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Birmingham buses

My Dad drove one of those on a route from Kingstanding in about 1930. Apparently Mom used to push a pram up to the terminus with my brother on me in it to take my Dad a can of tea.
 
Thanks for that, Lloyd! Not seen that pic of it before, obviously very early in its life judging by the large headlights and the thin 'between decks' paint line.
Many people quite rightly say that because of its importance in the development of the PD2 it was an ideal preservation project though I would tend to favour one of it production models which always seemed to be storming up and down Soho Road at a great rate of knots during the fifties. .... oh happy days. long gone!
 
It had the large headlights (as did most PD1's) because, it is thought, it was built as a PD1 but fitted with the 0.600 engine. I think there was another chassis the same, then PD2's became a specification of their own with a few changes from the PD1 spec.
 
This is a bit of a puzzle. In the 1929/1930 City of Birmingham Handbook there are adverts for AEC Regent double-deck buses and also for Brush Bus Bodies. However, the picture of the bus shown is the same, i.e. DF (or OF) 3971. There is also the number 339 just behind the left front wheel of the bus. Did AEC provide the engine and Brush the body? I don't know. Dave.
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I tried to look it up and all I found was "Birmingham Corporation purchased most of its buses from AEC ........ various bodybuilders were involved". Further digging revealed that in some cases AEC built the chassis and Brush provided the body.

Janice
 
OF 3971, car no. 339, an AEC 'Regent', according to Birmingham Buses at work (David Harvey), was one of thirty similar buses (OF 3970 - OF 3999, car nos. 338 - 367) introduced in 1929. Theey did, it seems have bodywork by Brush. It was the second of the newer type buses with enclosed drivers cab and staircase. Some of these buses lasted until 1950 and a few got the severe wartime bodies fitted later in their lives. 338 and 339 had replacement chassis in 1930 and were re-registered as OG 3638/9. 338 got the wartime body in 1944 and I would guess that 339 also did.
339 has the distinction, it seems, of becoming a driver training vehicle.
 
Hi Would anyone have a photo of the last trolley bus to run on the Coventry Road route...its TB90 FOK 90 my grandfather was driving it on that night..I would love a picture of it....thanks Roy
 
Shortly after the trolleys finished, nos. 83 & 90 were sold by the scrap dealer to an operator in Pembroke dock, who put the bodies on new diesel bus chassis, which ran for 16 years! This was 83.

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Hi Lloyd ...Thank you very much for the picture..My Granddad (Fred Gilks) was very pleased to be asked to do the last run ...and its nice to see a picture of the old bus...many thanks Roy.
 
I've seen a press cutting from (I think) the Evening Mail with him at the depot afterwards, I recall it said he was retiring and not going on the motor buses. Wish I knew where that paper is now!
 
Yes ..My Grandfather delayed his retirement by 3 months to do the last run..I didnt know about the enthusiasts runs .or the newspaper article I will try to find it. My grandfather retired at 63..and died aged 91 a nice long retirement...again many thanks . Roy
 
I'll confess to not having looked through the nigh on 1200 posts above but has someone a picture and/or tell me about the 1960's single deck buses that I remember had very few seats and were nearly all for standing passengers. They were on 36 BCT? route in the "rush hour". Were they used elsewhere in the city? Were they just a trial or especially for the "workers".
 
These AEC "Swift" buses were known as 'standees', a vogue at the time due to cost saving measures and government dictat. Photos show them on the 1A, 20, 36 and 45, probably other routes also were tried. The 36, it seems, was the first to be tried out.
The idea was to use them on these routes as daytime traffic was slight but far more people in the rush hour could be crammed into them. :D
There were, it seems, quite a lot of complaints, people liked a seat where possible and I guess after a days work it was good to rest your feet - especially if your work required you to be on your feet most of the time.
The buses, 17 in total I believe, lasted ten years.
 
Thanks both, I knew them as "cattle wagons"! Seemed to have less seats than the F reg (1968?)in the picture. From memory I was using them 1965-66
 
Lot of pics in this thread were lost in Oct 2011 (hacked) but in Dec 2011 approx 100 bus pics were uploaded by ragga to the forum's Image Host where they can be viewed. They can however be seen here with links to some of them starting in this post.
Some of the pics posted in this group may be seen in edited posts earlier in the thread
Some of the locations behind the buses might be interesting.
Starting in Witton.
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More pics from the Image Host
City Centre ...
Colmore Row
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Smallbrook Ringway
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Looks City Centre ...
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Two buses on a sunny day outside a Co-op.
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JOJ 209 by an old tram shelter .. part of track still there ...
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More City Centre pics from the Image Host
BON 505C turns from New St into Corporation St and the 'Midland Bank Overseas Branch' behind it.
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A night scene in the High Street
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A No 15 'Service Extra' near New Street Station and nice flared trousers on the left.
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Approaching Victoria Square
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More City Centre pics from the Image Host
JOV 775P near the Bull Ring Centre and the bus on the right has a Austin Princess in front.
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MOF 202 looks empty ... parked in Colmore Row.
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JOJ 156 with Queen Victoria and the Town Hall behind.
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More City Centre pics from the Image Host
GOG 120W in Steelhouse Lane and a glimpse of the Gaumont Cinema on the right.
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HOV 749 by the Hall of Memory.
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KON 366P by the Town Hall.
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The first four pics seem to be Witton, if the wall sign is anything to go by. The Lodge Road pic might be Newhall Street or Lionel Street where that route and some others went after city centre alterations and the closure of the Town Hall end of Edmund Street.
I suggest the Perry Common 5 bus is waiting for the rush period to begin, unless it has broken down but I don't believe the destination blind would read as it does if that were the case.
The tram tracks in Edmund Street obviously stayed put, as they were situated at a bust bus loading point. They were listed and a token section set into the newly paved area of Edmund Street.
 
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