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Midland Red Early Days

Re:Surviving REDD

The surviving REDD was one of the last 3 of its class withdrawn (in 1945), having operated from Leicester most if not all of its life. It was bought by a Birmingham coal merchant who, knowing of the post-war scarcity of coal thought that timber would be a suitable alternative and bought a wood not far from Moreton in Marsh and had the bus converted into an office downstairs and living accommodation above. He soon built a bungalow nearby and the bus, once disused was just abandoned on the site, hidden from roads and a nearby footpath by overgrowth until discovered and rescued in (I think) the 1980s.
Unlike the FEDDs, they retained their petrol engines until withdrawal, as the starting handle on similar HA 8044 at Leicester shows.
The engine that was in the surviving bus has been dismantled and is in store, the one currently sitting in the chassis is a spare that a local enthusiast 'just happened' to have lying about, having discovered it in a scrapyard decades earlier!
 
Lloyd,

Thanks for those meticulous notes on the FEDD picture. I'll make a submission to Scran's "Correction / Info" area giving details about the FEDD, the location and "early 1950s" for the date. We can always add more later.

Thanks for the wonderful post-service story about REDD HA8047. Sheer "good luck" plays such a major role in so many preservation stories.
 
Surviving REDD HA8047 Seen in Service 1944-1945.

For those who want to see it in all its glory, there's a picture of HA8047 in Midland Red Volume 1 (page 104 top right). It is seen at Leicester on service to Ratby towards the end of its long life with Midland Red (I can't quite make out the service number). The year must be 1944 or 1945, since it is displaying its "A" number (1418). When it is restored (to full MoT of course), it should make a journey to Leicester - what a grand sight that would be! :)
 
Lloyd, the Scran site has updated the caption of the FEDD picture (BHA 392), credit being given to this Forum. We should now look closely at the COD / IM4 picture and see if we can't improve that caption (search on "Midland Red").
 
BMMO in the London Gazette.

[FONT=&quot]2010-04-22 16:39:47

I recently searched the London Gazette website looking for references to BMMO. I was hoping to find announcements of such historic events as the sale on 24 April 1930 by Birmingham & District Investment Trust of 50% of BMMO shares for £400,000 to the railway companies London Midland & Scottish (30%) and Great Western (20%). No such luck, as that particular transaction, momentous as it was for Midland Red, was only a private transfer of shares, and as such was of no interest to the London Gazette. In fact, I found just eight mentions of BMMO, none of world-shaking dimensions. However prosaic the findings, I thought they might be of interest to our readers. So here's a summary:

9 Dec 1938. The Smethwick, Oldbury, Rowley Regis and Tipton borough councils announced their application to Parliament for "an Act to confer powers upon the Corporations of Smethwick, Oldbury, Rowley Regis and Tipton in regard to certain tramways in their respective boroughs and to empower the said Corporations to provide and work public service vehicles; to confirm an agreement between the said Corporations and the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited; and for other purposes". The result was the Smethwick, Oldbury, Rowley Regis and Tipton Transport Act 1939 (2 & 3 George VI c xxxi) which received royal assent on 25 May 1939. The agreement between these local authorities and BMMO was similar to the Worcester Agreement of 1 Jun 1928. As far as I am aware, this is the only case where BMMO is named in the (long) title of an Act of Parliament.

11 Mar 1960. The Minister of Transport authorized "the stopping up of a length of Pilgrim Street, Stafford, in order to enable development, consisting of the erection of an omnibus garage, to be carried out in accordance with planning permission granted to the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co Ltd by Staffordshire C(ounty) C(ouncil)".

27 Dec 1960. Announcement of the award of the MBE to John Dalziel, Superintendent, Headquarters Traffic Office, BMMO.

20 Jun 1961. The Minister of Transport authorized "the stopping up of a length of All Saints' Road, Wolverhampton, in order to enable development, consisting of the building of a ... bus garage to be carried out in accordance with planning [permission] granted to ... the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co Ltd ... by Wolverhampton County Borough Council".

27 April 1962. Leicester City Council proposed to "reduce in length the street parking place situate [sic] in Sandacre Street in the said City ... it is proposed that the street parking place shall extend from 18 yards north-west of Mansfield Street to the entrance of the yard of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co Ltd, a reduction in length of eight yards at the Mansfield Street end".

29 Jun 1962. Leicester City Council announced the order as proposed on 27 Apr 1962.

25 Jun 1976. Redditch District Council proposed "to vary the provisions of the Redditch District Council (Off Street Parking Places) Order 1976 ... revoking that part of the principal order which exempted from any limitation of time and from payment of any charge for parking, private cars used by employees of the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus [Company] Limited ...".

23 Sep 1976. Redditch District Council announced the order as proposed on 25 Jun 1976. The order is interesting in that BMMO no longer existed at this time! It had been renamed to Midland Red Omnibus Co Ltd (MRO) on 29 Mar 1974. Having lost their "free parking" privileges, I wonder if any disgruntled MRO staff tried to question the legitimacy of the order?
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Midland Red in the London Gazette.

[FONT=&quot]2010-04-22 19:52:25[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]There are some 70 mentions of "Midland Red" in the London Gazette. The following is a summary of the more interesting of them.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Gazette tells the sad tale of the demise of the Midland Red Sports and Social Clubs, which must have had a thriving and interesting history:

Midland Red (Harts Hill) Sports & Social Club Ltd (register number 12338R) of 138 Dudley Rd. Dissolved 9 May 1947.
Midland Red (Stourbridge) Sports & Social Club Ltd (12136R) of Angel Street. Dissolved 6 Oct 1978.
Midland Red (Dudley) Sports & Social Club Ltd (11785R) of Birmingham Rd. Dissolved 17 Sep 1980.
Midland Red (Oldbury) Sports & Social Club Ltd (12444R) of "The Hut", 162 Birchfield Lane. Dissolved 2 Oct 1980.
Midland Red (Worcester) Sports & Social Club Ltd. Dissolved 1981.
Midland Red Sports & Social Club of Redditch Ltd. Dissolved 21 Nov 1983.
Midland Red Sports & Social Club & Institute Ltd (11455R) of 38 Friar Lane, Leicester. Dissolved 27 Oct 1995.
Midland Red (Digbeth) Sports & Social Club Ltd (11586R) of 123 Digbeth. Dissolved 17 Mar 1999.
Midland Red (Bearwood) Social Club Ltd of Wolverhampton Rd, South Quinton. Dissolved 2005.

The following awards to Midland Red employees are announced:

29 Dec 1964. BEM to Harry Roberts Baker (Halesowen), Honorary Collector, Midland Red Savings Group, Bearwood.
31 Dec 1984. BEM to Victor Kinnin, Driver, Midland Red (South) Ltd.

Another sad one: :(

26 Sep 1990. Bankruptcy order against the former proprietor (decency forbids naming him!) of the "Midland Red Foodstop" (Bull Ring Bus Station).

Two very recent and intriguing announcements are:

8 May 2009. Pursuant to section 653 of the Companies Act 1985, the Midland Red Omnibus Co Ltd is restored to the register of companies.
6 Dec 2009. The Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Co Ltd is newly incorporated.

I'm not sure how much we should read into these two entries; does anyone know anything? [/FONT]
 
Another ad for the Scran site.

Lloyd, I'm getting a real education from the Scran site. I never knew about Austin and Morris buses before. Robert Grieves certainly took a lot of pictures! I just wish he'd spent more time "south of the border". :)
 
They are not Midland Red, but Morris-Commercial buses (Dictators and Imperials) are one of my great interests. there's one of each at Wythall and another Dictator at Aston Manor.
There are many errors in the Scran site captions, I've sent off many corrections already - usually wrong makes of vehicle.
Re the re-emergence of the company's name. an enthusiast has registered several former bus company (and bus manufacturing company) names - dunno why.
The 'Midland Red Foodstop' was a short-term operation of the former canteen by an ex-employee. Good food, but not enough business to make it pay. One or two others tried as well, including the 'Alex' formerly famed for his fleur-de-lys pies and pie stall in Hill Street.
 
2010-04-23 09:59:58

Lloyd, thanks for introducing me to the Morris-Commercial Dictator and Imperial buses. I've checked out the BaMMOT and AMRTM websites. OV4090 looks very impressive – were you involved in its restoration? And here is a picture of Imperial OC527 safely under cover at Wythall – there will always be work for bus preservationists! I see that OC527 was originally H28/22R (another Imperial double-decker!); can you tell us its history?

[No, not Midland Red, but they were around in Birmingham during "Midland Red Early Days", and we've always been very tolerant on this thread!]

Re Scran. I've noticed that Mr Grieves also wasn't always careful with his registrations, sometimes using the first two letters to determine the location instead of the last two. For example, if you search on "Wolverhampton" and "Walsall" you get buses with JWT and DHN registrations. And searching on "Smethwick" throws up a nice picture of a Sentinel STC6-44 registered HAW577 (clearly an ex-Sentinel demonstrator with its Shrewsbury registration, but later owned by Camplejohn Brothers of Darfield).

I hope the enthusiast who re-registered the BMMO and MRO business names has good intentions! I can just see some old red bus with "Midland" painted on the sides and advertised as the real thing.
 
Who was J THOR(N)BURN?

2010-04-23 17:40:45

Peter Hardy (BMMO Volume 1, page 120) states:

"The North Warwickshire Motor Omnibus & Traction Co Ltd (NWMOT) was registered in Oct 1913 to take over and operate the motor omnibus services carried on by J THORNBURN at Tamworth and Nuneaton. At the time of the incorporation of the new company, its rolling stock consisted of two 30 hp Milnes-Daimler and three 40 hp Daimler open-top double-deck motor omnibuses, the registration numbers of which are not known."

On page 10 he gives an abbreviated version of the same story, but spells the name of the motor bus pioneer as "THORBURN".

Who was this J THORBURN or THORNBURN, operating some £3,000 worth of double-deck motor buses in the wilds of north Warwickshire and south Staffordshire in the early 1910s? I can only find two candidates who even vaguely fit the bill:

[1] John THORNBURN of 16 George Street, Tamworth. He is listed in Kelly 1896 as "boot dealer" and Bennett 1914 as "boot and shoe manufacturer". He has obviously "come up in the world" somewhat, but could he really have been wealthy enough to own all that bus hardware?

[2] John THORBURN of 8 Bridge Street, Nuneaton. He is listed in Kelly 1912 as "boot and shoe maker".

For all I know these are the same person, the directories confusing the spelling as Hardy did.

Another possibility is that the five buses were operated by an "outsider", like Percy Allen of the London-based Allen Omnibus Co Ltd, who operated motor buses in Kidderminster and Shrewsbury at about this time. But I'm floundering here! :shocked:

I would appreciate any help Forum members can give on this one. Surely someone, somewhere, has a record of J THOR(N)BURN and his five motor buses.
 
A little far away, but there was also (from Kellys Staffs directory 1905):
Thorburn Jas,iron & brass founder & enginr.. Tunstall brdg. Tunstall (In ironfounders and also engineers . mechanical section)
Mike
 
From October 1906 BMMO took delivery of nine Brush "B" double-deck buses (O1283-1291) with 40 hp engines (by Peter Brotherhood according to Midland Red Volume 2 page 222 - not Mutel). It is six of these buses (O1283-1286, O1288 and O1291) which made the 200 mile journey to Deal early in 1908 (after BMMO gave up on motor buses on 5 October 1907). It is at Deal that we first hear of Loftus George Wyndham Shire as the engineer in charge of the Brush buses
How did these buses come to travel such a great distance? In March 1905 BET had registered a subsidiary called British Automobile Development Co Ltd (BAD) to "manufacture, sell, hire or operate motor omnibuses" in various parts of Great Britain. BAD seems to have been run by Sidney Emile Garcke (6 Jan 1885 - 3 Oct 1948) son of BET managing director Emile Oscar Garcke (1856 to 14 Nov 1930). BAD (renamed to British Automobile Traction Co Ltd (BAT) about April 1910) took responsibility for the Deal buses. I have even read that Sidney Garcke himself drove one of them from Birmingham to Deal! These six Brush buses form the nucleus of the Deal and District Motor Services fleet which later formed part of the East Kent Road Car Co Ltd.

It seems that young Sidney Garcke had more faith in the motor bus than his father who was much more an "electric tramway man".

Thought it might be of interest to post this photo of Brush O-1283. It is seen here working with Deal & District following purchase from Midland Red by Sydney Garcke
 
Thanks Mike!

There's also clothier James Thorburn of Clemens St, Leamington, 1896-1914, who was a councillor for West Ward on the Leamington Borough Council in 1912. Probably wealthy enough, but also too far away. Your Tunstall engineer is at least in the right profession for a motor bus operator!
 
Thanks (Motorman) Mike for that great picture of O1283! It is said of these Brush buses: "in February and March [1908] they were accordingly sent to the Amalgamated Omnibus Works in London preparatory to going to Deal". I've been trying to find out more about the "Amalgamated Omnibus Works", without much success. The only theory I can come up with is that it had something to do with the Amalgamated Motor Bus Co Ltd, which was established on 11 Apr 1906 and was taken over by British Automobile Development Co Ltd (soon to be renamed to British Automobile Traction Co Ltd - this was Sidney Garcke's outfit) on 1 April 1910.
 
Thylacine said:
Thanks (Motorman) Mike for that great picture of O1283! It is said of these Brush buses: "in February and March [1908] they were accordingly sent to the Amalgamated Omnibus Works in London preparatory to going to Deal". I've been trying to find out more about the "Amalgamated Omnibus Works", without much success. The only theory I can come up with is that it had something to do with the Amalgamated Motor Bus Co Ltd, which was established on 11 Apr 1906 and was taken over by British Automobile Development Co Ltd (soon to be renamed to British Automobile Traction Co Ltd - this was Sidney Garcke's outfit) on 1 April 1910.
Click to expand...

Can't help you with info on Amalgamated Omnibus Works but it might explain why 0-1283 was exhibited at the 1908 Olympia Motor Exhibition. Possibly following a refurb by A.O.W. and exhibited by them? Now if there was a directory of exhibitors for that Show it might throw some light on the A.O.W. for you. The exhibition ran from November 13th - 21st 1908 so 0-1283 would not have continued to Deal until after those dates.
 
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Midland Red, Amalgamated, Brush, BAD and Olympia.

2010-04-24 10:12:30

Mike, our minds are working on the same track! (I'll explain later).

I've been researching the Amalgamated Motor Bus Co Ltd (AMB), and have come up with the following:

AMB was registered on 11 Apr 1906. A prospectus was issued on 30 Apr, declaring a capital of £200,000 made up of 100,000 £1 ordinary shares and the same number of £1 preference shares. At this time the board of directors comprised:

Lord Vaux of Harrowden (chairman). This was Hubert George Charles Mostyn (4 Jun 1860 – 25 Oct 1935) seventh Baron Vaux of Harrowden (Northamptonshire), who was also chairman of the Brush Electrical Engineering Co Ltd (Loughborough).
W H Hills. He was also chairman of the London Omnibus Carriage Co Ltd.
J M Fells. He was also a director of the British Automobile Development Co Ltd (BAD).
C W French (managing director). He was also a member of the executive committee of the Omnibus Owners Federation.

AMB acquired the "times" (for £200 each) of certain horse omnibus proprietors in five associations: Atlas & Waterloo; Camden Town; Islington & Old Kent Rd; John Bull; Kings Cross & Barnsbury. The plan was to provide two motor buses for every three horse buses withdrawn. In 1907-1908 AMB placed five Brush C motor buses in service in London. Here is a nice picture of fleet number 1 (registered LC6309). On 14 Mar 1910, AMB resolved to be wound up voluntarily, and the liquidator Edward Bennett was authorized to sell the entire business to BAD (which was very shortly to be renamed to the more congenial-sounding BAT). It is interesting that by this time the chairman of AMB was none other than BET supremo Emile Garcke!

Now when BAD started up in Mar 1905, they built a motor bus assembly plant adjacent to the Brush works at Loughborough. Brush supplied the chassis and bodies, and engines came from firms such as Peter Brotherhood (Peterborough). A driver-over-engine (ie forward-control) vehicle was produced, at first called "British" but later "Brush". So the Brush motor buses were assembled by BAD (a BET subsidiary) from chassis and bodies by Brush (another BET subsidiary). The heavy hand of BET in all these events makes it likely that the "Amalgamated Omnibus Works" (referred to in connection with the Midland Red 1906-1907 Brush buses) was indeed connected with AMB.

While researching AMB, I came across an e-book of Page's Weekly (17 Feb 1905). Lo and behold, there was an account of the 1905 Olympia Motor Show, which mentions the "Brotherhood Car" and gives a technical description of its petrol engine (with diagrams). Then you reported, Mike, that Midland Red Brush O1283 was exhibited at the 1908 Olympia Motor Show! Great minds think alike!

The search goes on. An account of the 1908 Olympia Motor Show would be a wonderful find!
 
Not Midland Red, but ...

2010-04-24 16:13:19

[Not Midland Red, but perhaps of general bus interest.] :rolleyes:

Here is a picture of a London General Omnibus Co Ltd bus (# B2132) put to an extraordinary military use during World War 1.

The London Transport Museum website is an excellent source of bus pictures (and other transport-related images and documents). Searching their picture collection for "lorry bus" yields several shots of World War 1 lorry buses, some still marked "WD" (for War Department). There are also a few of army lorries used as buses during a busmen's strike in 1944. The World War 2 arrangements appear to have been quite primitive.
 
Tramway & Railway World 1905.

2010-04-25 17:33:45

I have discovered another e-book of Tramway and Railway World (see post #213). It is Volume XVII (Jan – Jun 1905). Unfortunately a lot of the diagrams are missing, as are many of the advertisements. But the text seems to be complete. There are two snippets from the 6 Apr 1905 issue which are of Midland Red interest (keeping in mind that at this time BMMO was little more than a "shelf company"):

[1] "Following the example set by the Birmingham Motor Express Co, three motor-cars have been placed on the streets of Birmingham by the City of Birmingham Tramways Co Ltd. They commenced to run on the Harborne route, but other sections are to be equipped with similar vehicles, the intention being to replace some twenty-five horse 'buses by motors. The cars are built to carry thirty-six passengers, are of a very powerful type — an important feature being that they are of fireproof material — and they have the further advantage of being almost noiseless. The chassis are of the Dürkopp type, and the entire vehicle will cost something like £800 to £900. The local authority having already sanctioned the running of motor 'buses, no difficulty was experienced in obtaining the requisite permission. The Birmingham public have, on the whole, taken kindly to the new vehicles, and as there is still a considerable 'bus traffic there is ample scope for further enterprise in the new direction. The whole of the vehicles are being built by the Brush Co, Loughborough." [This must be referring to CBT Dürkopps O1301-1304.]

[2] "The Birmingham & Midland Tramways Co is preparing for augmentation of its motor omnibus service on the Edgbaston and Harborne routes. Horsed vehicles will be entirely replaced by the petrol-driven conveyances, five of which are expected to be put on the road almost immediately. The new 'buses will be of light construction. The company has a large scheme on hand, their idea being to supersede the whole of the horsed vehicles by motor 'buses on the important routes." [BMT is not known to have owned motor buses, so this must be referring to the pending BMMO takeover of BME.]

Plenty of food for thought and discussion there! The volume also contains a fascinating story (9 Mar 1905) entitled "Types of Motor Buses at the Olympia Exhibition". This exhibition was staged 10-18 Feb 1905. It was the fourth London "International Motor Show", and the first really big one. Motor buses made their presence felt in a big way for the first time. Amongst the vehicles on display were: Brush, Clarkson (steam bus), Maudslay, Thornycroft, Straker & Squire and Wolseley. The article is so fascinating that it might be worthwhile to post parts of it on this thread so that we can read it and discuss it. More to come.

By the way, Motorman Mike revealed (post # 345) that ex-BMMO Brush O1283 was exhibited at the 1908 Olympia Motor Exhibition (13-21 Nov 1908). I suspect that it was not at the November exhibition (which was reserved for motor cars by this time), but rather at the second International Commercial Motor Vehicle and Motor Boat Exhibition which was held at Olympia between 27 Mar and 4 April 1908. These dates would fit in better with the known history of O1283. The 1908 volume of Tramway & Railway World (see post #213) contains an account of this show, but sadly there's no mention of Brush. It's possible that O1283 was being exhibited not for its Brush chassis (which was after all almost 18 months old by this time), but rather for a new body it had picked up at the "Amalgamated Omnibus Works". More research is needed here! :)
 
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Tramways Rule! (in 1905)

2010-04-26 07:26:23
[From Tramway & Railway World (9 Mar 1905).]

Mr Clifton Robinson on the Motor 'Bus.

The London United Electric Tramways Company are just completing the details and contracts for one of the biggest tramway schemes yet attempted in this country, involving the construction of more than thirty miles of track in the county of Surrey. The work, which will involve the outlay of fully £700,000, will be given out in a few days.

"That," remarked Mr Robinson to a representative of the press, "is the best evidence of our faith in tramways, against which the motor 'bus can never compete". Asked what were his views with regard to the motor omnibus, Mr Robinson replied: "As against an electric car it has the relative value of a perambulator. To work an electric tramcar costs 6d per mile; to work a motor 'bus costs 1s. The life of a motor is not more than two years, whilst that of an electric car is 14 years. The electric car will carry 70 passengers and the motor 'bus only 32. The motor 'bus cannot pay under such conditions; its margin of profit leaves nothing to speak of for reserve. Our extra earning capacity will more than cover the initial cost of the track and its maintenance."

[J Clifton Robinson was Managing Director and Resident Engineer of London United Tramways (1901) Ltd (88 High Rd, Chiswick).]
 
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An interesting comment on the thoughts of vehicle longevity at that time. Often trams put in a life of 40-50 years (mostly extended by the second war, replacemant was the byword by the late 1930s) and buses (again after WW2) 20-25 More recent designs have lasted even longer..

Sir (James) Clifton Robinson (1849-1910) was known as the "Tramway King", having involvement in the building and operating of street tramways in New York, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Cork, Bristol, Edinburgh and Los Angeles. He was Managing Director of the Bristol Tramways, the Imperial Tramways Company, London United Tramways and (as a complete contrast) the Corris Railway.

In 1878 the Corris Railway, a narrow gauge railway in mid Wales was taken over by Imperial Tramways, a London-based company that rapidly expanded the railway. One of the innovations of the new owners was to encourage the use of the railway by tourists. They introduced horse-drawn charabancs to ferry passengers from the station at Corris to Tal-y-llyn Lake and Cadair Idris, four miles to the north.
The service was immediately popular and was soon extended in partnership with the nearby Talyllyn Railway to provide a "Grand Tour" between 1886 and 1930. Passengers joined the Corris Railway train at Machynlleth and travelled to Corris. From there they proceeded by charabanc to Tal-y-llyn lake, pausing for refreshments at the Pen-y-Bont Hotel, and on to Abergynolwyn, where they joined the Talyllyn train for the trip to the coast at Tywyn. Here they met the standard gauge Cambrian Railways train which returned them to Machynlleth.
In 1892 the Imperial company moved its headquarters to Bristol, where it shared senior management with the Bristol Tramways. In the early years of the twentieth century the Bristol company replaced the horse-drawn vehicles with motor charabancs.
(from wikipedia)
 
Thanks Lloyd for those interesting notes. Robinson must have been closely associated with George White, another big Bristol "tramway man".

I think you might like the 1905 report on the Olympia Commercial Motor Show, which I'm about to post (in short episodes). The early 1900s were a fascinating period in the history of the "motor buzz". When Edward VII came to the throne (22 Jan 1901) there were 3,736 (registered) horse buses in London, and just 10 motor buses. At the end of his reign (6 May 1910) the figures were: 786 horse buses and 1,962 motor buses. A period of dramatic change.

[By the way, a belated happy birthday for Saturday. Sorry I missed it. We were born in the same year!]
 
The Motor Bus at Olympia 1905. Part One.

2010-04-26 08:04:19
[As promised, here is the first part of the Olympia Exhibition report of 9 Mar 1905. Let me know what you think; if it's too boring I'll stop! ;)]

Types of Motor Buses at the Olympia Exhibition.

The great show of motor cars at Kensington, London, in the middle of February [10-18 Feb], gave the public the opportunity not only of inspecting a large variety of makes of luxurious private vehicles, but of seeing a number of automobiles designed for commercial purposes and for public service. The business vehicles included heavy lorries and lighter parcel vans, while the autocars for public service of course took the form of omnibuses. This was the first occasion on which any great variety of motor 'buses was exhibited, and though in comparison with the rest of the show the display was small, it was of very great interest to all concerned in the question of rapid local transit. In this article we do not propose to consider the comparative merits and economy of motor 'buses and tramways, but to describe some of the features of the new vehicles, and to quote such figures of cost as are available. The people concerned in all branches of the automobile industry have a wonderful faculty of attracting general notice, and this has recently been conspicuous in the efforts made in some quarters to spread the belief that the motor 'bus is going to bring about a tramway collapse. This idea, erroneous as it is, no doubt added to the general interest in the omnibus exhibits, while tramway and omnibus men of course made minute examination. These latter recognised that whatever the future may bring forth there is now a prospect of having reliable motor 'buses, which may supersede horse 'buses, and may act as feeders to tramways in many districts.
 
The Motor Bus at Olympia 1905. Part Two.

2010-04-26 08:11:33

We proceed to give some details as to the omnibuses which were exhibited. In general, it may be said, that they presented considerable similarity in appearance, and that, with the exception of one make using a steam instead of an oil engine, close inspection was necessary in order to reveal the differences in the machinery. The work of the past two or three years in connection with engines for pleasure cars has, to a considerable extent, standardised the general type of petrol engine for automobiles. Another general observation is that the whole of the vehicles exhibited were fitted with solid india-rubber tyres to the wheels. These ought to be more durable than pneumatic tyres, and at the speeds at which the omnibuses are designed to travel, they are expected to be quite efficient in deadening vibration. In most cases the back wheels had two tyres each, alongside of one another, the felloe of the wheel being made broad for the purpose. The double-tyre spreads the weight over a greater surface, while the two ridges with the hollow between tend to minimise side-slipping on greasy roads. The wheels themselves are of wood, very strongly built, and deeply "dished". The body of the omnibus is mounted on a steel rectangular frame which carries all the machinery, the axles, and the wheels. In tramway language this would be called a truck or underframe, but automobilism is nothing if not French, so the truck is called a chassis.
 
The Motor Bus at Olympia 1905. Part Three.

2010-04-26 08:32:45

Brush Company Omnibus.

The Brush Electrical Engineering Company, so well-known in the electric tramway and railway field, have now organised at their Loughborough works a department for the manufacture of motor omnibuses. Two of their vehicles were displayed at the show, one a complete double-decker for the Potteries Traction Company [sic], and the other an omnibus body in the bare wood, for Birmingham. The Brush omnibus is arranged to be entirely under the control of one man, and it is provided with an automatic fare box. The seating accommodation is for 32 passengers. The timber used in the construction is rendered non-inflammable by chemical treatment, the Brush Company having installed a plant at their works for this purpose. In view of the suddenness of outbreaks of fire on motor cars, the company attach great importance to the use of this non-flammable wood.

The one-man omnibus has been designed for service in sparsely populated districts in which only light traffic exists, but which may be linked with tramways and railways by means of motor omnibuses. The services of a conductor are dispensed with, so that the working costs may be kept down. The passengers enter by the driver's platform and place their fares in a box before taking their seats. The principal materials used in the body construction are seasoned English ash for the framing, mahogany and aluminium for the panels, and red deal for the flooring. The inside is framed and panelled in wainscot oak, and the seats are of perforated veneer. The windows are fixed in grooved rubber to prevent rattling. Ventilation is provided by means of hinged sashes over the side and end windows.

[There follows a highly technical account of the engine and gearbox of the Brush bus, which I must confess made my eyes glaze over! If anyone out there is interested, just say the word and I'll post the next bit. There's more in the article on Daimler, Maudslay, Milnes-Daimler, Wolseley etc. Those interested can browse at their leisure through the article in the e-book. I just thought the account of the Brush bus would be worth posting here, as it is basically the same bus as was purchased by BMMO in 1906-1907 (O1283-1291).]
 
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What a shame the illustrations are missing from that fascinating article. The note on it being one-man-operated is noteable, as this is the norm for all buses now, but (I thought previously) not in those years.
 
Yes indeed Lloyd. PET clearly pioneered the "driver-only" bus (as it is called in these gender-sensitive times!). I wonder though how many buttons, washers etc were found when the "fare box" was emptied!
 
Clifton Robinson Dies on a Tram!

2010-04-26 09:29:33

Here is a link to an interesting New York Times article (7 Nov 1910) on the death of "Tramway King" Sir Clifton Robinson. How appropriate that he suffered his fatal collapse aboard a tramcar!

 The article states: "Sir Clifton Robinson, a pupil of George Francis Train, was closely connected with street car enterprises throughout Europe and America, and constructed the first tramway in Europe in Birkenhead, England, in 1860". Now the G F Train Birkenhead tramway opened on 30 Aug 1860, when Robinson (1 Jan 1849 – 6 Nov 1910) was 11 years old, so this makes him an extremely precocious tramway man indeed! :D

 Here is a 1906 e-book chapter on Clifton Robinson (with fine pictures of the great man and his good lady), which confirms that he was a (very) junior member of G F Train's staff at Birkenehad in 1860 (though probably as messenger boy rather than tramway builder). He spent the years 1866-1871 in the US with GFT "learning the ropes". :rolleyes:

 And here is a 1890 e-book article on "Colonel Robinson" which gives his biography from a US perspective. It is interesting that many of the dates differ (some quite significantly) from the 1906 biography. Which just goes to show how careful we historians have to be, even with contemporary sources. I suspect that Robinson himself romanticized his early tramway life, and embroidered the story somewhat as time went by. [I like these e-books! :)]

 Last of all (promise!), a gossip columnist's view, from "London Week by Week" by Emily Soldene (Adelaide Advertiser 19 Mar 1910): "Sir J Clifton Robinson, manager of the London Electric Tramways, resigned, going to South America and ends of the earth to lay other trams. Of course he started on his career with the usual half dollar and a free ride on the first tram that ever ran in England. (Hung on behind, you know.) It was at Birkenhead. No regulations as to number of passengers in those days – just piled 'em in. Clifton Robinson (I knew him in 'Frisco), smart himself, likes anyone else who is smart. One day a man applied for a conductor's place. 'Any experience,' said CR. 'Guess not on the street cars, but I've been taking stock of your new lines, and I reckon I'm the man you want. For the last two or three years I've been engaged as a packer in a sardine factory.' He got the job." [Source: National Library of Australia "Australian Newspapers" database.]
 
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Early Petrol-Electric Buses.

2010-04-26 14:01:05

Tilling-Stevens petrol-electric buses were the mainstay of the Midland Red fleet from 1912. They reigned supreme, and were virtually unchallenged until the prototype SOS Standards (HA2330, HA2333 and HA2348) were introduced in the summer of 1923. Many Tilling-Stevens TS3s were converted to gearbox operation (as type TS3B) in 1925-1926, and gave several years of further service. But some survived as petrol-electric vehicles until as late as 1929 (perhaps even later, Lloyd?).

I have been looking into the early history of the hybrid petrol-electric bus. The Fischer Motor Vehicle Co (Hoboken, New Jersey, US) manufactured one as early as 1900. Some of these were imported into England by the Fischer Motor Vehicle Syndicate of London, where they were trialled in service by the London General Omnibus Co Ltd. This picture gives a good view of one of these rather strange looking double-deckers. They don't seem to have been very successful.

A J Wallis-Tayler, in his Motor Vehicles for Business Purposes (London: Crosby Lockwood & Son, 1905), gives a fairly detailed account of the Fischer petrol-electric bus. It can be read in this e-book edition.
 
The Thylacine is Keeping One Step Ahead of Extinction!

I am going to be moving house soon (from the city Launceston to the rural town of Latrobe - not far away). So I'm going to be too busy for Midland Red research for a while. But I'll still check in to the Forum from time to time to keep in touch.

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Midland Red Early Days thread. We might not have made any earth-shaking discoveries over the last few months, but we have shone a light into some of the darker corners of Midland Red history. And I hope we have had some fun in the process (I certainly have!). :cool:

[I'm not trying to close the thread down; this is still the place for information, pictures, comments, musings etc on Midland Red Early Days. And ... "I'll be back!"]
 
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