ON THE BUSES (GCT), April 1960 to February 1974
By George Rountree.

Page 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

THE ALBION ‘VENTURER’ B92 < Albion Venturer B92 on display at the Glasgow Museum of Transport. How fortunate it was that I had persevered with that request. On a warm sunny May afternoon during the second week at Newlands garage, walking up Newlandsfield Road to the relief point known as Corrour Road to take over a number 38 bound for Millerston I met the driver I was relieving. When he found I was his relief he looked at me with an evil grin, obviously thinking 'Ah, a new driver!'. He said 'It's an Albion you've got up there, d'ye think you can handle it?', and seemed disappointed on being assured I could. After driving around on buses while learning, seldom with more than half-dozen people on board, it was quite a shock to handle one carrying a load for the first time. As I at first had found this to be very evident with the other buses, it was the same for the Albion but with one very important difference. When starting off going up a hill from a dead stand, with a pre-select or semi-automatic bus the gear is engaged first so that when the brake is released and the throttle pedal depressed, the vehicle will move off smoothly. When the engine was running at 'tick-over', it almost always fed enough power to the wheels to prevent what was regarded as a serious crime, roll-back in most buses with the brakes off. A few did tend to roll back but depressing the throttle pedal instantly overcame it.     The manual gearbox on the Albion was quite different in that it required fine clutch control, a driving skill that was fast disappearing with new bus drivers coming in and the almost complete take-over of semi-automatics. The job itself was stressful with a high turnover of staff, so new recruits had all been trained on semis, which meant few individuals recognised the significance of the Albions and what it was like if they were landed with one. In the event I managed quite well with B92, the bus in the transport museum. On that memorable trip, by the time I got to Renfield Street which was still two-way at this time, and started on the uphill stretch where the congested state of the road initially gave me my only spasm of worry, I soon felt completely confident. At a stop half way up the hill, with a full load I was able momentarily to 'play' with the clutch and throttle, releasing hand and foot brake and holding it steady by manipulating the clutch, then making a smooth take off. What enhanced the enjoyment of having handled B92 was the number of ex-tram drivers who had changed to the buses, some with long service and not long qualified on buses, who said it was fortunate they hadn't got it because they would have been unable to handle it.     Something I learned very quickly about driving up to four different vehicles each day, was that they all had features that built up into a character, a personality almost, that most had faults and good points which made them either easy to drive or difficult and tiring. A few were absolute pigs, with stiff steering or throttle pedal, or both, which tended to tire drivers and encourage them look for a defect of any kind which would allow them to request a changeover. Others were easy to drive, and very occasionally there was an experience so enjoyable it was a delight, that it was nice to fantasise on the reaction of the vehicle superintendent to an offer to do so for nothing, without payment. < Leyland Atlantean LA1 on display at the Glasgow Museum of Transport.      During the visit to Ibrox Garage there was an additional treat. LA1 was the first and only Atlantean possessed by the transport department at that time. It was based at Ibrox and was standing in the yard between duties. So, having to seek the superintendent's permission to take out the old bus, Chris asked about allowing us to have a go with LA1, which should have been confined to drivers who were to be posted to Ibrox. But being a decent and obliging chap, and as there was one or two with our group who qualified because they were going to Ibrox, this excuse was used. After finishing with the older vehicle, with us on board Chris drove us out on the Atlantean to Shieldhall Road. While it was then of the very latest design, LA1 was two years old, and had by that time developed a ‘used’ look. It was a great thrill for me to drive it out past the Luma lamp factory for a brief couple of hundred yards or so, but I don't think any of us were given long enough to get it into top gear. I think LA1 is also in the Transport Museum.     It might seem odd how someone of my years and with memory problems can remember the numbers of buses I drove all those years ago, but it can be partly explained as follows. Train spotting and railway modelling had been latent interests of mine, and at the time being written about I took them up seriously and concentrated on the railway scene as it was at that time. Steam railway engines were being scrapped in large numbers, and this meant that the model makers were nostalgically concentrating on them. But it was the comparatively new diesel and electric locomotives that fascinated me, although the frustration was that there were only two or three of the dozen or so types working in Scotland that were available to buy as models. So I set to and over the next ten years built over a dozen different types, most of which over this time were the only ones around in model form. As a member of the Glasgow & West of Scotland Model Railway Club, which was involved from the beginning in organising the annual Model Rail exhibitions, it was very gratifying to be able to display these unique examples on the club layout, to the amazement of other enthusiasts of what was then known as modern image.     It soon became apparent that this aspect of the bus scene might be of similar interest. Because I was so intimately involved with them, much of that information about individual vehicles came to lodge automatically in my mind, and much of it is still there! It didn't need to be worked on. In other words it became fixed in much the same way as music does! (Orchestral music and reading are my only interests in the arts.) As I became acquainted with all of the approximately 120 vehicles then based at Newlands, when getting to drive a particular bus, because of the actual numbers I began to have difficulty remembering their good/bad points from the previous time. A pocket chart was made out having sections listing all of them, with boxes for coded references to things like engine power (good/poor), steering (stiff/easy), brakes (noisy/weak/pulling to left/right/good) a practice which lasted for a few years. At the start of each year all members of the green staff were issued with a pocket diary by the union (TGWU), which was used to keep a note of the times of shifts, and although barely legible these charts are still extant at the back of each book.     A good example of how strong an influence this bus mania (the correct term is interest) had on me, would be to state that even today it might be possible to set down from memory the fleet numbers of all the Daimlers based at Newlands in the 1960s. And the details such as whether they had older 7' 6" type or the latest 8' wide bodies and the different seating arrangements. Fleet numbers of the rear platform Daimlers owned by the Corporation ran from D1 to D267. The oldest, D1 to 66, were based at Larkfield, and the rest were divided between Newlands and Langside garages during early 1960s. It might be possible to log a few of the changes, somewhat hazily, up to about the time of the introduction of the Leyland Atlanteans to the garage two or three years later. The sole Daimler version of the latest Atlanteans, Fleetline D268, arrived in 1963. It went to Maryhill Garage and was the only Daimler based on the north side of the city. As most of the Newlands vehicles were then relatively new, a few years were to pass before any became due for replacement, and there was a delay of a year or two before the first two Atlanteans, 168 & 9, arrived there. About 1963 a significant re-distribution of the older/newer Daimlers was carried out which will be set down later. THE LEYLAND ROYAL TIGER 'WORLDMASTER' SINGLE DECKERS There were three routes around the city suburbs with low bridges, for which a number of single-deck Daimler and Leyland vehicles were required. Up to the mid 1960s there was a long low narrow over-bridge in Hillington Road which carried the Glasgow/Paisley railway line. It was long because the bridge originally carried four tracks, but in its cramped dimensions it resembled, and was more than twice as long as, the present rail bridge in Boydstone Road. If overhead clearances had permitted, the corporation would not have needed any single-deckers. Three garages had them, one of which was Newlands and they were used on the number 40 service. The Newlands allocation was all Leyland, fleet numbers LS6, 12/24 & 30, a total of 14. Before WWII, Hillington Road between Paisley Road West and Renfrew Road was a narrow country road, and even after Hillington Industrial Estate opened and Hillington housing scheme was constructed, up to the early 1960s it remained a single carriageway over its whole length.     Just before the war started, Sandwood Road was laid out southward as a dual carriageway from its junction with Hillington Road, but it came to a dead end, stopping short behind the row of houses on Paisley Road West, probably because wartime restrictions cancelled non-essential work before the construction was finished. Until two of the houses were demolished to make the connection through to line up with Crookston Road, it used to intrigue me to see such a lovely stretch of ultra-modern dual carriageway, but with wartime economy concrete lamp posts, lying unused, with weeds sprouting from the margins of its concrete sections and pavements. Buses were not routed along it until these general improvements took place in the early 1960s. Before the reconstruction, on its outward journey to Hillington the number 40 service turned right from Crookston Road into Paisley Road West, and then left into Hillington Road which today is Hillington Road South.     At the railway bridge the narrow road was further restricted, almost to one lane for both directions where two cars might pass with care, but if one was a larger vehicle it meant there was insufficient room. (See photo p100 in my copy of the book GLASGOW'S TRAMS & BUSES by Robert Grieves). Like today the road then dipped, but not as much as it does now to make enough clearance for the highest vehicles to pass under the bridge. In those days there were no pumps installed to cope with flooding as there is today, so the lowest part was prone to becoming waterlogged. Two bus services ran into the estate through this bridge, while others came in from the Renfrew Road end. The number 25 ran to Hillington Estate from Govan Cross via Pennilee, and the 40 ran from Cathcart as a peak period only service beyond Peat Road.     Ibrox Garage in Helen Street covered the 25 service with Daimler DS single deckers, but Newlands supplied all the buses for the 40 service. Out of the total of 30 delivered during 1956/7/8, as mentioned before, 14 of the single deck Royal Tigers were based at Newlands. These vehicles had the same epicyclic gearbox as the Daimler semi-automatics, but with a different shift control. The latest double deck CVG6 Daimlers with similar gearboxes, D217 to 267 had an electro-manumatic control in the form of a switch laid out like a miniature gearbox mounted on a stalk attached to the left side of the steering column under the steering wheel. But all Corporation Leyland buses had pnumo-cyclic gear change controls, with a large cast metal air valve floor mounted on a pillar located on the left of the driver’s seat. These single deckers had the reputation of being greyhounds, and drivers naturally were keen get to drive them, so I could hardly believe my luck when my first time on the road was on the number 40 service. VEHICLE PERFORMANCES Comparing performances of buses of the different manufacturers and of individual Daimler vehicles was another source of interest. After gaining experience of driving only Daimlers (other than Leyland Royal Tigers), during which there were opportunities to compare their performances with Leylands and AECs, I became disillusioned. How could a comparison be made between vehicles in the normal course of service driving on only one type of bus? But it was a regular occurrence for any driver that way inclined, simply because of the large number of buses on the roads anytime during the day. Neck-and-neck starts from traffic lights, particularly at peak times, were just one way of relieving the monotony of this ‘adjectival’ joab for many bored and frustrated drivers! It was extremely disappointing to find that the average Daimler, which we were permanently and unavoidably stuck with, was slower in both acceleration and top speed than the Leylands or AECs. One of the ploys indulged in by a few Newlands drivers, and I suppose this went on with drivers in other garages who had difficult to drive vehicles, was to be on the lookout for any opportunity to apply for a changeover.     If a bus developed a rolling defect such as a ‘sick bus’, of course the vehicle wasn't immobilised, and for those passing along Pollokshaws Road, unless the contamination was very bad a changeover would be arranged. What could happen was that a handful of the least conscientious drivers in this situation would try to press on into 'foreign' territory well away from Larkfield, report the fault, feigning that it had just happened and hope that the vehicle would be taken out of service. Larkfield being the main centre for this operation, all defects occurring on the road up to a certain level of seriousness had initially to be reported to a time keeper, who passed it on to 'control' from there by the internal telephone system. This worked sometimes when Larkfield might be too busy to deal with it, and if so the nearest garage was instructed to provide a replacement vehicle, which was driven out to where the bus was standing by a fitter or a shunter.     But a suspicion arose among delinquent drivers that certain buses in poor condition were held in reserve for this eventuality, to be used for any change over in order to discourage its misuse. Usually with rolling defects affecting Newlands drivers, the change-overs took place in Pollokshaws Road at Copelaw Street. A successful exchange was only likely if the defect was mechanical and couldn’t be repaired by the fitter who attended at the roadside. I once reported a sick contaminated bus and arrived at the changeover point to find one of the newest Leylands waiting, only to be bitterly disappointed when a handyman appeared from it with a steaming bucket of disinfectant and a mop! He cleaned up the mess and drove away with the prize. This occurred during my first year and the bus was one of the last Leyland PD2/24 vehicles to be delivered.     Because it was adjacent to the bus works in Butterbiggins Road, Larkfield's allocation of vehicles was the most mixed of all the garages. Their fleet ranged from very old clapped out rubbish due for scrapping, awaiting entry to the works for overhaul, or brand new vehicles waiting to be allocated to another garage. But if there happened to be a shortage of spare vehicles, any bus that had gone through the works and had passed the roadworthiness test and was about to be despatched to its home garage was sent out. At this time Larkfield Garage had all the old Daimlers from D1 to D66 which, along with the Albions, were among the most aged vehicles owned by the transport department that were still in service. A year after I started in Newlands, Larkfield drivers petitioned the management, through the union, to have what they called a more equitable distribution of the old/new vehicle ratio. They cited Newlands as the main example of a garage with the highest proportion of relatively new buses when compared with what they had. Soon after this, 15 of our wide body pre-selects were exchanged for D1 to D15.     Initially it caused resentment among the Newlands drivers, but in time it was agreed that the old vehicles were in most cases better to drive than the ones we had lost. But I don’t remember anyone in Newlands wondering what the Larkfield driver thought about the move they had agitated for. In my own case there was a significant event during the first week we had them and before the good qualities became apparent. I was driving D1 on the number 48 service when the inner terminus was at the Broomielaw under Central Station Bridge before the one way traffic system was established. Driving over Glasgow Bridge from Bridge Street you turned left into the terminus location, then departed by KGV Bridge to Wallace Street and into Bridge Street. It was at a quiet time and the bus was empty, and with a couple of minutes to wait before departure time, my conductor and I were sitting inside when a policeman came on board and joined us. He looked about him in a knowing kind of way and said 'great old buses, these'. Ah, I thought, maybe he has the same interest as me and might know something significant. He was an enthusiast and was able to tell us the vehicle was 13 years old and would be disposed of after another two years. He added, and soon I had to agree with him as I gained experience with them, that these old Daimlers were more substantially built and had easier controls than most of the newer ones having pre-select gear change controls of a different design. TWO EXHILARATING EXPERIENCES < Damiler D218 at Newlands Garage. The following stories are of two exciting events which related to something that preoccupied some drivers was how fast will it go! As time past I settled down and was beginning to feel comfortable with the job, and I too started to take an interest in this aspect. As already mentioned, what soon became apparent was that the Gardner diesel engines of all the modern Daimlers were governed to a maximum speed in top gear of 39mph. This was most noticeable with the latest models from D218 to 262, although of all the buses in the Corporation's fleet, the last five, D263 to D267, were the most interesting and will be described below. It was a strange feeling when driving these other vehicles for the first time on the level, usually out Barrhead Road, when the speedometer needle would go up to 39mph and remain there. With a full load it would take longer, but even loaded and going downhill it was unusual to clear 40 or 41mph. Consequently, during busy spells with the vehicle well loaded, to keep to the timetable it was necessary to take the engine up to peak revs in each gear if possible between stops.     The first occasion I had an exhilarating experience with that aspect of driving was with a Royal Tiger. As their Leyland engines usually had a maximum rev setting higher than the Gardeners, a 45mph maximum wasn't unusual. There came a day when I took up on the 40 service at Nether Auldhouse Road bound for Cathcart, and became aware that there was something different about the performance of the vehicle. They were powerful buses, and regardless of load it was usually possible to achieve peak revs in top gear between the longer bus stops. This one seemed to be able to keep accelerating beyond the normal governor limit. But the start/stop requirements of that part of the route meant it wasn't possible to reach the limit until Barrhead Road was reached on the on the return journey to Hillington Estate.     Without having to stop on that long straight with a fully loaded bus, it was a breathtaking experience keeping the pedal fully depressed until we were approaching the Boydstone Road junction, when the speed peaked at 65mph. But I still get palpitations when I recall what happened next. At that time, before the National Savings Bank was built, Boydstone Road was narrow with a single lane each way, and for some reason the camber in Barrhead Road at the junction favoured it, which meant there was a slight hump in the nearside lane of the main road. As I realised this, traffic conditions meant that I couldn't steer, swerve more likely, out into the other lane, and when the bus hit the hump it felt like a plane taking off. The landing too was a bit rough, but I managed to keep control and unwind before reaching the Damshot Road stop. Passengers on board must have been aware of what was going on, but no-one complained because with a full bus meant you were usually running late, and my explanation would have been that I was simply trying to make up time.     On another occasion, when walking past the driver I was relieving at a busy time of a 45 bound for Bishopbriggs at Shawlands Cross, he gave me a knowing look and said with his eyes popping 'that's some bus', but did not elaborate. It was a 7'6" wide Daimler in the fleet number range D67 to 116, and I've mentioned before that unless you're running early and have to dawdle, because of the Gardner engines being governed, with a busy bus the normal procedure is to go to peak revs in each gear. I was immediately aware that there was a significant difference with this one also; it seemed to go to a higher peak than usual. The first opportunity to find out what it would do was going down Springburn Road past Sighthill, where the maximum speed achieved was 55mph! This was another exhilarating experience, only this time it was with a double decker. In both cases it seemed likely that the fitter who had been working on these engines must have forgotten to re-set the governor. THREE VEHICLES WITH SUPERCHARGED ENGINES Of the five Daimlers with the highest D numbers mentioned above, 263 to 267, they are worth devoting a paragraph or two describing their superior performance over those with Gardner engines. Initially ignorant of their existence, the first time I drove one it was immediately apparent that there was a different power unit under the bonnet. As well as producing a deeper sound, when accelerating it had a peculiar whistle that rose and fell with the revs, and the performance was significantly better than any of the other double deck buses in Newlands. When I mentioned this to other drivers, one said 'aye, that's right, the engines of the last five in the fleet are supercharged'. I found this hard to believe, even although the extra power and the whistle seemed to confirm it.     As experience of the Newlands fleet was gained it became apparent that these five vehicles did indeed have different power units, and checking under the bonnets found all five had Daimler engines, three of which were supercharged, 263/4&6. Over the years, getting to drive any one of them was the highlight of a working day, but the difference between them with and without the supercharger was slight. Perhaps the supercharger was supposed to reduce fuel consumption. While still governed to a maximum speed a little higher, their acceleration made them better than any other bus likely to be encountered. It was peculiarly satisfying to turn the tables when, after waiting at a red light and being aware that the driver in the Leyland waiting alongside on the right was expecting to forge ahead and leave us standing and cut front at the next stop. Many looks of amazement were observed in the offside mirror on the faces of 'foreign' drivers being left behind in what they regarded as their superior vehicles. While performance of the other Daimlers could vary quite significantly, there is no recollection of noticing any difference in that way at anytime with the superior five over these years, and the same could be said of the Leyland ‘World Masters’.

On to page three >

Photo Credits