Category: Articles
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Samuel Ledgard – Some Truly Amazing Revivals
Chris Youhill When vehicles were withdrawn from service it was almost invariably a permanent situation brought about by age, condition, or some very serious and expensive defect for which the repairs would not be economically acceptable. In very rare cases this misfortune occurred far earlier than would normally be expected and usually meant the premature…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Part Two
Phil Blinkhorn Not seen the start of this article Click Here One of the problems of driving a large vehicle in a city is having to constantly change gear. Add frequent stops for passengers, having to steer eight tons without powered steering when sitting next to a hot and noisy diesel engine, not to mention…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Part Three
Phil Blinkhorn Not seen the start of this article Click Here The evolution of the British double deck bus began with the stagecoach lines of the 18th century. The “engine” (horses) was at the front, the driver sat at the front of the vehicle with a clear view of the road, passengers sat inside and…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Part Four
Phil Blinkhorn Not seen the start of this article Click Here Ralph Bennett didn’t have far to travel for his interview. As General Manager at Bolton he had been at the forefront of turning the ugly duckling Atlantean if not into a swan, at least into something that looked pleasing – and a great deal…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Tailpiece
Phil Blinkhorn All the articles published over the last few months were originally written between 2006 and 2009 for a Manchester Forum dealing basically with local history. They have been updated and corrected with new or better information that has come to light in the meantime. Re-writing these articles has been both a trip down…
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Manchester Buses – A Retrospective – Part One
Phil Blinkhorn In 1958 MCTD was working closely with MCW, its “preferred” body supplier, to overcome its objections to and problems with MCW’s Orion body. Albert Neal, General Manager, whilst always looking to keep costs down, could not do with the Orion in its original and early forms and the “improved” bodies he had taken…
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Durham District Services Ltd – Darlington
Stephen Howarth Durham District Services was formed on the 1st August 1950, (the first day of DDS operations under its own name was 12th November 1950). It was not as sometimes thought a subsidiary of United Automobile Services Ltd. (UAS), but was wholly owned by the British Transport Commission (BTC) and placed under United for…
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The First PTEs – Part Four – Salford City Transport
Phil Blinkhorn Not read from the beginning, click here In 1946, Salford Corporation Transport was in a mess. John Blakemore, who had started with the Department as a Points Boy was about to retire and his operation was a testament to his lax management style and lack of organisation. A reasonably modern bus fleet was…
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The First PTEs – Part Three – Stockport Corporation
Phil Blinkhorn Not read from the beginning, click here On October 31st 1969 Stockport Corporation Transport had a fleet of 148 buses plus a handful of service vehicles. The next day all had been transferred to the Southern division of SELNEC whose management may have been rather surprised to find they had taken on charge…
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The First PTEs – Part Two – SHMD Board
Phil Blinkhorn Not read from the beginning, click here There were no fewer than 11 operators absorbed by SELNEC. Eighth in size and possibly the most odd in many respects was the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Transport and Electricity Board, so a few paragraphs about the operator are in order. Set up by an…