PSV Conductor badges

[scotsman]

Anyone know where one could obtain one (preferably not eBay...)

Just got a job as a Bus Conductor, and would quite like one of my own!

 

[CatfordCat]

Anyone know where one could obtain one (preferably not eBay...)

Just got a job as a Bus Conductor, and would quite like one of my own!

a few stalls at bus rallies (etc) sell this sort of thing, but a lot of the trade has moved on to the aforementioned web auction place.

it can be a source of cheap things, some things go for silly prices. if you're prepared to wait (and can see through the sometimes wildly inaccurate descriptions) then it can be OK.

http://www.psvbadges.co.uk/ may be worth a look. Also has info about which prefix letter/s are appropriate to each traffic commissioners area (as they were prior to the 80s) - if you're not sure which region you're in, I can probably assist either here or via PM if you give me a county / town.

 

[scotsman]

Cheers, I think I'll stick to eBay! I'll go for any badge, although any Edinburgh/Glasgow codes would be preferred

 

[Titfield]

I certainly wouldn't pay more than a couple of quid.
A dealer in psv driver badges declined to buy my conductor badges when I tried to sell them a few years ago advising me there was no demand for them so worth very little.

 

[CatfordCat]

Cheers, I think I'll stick to eBay! I'll go for any badge, although any Edinburgh/Glasgow codes would be preferred

The letter code for the Scottish lowland traffic commissioner's area on PSV badges was MM (I don't think anyone's quite sure why the letter was repeated on all areas except for N - Metropolitan / London)

(LL was the Inverness office)

Broadly, it's not possible to state (unless the original owner of the badge has passed the information on with the badge) what badge numbers went new to which bus operator. The badges were issued in response to individual's licence applications so it would have been fairly random, although if a batch of licence applications were sent in the same envelope from (say) Glasgow Corporation, then those conductors would probably have got consecutive badge numbers.

But as far as I know, they didn't formally reserve particular batches of numbers for particular operators.

Some e-bay sellers will make very confident claims about the stuff they are selling, which is not always reliable. Some people seem to assume that buses only run in London and not in the rest of the UK, and that all London buses are / were routemasters...

MM conductor badges are quite common - only London, North West England and Lowland Scotland (and possibly Yorkshire) offices got into 6 digit badge numbers for conductors.

There's a couple of MM badges on e-bay with no bids at present, one - fairly high number, probably late 70s - didn't sell at 9.99 a few weeks back and has been relisted, one quite low number - possibly 1940s - as yet with no bids at 4.99.

I'd say £ 5 is reasonable, £ 10 tops. Less demand than driver badges, yes, but I wouldn't say "no demand".

The highest numbers in each sequence were not issued for real, they were the remaining stock (larger in some areas than others) when PSV conductor licensing was abolished (1981 from memory) which was sold off by the DoT on the enthusiast market a few years later. I think most areas' badges could be got for about 50 pence a go in the mid 80s...

 

[David57]

As I understand, badges were history after 1991.

I (as a curent PCV Driver), carry my late Father in Laws (He did 41 years with United Counties) badge with me, it is an East Midlands EE badge (Nottingham?) one..

 

[CatfordCat]

As I understand, badges were history after 1991.

I (as a curent PCV Driver), carry my late Father in Laws (He did 41 years with United Counties) badge with me, it is an East Midlands EE badge (Nottingham?) one..

Yes, East Midlands was EE area, issued from the Nottingham area office.

PSV Driver badging ended in 1991 (around if not at the point where the concept of a separate PSV licence ended, and it became another category on the ordinary driving licence) - incidentally it was possible until that time to have a PSV licence without holding, or ever having held, a car driving licence.

PSV conductor licensing ended altogether in 1981 as a result of the 1980 transport act, and conductor badging with it.

Few operators were still recruiting new conductors by 1981, although I am aware that Nottingham Corporation, London Transport, Blackpool Transport, South Yorkshire PTE Ribble, Devon General (to name ones I'm aware of) issued conductor badges after this. These were to a variety of designs.

The issue of PSV driver badges got rather fuzzy towards the end - some drivers who passed their test shortly before the end got a badge with the "wrong" area code on (I assume because some areas had run out of badges and others had plenty to spare) - e.g. some London area drivers got "LL" (Scottish Highlands) and some in the west midlands got "CC" (north west) badges.

Another anomaly within the system was varying policy about PSV drivers (and probably conductors) who had re-located for whatever reason - some area offices would allow existing licence holders to hang on to their original badges, others would insist on exchanging it for a 'correct' one for the area they now worked in.

 

[driver9000]

Do drivers in London still get issued a PSV badge?

I know they were sill being issued long after they ceased nationally.

 

[CatfordCat]

Do drivers in London still get issued a PSV badge?

I know they were sill being issued long after they ceased nationally.

To be highly pedantic, nobody has been issued with a PSV badge since 1991.

However, a lot of bus operators have issued some form of driver identity badge at some point after 1991, mostly using something PSV badge size / shape.

Travel West Midlands continued the 'DD xxxxx' sequence, although on badges of a fairly different design, and both Maidstone & District and Nottingham City Transport issued driver badges with green edges.

I know TfL and its predecessors continued to issue driver / conductor badges of PSV style, latterly with one or two prefix letters representing the bus operator.

I must admit I've not noticed drivers with them recently, so not sure if they have given up on the idea or if drivers are getting even more reluctant to wear then visibly.

The notices inside TfL buses show the vehicle registration number, and suggest you quote that and the time if you have a complaint. Which implies they don't expect you to go and demand the driver's number (which tends only further to inflame a situation anyway) so maybe they have given up on it.

 

[driver9000]

To be highly pedantic, nobody has been issued with a PSV badge since 1991.

However, a lot of bus operators have issued some form of driver identity badge at some point after 1991, mostly using something PSV badge size / shape.

Travel West Midlands continued the 'DD xxxxx' sequence, although on badges of a fairly different design, and both Maidstone & District and Nottingham City Transport issued driver badges with green edges.

I know TfL and its predecessors continued to issue driver / conductor badges of PSV style, latterly with one or two prefix letters representing the bus operator.

I must admit I've not noticed drivers with them recently, so not sure if they have given up on the idea or if drivers are getting even more reluctant to wear then visibly.

The notices inside TfL buses show the vehicle registration number, and suggest you quote that and the time if you have a complaint. Which implies they don't expect you to go and demand the driver's number (which tends only further to inflame a situation anyway) so maybe they have given up on it.

Sorry I should have been clearer and said PSV style

The wording on mine was 'Passenger Carrying Vehicle' and it was made of thick plastic instead of enamel.