A bus for every occasion .......

The Museum of Transport on Queens Road really does have a bus for every occasion as well as offering examples from all over Greater Manchester, along with "coaches, trams, objects and displays".

Here can be found the Corpi red of Manchester, the green livery of Salford, as well as blue buses, mauve, and of course that odd coloured offering from what was SENEC.

Nor is that all, because  there is a fire engine, a horse drawn vehicle and the opportunity to sit inside a number of those old rear entry buses which those of us of a certain generation remember with affection.

And while those old style buses allowed you to hop on and off and even to chase after them with a view to jumping aboard, they were not user friendly to the disabled and out of reach to anyone using a wheel chair.

Upstairs volunteers are working on the records of the old companies transferring the lists of employees from hard paper to digital which in time will be available to those wanting to study the history of Greater Manchester.

I had never been before and it was a revelation made all the more memorable by the premises which dates back to 1930s and was originally part of the bus garage, which was later used by the G.P.O to service their vans and lorries, before becoming a museum.

It is open on Wednesdays and weekends and attracts a wide range of visitors, from school parties to crinklies like me.

Location; The Museum of Transport on Queens Road

Pictures; wot I saw on my trip to the museum, 2024, from  collection of Andrew Simpson

*Museum of Transport Greater Manchester,  https://motgm.uk/ 

Nothing more evocative than a bus stop

How easy it is to forget or never knew an older way to travel by bus through Salford.

And just for good measure because I can and because once I chanced my pocket money on a machine like this, here is how sweets were dispensed long before now

Leaving me just to complete the trio of lost Salford transport, with the bus to the "Docks" which is now as much a lost item as an old penny, the Bandit biscuit and jumping on a slow moving bus from the rear.

Location; Transport Museum, Queen Street, Manchester

Picture; Salford Bus Stop, vending machine, and the 71 Bus, undated, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, 2024 

The Limited Stop ………….. the only way to travel

Now I remember the limited stop service that Manchester and SELNEC operated with a mix of fondness and frustration.

They were fine if you were at the start of the service and could sail happily through the city streets and on to your destination in half the time.

The 153 from the top of Penny Meadow in Ashton at 6 in the morning would get me into the heart of the city in a fraction of the time the 218 would take.

And if I was lucky, I might catch one of the limited stop buses onto Wythenshawe and work.

But of course, on a cold wet grey day, somewhere on the Ashton Old Road the sight of a limited stop bus was just a frustration as it zipped past without a second thought to those passengers waiting at the bus stop.

I seldom travel on the bus now, preferring the tram, so I am not even sure that the limited stop service still operates.  I could of course go and look, but where would the fun be in doing that?  Instead Reginald of Heald Green will offer up chapter and verse.

And in the meantime, I shall just reflect that Andy Robertson’s trip out to the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester on Sunday provided me with some excellent pictures of buses. *

Here be fine examples of Corpy blue buses from Ashton-Under-Lyne, the brash SELNEC livery and my own favourite, a red Manchester Corporation bus, from 1963.

And here for one moment I must confess I was confused, because I grew up in London with Routemaster buses, and travelled on the 161 from Eltham to Woolwich, and for one moment Andy’s picture took me back 40 years.

But this red Routemaster is a Manchester one, the livery is slightly different and those in the know will point out the technical differences.

All this I know because the Museum has a full list of its collection, and thus I know the details of all those Andy photographed. **

Location; Museum of Transport Greater Manchester

Pictures, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, http://www.gmts.co.uk/index.html

** RM1414 - 414 CLT - AEC Routemaster 2R2RH - Double deck bus, from 1963, Manchester Corporation Transport,
 44 - PTE 944C - Leyland Titan PD2/37 - Double deck bus, from 1965, Ashton-under-Lyne Corporation Passenger Transport, 5871 - KJA 871F - Leyland Titan PD3/14 - Double deck bus, from 1968, Greater Manchester Transport

Another blue bus from Andy’s collection

Now for no other reason than I can, here is another of the buses Andy Robertson encountered on his trip to Museum of Transport Greater Manchester.*

And that is all I am going to say.

The blue bus dates from 1965 and belonged to Leigh Corporation Motors.**

Well almost, because Andy also took a series of pictures of the buses which had come out to play on the day he visited.

And these just had to be included in the story.

I was going to trawl the Museum's database of their entire collection of buses, but anyone can do that by following the link.***

Location; Museum of Transport Greater Manchester





Picture, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, http://www.gmts.co.uk/index.html

** 15 - PTC 114C - AEC Renown 3B3RA - Double deck bus, from 1965, Leigh Corporation Motors

***The full collection, http://www.gmts.co.uk/vehicles.html

A bus, a holiday home and a restoration project ........ Manchester Corporation 436

Now I like a good story and so much the better if it has already been written.

So naturally when I saw this one posted by Brian from the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester I just scooped it up.

And the rest as they say speaks for itself.

"One of our most precious buses is Manchester Corporation 436 - it's the only surviving pre-war Manchester double decker bus. 

It's awaiting restoration but we're gradually raising funds and you can donate by texting GMTS01 £5 (or £1, £1, £3 or £10) to 70070.

436 is in a pretty poor state right now, having survived for decades as a static caravan in Shropshire. 

But we know a lot about 436, through its maintenance records. The picture shows the first page of its engine maintenance card and if you take some care to inspect it closely it’s full of information. 

For example, in April 1935 when less than a year old it had 'repairs to auxiliary drive, 2 fan belts. 

1 aluminium fan fitted, Crossley Motors' which shows that Crossley did the work under guarantee. As late as October 1948 it had 'soft liners fitted' – this meant cylinder liners.

It also helps if you know some of the codes that MCT used for repair jobs – 'C1' meant cylinder head changed, 'F' meant work on the fuel pump, 'H' meant work on the vacuum exhauster and 'V' denoted that valves had been ground in.

It’s a fascinating window into the work that went in behind the scenes to keep the wheels turning (and still does to maintain our museum collection)”.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; from the collection of Museum of Transport Greater Manchester

* Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, http://www.gmts.co.uk/