IAN'S BUS STOP

26th October 2009. Back home once more, for a few days, I have started on the long overdue report on the Loughton & Epping Running Day. More will follow as I have time. Please excuse the patchy responses to emails, as I am only at home for odd periods at present.

5th October 2009. Many thanks to those who expressed their feelings about the passing of my Dad, either by e-mail or in person. Life is getting back to a different normality. In the short term at least I shall be spending more time in London, dealing with Dad's estate, so you can expect more pictures of life in the Home Counties and the Great Wen, but a less prolific output for a while.

In the mean time, by way of relaxation I have started on the overdue report on the Leatherhead Running Day. The first page may be different from what you expect! More will follow.

21st September 2009. It is with regret that I announce another service suspension.

Richard William Thomas Smith (1916-2009), known to friends and colleages as Dick Smith, - and my Dad - passed away in his sleep this week. Some of you may have met Dad in his working days: he worked initially at Tillings factory in Lewisham as a leather craftsman, and then for London Transport, spending time at Chiswick and Charlton before moving to Aldenham. (He had a period out with the Royal Army Service Corps, who took him to Northumberland, Northern Ireland, North Africa, Normandy, Northern Europe and Norway). He spent many years at Aldenham, travelling each day from near Grove Park (the Bromley version) to Aldenham and back, usually on the staff buses, but sometimes by bus to London and train out. (He just missed his usual train one night in the fog, and so avoided being caught up in the Lewisham train disaster.) A speciality at work was concertina blinds, but his inventiveness led him to offer many practical suggestions for improvements at the works. It was probably this that led to his being invited to join the staff in the time and motion study section for the last years of his working life. He retired in about 1980. Dad was also involved in the early days of bus preservation, with the late Prince Marshall. He found some original Tilling seat moquette that was used as a pattern to manufacture some for use in ST922, and reupholstered the seats at home. I can remember piles of seats squabs in the back garden. He was one of the early invited (non-bus-owning) members of the London Bus Preservation Trust.

Dad has been unwell for some years, physically fit but unable to go out, so has missed out on the recent advances in bus preservation. However, visiting him has provided me with excuses for frequent visits to Bromley - that usually coincided with Running Days or other bus events! He will be missed.

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About Ian's Bus Stop: Dreadful warnings!

Ian does not pretend to be an expert: any corrections, additional information, flattery or news gratefully welcomed. Rivet-counters can make their own web-sites!

Most BUS-STOP pages contain:

drawings or photos (when I can get them) of a class of London bus;
a potted class history;
some history of individual buses;
a list of photographic sources, and
a bibliography.

The histories are not complete. They are assembled from data from a variety of sources, that do not always agree with each other. In some cases I have much more data than I have displayed, and just need time to fill in the gaps. They are are offered as a help to your own researches, not as a complete entity.

I do not attempt to keep the histories up-to-date. If you want the latest information, there are plenty of special interest groups on the net. For comprehensive monthly updates, subscribe to LOTS to get "The London Bus".

The plan drawings by Ian Smith are NOT scale drawings from originals, but based on a few known dimensions and (usually) a variety of photographs. In places inferences have been drawn where the photographic evidence is poor.
In particular adverts shown on buses may have incorrect colouring where I have guessed wrongly from black & white pictures, or may be inappropriate to the livery worn by the bus.
They may be of use to modellers if printed at an appropriate scale. You'll have to experiment to find the right printer settings..

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Prepared in Notepad by Ian Smith, updated 26th October 2009. Best on Mozilla Firefox, screen size 800*600.

Whats at the bus stop:

What's New:

About Ian's Bus Stop: Dreadful warnings!

Prepared in Notepad by Ian Smith, updated 26th October 2009.
Best on Mozilla Firefox, screen size 800*600.