Quirky or quaint practices on buses in the past

[Bletchleyite]

Western National in West Cornwall had 'Garage Workings' in Helston and Penzance, where passengers were officially permitted to ride on 'empty-stock' workings to and from the depots which were some distance from the town centres. They were undavertised, as timings varied from day to day, but were useful for residents of hilly Helston!

Some bus companies just run those in service as registered routes. Fishwick's of Preston (sadly now gone) was one such example, with Leyland Fishwick's Garage a commonly seen destination.

 

[MikeFromLFE]

Some bus companies just run those in service as registered routes. Fishwick's of Preston (sadly now gone) was one such example, with Leyland Fishwick's Garage a commonly seen destination.

There used to be some odd First Bus workings in Leicester that were 'positioning' moves that took very strange routes the long way round to get to/from the garage to the starting point - almost all were early morning workings.
This idea has been reinstated in the last 12 months with the single direction + once a day 13W bus from Fosse Road to Beaumonth Leys by way of Braunstone.

 

[CyrusWuff]

I don't know about quirky practices in the past but today I was riding on a certain bus in a certain place when the driver, on spying slow moving traffic ahead, shot down a road that hasn't seen a bus service in fifty years, then took a quick right turn to get back to his original route half a mile further on, having managed to avoid about ten minutes of queuing traffic. I'm not sure whether he would get a commendation or a disciplinary from his manager if that was noticed on the tracking.

Providing no stops were missed as a result (and no issues with low bridges) I wouldn't have thought it would be an issue.

I've been on buses that have cut the corner by taking an earlier right turn instead of doing a right into Lordship Lane by Wood Green Tube station due to queuing traffic before.

 

[overthewater]

Some bus companies just run those in service as registered routes. Fishwick's of Preston (sadly now gone) was one such example, with Leyland Fishwick's Garage a commonly seen destination.

There used to be some odd First Bus workings in Leicester that were 'positioning' moves that took very strange routes the long way round to get to/from the garage to the starting point - almost all were early morning workings.
This idea has been reinstated in the last 12 months with the single direction + once a day 13W bus from Fosse Road to Beaumonth Leys by way of Braunstone.

A good number of McGill buses routes does that and are included in the timetables.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Providing no stops were missed as a result (and no issues with low bridges) I wouldn't have thought it would be an issue.

I've been on buses that have cut the corner by taking an earlier right turn instead of doing a right into Lordship Lane by Wood Green Tube station due to queuing traffic before.

Though this sort of scenario is often where bridges get whacked when the driver taking the initiative forgets they're in a double decker.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Though this sort of scenario is often where bridges get whacked when the driver taking the initiative forgets they're in a double decker.

True. As has been the case on several occasions with the bridge at Stroud Green Road by Finsbury Park station (the existence of which is partly why there are separate bus stations either side of said bridge: Wells Terrace for routes 210, W3 and W7; and Station Place for routes 4, 19, 106, 153, 236 and N19.) Perfectly safe in the Wood Green example, however, with buses on routes 123, 230 and 243 using both Buller Road and Redvers Road as stand space. (Also previously home to Eastern National's Wood Green Garage, used for the exterior shots for On the Buses.)

 

[Roger1973]

Didn't the old compulsory stops require the driver to stop even if there was nobody waiting?* Whereas now there's no requirement to stop if the bus stop is empty (and nobody's rang the bell). So these days, they function more like a request stop than a compulsory stop.

* - I'm sure I remember reading something, several years ago, about the old compulsory stops acting as sort of makeshift brake tests before buses approached major junctions or steep hills, but that could just be an urban myth.

I've read about the concept of a 'board of trade stop' on tram routes - as in one formally mandated when the line was passed as fit for public operation, rather than a decision taken by the operator. I think the same applied for some trolleybus stops (from a London perspective, I think this was probably only where steep hills like Anerley / Highate were involved, but there may have been others and / or approaching a sharp curve) - and think I've seen references to some stops being listed in bus operator rule books on the basis 'you absolutely must stop at these stops' basis.

Yep, drivers stopped at the compulsory stops regardless if there was nobody waiting.

I don't think it was a legal requirement at most bus stops, though. I can't say what was in each company's rule book of course. I remember it being not that uncommon for (London Transport) conductors to give two bells approaching a compulsory stop where they could clearly see nobody was wanting to get on or off.

Timing points would have been a different matter, although as (if I understand right) LT crews could be booked for arriving too early at a timing point, they tended to slow down a bit before getting to the timing point if they realised they were running early. The 'go as fast as possible to the next timing point then sit and wait there as long as it takes' approach came as a novelty to me when I first encountered it outside London.

Depots which went to enormous lengths to ensure the availability of their least favoured vehicle for occasions when a defective/broken down vehicle from another depot needed a replacement.

A variation on this that I understand happened on London Country buses / Green Line - some buses (but not crews of course) were scheduled to end up at a garage at the other end of the route each night (no doubt on the basis that each garage got the right number of buses back at the end of each day.) And that the engineers would usually put a 'problem bus' on those workings, in the hope it would get booked off with a defect at the other end and they wouldn't see it for a few days.

I distinctly remember a London Transport Country bus (before London Country) delivering parcels in Kent during one of many teenage Rover trips. I never saw it on any other LT service so I wonder to this day whether it was official.

My own memory doesn't go that far back, but I have some LT (country area) timetable books that list parcels agents (they weren't as common as some of the more rural operators) so yes, LT country buses did do parcels. I'm not sure if it was across the whole network, or if it was a historical arrangement inherited from predecessor operations in some areas.

 

[MotCO]

I've read about the concept of a 'board of trade stop' on tram routes - as in one formally mandated when the line was passed as fit for public operation, rather than a decision taken by the operator. I think the same applied for some trolleybus stops (from a London perspective, I think this was probably only where steep hills like Anerley / Highate were involved, but there may have been others and / or approaching a sharp curve) - and think I've seen references to some stops being listed in bus operator rule books on the basis 'you absolutely must stop at these stops' basis.

I assume that there was also a requirement in the London Transport area to stop at those stops where there was a timing clock. I particularly remember a clock half way along Burntwood Lane, near Earlsfield, on route 189, when the conductor would hop off the bus to get his docket timestamped.

 

[JKP]

@Roger1973. I have no idea about London but now that you mention it, I have seen compulsory bus stops with a notice telling bus drivers to engage low gear. Unfortunately I cannot think of an example at present. Was there one at the north end of Sandsend near Whitby before ascending the bank?

 

[py_megapixel]

I don't know about quirky practices in the past but today I was riding on a certain bus in a certain place when the driver, on spying slow moving traffic ahead, shot down a road that hasn't seen a bus service in fifty years, then took a quick right turn to get back to his original route half a mile further on, having managed to avoid about ten minutes of queuing traffic. I'm not sure whether he would get a commendation or a disciplinary from his manager if that was noticed on the tracking.

Manchester route 313 doesn't stop between Manchester Airport and Pointing Dog, a distance of almost 4 miles, and I have certainly seen a couple of different variations of the route out of the airport. Not sure to what extent this is an official arrangement and to what extent just drivers taking their own initiative.

It's also mildly interesting is that for most purposes it is entirely a Greater Manchester bus route, in that it's run by TfGM and every stop is in GM. But about half of the non-stop section between the Airport and Pointing Dog is actually in Cheshire

(Pointing Dog, by the way, is possibly a candidate for the strange bus stop names thread! I believe it's named after a pub.)

 

[ChilternTurbo]

In "London and its Buses" published by LT in 1979 to mark the 150th anniversary of George Shillibeer's first bus in London this practice is described thus "Leaning a seat cushion up against the back of a disabled bus is a habit peculiar to London busmen, thought to date back to horse-bus days, when it was used to stop people boarding".

Clearly from comments made in response to the original posting it was clearly not unique to London but I can see how leaning something against the rear of a horse bus would have stopped (or at least deterred) anyone boarding. Mind you, can a horse bus break down?

Thanks for all the replies to my 'seat cushion' post on this thread! I remember this practice continuing up to and including Metrobuses in my part of London...

 

[Roger1973]

Manchester route 313 doesn't stop between Manchester Airport and Pointing Dog, a distance of almost 4 miles, and I have certainly seen a couple of different variations of the route out of the airport. Not sure to what extent this is an official arrangement and to what extent just drivers taking their own initiative.

The traffic commissioners tend not to be keen on diversionary routes, but there are a few routes they will accept it on.

I understand that Stagecoach Bedford MK1 (the limited stop end between Milton Keynes and Luton) has an alternative route (or possibly more than one) agreed for use if the M1 has a major problem.

Buses in Windsor have advertised route variations for journeys on days when the 'changing of the guard' ceremony at the Castle is on.

And in TFL-land, the limited stop X68 (now non loop Superloop SL6) has, or had, two or three options for route between West Norwood and Waterloo. I don't know if this is drivers' discretion, or whether controllers instruct drivers based on each day's traffic conditions.

 

[duncombec]

In quite a few places after deregulation buses might have a different route number (or other identifying feature) if they were operated under contract to local authorities. Kent went through a phase of putting tendered routes in the 800 series, so the tendered journeys on the 6 were numbered 806, on the 133 were numbered 832... except for some reason that service also had a variation numbered 33 (or 132/832/32, or both... can't quite recall without cupboard excavation). I also seem to recall seeing pictures of various slipboards in the window (Bws Gwynedd?)

Boro'line Maidstone had a similar situation, in that they suffixed routes with K or M depending on whether they were Kent or Maidstone Borough funded. As Boro'line overdosed on vino collapso when I was 6 I don't remember whether they were actually shown on vehicles or not. Boro'line timetables were also something of a sight to behold, focussing on "locality to town", to a lengthy service could appear in a number of leaflets. This did also mean that sometimes those suffixed services had different suffixes depending on which timetable you were looking at...

A little further on, in the early-90s Bygone Buses (of Headcorn, but largely operating in Maidstone) used a curious system where they showed bus number, rather than route number, on their non-tendered (i.e. commercial) services. A bus "numbered" 5 operated to Hollingbourne, Barming, Parkwood and Senacre Wood (which are outer-East, West, inner-East and South-East of the town centre), none of which are in any correlation to existing M&D service 5 to Hastings.

With tongue very firmly in cheek, one might also suggest "printed timetables"!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

a distance of almost 4 miles,

While that is certainly one of the longest stop-less stretches on the Bee Network, there are also:

126 and 132 from Trafford Centre to Worsley - 3 miles, Sometimes when the M60 has really bad disruption it avoids the motorway and goes via Barton,
X22 - 9 miles, Saturday only express service (Trafford - Bolton), no clue about diversions, but it can in theory do whatever.

Probably also some more but I can't immediatley think of them.

Edit: Put 300 instead of X22 (old pre-Bee Network number)

 

[dgl]

Very common practice across the UK. Newspapers, car parts, bicycle parts, dentures for repair were the most frequent in my experience. Where I live prescriptions were sent out from Boots on the afternoon bus to a remote village to be collected by people from the village shop. This happened until around 20 years ago when one day the Health Board found out and put a stop to it. A van was sent to make the delivery instead.

I travelled on a Saturday morning bus around 45 years ago where the driver delivered newspapers to houses through one village by throwing them into gardens either by opening the door or through the driver’s side window!

At work if I'mm helping deliver linen in one part of an area it's a case of load the middle seat (and my lap) with enough linen for that row of vans and I just roll the passenger window down and chuck it out, we don't even need to stop!

In quite a few places after deregulation buses might have a different route number (or other identifying feature) if they were operated under contract to local authorities. Kent went through a phase of putting tendered routes in the 800 series, so the tendered journeys on the 6 were numbered 806, on the 133 were numbered 832... except for some reason that service also had a variation numbered 33 (or 132/832/32, or both... can't quite recall without cupboard excavation). I also seem to recall seeing pictures of various slipboards in the window (Bws Gwynedd?)

Boro'line Maidstone had a similar situation, in that they suffixed routes with K or M depending on whether they were Kent or Maidstone Borough funded. As Boro'line overdosed on vino collapso when I was 6 I don't remember whether they were actually shown on vehicles or not. Boro'line timetables were also something of a sight to behold, focussing on "locality to town", to a lengthy service could appear in a number of leaflets. This did also mean that sometimes those suffixed services had different suffixes depending on which timetable you were looking at...

A little further on, in the early-90s Bygone Buses (of Headcorn, but largely operating in Maidstone) used a curious system where they showed bus number, rather than route number, on their non-tendered (i.e. commercial) services. A bus "numbered" 5 operated to Hollingbourne, Barming, Parkwood and Senacre Wood (which are outer-East, West, inner-East and South-East of the town centre), none of which are in any correlation to existing M&D service 5 to Hastings.

With tongue very firmly in cheek, one might also suggest "printed timetables"!

Dorset Council now uses the CR designation for socially necessary bus services they support. Examples are the Weymouth to Blandford, Dorchester to Yeovil and Bridport to Beaminster/Yeovil services.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

@Roger1973. I have no idea about London but now that you mention it, I have seen compulsory bus stops with a notice telling bus drivers to engage low gear. Unfortunately I cannot think of an example at present. Was there one at the north end of Sandsend near Whitby before ascending the bank?

There were a few around Whitby where United drivers had to stop and engage bottom gear. Lythe Bank at Sandsend, Blue Bank at Ruswarp, and at Goathland. Signs at top and bottom of the hills.

 

[edwin_m]

The original Nottingham City Transport Skylink in around 2004 would divert through various villages if the official route on the undualled A453 was congested. On one occasion when I was heading for an early flight, it diverted via Kegworth village but couldn't get through due to parked cars. Driver backed into a hotel car park to turn round, grounding the rear of the bus in the process, and I think I was waving them back at one point.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

In quite a few places after deregulation buses might have a different route number (or other identifying feature) if they were operated under contract to local authorities. Kent went through a phase of putting tendered routes in the 800 series, so the tendered journeys on the 6 were numbered 806, on the 133 were numbered 832... except for some reason that service also had a variation numbered 33 (or 132/832/32, or both... can't quite recall without cupboard excavation). I also seem to recall seeing pictures of various slipboards in the window (Bws Gwynedd?)

Avon CC did with Bristol 5**, Greater Bristol 6**, Bath 7** and Weston 8** - remnants of this persist with Bath tendered routes like the 701 or 768. Cleveland did the same with 5** Hartlepool, 6** Middlesbrough and 7** East Cleveland - again, evidence lasted a long time after CCC disappeared but now all gone.

 

[JGurney]

There were a few around Whitby where United drivers had to stop and engage bottom gear. Lythe Bank at Sandsend, Blue Bank at Ruswarp, and at Goathland. Signs at top and bottom of the hills.

The one at Ruswarp (High Street) is still there. It reads "United. Compulsory stop. Engage 1st gear. Retain to next sign"

I remember the Lythe Bank one, but it disappeared several years ago.

Blue Bank starts in Sleights, not Ruswarp.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Dec 2025 ==

A few quirky cases I have encountered:

More able-bodied passengers loading and unloading shopping for the less able, on Wedmore Community Bus 758. On one occasion I carried an elderly lady's shopping off the bus, into her house and left it on her kitchen table for her to unpack while the bus waited outside her garden gate.

The practice that "we never charge the nurse or the midwife", held by a Yorkshire Dales local operator. A talkative driver found that my wife was a midwife and refused to take fares from her on those grounds.

Catching a Postbus (which dates this example) only to find the vehicle pulling up when we waved was an ordinary van not the expected bus. The driver said that as there had been no passengers on the morning run (from village to town) he had assumed there would be none going back, and so had brought out a van not the bus. He invited us to ride in the back with the mailbags, probably against regulations. He refused to take any fares, saying that would be hard to explain back at the depot, so sadly I have no souvenir ticket from that ride.

Boarding a bus in a Surrey village, at the same stop where the last passenger already on board was alighting, to be greeted by the driver relieved that someone was boarding as he hoped they could direct him. The regular driver was off that week, and he was the mechanic acting as relief driver but did not know the route or the area. I had a map with me and was able to direct him from Forest Green to Holmbury St Mary.

Rather too quirky - another occasion in Surrey when I had difficulty convincing the driver that he was driving a scheduled bus. I was waiting for an expected bus and saw a vehicle in the right markings approach in the distance, then stop outside the village shop. The driver got out and went in the shop. I walked along to it. When the driver returned I asked if this was the bus. He said it was not and the company did not run any buses through there, adding that he was returning empty from "taking the old ladies shopping in Horsham". As the bus I wanted was due through there and originated in Horsham, I queried this, and produced the timetable from my pocket. The driver agreed that the times shown matched his instructions, but seemed puzzled that they were in a public timetable. It emerged that he was a relief driver and had been given the impression that the journey was a private hire to Social Services to take pensioners home from shopping, so when the last passenger got off he had thought he was free to head home, not complete the rest of the route. Having grasped it was in fact a timetabled service he agreed to take me to my destination, but could not charge me any fares as thinking the trip was a private hire he had not brought along a fare chart or ticket machine.

 

[JKP]

The one at Ruswarp (High Street) is still there. It reads "United. Compulsory stop. Engage 1st gear. Retain to next sign"

I remember the Lythe Bank one, but it disappeared several years ago.

Blue Bank starts in Sleights, not Ruswarp.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Dec 2025 ==

A few quirky cases I have encountered:

More able-bodied passengers loading and unloading shopping for the less able, on Wedmore Community Bus 758. On one occasion I carried an elderly lady's shopping off the bus, into her house and left it on her kitchen table for her to unpack while the bus waited outside her garden gate.

The practice that "we never charge the nurse or the midwife", held by a Yorkshire Dales local operator. A talkative driver found that my wife was a midwife and refused to take fares from her on those grounds.

Catching a Postbus (which dates this example) only to find the vehicle pulling up when we waved was an ordinary van not the expected bus. The driver said that as there had been no passengers on the morning run (from village to town) he had assumed there would be none going back, and so had brought out a van not the bus. He invited us to ride in the back with the mailbags, probably against regulations. He refused to take any fares, saying that would be hard to explain back at the depot, so sadly I have no souvenir ticket from that ride.

Boarding a bus in a Surrey village, at the same stop where the last passenger already on board was alighting, to be greeted by the driver relieved that someone was boarding as he hoped they could direct him. The regular driver was off that week, and he was the mechanic acting as relief driver but did not know the route or the area. I had a map with me and was able to direct him from Forest Green to Holmbury St Mary.

Rather too quirky - another occasion in Surrey when I had difficulty convincing the driver that he was driving a scheduled bus. I was waiting for an expected bus and saw a vehicle in the right markings approach in the distance, then stop outside the village shop. The driver got out and went in the shop. I walked along to it. When the driver returned I asked if this was the bus. He said it was not and the company did not run any buses through there, adding that he was returning empty from "taking the old ladies shopping in Horsham". As the bus I wanted was due through there and originated in Horsham, I queried this, and produced the timetable from my pocket. The driver agreed that the times shown matched his instructions, but seemed puzzled that they were in a public timetable. It emerged that he was a relief driver and had been given the impression that the journey was a private hire to Social Services to take pensioners home from shopping, so when the last passenger got off he had thought he was free to head home, not complete the rest of the route. Having grasped it was in fact a timetabled service he agreed to take me to my destination, but could charge me any fares as thinking the trip was a private hire he had not brought along a fare chart or ticket machine.

The one at Ruswarp (High Street) is still there. It reads "United. Compulsory stop. Engage 1st gear. Retain to next sign"

I remember the Lythe Bank one, but it disappeared several years ago.

Blue Bank starts in Sleights, not Ruswarp.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Dec 2025 ==

A few quirky cases I have encountered:

More able-bodied passengers loading and unloading shopping for the less able, on Wedmore Community Bus 758. On one occasion I carried an elderly lady's shopping off the bus, into her house and left it on her kitchen table for her to unpack while the bus waited outside her garden gate.

The practice that "we never charge the nurse or the midwife", held by a Yorkshire Dales local operator. A talkative driver found that my wife was a midwife and refused to take fares from her on those grounds.

Catching a Postbus (which dates this example) only to find the vehicle pulling up when we waved was an ordinary van not the expected bus. The driver said that as there had been no passengers on the morning run (from village to town) he had assumed there would be none going back, and so had brought out a van not the bus. He invited us to ride in the back with the mailbags, probably against regulations. He refused to take any fares, saying that would be hard to explain back at the depot, so sadly I have no souvenir ticket from that ride.

Boarding a bus in a Surrey village, at the same stop where the last passenger already on board was alighting, to be greeted by the driver relieved that someone was boarding as he hoped they could direct him. The regular driver was off that week, and he was the mechanic acting as relief driver but did not know the route or the area. I had a map with me and was able to direct him from Forest Green to Holmbury St Mary.

Rather too quirky - another occasion in Surrey when I had difficulty convincing the driver that he was driving a scheduled bus. I was waiting for an expected bus and saw a vehicle in the right markings approach in the distance, then stop outside the village shop. The driver got out and went in the shop. I walked along to it. When the driver returned I asked if this was the bus. He said it was not and the company did not run any buses through there, adding that he was returning empty from "taking the old ladies shopping in Horsham". As the bus I wanted was due through there and originated in Horsham, I queried this, and produced the timetable from my pocket. The driver agreed that the times shown matched his instructions, but seemed puzzled that they were in a public timetable. It emerged that he was a relief driver and had been given the impression that the journey was a private hire to Social Services to take pensioners home from shopping, so when the last passenger got off he had thought he was free to head home, not complete the rest of the route. Having grasped it was in fact a timetabled service he agreed to take me to my destination, but could not charge me any fares as thinking the trip was a private hire he had not brought along a fare chart or ticket machine.

Thank you I knew that I had seen one somewhere. I was staying at Robins Hood Bay a couple of years back so must have been then. Have also been to Sandsend and indeed travelled on a United bus up and down Lyth Bank.

 

[GordonT]

In the days of the Scottish Bus Group several subsidiary companies operated day and overnight express coach services between their own territory and London. Each of these companies had their own pool of "London drivers" who were the elite of their company's driver establishment. Some of the drivers were reputed to lead "double lives" in terms of what took place at the London end of the services. Several acted as couriers for bringing consumables such as Scottish steak pies, haggis, Irn-Bru etc. down to acquaintances in London. Night services for many years were double-staffed and unofficial nocturnal driver changeovers while coaches were on the move on the motorway were occasional features.

 

[Acathater]

@Roger1973. I have no idea about London but now that you mention it, I have seen compulsory bus stops with a notice telling bus drivers to engage low gear. Unfortunately I cannot think of an example at present. Was there one at the north end of Sandsend near Whitby before ascending the bank?

I think there were similar signs in Somerset at the top of Porlock hill and both sides of the approach to Lynmouth

 

[Statto]

In quite a few places after deregulation buses might have a different route number (or other identifying feature) if they were operated under contract to local authorities. Kent went through a phase of putting tendered routes in the 800 series, so the tendered journeys on the 6 were numbered 806, on the 133 were numbered 832... except for some reason that service also had a variation numbered 33 (or 132/832/32, or both... can't quite recall without cupboard excavation). I also seem to recall seeing pictures of various slipboards in the window (Bws Gwynedd?)

Boro'line Maidstone had a similar situation, in that they suffixed routes with K or M depending on whether they were Kent or Maidstone Borough funded. As Boro'line overdosed on vino collapso when I was 6 I don't remember whether they were actually shown on vehicles or not. Boro'line timetables were also something of a sight to behold, focussing on "locality to town", to a lengthy service could appear in a number of leaflets. This did also mean that sometimes those suffixed services had different suffixes depending on which timetable you were looking at...

A little further on, in the early-90s Bygone Buses (of Headcorn, but largely operating in Maidstone) used a curious system where they showed bus number, rather than route number, on their non-tendered (i.e. commercial) services. A bus "numbered" 5 operated to Hollingbourne, Barming, Parkwood and Senacre Wood (which are outer-East, West, inner-East and South-East of the town centre), none of which are in any correlation to existing M&D service 5 to Hastings.

With tongue very firmly in cheek, one might also suggest "printed timetables"!

Merseyside was one area that had different numbers for contract services, normally between 100 & 250, under Merseytravel banner, but there were exceptions, the fun came when commercial routes has a few suffix numbers like 8/8A/8E, so Merseytravel number was 108/208/308, the biggest annoyance was when Merseytravel services were operated by a different company to the main commercial service & the service changed numbers & operators halfway down the route.

 

[izvor]

I distinctly remember a London Transport Country bus (before London Country) delivering parcels in Kent during one of many teenage Rover trips. I never saw it on any other LT service so I wonder to this day whether it was official.

It would likely have been official, but not very common on LT in my memory, even in the Country area. Far more common in the provinces, as per above posts.

For example, the evening newspapers were delivered to the newsagents in Woldingham on the 440 bus. The bus driver would leave the parcel on the hedge opposite the shop to be picked up.

 

[Simon75]

A good number of McGill buses routes does that and are included in the timetables.

Also Arriva Wales have a few journeys X12 from Llandudno, Colwyn Bay.
There also similar thread

Start and end of service: Running empty or in service to and from depot

I'm not a mod, but found the detailed explanation fascinating :D You're very welcome!! To add another route into the mix . . . Route 140 (before the truncation at Hayes from the north) had a few runnings (boards) that started and finished at Heathrow. The drivers were complaining that they...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The one at Ruswarp (High Street) is still there. It reads "United. Compulsory stop. Engage 1st gear. Retain to next sign"

I remember the Lythe Bank one, but it disappeared several years ago.

Blue Bank starts in Sleights, not Ruswarp

Of course it’s Sleights I’m blaming age.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Merseyside was one area that had different numbers for contract services, normally between 100 & 250, under Merseytravel banner, but there were exceptions, the fun came when commercial routes has a few suffix numbers like 8/8A/8E, so Merseytravel number was 108/208/308, the biggest annoyance was when Merseytravel services were operated by a different company to the main commercial service & the service changed numbers & operators halfway down the route.

Milton Keynes used to use an E suffix for subsidised evening and Sunday services.

 

[Springs Branch]

Milton Keynes used to use an E suffix for subsidised evening and Sunday services.

Another (unique?) quirk regarding service number suffixes was Manchester City Transport, in pre-PTE days.

It's always been quite usual for bus operators to add letters A, B, C ... to their service numbers to show route variations, short workings and the like.

In MCT days, the only letter available on Manchester bus blinds was a "X" suffix.

Anywhere else in Britain, an X would most likely indicate some sort of limited stop or express service. But in Manchester, "X" meant anything a bit different to the normal route. It might mean Limited Stops. Or it might mean a short working, or a works service, or football special. Or a Night Service, which sometimes followed slightly different routes to the daytime equivalent and charged double fares.

When the Selnec / GMT 'Standard' vehicles were first developed, these followed historic Manchester practice and the number blinds had a X suffix, but no other letters available. Even though some of the municipal services absorbed into Selnec still used A, B etc at the time. Presumably the new Standard vehicles were not allocated to these routes.

I don't think the X suffixes were used in anger following a county-wide re-numbering of services into a consistent series in the 1970s, although GMT Standard buses seemed to be delivered with X on the blinds long after this was necessary.

 

[Statto]

Another (unique?) quirk regarding service number suffixes was Manchester City Transport, in pre-PTE days.

It's always been quite usual for bus operators to add letters A, B, C ... to their service numbers to show route variations, short workings and the like.

In MCT days, the only letter available on Manchester bus blinds was a "X" suffix.

Anywhere else in Britain, an X would most likely indicate some sort of limited stop or express service. But in Manchester, "X" meant anything a bit different to the normal route. It might mean Limited Stops. Or it might mean a short working, or a works service, or football special. Or a Night Service, which sometimes followed slightly different routes to the daytime equivalent and charged double fares.

When the Selnec / GMT 'Standard' vehicles were first developed, these followed historic Manchester practice and the number blinds had a X suffix, but no other letters available. Even though some of the municipal services absorbed into Selnec still used A, B etc at the time. Presumably the new Standard vehicles were not allocated to these routes.

I don't think the X suffixes were used in anger following a county-wide re-numbering of services into a consistent series in the 1970s, although GMT Standard buses seemed to be delivered with X on the blinds long after this was necessary.

When i started visiting GM area late 80s, X meant extra bus(es) to the normal timetable, such as 192X was an extra 192, the extras weren't shown on the timetable, here's a 192 timetable from 1988 which would have had extra 192X added at certain times but timetable doesn't show it.

GM 192 100788 Stockport GMB.pdf

drive.google.com

 

[nw1]

The 681 (Atherton/Hag Fold circular) by Jim Stones Coaches was a bit like that (15m journey, 15m break, repeat), with some journeys being cut so the bus could run a school service. Almost always same bus and same driver (with the bus running empty from depot each morning, but scheduled to return as a short route 682).

One quirk I did notice in 1984 and early 1985 in Guildford was how the Alder Valley 229 cross-town service (Bellfields to District Hospital) was just about always allocated the Friary Shopping Centre-branded VR (TPE156S, if I remember right), day-in day-out. This was a self-contained hourly working but even still, it was remarkable how it got the same vehicle each day.

Presumably not the same driver, though, as it was hourly all day with no gaps.

This only stopped with the 1985 Guildford town services recast which truncated the 229 as the G3 Guildford-Bellfields-Guildford service, joint with Safeguard every 20 minutes. The practice could have continued by allocating the Friary bus to all of Alder Valley's G3 turns on a 40-minute cycle - but I don't remember it doing so. In fact I think the G3 wasn't totally self-contained and performed occasional swaps with other routes.