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Birmingham buses

Not sure if this has been on before, but found this photo in an Oxfam in the depths of Oxfordshire. Marked on back 1948 HOV757,Daimler CVO6,M.C.W. 1930/24R, with in corner 1962 (S/63). The banner says Davies & turner. In (at least) 1948-56 they were at Gt charles St, and in 1962 at High St. Doesn't look like either to me. any suggestions as to where it is?

Birmingham bus.jpg
 
mikejee said:
Not sure if this has been on before, but found this photo in an Oxfam in the depths of Oxfordshire. Marked on back 1948 HOV757,Daimler CVO6,M.C.W. 1930/24R, with in corner 1962 (S/63). The banner says Davies & turner. In (at least) 1948-56 they were at Gt charles St, and in 1962 at High St. Doesn't look like either to me. any suggestions as to where it is?

View attachment 134224
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It looks like High Street Deritend just before Adderley St. The building is still there.
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The 60 bus route was part of the trolley bus replacement services. No trolley buses went to Cranes Park as it was considered too expensive to construct the infrastructure. However once the trolley buses were gone the 60 route was introduced.
Deritend was my initial thought though it might lie somewhere along the Coventry Road as most of the route traversed it.
One or two observations: it had 30 seats on upper deck and 24 on the lower (H30/24R). the R symbolizing rear loading. I suggest the 1962 (S63) probably refers to the date withdrawn and sold/scrapped.
The bus was, numerically, the second of a batch registered HOV 756 - HOV 843 (1756-1843)
 
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Astonian said:
Busses

I Used To Go To Icknield Stret Hockley Brook On The Bus,s
Around On The No,8 From Aston Cross In Rocky Lane
We Was So Poor Mom Got A Load Of Plastic Tokens From The Education Dept , Some Was Grren And Some Was Red Ones
And They Was Thevalue Of 1 Penny Other Wise We Couldnt Get To School And Also Old Man Kitchener Wouldappearat The Front Door
Asking Why Ain,t We Are In School
Blimy They Was The Days
Diid Any Body Else Get These Tokens ,? .
Best Wishes Astonian ,;;
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I remember the plastic tokens very well i came from a big family i used to go to christ the king school in kingstanding during the war years happy days
 
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A thread about tokens, many about the BCT transport ones. They are referenced as bus tokens but I expect they were also used on the tram and trolleybus services as well.

Bus Tokens

The birmingham council and education department used to give the poor familys plastic coins for bus fares of all nominations in different colours to parents to give there kids and get them to school from i penny upwards the penny was red and green was i think was threepenny...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
When I was a George Dixon's in the late 1950s the school was split between two sites, City Road and Five Ways. I was always based at City Road but sometimes I fancied a trip down to Five Ways, not always on official business but we won't go into that. I would go into the office at City Road and ask for bus tokens to go to Five Ways. I am sure that at that time they did not give them out to the poorer families but once a term cheques would be handed out to certain boys to cover the cost of bus fares to school. I never got one because I was one of those who lived outside the city boundary and that would have been the responsibility of my local council not Birmingham City Council.

I showed one of those tokens to my dad and he said that his dad worked for the City of Birmingham Electricity Department and he had them in the 1930s in order to travel around Birmingham doing the conversion of the public electricity supply from DC to AC.

Some of my tokens were old enough to say Birmingham Corporation Tramways. I did keep some but I am not sure if I still have them.
 
There was a feature on BBC Breakfast this morning called "Crossing Divides" in which people on public transport are encouraged to chat to each other as a possible means of combating loneliness. There were interviews on a number 11 Birmingham bus. Chatting about the weather, the traffic or even complementing what people are wearing was suggested.
Saw this below on the BBC website:
"National Express deploying actors, poets and games to help trigger conversations on its route 11, which connects Birmingham's most affluent and deprived areas". This takes triggering conversations a bit further. Was anyone on a number 11 bus today and witnessed what was going on? Dave.
 
I read a story long ago about people being friendly on the bus.

This guy told his mate everyone was in their own world and nobody spoke, his mate told him it was his own fault and that if he gave them a cheery grin they would respond in kind. Next day he acted on the advice giving everyone a smile and sure enough they all grinned back.

It wasn't until he got to work that he realised he'd left his false teeth at home. :)
 
Astonian said:
Busses

I Used To Go To Icknield Stret Hockley Brook On The Bus,s
Around On The No,8 From Aston Cross In Rocky Lane
We Was So Poor Mom Got A Load Of Plastic Tokens From The Education Dept , Some Was Grren And Some Was Red Ones
And They Was Thevalue Of 1 Penny Other Wise We Couldnt Get To School And Also Old Man Kitchener Wouldappearat The Front Door
Asking Why Ain,t We Are In School
Blimy They Was The Days
Diid Any Body Else Get These Tokens ,? .
Best Wishes Astonian ,;;
Click to expand...
Yes i had tokens remember them well i went to christ the king school kingstanding during the war years,i too came from a large family without the tokens we had to walk to ,i remember playing football on the way home with a tennis ball
mw0njm. said:
Re Buses

astonian,hello there,yer i remember them tokens i had a pile,red and green.I had to go to slade rd clinic each day for sub light treatment,as a child,so they give me them to pay my
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They were not a great success, Bob. Birmingham need a second manufacturer to supply its buses and it was the hope that a local firm would fill the bill. There were 50 of them, three of which (504/5/6 OC 504 - 507 of 1934) had different body builders the other 47 (507-553 OC 507 - 553 of 1933) were MCCW. Their chassis was poor, gave a rough ride and had mechanical issues. Some of them switched bodies during WW2. The early three were out of service by 1939, others stored during WW2 and all finally withdrawn by 1947. Top decks of 520/532/536/553, withdrawn 1939, were fitted to 927 COH 927 (1940), 912 COH 912 (1941) both Daimler COG5's, 1281/1283 FOF281/283 Leyland TD6c(1941) due to war damage.
If you rode on one Bob, you would have been very young. Even this old fella doesn't remember being on one but they were gone before I was nine. To a child most of the buses built between 1934 and 1939 Leylands looked very similar.
In their favour, apparently, these buses did set the style and standard for the large number of buses the BCT bought prior to WW2.
 
Any old photos of the 50?

May 2017





November 2018 before they went Platinum



December 2018 after they went Platinum for the first time on the 50.

 
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This is a 1939 Daimler on the 35 route which was a predecessor to the 50. The 50 came about when the Moseley Road tram routes ceased in 1949. There was also the 48 which went to the Maypole but via a different route.
The photo is in the Maypole Memories thread on BHF, post 13, by Old Mohawk.
The trams stopped at Alcester Lanes End, the 35, introduced in 1933, originally ran from Erdington to The Maypole, but WW2 (1939) saw it curtailed City to Maypole.
 
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The 50 is the bus that I would catch from the back of Digbeth, and get off at Glenavon Road, Kings Heath. My Grandad and Nan lived in a self built wooden bungalow on the right hand side of Glenavon Road. That would be around 1948. No one can recall it. The 50 was an adventure for me, as I was only 8 years old and traveled from Great Barr on the 119, or the 118 if one came along, into town. Happy memories thanks guys.
 
mikejee said:
Sorry for my ignorance, but what is "Platinum supposed to indicate?
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Here you are Mike, Platinum service described by National Express west Midlands....

Our new Platinum buses will soon be arriving for our Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham services.

We're bringing more Platinum buses to our network very soon, in addition to the arrivals of Platinum on our 126 and 529 services we will shortly be introducing Platinum buses on to our 902, 904, 905 and 914 services between Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham, look out for them over the coming weeks.

The new Platinum buses will come with a brand new feature - USB points, which will allow customers the chance to charge their phones and tablets. This feature is in addition to what is already in place on over 100 existing Platinum vehicles on our routes, serving Birmingham city centre, Birmingham Airport, Solihull and Walsall

Our Premium bus services give you fast class travel with some great updates that you wouldn't fine on a normal bus including...

EXTRA LEG ROOM & COMFY SEATS with high backs, more padding and loads of extra space.

FREE WIFI so you can work or play on the move using super fast 4G.

Please note that Wi-Fi on our Platinum buses has a personal daily download limit.

A FABULOUS DRIVING TEAM with some of the best trained in the industry. They will do their best to help make your journey as comfortable as possible.

SAFE & SOUND with crystal clear CCTV, bright LED interior lighting, improved sound proofing, suspension & tinted windows.

NEXT STOP audio & visual next stop announcements, helping you get off at the right stop.

A CUSTOMER CHARTER promising to deliver the best service possible to you. View and download the Platinum Customer Charter here.

GREENER BUSES with the latest engine technology reducing fuel usage and nasty carbon emissions.
 
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