A selection of Corporation buses


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Had a tea chest, remember them, on a pram frame and wheels, that we used to push up Station St to the gasworks on London Road, to collect a barra of coke. Often the coke was still quite warm and would smell strongly of gas. Me mam reckoned that when it was fresh like that it always burnt much hotter.

When I was back there in '94 went to a museum of old Nottingham life near the Castle, and I kid you not they had a fireplace just like ours when I was a littlie. Fire grate in the middle, an oven to one side and a water tank on the other for hot water. Used to dip a saucepan into the hot water tank to wash of a morning. The whole thing was black cast-iron, and me mam used to blacken it in Summer.

Funny memories. Also remember sitting in front of the gas stove with the oven on, on a cold winters morning, to warm my toes before setting out on my paper round.

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loppy asked about Inspectors, were they like "Blakey" ? No, not at all, a Blakey wannabe would appear very rarely but never lasted more than five minutes. Inspectors needed goodwill from the drivers

#68. Difficult to answer really ! AEC Renown has to be near the top of that list. We had at Bulwell Depot 360 to 379 & every one was different in some way. 363 had lovely light steering (rememb

Part 2. My favourite buses. There were many I liked but my two all time favourites would be in second place the Mk 1 Leyland National used on the central area free bus service. I did the odd shift on

Reminds me of a thing Mam used to say: When she asked me why I did something stupid, (happened a lot) I'd say "because so & so did the same thing" she'd say "if so & so put there head in a gas oven, would you?" I'd then stand there with a gormless look on my face. :)

In a similar vein I would get "If so & so put their head down the toilet would you do the same?"

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Can any of you bus experts help me. I seem to remember the 1A and 16A from Handley St being of a slightly different design.

There was only about six like this. They had a more prominent radiator and sloping windscreen, but were AEC,s like the rest of the fleet.

We're they older? I used to get these home to Bobbers Mill.

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Can any of you bus experts help me. I seem to remember the 1A and 16A from Handley St being of a slightly different design.

There was only about six like this. They had a more prominent radiator and sloping windscreen, but were AEC,s like the rest of the fleet.

We're they older? I used to get these home to Bobbers Mill.

Low Bridge versions if my memory is correct.

Caught the 16A many times.

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16A is right, but there was never a 1A. Hanley Street was the terminus for the 1, 7 and 22. I seem to remember the 16A started from Friar Lane but later moved to Granby Street. I think the sort of buses you are referring to were bought in 1948, and there were 30 of them (KTV97 - KTV126). The bodywork was supplied by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham. I always associate them with the 16A Trowell Road service, but also the 56/60 Bilborough via Ilkeston Road, 3/59 Sneinton Dale and 9/54/65 Gordon Road services. They were the last 7foot 6 inch wide buses for NCT, and although they were used at first on the Hanley Street services, they were soon replaced (about 1951) by the later 8foot wide buses with Roberts bodies (KTV301 onwards).

Here's a link I've posted before, showing one of the Metro-Cammells on a 22 at Hanley Street in 1948 : http://www.flickr.com/photos/47537523@N07/4885035104/

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Thanks Stephen, they look to be the ones.

I remember in the 50's there were many old buses, especially single deckers used by Fairground operators attending Goose Fair.

There were Leylands, Bristols, Maudsleys, Dennis's, Guys, Bedfords and some old Midland Reds but I cannot recollect the manufacturer. Thanks for the info.

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There may have been others but one tends to associate five cylinder engines with the Bristol K type and the shorter Lodekkas. Don't particularly remember them sounding any different, but the K type especially was notorious for the amount of vibration the smaller engines caused.

The Bristol five cylinder models were usually operated by companies in areas where there where not many hills. Some single deckers had four cylinder engines.

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...I've heard that up to recently (and perhaps still today) there are motorised dhows in the Red Sea powered by Gardner 2-cylinder engines - basically cut down versions of the 5LW used in the Bristol K and Lodekka etc (plus the Guy Arabs).

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# LHS one got to be my favourite, caught same type many a day in Aspleh!!

Catfan, did you do the Aslpeh, bilbrer & broxter routes? if so, why was the 16A always a narrow bus?

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#68. Difficult to answer really !

AEC Renown has to be near the top of that list. We had at Bulwell Depot 360 to 379 & every one was different in some way.

363 had lovely light steering (remember no power steering) a real nice bus to drive.

378 went like the "clappers" but had heavy steering.

All the others were a mixture, you soon found your favourites & not so favourites in those.

When the service 44 & 71 went one man operation in May '75 we inherited the Daimler Fleetlines 160 - 184 inc. not the best in the world, Gardiner 180 engines with a hydraulically operated throttle pedal. which had a tendency to lose revs, pumping the pedal soon gave full power again !

Awful heavy steering ruined those buses, would pull yer guts out trying to navigate the old Moorbridge roundabout before it was changed.

When we got rid of these buses on to the Clifton Routes when they went One Man Operation a great sigh of relief & jubilation descended on Bulwell Depot !

Later on after NCT engineers tried everything to sort this problem out they were fitted with an after market power steering modification. It quickly was named "Hissing Sid" ! Apart from wandering all over the road when driving they did your head in by continually hissing at the slightest touch of the wheel.

Also the wheel hight was raised quite a lot & driving these were not the most comfortable buses to drive.

Bus 160 & 161 were converted to fully automatic transmission, this was surely the work of the devil himself, absolutely atrocious. They worked on road speed & nothing else, so slowing down to a stop they would drop each gear down with a thump, like the driver was hitting the brakes. What we soon learned to do was knock the gear lever into neutral at about ten MPH. when stopping.

Some bright spark of a driver found a hidden switch underneath the anniversary seat. Marked "High Ratio" or "low Ratio", if the bus had the revs then in HR it went like a rocket, if not enough revs then you would struggle to get out of second gear noblue

I think personally my least favourite bus was the Mk V AEC (back ender) as they were called (no doors at the rear). Slow, heavy steering, cab heater was cr$p, in winter you froze, in summer you roasted.

The worst feature on these were the brakes, or lack of brakes. Vacuum assisted, suicidal ! I mentioned on here somewhere about my first ever drive on one of these. Going down Wollaton Street on a Saturday afternoon with a full standing load of passengers, & trying to stop, I'd used all the vacuum pressure by gently touching the brakes (as you do) missed Toll House Hill turn cos I was going too fast to make the turn, came to a stop near the Theatre Royal, much to the annoyance of an old lady passenger who wanted the Market Square. I swear blind that episode took years off my life !

Drove every route except the 25a 25b ?

I remember the 16a narrow bodied buses, as a school lad at the time & regualy rode on them. By the time I joined NCT in '74 those buses had gone & were replaced with normal buses.

I could be here all night thinking about my days on NCT.

Part 2 to follow with my favourite buses. (when I've had a cuppa) !

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Part 2. My favourite buses.

There were many I liked but my two all time favourites would be in second place the Mk 1 Leyland National used on the central area free bus service. I did the odd shift on there when working a day off etc.

These buses were really a pleasure to drive, effortless in one word. Everything was air assisted, even the throttle pedal ! Ultra light steering, you had to be more careful on wet roads, they didn't grip too well if you abused them. Also a short stubby right hand gearchange, exactly in the right position, seemed a bit strange at first using that.

Another weird thing was that the engine revs were inhibited if any of the doors weren't fully closed. The trick was to floor the gas pedal & when the doors closed fully off you went, it felt like you were gliding along !

Working the Central Area was nicknamed "the magic roundabout" you either loved it or hated it. It was said some drivers went mad after being on that rota a long time ! I loved it, never bothered with timetables, who knew where you should be, it was impossible to run to time. AND plenty of tea breaks ! Easy money.

1910702_zpsdcozm7ew.jpg

These had to be my all time favourites.

Leyland something or other, we knew them as the 500s ! Not being "anoraks" you see, we only drove em. We didn't want to know all the details

Based at Sherwood Depot covering the Arnold & Mapperley routes.

One afternoon I was depatched from Bulwell Depot to do a Sherwood shift as I was a spare driver in those days. Jumped on a 43 to market square to take over a service 31 on King Street just after teatime I giot there.

Walking up King Street I was met by "mighty fine" a NCT Inspector who was the dad of a prominent Nottstalgia member ! Mighty Fine was the Sherwood Inspector. A queue of passengers was a mile long all waiting to board my bus, I didn't have a clue what the fares were if asked, but luckily MF was on hand to help.

Five minutes later i was ready to go, MF bade me farewell & he dissapeared. Started the engine, where's the gear lever ? Eventually found on the right hand side !

After finding the door switch off we went, I was surprised how well this bus pulled up Queen Street with a full compliment of passengers on board. By the time I was passing the Guildhall I was REALLY liking this bus, talk about power this thing could out pace some cars nearly !

Put my foot down on the flat part of Woodborough Road to get a run at the aproaching hill, On reaching the hill it was like being shot into oblivion, talk about power, this was amazing. This bus was H reg 1970 & now was five years old & showing signs of wear but the engine was brilliant.

Another surprise was how posh some of the passengers were, good evening driver was a common greeting, no effing & blinding on the bus either ! It seemed quite surreal to me, being a Bulwell Driver being used to a few rough uns !

First half of the shift done & took this bus back to Sherwood Depot for my well earned sausage & chips.

After my break it was back on the road doing Arnold routes, some of these street I'd never heard of, never mind strange names like Killisick Estate, Arno Vale, why not Arnold Vale ?

End of the shift after getting lost a few times (no radios in those days) I very reluctantly returned this bus back to the depot, a great experience & as a result worked there on my day off if I couldn't get a shift at Bulwell Depot.

Nottstalgia member denshaw was a Sherwood driver !

NTGM008582_zpsq6nmzcpk.jpg

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Not lost yer' touch mick!!!

Fantastic- I also recall you were about the only bloke not to have that clumsy gear change on Derby Road- if you saw no one at Baker& Plumb stop.....toe down!!

Thanks for those posts... Crack a can!!

Ianx

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Mick, really interesting to read your posts, particularly concerning the two batches of Atlantean PDR1A/1s at Sherwood depot. The first batch 501-522 (PTO 501-522G) were not well liked especially when they were brand new and allocated to Parliament Street. They suffered with problems with the automatic brake shoe adjusters, on hilly routes the drums would expand when hot and the adjusters would not return to the correct position as the brakes cooled. Dad had a nasty accident in 516 coming down Derby Road inbound on a 4 or 5 towards the junction with Middleton Boulevard, when it was a traffic light controlled crossroads. An Austin 1100 was stopped at a red light, and Dad applied the brakes in plenty of time. After some initial retardation the brakes faded away to nothing and he shunted the 1100 across the junction. After that he hated the buses in this batch with a passion. There were many other drivers at Parliament Street who experienced the same problem and they were delighted when they were sent off o Sherwood depot in1970 to replace AEC Regent Vs when the Sherwood routes were converted to OMO.

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I spent 10 years at Sherwood depot, started in 1979 so never drove "back Enders" when I moved to Parliament street for the day rota we got to drive the Volvos and Scanias, different class of bus.

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