Trivia: What things don't you see on buses these days?

[PG]

Given they have went to Smartcard, you don't see the sticky part of Megarider wallets holding bits of Stagecoach buses together these days

On a similar note since the demise of timetable leaflets you don't see them folded up and squeezed into gaps as anti-rattle devices.

 

[M60lad]

Might sound an odd one but surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet but what about groups of kids getting on buses and hanging out the sliding opening windows on the upper deck of buses, yes I know it was/is dangerous but I believe some of them took it to extremes and used to see how far they could get out the windows pretty harmless fun which is why some drivers never used to bother about it.

 

[GusB]

• Semi-automatic gearboxes
• Manual gearboxes, both constant-mesh (crash) and synchro-mesh
• Double clutching, common among older drivers, especially if they'd previously had to deal with crash boxes
• Front and mid-mounted engines
• Big red circular switches for the indicators
• Those funny nozzles for ventilation that swivelled in a socket and had a bit that you pulled out to allow the air to flow
• Vacuum brakes and windscreen wipers
• Big engines
• No speed limiters

 

[Jordan Adam]

Thinking about it I don't recall seeing the 'passengers must not' notice immediately behind the drivers cab on any of my recent journeys.

IIRC it used to read:

• Stand forward of this notice
• Speak to or otherwise distract the driver while the vehicle is in motion
• Leave luggage in any gangway

I'm case anyone trips/falls and then attempts to claim that the bus company were at fault because they couldn't see as the lights were turned off...
Sadly this is true, we can't expect anyone to be responsible for themselves Actually scrub that as the lights can help disabled folk to see.

Still see them on practically every bus here! In fact many modern buses even have a line on the floor just behind the cab to denote the point where passengers must not stand forward of.

 

[Geordie driver]

I have been beaten to it, but are there any manual or semi auto buses left? I know some school runs are done by manual coaches.

Hard graft doing local service work OMO with a manual box.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I have been beaten to it, but are there any manual or semi auto buses left? I know some school runs are done by manual coaches.

Hard graft doing local service work OMO with a manual box.

Would Volvo's I-Shift (Automated-Manual Box) used on the Volvo B5LH chassis count? There's also a number of Enviro200s which use the ZF AS-Tronic box - another automated manual.

 

[Devon Sunset]

Cable hand brakes, air handles for doors.

 

[JetBlast]

Do you still get those spinning vents on the roof?

 

[Devon Sunset]

I have been beaten to it, but are there any manual or semi auto buses left? I know some school runs are done by manual coaches.

Hard graft doing local service work OMO with a manual box.

I still remember doing a full shift on urban stopping services with manual box Seddon's. Didn't think anything of it at the time but don't think I'd want to go back to that now.

 

[KendalKing]

Hard graft doing local service work OMO with a manual box.

Done that a few times, over the years. Use to find it impossible to keep to time!

 

[PG]

Big red circular switches for the indicators

Like this.
Due to copyright I'm unable to include the photo in this thread.

EDIT: found one that I can post.

 

[ta-toget]

On a similar note since the demise of timetable leaflets you don't see them folded up and squeezed into gaps as anti-rattle devices.

I forget which Arriva depot, either Aylesbury or Milton Keynes, but there was one bus (at least, I assume it was just one) had a free Metro newspaper taped (I think with ticket holders) over the front ceiling light, which was meant to turn of when the door was closed, but didn't. Arriva still hold (or held last year) their buses together with their ticket holders in many other places, as well, like the cab door, roof panels etc.

 

[Dai Corner]

Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but the mirror and periscope system by which drivers could observe the stairs (and small boys sitting in the front seat upstairs observe the driver!).

Access flaps for the linens by the upstairs front seats. Very occasionally left unlocked. Frequently loose and rattling.

 

[dgl]

The older Wayfarer ticket machines with landscape tickets, with the ticket information printed on the top and the bottom with the name of the operator/logo in the middle.

 

[PG]

You hardly ever see the universally accepted signal between drivers of 'Thumbs down'= checker ahead! Checker meaning an Inspector waiting to jump on your bus, so if you're doing anything you shouldn't be...

EDIT: forgot to say you don't see it anymore because you don't see inspectors anymore!

 

[73001]

You hardly ever see the universally accepted signal between drivers of 'Thumbs down'= checker ahead! Checker meaning an Inspector waiting to jump on your bus, so if you're doing anything you shouldn't be...

EDIT: forgot to say you don't see it anymore because you don't see inspectors anymore!

Used to wave the running sheet at the other drivers if there was an inspector around when I used to do it.

 

[Deerfold]

I'm rather intrigued by the idea that anywhere in Sheffield would be touristy enough for such a service! I like it as a city, but it's hardly Windermere.

I've caught open-top routes in Keighley and Halifax. Sheffield looks very touristy in comparison.

 

[route101]

The blue tinted interior lights, used to see it on Lothian buses and services to Borders. Think it was for driving in the dark

 

[Roilshead]

Children wearing calipers, older people with rickets, people (smokers) with yellowed fingers, upper deck ceilings yellowed through exposure to nicotine, children with spectacles with one lens blacked-out/covered by elastoplast, children/youths playing with clackers, people eating Tudor/Smiths/Golden Wonder crisps, women - especially under 40 - wearing head-scarves, people listening to their Sony Walkman, "dudes" carrying their "ghetto-blaster" on their shoulder up to the upper saloon, speakers for Sounds-in-Motion sound advertising, advertisements for knitting wool (there used to be a particular brand that was regularly advertised on Yorkshire WD buses), people at the front of the upper saloon opening the cover to the destination blinds and having a curious/crafty look/turn-of-the blinds where these were designed to be changed from the upper deck.

Has tungsten lighting been mentioned?

Cave-Brown-Cave heating, or Smiths heating, or Clayton-Dewandre heating.

Autovacs.

Those opening flaps at the rear of the upper saloon for use with the Cyclone vacuum cleaning system.

Pay-as-you-leave - used to the the case in Guernsey for journeys from Town, until at least the 1980s I think . . . and also used by some NE independents. (Touch-n-touch-out doesn't count.)

Change-dispensers positioned high-up by the drivers left shoulder from where the coins rolled down a chute into a cup on the cab door - Halifax/Calderdale and Leicester both used this system (was it a coincidence that Geoffrey Hilditch was GM of the former and then the latter?).

 

[cnjb8]

Piece of card placed in a slot on the front of the dashboard (or somewhere in the windscreen) that contained additional route information which wasn't on the front blind. Nottingham City Transport used them in the early years of 'Go2' (early-mid 00s) and I think Trent/Barton had them around the same time too. Electronic blinds that could switch between the destination and via points pretty much killed the little windscreen cards off, but they did help when a generic liveried vehicle appeared on, say, a yellow line route so it had a yellow card in the windscreen.

TrentBarton did until about 2018 I believe. Didn't really help as you could see what service it was by looking at the screen

 

[DC3]

You hardly ever see the universally accepted signal between drivers of 'Thumbs down'= checker ahead! Checker meaning an Inspector waiting to jump on your bus, so if you're doing anything you shouldn't be...

EDIT: forgot to say you don't see it anymore because you don't see inspectors anymore!

Round here it was patting the top of your head to let other drivers know there was an inspector ahead.

 

[AM9]

...The red 'STOP' flag which dropped from the cab ceiling when the engine was switched off.
Pre-selective gear boxes.
Indicator ears. ...

The 'stop' flag dropping indicating a low reservoir air pressure when the bus had been crawling in tickover and stopping every few feet for a long time. The driver would then put the bus into neutral and fllor the accelerator (it hit the govenor speed) for about 20-30 seconds to recharge the reservoir and the flag then pulled up.
Watching the driver use the preselector gearbox controls, (selecting the next gear in the gate whilst still pulling in the previous gear), the pneumatic snif when the operating pedal was pushed. Then there was the silver button to pull out when selecting reverse. All carefully watched from the saloon LH front seats.
The fare table in the bulkhead between the conductor's ducket and the OS 3-seat.
The adverts for the LOB (Location of Offices Bureau) encouraging companies to move out of London!

 

[Llandudno]

Inspectors - aka Blakey’s!

 

[ajs]

The PSV badges in leather holders worn by the drivers and conductors. These badges had a unique number and identified the wearer.

 

[LUYMun]

I'm not that old but I can recall a few things from childhood:
Step-entrance buses, which would be useful for capacity today.
Paper destination blinds, though London and Glasgow still retains them. I guess they will soon adopt LED displays thanks to improved graphics.
Timetable leaflets. Being an avid collector, I am unsure if the pandemic will affect this, not helped by the closure of ticket offices.

 

[Bristol LHS]

Piece of card placed in a slot on the front of the dashboard (or somewhere in the windscreen) that contained additional route information which wasn't on the front blind. Nottingham City Transport used them in the early years of 'Go2' (early-mid 00s) and I think Trent/Barton had them around the same time too. Electronic blinds that could switch between the destination and via points pretty much killed the little windscreen cards off, but they did help when a generic liveried vehicle appeared on, say, a yellow line route so it had a yellow card in the windscreen.

Buses in Tyne and Wear had a kind of ’block’ about 40cm by 10cm, usually affixed to the dash or hanging from the ceiling, so it was visible through the front windscreen to prospective passengers. The ’block’ could be rotated to show different messages, which were vinyl stickers affixed to the block. Typical ones after deregulation were ‘MetroLink Transfare Bus’, ‘TWPTE Secured Service’ or the operator name/logo. Think there was also a ‘Via Town/City Centre’. Quite a good idea, but fell out of use as fleet was (slowly) replaced in the 90s/2000s.

 

[Llandudno]

Exact Fare boxes - no change given!

Do any operators still have them - Nottingham?

 

[LUYMun]

Exact Fare boxes - no change given!

Do any operators still have them - Nottingham?

I think Reading Buses had this measure for some time before the pandemic, if I'm correct?

 

[philthetube]

You hardly ever see the universally accepted signal between drivers of 'Thumbs down'= checker ahead! Checker meaning an Inspector waiting to jump on your bus, so if you're doing anything you shouldn't be...

EDIT: forgot to say you don't see it anymore because you don't see inspectors anymore!

Used to wave the running sheet at the other drivers if there was an inspector around when I used to do it.

We used to wave ticket books on National Express.

 

[Megafuss]

I have been beaten to it, but are there any manual or semi auto buses left? I know some school runs are done by manual coaches.

Hard graft doing local service work OMO with a manual box.

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinters (ex Stagecoach Ashford, now doing Teesflex DRT) are manual