents before either of my parents were able to drive (so up to 1986).

 

[Rail Bus]

263 to Altrincham

 

[Lewlew]

For me it was the Wright Cadets in Solent Blue Line livery on the 18/19 in Southampton. Also to a lesser extent was the ALX400s on FirstBus 17.

A few years later I joined FirstBus and drove the ALX400s (although a slightly newer version I believe) as well as some old Wright Renown's which looked very similar to the Cadets.

 

[73001]

Ribble's ECW and Park Royal Atlanteans for me, usually on the 300/302 which gave them a chance to stretch their legs through the countryside between Maghull and Southport. The high pitch squeal as they changed gear seemed only to happen to them... I'd generally sit on the 'engine seat' to get full effects! They were pretty much ubiquitous until North Western started and then there was also Nationals, Olympians, Leopard coaches, VRs (when the route went Southport to Warrington - a torture I happily endured on many an occasion) and then Dennis Dominators. The 302 disappeared eventually but the 300 is still a nice ride out with a mix of city, suburb and and countryside which isn't that common round here.

 

[peterblue]

There was only one route in the town I grew up in, and I remember it was operated by Nationals towards the end of their service when growing up.

 

[Typhoon]

RMLs on London Country (pre NBC) 480 - destination 'DENTON Milton Ale Shades'. Smarter looking (inside and out) than the red RTs that were standard in the area heading to a place I had never heard of (so must be better!) For me an indication that there was more out there than working in a local factory until I was worn out like so many others. It was much later than I found the destination was just outside Gravesend! And before they ran the RMLs down with hodgepodge repairs and paint jobs.

 

[Statto]

My local routes had the last batch of PDR [PDR 1A/1] Atlanteans [1271 to 1296] allocated to SVR depot [which were allocated to my local routes when i was growing up], the whole batch 1236 to 1296[1236 has been, & still is in preservation for years] were originally intended for Midland Red West Midlands area depots but that got cancelled after Midland Red sold the West Midlands area depots & routes to West Midlands PTE, so the batch was diverted to Merseyside PTE instead.

This is one of the batch [on one of my local routes at the time too] that could easily been in Midland Red livery rather than Merseyside Green, Cream & Brown.

MPTE 1288 BKC288K

Woodside 1984 ©Jez Smith

www.flickr.com

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

My local routes had the last batch of PDR [PDR 1A/1] Atlanteans [1271 to 1296] allocated to SVR depot [which were allocated to my local routes when i was growing up], the whole batch 1236 to 1296[1236 has been, & still is in preservation for years] were originally intended for Midland Red West Midlands area depots but that got cancelled after Midland Red sold the West Midlands area depots & routes to West Midlands PTE, so the batch was diverted to Merseyside PTE instead.

This is one of the batch [on one of my local routes at the time too] that could easily been in Midland Red livery rather than Merseyside Green, Cream & Brown.

MPTE 1288 BKC288K

Woodside 1984 ©Jez Smith

www.flickr.com

SVR? Seaview Road?

 

[route101]

Lothian Atalaleans and Eastern SMT ailsas, Leapards and Y types.
And wee bit later , Strathclyde Ailsas.

 

[MotCO]

My usual bus to school was a Routemaster, and later Swifts and Fleetlines. However, occasionally an RT came round the corner substituting for a RM, and that made my day! I also enjoyed the once a week thrash on the RT operated 72 /152 as it hurtled down the A3 towards Hook coming home from the school sports ground after games afternoon.

 

[Beemax]

If I had to pick one, it would be a Southampton Corporation AEC Regent V with East Lancs bodywork to school and back every day.