Buses

Thats quite an unusual one, half covered,half open top. I like the swan on the back too

I went on a day trip to the lake District today and they have plenty of open top buses for the tourists.  Open top buses are not only in the major cities.

I think mine was in Santorini. We had to get a coach down to this boat trip and it was tiny winding roads along a cliff at night with sheer drops downwards. The driver drove like the coach driver at the end of the Italian Job. I remember looking over the edge of the coach once and just seeing the clear drop to the sea and no road and thinking "well thats not good"

What is your most terrifying bus journey?

I've had several.  One of the worst was leaving Robin Hood's bay going towards the main Scarborough to Whitby road.  The road is steep and the bus was struggling very very slowly climbing up the hill  I had visions of the brakes failing and the bus falling backwards towards the sea and off the cliff, being smashed on the rocks below.  

Thanks. What shocked me was that the bus driver never stopped nor did he call the police. It wasn't even in the news. There were, and are, too many violent crimes to report in Chicago. 

I think it’s a Leyland Panorama, it’s got panoramic roof glass. I drove this one a couple of times when my usual coach was being worked on. When I was a child, there were Town & Country buses still running, the green routemaster  buses, they had twin headlights for being out in the sticks, a larger fuel tank and a rear door.

Id love to see some more. What is the bus at the top? Thats a very nice looking one

I love the Italian Job, one of my favourite films

A couple of my photo collection of local buses, yes a special interest. The Bedford VAL with the twin front axles is the same coach type used in the “ Italian Job,”  I do have quite a few photos of local buses and coaches.

Lol maybe we were! What part of London were you? I was West London 

Goodness me, thats bad. Even the fact that buses needed bulletproof windows. Glad you and your mother were safe 

The best journey was the 147 Express bus. It went from my area of Chicago to Downtown Chicago. It went along Lake Michigan and all the amazing skyscrapers.

The last time I took the 147 in the early 1990s, I watched a teenager shoot his gun at the window in front of my mother and I. Luckily, the glass was bulletproof but I had a ringing in my ear. This was at about only 4:00pm, I'd never ride a bus there at night because it's even scarier.

It was. Back then you paid the fare with coins into a metal fare box. For an extra 25 cents then (20 pence today) you could get a piece of printed paper called a "Transfer" and you could get two more bus journeys. The next two bus drivers would hole punch the transfer to show you used up your two other journeys.

I used to do that too! Maybe we were stood next to each other once lol? I used to go all over to see different trains when I was little.

I used to love that too! I grew up in London and when I was little I would stand on the bridge and just watch the intercity trains like that one go by and I would get so excited when they did 

That is beautiful 

That looks so cool.

I used to love the sound they made when they went by and because of the speed used to make my hair blast back lol.

This is what he drove I remember it really well.

I've always loved buses. I like how different they look to cars, especially the old ones like the red London buses. My Gramps used to be a train driver which I thought was cool but my Gran said he always dreamt of driving buses. Gramps used to drive the First Great Western high speed when I was little, and way before that he drove steam engines.

And now for something completely different: my favourite bus as a child in Chicago in the 1970s. This photo was taken near where I lived, I found it on Pinterest.