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Midland Red Bus Routes

Returning to the thread of Midland Red publicity, after WW1, in 1919, James Savage, who had worked for BET in London, became the architect of Midland Red's publicity. He was private secretary to Orlando Cecil Power, born in Kings Heath 1879. OCP was well known and liked in the city and held his Midland Red post for 44 years. He died in 1943 at a transport meeting in London. The Red was great at publicity, timetables, such as the ones in this thread, posters and newspaper ads were the order of the day. Posters encouraging day trips and longer tours were very much in evidence at any depot or office and timetables were available in quite a few places where shops acted as agents, often for parcels, of Midland Red. Savage was also responsible for bus advertising and in house magazines. Children were not forgotten - they were tomorrows passengers - there were puzzles and other items produced for them. Maps and window displays were another feature. There is far more to the publicity side of Midland Red that I have mentioned. I bet many here have been on a Midland Red tour or holiday, probably inspired by one of the those many posters. Their slogan "All Over The Midlands" meant something to many people, as did the later "Friendly Midland Red".
London Transport have a great Museum and produced and publicised many books, regarding their design and publicity and given fame to people and transport items that worked for and served the capitals transport systems..
A pity Birmingham, apart from the Transport Museum at Wythall, seems to have overlooked the tremendous role played in the city and Midlands by Midland Red. It does seem to me that in the incessant drive for city modernity, much of the history that actually made Birmingham world famous - most of which seems to have gone - is not catered for in its Heritage. What other city is there in the UK, that was so dependant on canals for its expansion and progress in the past and which made the place the "City of 1000 trades" but does not have a canal museum. Canalside homes seem more important.
 
The design, often called a version of the Greek Key, is very ancient. The link following shows that is was a good symbol for millennia - until the 1930's when it became quite something else.
 
Hi,

I have a copy of the Midland Red Birmingham Area timetable for June 1970 UFN complete
with its map in pretty good condition which it seems a shame to recycle.

If anyone would like it, I will be happy to send it FOC and post paid.

If more than one person is interested then the usual hat will apply

Kind regards
Dave
 
Does anyone remember the Midland Red parcel service? I used it quite a lot in the early/mid 70s. I worked for a shop with branches throughout the West Mids and we would use it to send parcels from one shop to another. It seems unlikely now but I would take a parcel to the Midland Red bus station in Birmingham which would be put on a normal service bus and collected at the far end by the addressee. I don't think there was any personal delivery and it only operated from (I think) bus station to bus station. Typically the whole process only took a few hours and I seem to remember it was relatively cheap.
I also recall when I lived in Chelmsley Wood and worked in Sutton Coldfield that I would catch the 166 Midland Red bus from Timberley Lane, Castle Bromwich to the Parade in Sutton Coldfield. On one occasion (probably in summer 1975) the Midland Red drivers went on strike and, in consequence, I would have to walk to the Clock Garage every day for a week in order to get a WMPTE bus to work. One particularly hot day I'd got a blister on my heel and thought I would break my journey with a cooling pint at the Timberley pub. I was not amused when I discovered that the Ansell's Brewery dray men had gone on strike and the pub had run out of beer. I think I started to rethink my attitude to trade unions on that day.
 
I remember the Midland Red parcel service although I never used it but did once or twice see parcels under the stairs. I used to collect timetable books and in the details it said tht you could use the bus to post a letter in the nearest large town. You handed the stamped letter to the conductor with a penny and get a penny ticket in exchange.

I used to know some one who worked in the Midland Red offices in Bearwood and one day he found a lot of papers being throw away which he looked through and kept for himself. One of the items he showed ws the Midland Red company accounts for, I think, 1938. The accounts of the Parcels department were separate on handwritten sheets. The largest expense was fodder for the horses, followed by wages.
 
The parcel delivery service was also carried out by many other bus companies in other parts of the country. Western National here in the south west we’re certainly one of the companies offering this service.
 
I recall reading, elsewhere on this site, that Midland Red buses- the S22 single deckers especially- were capable of cruising on the motorways at 100mph plus. Now, if a Midland Red could have whisked me back home from the Smoke at that speed I'd have been first in line!
 
I don't think they actually ever did 100mph in service Alf although my brother who did some of the trial runs reckoned he did in the trials.
 
I don't think they actually ever did 100mph in service Alf although my brother who did some of the trial runs reckoned he did in the trials.
Thanks for the reply Eric. Yes, I'm sure 100mph was not reached in normal service- one can imagine how terrified some passengers would have been, especially if they'd only wanted to nip to the shops! Perhaps, in the early days of the M1, before speed limits for buses came in, and when traffic was much lighter? Did your brother conduct the speed trials on the public road, or private race track, or airport runways? I read that the buses had 8 or 10 litre turbo diesels, with lots of power for their time. Regards, Alf.
 
Actually it was well known that the CM5T, the first motorway coach could do 100 mph on the motorway. They used to do Birmingham to London in 2 hours 15 minutes and that was before the M6 was built so they went on the A45 Coventry ByPass and the M45.

There was the notorious incident when 4 of them drove abreast on the M1 at 100mph, 3 in the lanes and one on the hard shoulder. All four drivers where 'on the carpet' literally, the next morning in D M Sinclair's office.

There is another story that one driver claimed 117 mph in neutral downhill near Luton.

Some of the coaches were later down graded to buses especially in Worcestershire and I was once overtaken when I was doing 65mph on the Frankley uphill section of the M5 when one of those on the Express X43 Worcester to Birmingham service went past me very fast.

When there was an anniversary run a few years ago, 2 preserved coaches accompanied a National Express and they had to stop to allow the service coach to catch up.
 
When there was an anniversary run a few years ago, 2 preserved coaches accompanied a National Express and they had to stop to allow the service coach to catch up.
I was the driver of the CM6T on that day, and I did tell the National Express driver that I felt sorry for him, as his brand new coach was limited to 60MPH! When I drove them in service, one night I was stopped by the police (when they caught me!) for doing 106MPH. "Do you know how fast you were going?" the one asked (shouted at) me. "No", I replied. "The speedo only goes up to 80!"
 
Thanks for the reply Eric. Yes, I'm sure 100mph was not reached in normal service- one can imagine how terrified some passengers would have been, especially if they'd only wanted to nip to the shops! Perhaps, in the early days of the M1, before speed limits for buses came in, and when traffic was much lighter? Did your brother conduct the speed trials on the public road, or private race track, or airport runways? I read that the buses had 8 or 10 litre turbo diesels, with lots of power for their time. Regards, Alf.
My brother did the some of the trial runs on the Birmingham to London via the M1 when it was first opened and unrestricted Alf.
 
Look out for this next Monday 14th June at 18.15. A Talk on the History of the Midland Red by Roger Torode to the Friends of the London Transport Museum. The video will remain avialable on You Tube if you cannot see it at the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhurK-33zW8
I met Roger Torode a few years ago. He started his career as a conductor at Kidderminster and ended up running London Transport Buses.
 
I remember my dad telling me years ago that he was testing for Midland Red and indeed had in excess of 100mph out of a Carlisle experimental coach! Also got stopped by the police on the A34 on his way back from Walsall on the 118 route as they had clocked him at over 50mph in a D9 (in service!) on the downhill dual carriageway section between the Scott Arms and The Broadway. I spent hours on a 118 in my youth with dad driving.
 
I lived in Perry Barr on the 118 route but very rarely used it - if I remember correctly the fare was more than the Birmingham bus?
 
I lived in Perry Barr on the 118 route but very rarely used it - if I remember correctly the fare was more than the Birmingham bus?
Birmingham Corporation and Midland Red had a no competition agreement dating from 1914 which said that Midland Red had to charge higher fares on journeys inside the city boundary and the Corporation could not operate outside the city boundary. This did not apply on the Dudley Road routes as that was a separate agreement following the abandonment of the trams on that route and the replacement of the trams with a joint Corporation/Midland Red bus service. It also did not apply on the Hagley Road West from Bearwood to Quinton as that road was the actual city boundary.
 
I lived in Perry Barr on the 118 route but very rarely used it - if I remember correctly the fare was more than the Birmingham bus?
I used to catch the 51/52 into town from the Perry Avenue stop for 3 years from 1960 unless I was late then I would catch the 118 but had to go without my tomato dip from the cafe in Ryland st if I did.
 
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