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Birmingham buses

There was another compulsory stop at the top of Snow Hill only yards after the terminus in Colmore Row outside the front of Snow Hill station. This was left over from tram days to make sure that the tram was brought to a stop before the down slope of Snow Hill where a tram could run away if going to fast. There was also a compulsory stop for the same reason at the top of Bredon Hill on the Pershore Road
 
I recall that top of Snow Hill one, it seemed off that buses starting off from outside Greys and Snow Hill station had to stop again. I thought it might also have been an a way of saving people having to cross a very busy junction. I am sure there was another on the Inner Circle 8 route as the bus travelled down a long hill after crossing from Highgate Road towards Bristol Road.
 
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I always thought that the Compulsory stops meant a Stage point on the route because the fare was so many pence per stage.
 
In BCT days red/white circular bus stop plates read BUSES STOP HERE. In addition to the safety measures mentioned they were also to be seen at terminii. The blue/white versions read BUSES STOP BY REQUEST. A stage was a small metal plate, poitioned on top of the sign and shaped to follow the sign contour, which simply read STAGE, They could be found on either stop plates. They are to be seen in this thread.
Midland Red had similar circular shaped stop plates, red on white with the Midland Red tyre and bar logo which I guess differentiated them from the city ones. The original BCT sings were predominantly blue or red but later ones had a more white background. Tram stops were similar in colouring but were rectangular. Trolleybus stops were hexagonal.
I did see one or two yellow plates, just after WW2, but I don't know what they meant. Maybe they were old styles which had not yet been replaced.
 
The Midland Red circular plates were only for use within the city boundary. Unless there was a special reason to separate the Midland Red stops, the Midland Red observed the BCT stops. Outside the city boundary the Midland Red used their own rectangular stop signs usually on concrete posts rather than the metal posts used in Birmingham.

West Bromwich bus stops had a hanging plate suspended from a bracket arm on the post. I think there was a colour difference between compulsory and request stops.
 
DavidGrain said:
The Midland Red circular plates were only for use within the city boundary. Unless there was a special reason to separate the Midland Red stops, the Midland Red observed the BCT stops. Outside the city boundary the Midland Red used their own rectangular stop signs usually on concrete posts rather than the metal posts used in Birmingham.

West Bromwich bus stops had a hanging plate suspended from a bracket arm on the post. I think there was a colour difference between compulsory and request stops.
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Midland Red used circular plates in Birmingham, as the erection of bus stop poles was the council's responsibility and they used BCT ones. The Midland Red's stops WERE separate from the BCT ones as the distance between stops was greater for MR than BCT, although some shared the same location. West Bromwich and Wolverhampton Corporations used identical (bought in) plates, green for request stops and red for compulsory ones.

West Bromwich or Wolverhampton plates.jpg
 
Lumpammer said:
I always thought that the Compulsory stops meant a Stage point on the route because the fare was so many pence per stage.
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Compulsory stops were often timing points, or where safety required the bus to stop before proceeding, say at the top of a hill.
 
Lloyd has more knowledge of this subject than I do so I thank him for his comments. I was also interested in his picture of the West Brom bus stops as I did not remember the colours.

My recollection, especially on the Hagley Road, is that Midland Red had their own dedicated stops outbound but used BCT stops in bound.
 
nickcc101 said:
Always thought compulsory stops were called limited stops.
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Limited stops were those services which certain buses skipped. For example on the Hagley Road from Quinton to Five Ways the X8 amd the X10 buses do not stop at all stops whereas the 9 running on the same route will stop at all the stops.
 
DavidGrain said:
Lloyd has more knowledge of this subject than I do so I thank him for his comments. I was also interested in his picture of the West Brom bus stops as I did not remember the colours.

My recollection, especially on the Hagley Road, is that Midland Red had their own dedicated stops outbound but used BCT stops in bound.
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I think you may be right, I remember catching 'Reds' into town from the 9 stop, but they didn't use the one opposite coming out.
 
DavidGrain said:
Lloyd has more knowledge of this subject than I do so I thank him for his comments. I was also interested in his picture of the West Brom bus stops as I did not remember the colours.

My recollection, especially on the Hagley Road, is that Midland Red had their own dedicated stops outbound but used BCT stops in bound.
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Midland red had a separate stop next to the BCT stop inbound at Perry avenue but used the BCT outbound stop by the tennis courts.
 
Radiorails said:
In post 1355, particularly looking at 247 DOC negotiating the small turning circle I noticed the compulsory bus stop. This was sited on the opposite side if the small island to the terminus outside the Baldwin car park. It was to stop a bus before it pulled out into other road vehicles which did not use the small island. It was sited, as seen in the photograph, for rear loading buses. I wonder if it was re-sited when so many buses became front loaders? Or did the route changes of the WMPTE eliminate the need for the stop when the route was extended to Solihull. It was an unusual arrangement but I guess there were others on the BCT system. Another that comes to mind was the compulsory stop by Sarehole Mill on Wake Green Road on the 29A route. This was due to the very narrow road which had a curve at the time. I never saw anyone alight or board there. Sarehole Mill had not been renovated and opened to the public, as far as I recall, at that time.
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I bow to your superior knowledge Radiorails, however I never recall the roundabout at the Baldwin ever being anything other than a traffic roundabout, rather than a turning circle for the buses.
 
OuterCircleBus said:
I bow to your superior knowledge Radiorails, however I never recall the roundabout at the Baldwin ever being anything other than a traffic roundabout, rather than a turning circle for the buses.
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I am sure that the current large roundabout that I saw recently on Google was made after 1954. Interestingly the roadway does show some alterations. The bus stop has gone as well. But until then it was as I remember.
Of course the mid 1950's saw private car ownership beginning its increase so that probably accounts for the change. Looking again at the post 1355# I believe the island had altered by the time of the photo and it seems to have altered since. (notice the tyre marks) The bus is marked WMPTE so dates the photo after 1969. I believe it could not of happened long before the photo as I cannot see a reason for a bus stop (compulsory or otherwise) being sited on a regular style traffic island particularly as the safety aspect of the original bus stop had now been removed. Maybe it was something overlooked by the BCT/PTE; they probably had tons of paperwork on their desks due to the changeover?
Now I am sure someone will know when the changes took place, so stand-by! ;)
 
FOC 575D followed by a Midland Red turning out of Broad Street. Some elaborate street lights in the picture. No definite date but the bus entered service in 1966 and the advert on the bus gives a clue. BMC (British Motor Corporation) merged with British Leyland in 1968 to form British Leyland Motor Corporation generally known as BLMC. Looking behind the bus, it seems that Bryants Homes had their own coach to transport workers.

FOC575D_1967.jpg
 
3675 (FOC 575D) entered service September 1966. It was the fist of 276 Daimler Fleetlines for the city. This bus operated in the British Week in Lyons, France during October - December 1966. It has 74 seats, the rest had 77.
 
Several of the large construction companies operated their own bus services to the large construction sites. In those days it was possible to drive a private bus on a car licence so one of the site workers probably also drove the bus. This was before 'the lump' when most construction workers became self employed and before most workers had their own cars. Another dating clue is that the buildings in Easy Row appear to have disappeared by the time of this photo
 
pyewacket947 said:
ex Service Matadors sold in their hundreds after demob. Quite a few ended up as recovery vehicles with bus operators and garages. They where also extremely well suited to the timber industry.
Most of the ex RAF Matadors where 6 wheelers, many being ex refueling tankers. Jabez Barker of Shrewsbury used a 6x6 as a logger. Showland was also another big user of these wonderful machines, simple,sturdy and docile.!
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Many happy hours (didn't think so then!) with my rig, all over the country. they were amazing tools, considering only a 7.7 engine look at some of my loads . . thought nothing of a 40 ton D8 up hill and down dale - at 20 mph!
 

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We had the 7.7 engine in our Atkinson wrecker back in 1960, whenever we sat on the engine cover the Driver/senior mechanic would tell of the time an injector blew out through the cover, we as 15 year olds believed every word and lived in fear the whole journey.
 
oldMohawk said:
FOC 575D followed by a Midland Red turning out of Broad Street. Some elaborate street lights in the picture. No definite date but the bus entered service in 1966 and the advert on the bus gives a clue. BMC (British Motor Corporation) merged with British Leyland in 1968 to form British Leyland Motor Corporation generally known as BLMC. Looking behind the bus, it seems that Bryants Homes had their own coach to transport workers.

yer i remember c bryant coaches
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mw0njm. said:
i want one
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Always remember the mechanic driver of our wrecker knocking it out of gear when going down long hills only problem was you couldn't stop it when you reached the bottom especially when you were towing another vehicle. No such thing as airlines operating the broken down vehicle brakes in those days as the wrecker had hydraulic brakes and no compressor.
 
oldMohawk said:
Looking for buses for another thread I came across this AEC Demonstrator Bus AHX 63. The pic is dated 1934 and it must be getting dark because the gas street light appears on. I am not sure of the location.
View attachment 130628
It is probably the pic missing from post #1 in an old thread https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/which-depot.28031/post-265946 where there is more information about it.
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oldMohawk said:
Looking for buses for another thread I came across this AEC Demonstrator Bus AHX 63. The pic is dated 1934 and it must be getting dark because the gas street light appears on. I am not sure of the location.
View attachment 130628
It is probably the pic missing from post #1 in an old thread https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/which-depot.28031/post-265946 where there is more information about it.
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I think it may be Calthorpe Rd by Five Ways, John. * just seen previous post, sorry.
 
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