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Birmingham buses

Mike,re. post 262 Alf queried my post and I did say the picture I showed was accompanied by a write about Hockley Garage. It led me to believe they were tilt testing at the garage. As you know I am not a bus enthusiast but camr across the picture in with a pile of others about old Birmingham. Thanks for clearing it up.
Trevor.
 
jennyann said:
#263]

Jennyann, the 28 originally went from Station Street opposite the Tatler Cartoon Cinema (now the Electra). The route was later cut back to Small Heath and is now is divided into three. The 28 is cut back to Bordesley Green but extended to the Heartlands (East Birmingham Hospital) and to the Scott Arms, then there is a 28A From Heartlands Hospital to Perry Barr (One Stop Shops) and a 28B still from Small Heath but to Old Oscott.
Mike
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Thanks for the info on the 28 bus route. I remember now that when I worked at New Street Station I came out of the Station Street entrance and saw the No. 28 bus stop and that's when I decided to get on. It took for ever to get to Bleak Hill Road and Turfpits Lane but at least I knew where the bus went on it's route. It is certainly a much different route these days.
 
[ame="https://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AvRs82rGZKU"]YouTube - WESTMIDLANDS BUS ARCHIVE FROM PMP[/ame]

Not sure if this has been on here before but it's a smashing Youtube video of back loading buses on the Hagley Rd and Paradise St (i think).


Brumgum.
 
Hi guys,

Does anyone know the location of this photo? The bus is Daimler CVG6 No 2791 JOJ 791 which was originally based at Liverpool Street garage. Many thanks in advance.

Degsy
 
Degsy168 said:
Hi guys,

Does anyone know the location of this photo? The bus is Daimler CVG6 No 2791 JOJ 791 which was originally based at Liverpool Street garage. Many thanks in advance.

Degsy
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Yes , it's turning out of Chester Rd into Sutton Rd on the Erdington Wylde Green border. I still travel on the 28 route now at this junction.
 
brumgum,

Cheers for the info mate. I'm grateful to you for supplying it.

Degsy
 
Yes, brumgum's got that right, Chester Road / Sutton Road. It's a traffic lights junction now, not an island, but the garage is still there (something like a Tesco Express these days).
(photo included as it has gone from the original post)2791_JOJ791.jpg
 
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Stitcher said:
Hi Trevor,
I notice in your pic that the Tilt Board wasn't on the bus as in my pic at Tyburn Road Works, so maybe tilt tests were carried out at garages as well sometimes. Chances are Lloyd will be able to tell us. Off thread but pleased to see you in the 60's night photos, You ain't changed one bit from your Red days. All the best for Christmas and New Year. Hope to catch up with you at the St Georges do.
Mike (Maverick in the Red days).
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Enjoyed looking at all the traffic and bus pics, but I have a memory from childhood in the 40's of seeing a bus towing a trailer which seemed to have a very large drum with a pipe on top. The bus was in service and I saw it on the Kingstanding Rd near Hawthorn Rd. Can't think why I would have this memory if I hadn't seen it, but what was it, would it have been a large gas cylinder ? Any ideas ?
icon7.gif
 
Thanks Mike,
I should have searched, because 'everything' is on this forum ! Now I can show a pic to someone who said I was imagining it !
Thinking back, I seem to remember some cars with big square gasbags on their roofs. I'll have a search to see if there are any pics.
 
Rather than trailers burning anthracite to make 'Producer' gas, some companies fitted bags to hold town gas as a fuel instead. Some 'essential use' cars also had gasbags, too.
Here's some in Suffolk Street (Matthew Boulton college in the background, tram about to turn right into Navigation Street).

Gas powered Austin cars.jpeg
 
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Thanks Lloyd looked at your link, I remember silver coloured bags on some cars in Brum. I'd better log off now and come into the present world !
icon7.gif
 
Thanks Mike. Its amazing what was tried in WW2. I think the one I saw as a child, was stopped at the bottom of Kingstanding hill waiting to produce enough gas to get going.
oldmohawk.
 
There were 25 of these trailers all used by Perry Barr Garage mainly on the 33 service to Kingstanding. What you saw was the norm as apparently the power they provided was pathetic. Probably BCT wouldn't have bothered with them except they were compulsory from the Ministry of War Transport at the time.
Mike
 
Mike, I know its not Brum and I know you will already be aware of this but I am posting anyway. I have just read in the Times that the Routemaster is to be re-introduced onto Londons streets. Here are two prototypes for the the model to be used.
 
On the gas bus topic, I have no photos of my own, but attached are three by Les Perkins, which appeared in a little book published by the Birmingham Transport Historical Group in the late 70s, entitled 'Memories of Birmingham's Transport'. I remember the scene quite well, as I was given a bicycle for my 10th birthday on 3 July 1943, and used to cycle at lunch times down from Hawthorn Road Juniors to the Finchley Road terminus to watch the antics involved in keeping those buses on the move. I wouldn't have been surprised if my new bike and I had appeared in one of those pics, except that transport enthusiasts don't let people get in the way of their subject, especially in front of the fleet number.
On the subject of the designs published today for a double deck bus to replace the London bendy-buses (which was in our Boris's manifesto before he was elected Mayor of London), I am rather disappointed that so much public money has been spent on paying celebrity designers to faff around on things that wouldn't work, and almost certainly do not conform with modern health and safety requirements.
I'm not saying the Routemaster was not a good bus (not as good as Midland Red's D9, mind you), but I do think for its time the RT was a greater step forward.
So far as Birmingham Corporation is concerned, I would go for the Leyland-bodied TD6cs of 1939. Smooth efficient and workmanlike design, the sort of thing you don't see any more.
Peter
 
Thanks for those Trevor. I knew Boris was after a new Routemaster. I just caught the end of something on the Midlands News last night that Aston Martin were involved in some way. What a novelty if Aston Martin built the new Routemasters for Boris. A Type 007 version would get through the traffic well methinks! :D
Mike
 
Mike were the Routemasters built at Metro Cammell Weyman i worked on the train side and can remember the car park being full of them they must have been there for some sought of refurb:)Mau-reece
 
Hi Ragga what do I do to get my husband back on the buses? He won't go anywhere except by car. He doesn't know what he's missing. Jean.
 
Here is a picture of a brand new bus just going to work on the Warwick Rd.
 
There is one of those, a 1931 AEC Regent, at Wythall awaiting restoration. This one is OV 4486.
 
Here is a shot obviously taken at Bird's in Stratford of CVP 207 and a restored ex West Brom.
What is interesting is the car in the picture. The first set of Atlanteans and Fleetlines were numbered 231 DOC through 250 DOC. The fact that the car has registration 305 DOC pretty well identifies its year.
Maybe Lloyd can fill us in with more information on this picture.
 
Indeed I can, as 16 year old I was there! It is Birmingham 1107 (now at Wythall Museum) and West Bromwich 32 (now at Aston Manor Museum) en route to the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club's annual London to Brighton rally on the first weekend in May, 1965 (This would be the Saturday, 1st of May). 1107 had been bought the previous year from Bird's, who were famous for buying many BCT buses, trolleybuses and trams for scrap in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
I recognise many of the enthusiasts visible, who had helped with the restorations of the buses and some of whom are no longer with us.
(Photo added as Tardebigge's one has gone. Mine is cropped a bit, so the car number cannot be seen.)1107 CVP 207 back at Birds.JPG
 
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tardebigge said:
Here is a shot obviously taken at Bird's in Stratford of CVP 207 and a restored ex West Brom.
What is interesting is the car in the picture. The first set of Atlanteans and Fleetlines were numbered 231 DOC through 250 DOC. The fact that the car has registration 305 DOC pretty well identifies its year.
Maybe Lloyd can fill us in with more information on this picture.
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I remember the first Atlantean in the Birmingham fleet was 230 MTX
(Fleet no 3230), and it had a very large and impressive chrome and enamel badge on the rear end. As Birmingham's first rear engined bus I wonder if it was preserved?

Dave
 
3230 was indeed the first rear engined bus in the fleet, but was registered (by Leyland Motors, who owned it as a demonstrator) 460 MTE. BCT later bought it, but sadly it has gone the way of many others and is paperclips and drink cans now.
The first Daimler Fleetline was going to be 3229 (3229 VP) but Daimler kept it as a demonstrator and registered it 7000HP. It was eventually sold to Blue Bus Services of Willington, Derbyshire, and was lost with most of their fleet in a garage fire. The number 3229 VP ended up on a tractor in the parks department, I believe. Fleet number 3229 was unused, but may have been temporarily issued to (but not carried on) AEC Bridgemaster demonstrator 2211 MK.
 
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