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Midland Red Early Days

Lloyd said:
"1828 Steam Coach: A steam coach was constructed by James and George Naysmith, sons of the artist. It ran between Leith and Queensferry at between 4 and 7 miles per hour."
Click to expand...

Lloyd, it seems that the designer and builder of this coach was Scottish engineer James Hall Nasmyth (19 August 1808 - 7 May 1890; the surname has many spellings!). In his own words (via the Electric Scotland website):

"About the years 1827 and 1828, the subject of steam-carriages for common roads occupied much of the attention of the public. Many tried to solve the problem. I made a working model of an engine which performed so well that some friends determined to give me the means of making one on a larger scale. This I did; and I shall never forget the pleasure and the downright hard work I had in producing, in the autumn of 1828, at an outlay of £60, a complete steam-carriage, that ran many a mile with eight persons on it. After keeping it in action two months, to the satisfaction of all who were interested in it, my friends allowed me to dispose of it, and I sold it a great bargain, after which the engine was used in driving a small factory. I may mention that in that engine I employed the waste steam to cause an increased draught by its discharge up the chimney. This important use of the waste steam had been introduced by George Stephenson some years before, though entirely unknown to me."

[I can't find anything about brother George.]
 
More Scottish Steam!

From April 1834 John Scott Russell (9 May 1808 - 8 June 1882) operated six steam buses on an hourly Glasgow - Paisley service (allegedly at speeds up to 14 mph). The vehicles were built by the Steam Carriage Company of Scotland (founded by Russell and William Dauney), and were quite successful for about four months. Alleged (but never proven) sabotage by the Glasgow road trustees caused a fatal accident on 29 July 1834, when the boiler of one of the buses exploded, killing four passengers:

"The consequences were catastrophic and fatal. The explosion scattered fragments of the boiler and passengers alike in all directions. One passenger travelling inside the carriage and three on the outside died later of their injuries. Six other passengers received a variety of injuries ranging from an amputated leg to minor cuts and bruises. Among the luckiest of the travellers were three crew members, travelling on the tender, the only female passenger, travelling inside the carriage, who received only minor injuries, and the engine driver who was not injured at all. After the accident, questions were raised whether the safety of the community should ever be sacrificed to experimental improvements and whether such sources of danger should be allowed on a public road."

[From the caption to this delightful contemporary drawing at the Scran website, which I am not permitted to upload here, and of which you will only be able to view a thumbnail, unless you have a Scran subscription. :(]
 
That's the Ticket!

[Hey folks, a Midland Red post! ;)]

I'm sure some of our members and viewers collected bus tickets. In the early 1960s the "bus spotter" would write to Midland Red, and the company would very kindly send the latest "fleet list", which you would use to underline the fleet numbers of buses you "spotted". (Only the uninitiated anorak would cross them out!) Also, if you asked, they would send you an assortment of bus tickets, including highly-prized "Bell Punch" examples, which by that time were obsolete (they were last used on 8 February 1952 for Dudley Road services, on which Midland Red had a revenue-sharing agreement with Birmingham Corporation).

Here are a few images from my ticket collection (if you like them, there are plenty more!). The July 1964 "Setright Speed" ticket for 19 shillings and 11 pence ha'penny was obviously a Midland Red "bus spotter" special. It illustrates the highest value ticket the machine was capable of issuing: I can't imagine a ticket of this value ever being issued on an actual service! :rolleyes:

[When I was a young anorak I made the mistake of sticking my tickets down with sellotape, hence the unsightly brown stains. Actually I don't remember anoraks in my time - can't really say what we used to wear!]
 
1980 Movie.

Bammot has posted a link to his historic 1980 footage of WMPTE buses at Stourbridge and Dudley, including what must be one of the last D7s in service (still red! - OF COURSE IT IS, AND IT'S NOT IN SERVICE, IT'S 4482 XHA482 OWNED BY THE TRANSPORT MUSEUM (WYTHALL) SINCE 1979!!! :headhit:). It's a bit blurred and shaky, but wonderful to watch! Also seen are clusters of lurking and snapping bus spotters ("sweaters", "leather jackets", "macs" and the occasional genuine "anorak"! ;)).
 
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Tickets and Friends.

On the subject of Midland Red tickets, Motorman-Mike posted (on the "buses" thread) a picture of a fully-loaded rack of Bell Puch tickets. The post included a picture of a handsome (if brylcreemed) young conductor, and earlier on the thread can be seen a charming young coach driver, plying his passengers with champagne. I couldn't resist half-inching the mouth-watering picture of the tickets, and while I was there I lifted the lovely pictures of our good friends Mike and Lloyd. (No offense intended, gentlemen! ;)).

[OK, OK! "What's sauce for the goose ...". Here's the Thylacine, seen a few years ago with his beautiful daughter Hannah. The local kids call me "Santa Clause". One called out: "Hey, Santa, can I have a motor bike for Christmas?". To which I replied gravely: "Only if you've been a good boy". :D]
 
On my 'workbench' currently is a Clayton-Harris 'Verometer' ticket machine which I have un-jammed and repaired for a friend of a friend who acquired it in a 'solid' state a few years ago. Only Midland Red and Lincoln Corporation seem to have used them in any sort of numbers (they were made by Clayton Dewandre Ltd, Titanic Works, Lincoln - more famously known for their air- and vacuum- operated vehicle braking systems, and those large chromed round heaters fitted to front bulkheads of 1950s coaches).
Luckily Mr Harris' original patent comprises 38 pages of detailled diagrams and descriptions of the operation of the machine, which made my job possible.

Here's a picture of a verometer (which any operator of quickly abandonned as conductors discovered as the machines aged it became possible to issue 'shilling' value tickets but get the machine to add 'pence' values to the day's total, therefore reducint the company's 'take' appreciably); a Lincoln ticket; Mike and myself at the launch of the newly created 'Midland Red Coaches' and a more recent one of myself and granddaughter Ronnie.
 
Lloyd, your talents never cease to amaze me! Well done with the "Verometer" ticket machine, concerning which I quote Peter Hardy (BMMO Volume 1 1961):

"After experiments at Bearwood in 1934 the first Clayton-Harris Verometer machines were installed at Rugby on 27 January 1936 and withdrawn on 17 May. A further batch was then tried at Redditch from 8 June to 4 November 1936. Minutes of meetings mention that further trials took place around August 1937 at Rugby and Leamington and on 4 July 1938 these depots were converted completely to Verometer machines which were retained throughout the war period, when all other garages were using the orthodox Bell Punch system. In December 1947 a start was made by changing over to Verometer machines at Bearwood and thereafter all depots were converted one by one, the last being Hinckley on 18 July 1949. Bell Punch was however still partly retained at Oldbury for use on the Dudley Road services only due to accounting difficulties as already mentioned. In June 1950 Bearwood changed over from Verometer to Setright Speed Model and was followed by Oldbury in October 1951, though the Bell Punch remained in use on the Dudley Road until 8 February 1952 by which time the previous objections to ticket machines had been overcome. Wellington depot received their Setright machines in April 1953 but there was then a break of nearly three years until the conversion of the rest of the company’s system commencing with Hereford in January 1956 and finishing with Kidderminster in July 1957."

So the career of the Verometer at Midland Red actually extended (with breaks) from 1934 to 1957.

That's a great picture of MRED stalwarts Mike and Lloyd at the start-up of Midland Red Coaches. Was that in 1985 Lloyd?

Your granddaughter Ronnie is a real cutie! I'm still waiting patiently to become a grandparent: I can't complain as I was myself a bit of a late starter (as a parent that is).
 
Tickets Please!

Here are a few more Midland Red tickets:

[1] Not much to look at, badly stained and faded with age, but interesting in that it was issued by an experimental ticket machine (called "Almex" I think).
[2] Standard Bell Punch ticket with overprint (the higher ha'penny values were overprinted because colours were duplicated).
[3] Non-standard used 8d orange. I don't know anything about this ticket, which is not described in the literature. I like it though (which is why it's my avatar).
[4] 11d orange workman's return ticket from a "pad" of 10 pre-paid tickets.
[5] Five shilling junior "Day Anywhere" ticket of 1962. It's a memento of a very enjoyable bus-spotting tour of the Midlands. You could travel a long way in a day! (I posted this on another thread a while ago.)
 
As promised no hint of steam here as we see an artists impression in a childrens book of a coach with more than a passing front end likeness to a Midland Red CM6.
 
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Nice picture of "XYZ1000", Mike! Isn't that an Irish registration? ;)

I think we might have "run out of steam" (at last!). Did you bring back any pictures from Czech?
 
Surprised to see myself and my ticket rack above. As a matter of interest you may notice there are no 8d value tickets in the rack. When I aquired the rack the block of 8d tickets turned out to be the topmost ticket only. Those underneath of the same colour had come from George Cooper's Omnibus Service of Oakengates so I removed them and added the only 8d BMMO to my permanent collection.

PS I had a senior moment before I went to the Czech Republic - my camera battery needed recharging but I couldn't find the charger. The love of my life spent a good half hour late on the night before departure hunting for it and managed to find it. I threw it in the case saying I would use it when I got there but on arrival in the hotel in Czech realised I had not brought the camera!! I do have photos from previous visits although more of trams than buses.
 
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One thing I noticed with the Day Anywhere ticket: every conductor (or perhaps every service) had a uniquely shaped punch hole. What's the story there, Mike?
 
Thylacine said:
Mike, do you know anything about my non-standard (avatar) 8d ticket?
Click to expand...

Not really, except to say that it is the same colour as, and must predate, my 8d 'multifunction' ticket that was in use when the bell punch gave way to Verometer and Setright. Some areas of the Midland Red such as Leicester and Worcester had local variations in the past and different typeface tickets were used by Midland Red conductors working buses hired with driver from independent operators at Rugby and Nuneaton and possibly elsewhere.
Mike
 
Thylacine said:
One thing I noticed with the Day Anywhere ticket: every conductor (or perhaps every service) had a uniquely shaped punch hole. What's the story there, Mike?
Click to expand...

Before decimalisation every Setright machine had a brass punch mounted on the front (see below my hand over the machine in my Brylcreem photo). Each punch had a different punch out shape and was intended for cancelling returns or punching emergency tickets when needed and later for confirming to an inspector that a Day Anywhere or 10 Trip Ticket had been seen by the conductor/ess (although the conductor/ess on the first journey made actually cancelled the day ticket). When booking on at the garage or taking over a machine on the road the conductor/ess would punch the foot of their waybill so that an inspector checking a bus could identify the correct punch hole pattern in the case of Day Anywhere and 10 Trip Tickets. After decimalisation, new decimal Setrights were issued in the Birmingham area with top mounted small punch making a simple round shaped hole so it was no longer needed to punch the waybill. I heard some garages had converted predecimal machines so the mixed shape punches could have soldiered on, maybe Lloyd can tell us for sure. I was fortunate to buy a redundant predecimal machine direct from the company for the princely sum of £1 to add to my collection of bits and pieces.
Mike
 
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Thanks for those replies, Mike. So in theory I could identify the actual conductors / conductresses who punched my Day Anywhere ticket all those years ago! Or at least which Setright machine was used. I'm surprised they could find enough different shapes!
 
Often wondered about that myself! To introduce a few different buses (and maybe a tram or two) I have started a new thread about West Midlands Travel reaching the Czech Republic for the first time in 1993. Eases the off topic situation on this one:D
 
Ticket Collectors' Websites.

Transport ticket collectors will not find a great number of useful internet resources. Some of the better ones are:

The Transport Ticket Society (originally the Ticket and Fare Collection Society).
Paddington Ticket Auctions (run by Chris Dickerson and Brian Moakes; see below).
Transport Tickets for Sale.
Miscellaneous Transport Collectibles (from the excellent Glasgow Transport Memorabilia website).
Andrew Menzies City Omnibus (also from the Glasgow site: including a picture of an 1859 bus token).
Shropshire Omnibus Association (from the excellent Country Bus website - this site seems to have acquired some blank space since I last visited).
Vintage Bus Tickets (from the excellent Classic Buses website).
Bus Ticket Collection (Powerhouse Museum, Sydney).
The Ticket Machine Website (contains a picture of a Midland Red Verometer machine).
Ticketing Systems (from Pete's Trolleybus Site).
The Booking Office (railway tickets and memorabilia - huge picture source by Roger Marks).
Transport Timetables and Ticket Scans (a Flickr pool).
Bus Ticket Machines (from Busesireland website).
Old Bus Tickets.

Paddington Ticket Auctions (PTA) sell railway, tram and bus tickets, and occasionally "transport ephemera". They post their catalogues on their website, including realisations after the auction is over. The catalogues are very detailed and usually include brief but accurate notes about the tickets on sale. I'm astounded at the prices some tickets fetch! On 17 October 2009 a Birmingham and Midlands Tramways Ltd 2d pink ticket (lot 448) sold for £140! On the other hand, bargains can be found: on the same date, an album of some 600 West Midlands tickets sold for £40. Five years ago I had occasion to consign to PTA a small quantity of bus tickets (mainly 1920s London General Omnibus Co Ltd tickets) for auction. A friend of mine had found them in an old children's "train set" he had bought. The whole transaction was handled professionally and efficiently, and my friend was very pleased with the £54 raised.

[Sorry if that sounds like an advertisement, complete with personal testimonial! Does anyone know of other websites of interest to ticket collectors?]
 
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Thylacine said:
No I didn't notice that until you pointed it out. Very interesting. The practice was quite common in horse bus days, especially in London. And Alec Jenson's Birmingham Transport contains a lovely 1860 picture of a "knifeboard" horse bus (probably owned by Reynolds & Co) which carries the fleetname "BRISTOL ROAD" in big bold lettering. That would be a lovely picture to post if someone can scan it (unless it has been posted somewhere already).
Click to expand...

Finally found it on Peter W's Midland Red History thread (and "borrowed" it!):
 
Another illustration of the CM6 derived coach. Note having reached its destination 'out in the country' it now has an extra window and looks a bit more like a CM6 in this view.
 
Just found, at https://www.oldukphotos.com/warwickshire-birmingham.htm this extraordinary view of Broad Street in I guess c1900 from lovely horse 'bus. So extraordinary, that I can't place it - can anyone?

Also a few of what I assume is the original King's Head only a few years before the Bus pictures posted earlier

Some 1950s Midland Reds and others of interest also on the site...
 
There were two branches of Boots in broad st around 1900, at nos 158 and 248. However you can see from the picture that it is not far from five ways, and so it must be 158. This is the red building on map. the photo must be 1896 or after, , as Boots was only listed there from 1896.
mike

158_broad_st.jpg


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