Surviving Leeds city transport buses

Awol Wakefield · Post by **Awol Wakefield** » Sun 23 Mar, 2008 6:09 pm

Otleybard wrote: Wow, some memories here! I worked on the buses out of Headingley as a guard (conductor) in the early 70s and well remember the exhilharaton of hanging off the back up Otley Road on balmy summer evenings (the phasing out of the back loaders killed the job). Lots of laughs and some brilliant characters, from gnarled old tram drivers to dopehead students to a few borderline psychotics - all human life was there! Must have worked with a thousand people; where did they all go? Dopeheads, psychotics. I think they all moved to Castleford lol.

Si · Post by Si » Tue 25 Mar, 2008 10:09 am

raveydavey wrote: Si wrote: Bit off thread, but I got caught up in the Wilma hurricane in Cancun a couple of years ago, and had to travel by bus to the airport. A 10 hour journey in tropical heat, with 30 other people suffering from various degrees of diaorhea, no proper wash or change of clothes for 6 days - not very pleasant either!!! It is a small world! We were there then, although we were fortunate enough to be on the first flight back to the UK from Cancun Airport after it reopened - it sounds like you were bussed through the jungle to Merida? We were told thats where we'd be going but fortunately Cancun re-opened. Mind you, we set off for the airport at 9am and didn't get on the plane until about 4 due to all the roadblocks and staging zones for the airport.The plus side is that we got an extra 3 days holiday as they couldn't fly us home!Where were you staying? We were at the Riu Tequila in Playacar, so got away quite lightly to those in Cancun itself Small world indeed, Davey!!!Yes, we flew from Merida.We got there at 3 am, but didn't fly til 4:30 pm! The plane was visible on the tarmac for hours, but for some reason they wouldn't let us board. Eventually, the crew's hours were up, and the authorities told the captain to fly back to Florida empty. However, he refused, and even though they shouldn't have been flying, they let us on (with post-it notes for boarding passes!) and we changed crew in the Dominican Republic. If it wasn't for that captain flouting the rules, I think we'd still be there now!!!I think the hotel was called the Pyramides (something like that.) I returned there by taxi to retrieve our suitcases. The whole place was trashed (the ground and first floors were plate-glass and every single pane was in a million pieces,) and the beach had been washed out to sea! We got extra days, too, but they were spent in a concrete "bunker!" Mind you, we got £50 compensation!And now, back to SecretLeeds from SecretCancun!Si

fevlad · Post by **fevlad** » Tue 25 Mar, 2008 10:12 am

blackprince wrote: Bramley4woods wrote: geoffb wrote: memories, smoking allowed on uperdeack only, remember sign at front upstairs, spitting is forbiden, I used to get No52 from Moortown to topcliffe mill Morley and then walk to work at Tingley Gas Works or change in Leeds walk to Soverign Street and get Yorkshire WD No 3 to White Bear at Tingley The "Spitting Is Forbidden" was a hangover from the days when Tuberculosis was very popular and spitting was thought to spread it about. They didn't know much about it and thought it could be treated with daylight and open windows (Fresh Air) . Many houses on the new 1935+ council estates were designated as TB houses and had extra large opening windows.I used to get the 77 bus from Broadlea Circus to the Headrow every schoolday, and used to like to ride on the top deck as kids do. But in winter with everybody with wet mackintoshes on and smoking like chimneys it was like the descent into Hades up there. The moisture from people's breath and clothing used to condense out onto the painted bus roof and the smoke and tars etc dissolve in it and run down in brown rivulets.To be honest I don't think the Tuberculus Bacillus would have lasted 2 minutes. The spitting is forbidden sign on LCT buses in the 1950s forbade "expectoration" rather than "spitting". I don't expect anyone knows what "expectoration" means these days! I doand the word was wrongly used. Expectoration takes different forms including coughing. How can you ban peopole from coughing?spitting was the correct, less pretentious(in the circumstances) word to use.

amber · Post by **amber** » Sat 29 Mar, 2008 12:00 am

Awol Wakefield wrote: Otleybard wrote: Wow, some memories here! I worked on the buses out of Headingley as a guard (conductor) in the early 70s and well remember the exhilharaton of hanging off the back up Otley Road on balmy summer evenings (the phasing out of the back loaders killed the job). Lots of laughs and some brilliant characters, from gnarled old tram drivers to dopehead students to a few borderline psychotics - all human life was there! Must have worked with a thousand people; where did they all go? Dopeheads, psychotics. I think they all moved to Castleford lol. I worked for LCT From 1960 to 1990 as Cdr to Garage Manager and all jobs between. Where did they all go? The ones with any sense took redundancy or early ret when deregulation arrived.

fevlad · Post by **fevlad** » Sat 29 Mar, 2008 9:08 am

wiggy wrote: cough medicine is EXPECTORANT,just that they spoke better than us in the 50s...tee hee! some cough medicines and preparations.stimulate expectoration-clearing of the chest, some don'texpectoration is not the same as spitting

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 29 Mar, 2008 11:34 am

fevlad wrote: wiggy wrote: cough medicine is EXPECTORANT,just that they spoke better than us in the 50s...tee hee! some cough medicines and preparations.stimulate expectoration-clearing of the chest, some don'texpectoration is not the same as spitting In the wider clinical sense, expectorate is taken to mean loosening, clearing and removal of mucous from the lungs (thus expectorant cough medicine) but in a more general definition, it does include the removal of those fluids produced from the mouth as I believe will be seen in many general and medical dictionaries.'Spitting' was seen as a significant way of leaving others susceptable to infection, the exectorate often from deep within the lungs spat out, containing the bacteria from affected individuals.TB is another disease which is not as prevalant as it once was and is now treatable, though this is difficult and lengthy because of the very slow rate at which the bug grows. Worryingly, strains are being found which are showing resistance to the usal antibiotics used.It is a very hardy little beast, and has a habbit of surviving longer than one might expect.

fevlad · Post by **fevlad** » Sat 29 Mar, 2008 4:09 pm

chameleon wrote: fevlad wrote: wiggy wrote: cough medicine is EXPECTORANT,just that they spoke better than us in the 50s...tee hee! some cough medicines and preparations.stimulate expectoration-clearing of the chest, some don'texpectoration is not the same as spitting In the wider clinical sense, expectorate is taken to mean loosening, clearing and removal of mucous from the lungs (thus expectorant cough medicine) but in a more general definition, it does include the removal of those fluids produced from the mouth as I believe will be seen in many general and medical dictionaries.'Spitting' was seen as a significant way of leaving others susceptable to infection, the exectorate often from deep within the lungs spat out, containing the bacteria from affected individuals.TB is another disease which is not as prevalant as it once was and is now treatable, though this is difficult and lengthy because of the very slow rate at which the bug grows. Worryingly, strains are being found which are showing resistance to the usal antibiotics used.It is a very hardy little beast, and has a habbit of surviving longer than one might expect. I know.

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Sat 29 Mar, 2008 5:45 pm

fevlad wrote: blackprince wrote: Bramley4woods wrote: geoffb wrote: memories, smoking allowed on uperdeack only, remember sign at front upstairs, spitting is forbiden, I used to get No52 from Moortown to topcliffe mill Morley and then walk to work at Tingley Gas Works or change in Leeds walk to Soverign Street and get Yorkshire WD No 3 to White Bear at Tingley The "Spitting Is Forbidden" was a hangover from the days when Tuberculosis was very popular and spitting was thought to spread it about. They didn't know much about it and thought it could be treated with daylight and open windows (Fresh Air) . Many houses on the new 1935+ council estates were designated as TB houses and had extra large opening windows.I used to get the 77 bus from Broadlea Circus to the Headrow every schoolday, and used to like to ride on the top deck as kids do. But in winter with everybody with wet mackintoshes on and smoking like chimneys it was like the descent into Hades up there. The moisture from people's breath and clothing used to condense out onto the painted bus roof and the smoke and tars etc dissolve in it and run down in brown rivulets.To be honest I don't think the Tuberculus Bacillus would have lasted 2 minutes. The spitting is forbidden sign on LCT buses in the 1950s forbade "expectoration" rather than "spitting". I don't expect anyone knows what "expectoration" means these days! I doand the word was wrongly used. Expectoration takes different forms including coughing. How can you ban peopole from coughing?spitting was the correct, less pretentious(in the circumstances) word to use. Nevertheless the "e" word was used on LCT tram & bus notices in the 50's probably because it was a bit pretentious. Why get fined for humble "spitting" when you could be fined for "expectoration". It was part of the 1950s zeitgeist. Other notices refered to passengers "alighting" not a reference to lighting up a woodbine torching the bus, or spontaneous human combustion. I only ever recall seeing the no spitting notices on the top "smoking" deck at the front

Post by **chameleon** » Sat 29 Mar, 2008 5:56 pm

fevlad wrote: chameleon wrote: fevlad wrote: wiggy wrote: cough medicine is EXPECTORANT,just that they spoke better than us in the 50s...tee hee! some cough medicines and preparations.stimulate expectoration-clearing of the chest, some don'texpectoration is not the same as spitting In the wider clinical sense, expectorate is taken to mean loosening, clearing and removal of mucous from the lungs (thus expectorant cough medicine) but in a more general definition, it does include the removal of those fluids produced from the mouth as I believe will be seen in many general and medical dictionaries.'Spitting' was seen as a significant way of leaving others susceptable to infection, the exectorate often from deep within the lungs spat out, containing the bacteria from affected individuals.TB is another disease which is not as prevalant as it once was and is now treatable, though this is difficult and lengthy because of the very slow rate at which the bug grows. Worryingly, strains are being found which are showing resistance to the usal antibiotics used.It is a very hardy little beast, and has a habbit of surviving longer than one might expect. I know. 'expectoration is not the same as spitting' - if spitting is taken to mean simply the removal of saliva, otherwise, they can be the same.

roundhegian · Post by **roundhegian** » Sat 29 Mar, 2008 7:38 pm

blackprince wrote: fevlad wrote: blackprince wrote: Bramley4woods wrote: geoffb wrote: memories, smoking allowed on uperdeack only, remember sign at front upstairs, spitting is forbiden, I used to get No52 from Moortown to topcliffe mill Morley and then walk to work at Tingley Gas Works or change in Leeds walk to Soverign Street and get Yorkshire WD No 3 to White Bear at Tingley The "Spitting Is Forbidden" was a hangover from the days when Tuberculosis was very popular and spitting was thought to spread it about. They didn't know much about it and thought it could be treated with daylight and open windows (Fresh Air) . Many houses on the new 1935+ council estates were designated as TB houses and had extra large opening windows.I used to get the 77 bus from Broadlea Circus to the Headrow every schoolday, and used to like to ride on the top deck as kids do. But in winter with everybody with wet mackintoshes on and smoking like chimneys it was like the descent into Hades up there. The moisture from people's breath and clothing used to condense out onto the painted bus roof and the smoke and tars etc dissolve in it and run down in brown rivulets.To be honest I don't think the Tuberculus Bacillus would have lasted 2 minutes. The spitting is forbidden sign on LCT buses in the 1950s forbade "expectoration" rather than "spitting". I don't expect anyone knows what "expectoration" means these days! I doand the word was wrongly used. Expectoration takes different forms including coughing. How can you ban peopole from coughing?spitting was the correct, less pretentious(in the circumstances) word to use. Nevertheless the "e" word was used on LCT tram & bus notices in the 50's probably because it was a bit pretentious. Why get fined for humble "spitting" when you could be fined for "expectoration". It was part of the 1950s zeitgeist. Other notices refered to passengers "alighting" not a reference to lighting up a woodbine torching the bus, or spontaneous human combustion. I only ever recall seeing the no spitting notices on the top "smoking" deck at the front Memory is a curious thing isn't it ? I can't remember for the life of me seeing " expectorate " or any derivative on either LCT buses or trams in the 1950s .So far as I can recall it was " No Smoking " on the lower-deck and " No Spitting " ( usually with the " p " scratched out and a roughly drawn " h " substituted ) on the upper ." Alighting " was commonly used by transport undertakings just as " affix " was and is used by the Post Office .