Hello and welcome to my youtube channel. Am a Merseyside transport enthusiast, of buses, railways, trams. My main aim of the channel is to redress the often neglected history of transport on Merseyside. Also being an active member of various Merseyside preservation societies helps me to proactively ensure the rich transport heritage of Merseyside for future generations. The restoration of the former London Midland & Scottish railways Class 502 Electric unit being my main focus.
I remember riding on those RIBBLE buses ( L1 L2, & L3 routes. & I even got to change the destination on the front of one of them. ( I had to go upstairs to do it) & even drove one of their single double door deckers, aswell. Those was the days. Nice to see them out & about again these yesteryear buses. & as usual I find out well after the event when they have already been out & about So, I completely miss them.
@Thestig-en6gp yes I well remember the ribble buses on the L routes. I also had them on the 57 58 & 59 routes where I used to live. This particular day was a members day so wouldn't have been advertised except to members
@@Ste2023 to go to this particular event you have to be a member of the North West vehicle restoration Trust. But there are other events open to all throughout the year. The best source to find what's on near me is this site. www.classicbuses.co.uk/++Events-diary.html This has a list of the various bus events all over the country. Or alternatively consider joining the preservation groups and take an active part in keeping these old buses on the road.
@buddmetroliner200gaming3 not quite sure what you mean. The 502s when in operation on a service will have to have had a driving cab at each end of the consist. That so for example two 3 car serlts can join & make six car set The 502s were unusual as some two car sets only had a driving motor & middle trailer. The centre trailer of the 502s had a shunters window with bell code equipment to aid in couplings
@buddmetroliner200gaming3 right finally dug out my booklet of mersey railway electric stock. Whilst they had windows at both ends , the driving motor coaches only had one drivers cab at one end only. The non powered coaches also had windows at the end but no driving controls
I once watched a YT of an enormous model of Lime Street Sration set in the late 1960s judging by the buildings where the plateau is now. Where is that model kept?
@uingaeoc3905 I know the one you mean. It was a brilliant layout. I've not seen it on display at exhibitions for a few years now. I hope it exists still somewhere though.
Approx 7.30 mins. I returned home to Liverpool from Brighton 5 days ago after 30 years... So was truly freaked to see a bus today at Penny Lane Liverpool going from Brighton via Lewes to Uckfield. That was my bus route to work. Genually thought I was tripping! Had to dig to find this on net but thank you for what you do. Its still called the Regency route but its the 28/29 today. 😂
I know I used the station in 1974, but was too interested in my then girlfriend to notice much about it. We may have used it again in 1975 when we were married. Didn't go to Liverpool for a hile after that and it was closed when I later wnet back for a visit.
@@brianfretwell3886 whilst it was loosing passengers & extending to central made sense it's a shame the station building wasn't retained. It would have made a great venue for undercover events.
Excellent, especially the trip from Lathalmond to Dunfermline and back again. All roads and streets easily recognised but from a slightly different angle.👍
That’s looks brilliant. Was at the Glasgow bus restoration open day last year and even when my bus interest is limited still great to do. A lot of history.
I remember my dad driving those two tone blue and white Tayside corp buses from the mid to late 80's. A few of those buses I remember farmers using to pick up and drop off locals for fruit picking back then too.
probably the same for other rural areas but buses would come to pick up school kids for 'tattie-howking' during the October holiday aka tattie picking week.
When I was about 5 or 6 (1966/67)I was with my mate on an Atlantean bus from Belle vale/ Netherley and when it got to Picton Road/Dunstan street the driver opened the door before the stop and I jumped off and ended up with my foot under one of the wheels.The buses serial number was L730.Does anyone know what happened to all the mid 60,s Atlanteans or where I might get a pic of this bus ?
@@TonyCarter-tj5cb ouch. A picture of it will probably be in someone's collection. The transport collectors fair they have at Manchester is a good bet to find one
Ribble and fishwick some of my favourite fleets ,the leyland tiger cub was that auto or stick I’ve just got my stick entitlement added to my licence drive any thing now 😂😂,am I right in thinking fishwick had some of the last Atlantean’s and these two were of AN69 spec and they had ECW bodywork with a B20 type bustle ,great video mate all the best Mark 😊😊
@@MerseywailI saw it at the end ,what happened I’ve just done 7 night shift at CLJ and I nodded off hehe 😂,I was relaxing nearly spilt my coffee on me 😮
A great day, although I couldn’t stay long. I enjoyed a trip on Fishwick 7 to Fox Street, Preston, which I remember as the terminus for Fishwick services when I was just a lad from Chorley. Lovely also to see the postscript of the Merseyrail class 507. I was in Liverpool just a few weeks ago to ride the trains, new and old.
@@davidsutton7276 I thought I would include 507001 as good chance it was my last in service trip on it. Only the farewell tours to do . And I will probably get involved with it in preservation.
They do look great lit up at night. The Ribble PD3s exhaust was something I grew up with so is always a pleasure to hear again. Hopefully this year's nocturnal running day will just as good
Don't old buses look inviting in the dark with all the lights on. I've only ever ridden in one Leyland Panther, but I was quite impressed with it. Certainly a lot quieter than a Leyland National. And why don't buses now have exhaust notes like at19:15? 👩🌾
@clivebroadhead4381 liverpool did have a period of two door buses but it was relatively short lived. London has higher passenger numbers so the dule door arrangement is supposed to help passenger flow. Though it's at the expense of seating capacity
A1 to Stevenston, I'll stop at Kilwinning! These A1 Service buses take me back to my childhood in the 1970's and up until June 1980. Then it was Lothian Regional Transport. I remember Ribble and Merseyside buses when I went to Southport for holidays.
@@derekporter7658 These preserved bus events are a good way of reliving old memories. I remember Southport before Merseyside transport took over the local buses. Their livery very similar to that of St Helens.
@@Merseywail it definitely is! Dunfermline is over the Forth from me, so not too far, might pay it a visit! See if I can board an old A1 Service bus, see if it takes me back to journeys to Saltcoats and Irvine from Kilwinning. As long as it doesn't go anywhere near my ex fiance as she's from Dunfermline!
Get yourself to the Glasgow vintage vehicle trust open weekend in October at the old Bridgeton bus garage with a very large array of buses not seen at the SVBM running through the city via the riverside transport museum, though why have it every year in October with an 80% chance of rain 🤦♂🤦♂
I liked the vintage buses film it was fantastic. He was an actor but reg varney drove a green double decker in the comedy series on the buses. The first bus 34 route in glasgow is environmentally friendly single deckers cover the entire length between castlemilk and govan bus station
@barrymontgomery408 thanks ! I had heard that reg varney could drive a bus. He did in the films to I believe. We're supposed to be getting zero emissions buses on Merseyside, but they seem a long time coming.
The SVBM is near to me, being in Fife, and I've attended before. It's actually reckoned to be the biggest bus museum site in Britain, with capacity for 6000 vehicles, and is an ex MOD naval stores site! At 7:47, we see ex Fife Scottish Leyland Leopard PSX 189Y. This was, numerically, the last Leyland Leopard new to Fife Scottish, in 1982, and it was the last Leyland Leopard in service with Stagecoach Fife, being withdrawn in November 1999. Interestingly, there was no special event to mark that last day in service, but for its last day, it was allocated to express services between Leven and Edinburgh, instead of a Volvo B10M-62 coach!
@ClydebridgeStation cheers for the info. It's a fantastic place. It's my first time visiting it & being from Merseyside it was great to see vehicles I don't get to see normally.
@buddmetroliner200gaming3 no attempt was made to save an L&Y unit. A mersey railway coach was saved, and was going to be put on display at liverpool museum. Unfortunately there was a fire at Derby works where it was undergoing restoration. And the coach was completely destroyed
@@Merseywail lyr electric units being scrapped are like no please don't hurt me aahh mersey rail electric unit when it was preserved then lost W H Y Y O U L E F T M E T O B U R N I N A F I R E
The Germans bombed the hell out of it in the war and it was going to cost around 10 million to rebuild it. I travelled on it many times up to its closure in 1956.
Thanks so much for this video. I used this line extensively as a kid, as did many people living on the line. It was full of happy memories. Better days.
Back in those wonderful days that we were privileged to have witnessed, bus travel was an occasion to savour. This magnificent bus has real poise and elegance. I remember travelling on the Edinburgh Atlanteans rattling over the cobbles of the old city. Nowadays they are just boxes on wheels.
Firstly the LOR was a PRIVATE COMPANY. They didnt, or couldnt invest the sums needed to upgrade . The figure of £2 million was quoted but dont forget this was 1956 prices, nowadays more like £100 million. That sum would have been needed for other council services. The. city council could not afford to bail out a private company and the Conservative government refused to nationalise the LOR pointing to the parallel Liverpool -Southport line which was also s an early electric venture dating from 1902. Liverpool Corporation decided to buy 50 new buses and start a new bus route 1, and 1A-1E between Dingle and Seaforh but the roads in Dingle were in need of reusuf ac ing as the Victorian cobbles would have damaged buses. Not only that but buses had to climb Dingle Mount where the LOR had a tunnel . Liverpool was also having to replace trams at the same time. The LOR needed investment. The docks were also changing to and shipping moved north up river and the docks south of Pier Head gradually ran down. closing after the bankruptcy of the Meraey Docks and Harbour Board The LOR could only with patching lasted until 1970as shipping declined. Much is made of the tourist potential but even the Mersey Ferries spend much of the year sailing with more crew than passengers in the winter months The vista of derelict docks wod not have been appraling to tourists, not too many years after the closure there would have been little shipping to see, especially when the Atlantic liners ceased in the early 1970s. The dock labour was whittled away fron 20000 to a few hundred by the end of the 20th century . More people drive cabs than there are sailors and dock workers nowadays Even I as a child in the 1960s had to be told by my father about the LORs existence as no trace remained. The MD and HB railway closed in 1973 after the company went bust I do eemember the railway line but by my childhood few trains ever ran south of Pier Head by then. Sadly when I was born the LOR was being demolished and the trams had gone Born too late for two pillars of Liverpool transport history.
@@paulmason329 unfortunately despite all the facts.that you have stated here. And the reality of the history of the overhead railway that I have presented in this video. We will still get people blaming the wrong targets for the closure. Mostly Liverpool City Council. Which is constantly & wrongly blamed for it's demise.
They didn't save any of the brown plastic cladding? Oh no, what a shame! I was really interested in the posters they found under Hamilton Square when they did the renovation
@04nbod no, non of the cladding was saved despite a request by liverpool museums for some examples. They had planned an exhibit featuring them to tell the story of merseyrail & the underground railway.
Thank you so much for producing this fascinating video! I have a feeling that there’s some ‘binge watching’ coming on. I lived in Crosby until I was 21, then moved to Loughborough,where I quickly found the GCR, which is a frequent visiting place. We are so very blessed to have such a wonderful facility on our doorstep! I’ve always loved steam traction, and can still remember ‘steamers’ coming into Lime Street Station!
@@chrisberry9017 thank you. I live not far from where you did . Am now in Litherland before that Bootle. The Great central is a fantastic line, was there again recently at the Quorn bus rally
I am absolutely fascinated by this video. Such a thorough insight into the underground loop system that I love and grew up using. Though I think the advancements of the network, refurbished stations and new trains are great, I really miss the old school dark and dingy feel the whole system had back in the 2000’s. The old trains being suspended from service is a huge loss. I’ll never forget the sounds of the old trains. Everything down to the DC motor sound and the clicking sound the trains would make when stopped at each station. The older trains definitely had just a slightly mustier smell to them as well, compared to the new trains. I’ll also never forget the old platforms as well. I have memories going back to when I was a kid, attempting to sit on the old brown seats, integrated into the brown walls. I found it almost impossible to keep myself seated on those seats, as I remember I kept almost sliding off the seats because of the way they were designed. So much was covered in this video, all of which I find has been covered so thoroughly. But I have a couple of questions related to a couple of more minor things featured in the underground stations. First one is about the removal of 1 escalator at Hamilton Square and another at Lime Street. I’m wondering whether or not you know roughly when they were converted to become steps. Second question is about the big banks of the larger lifts at Hamilton Square and James Street. Not including the smaller lifts that go directly to the platforms. Looking at the floor plans/blueprints featured in this video, it looks as if both Hamilton Square and James Street each used to have 6 main lifts, instead of the 4 found in both stations today. Was this the case? Also were the main lifts at each of these stations refurbished to become self-operational around the time of the loop opening in the late 70’s? I ask this because I know they were originally operated by an operator, from looking at pictures of the old lifts at these stations. Also because I can’t find much information anywhere about the lifts at Hamilton Square and James Street. I know this is a very specific question which is a very minor part of the loop development, but my curiosity has got the better of me.
@NostalgiaFromMyChildhood thanks for the comments and questions. As you can probably tell by the video, I am also fascinated by our underground system. Am assuming the old trains you mention are the 507 & 508s. Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember the ones before them. The late 1930s built 502 & 503s. Indeed so much so that I am involved with the class 502 preservation trust restoring the last northern line 502. In regards to the escalators at Hamilton square and lime street. They haven't been removed, they were never installed in the first place. During the underground construction There was an economic crisis, (nothing changes), & cuts to public finances were ordered by the government in an attempt to save money. The situation at lime street was that the main escalator was to run all the way down to the platform. This was cut short to the situation we have today. It didn't save anything as where the landing is the rock was badly fractured. And it required costly stabilisation & support. Other example proposals lost were the Travelater (a flat escalator) to old hall street. And more significantly, the cancellation of the north & south outer loops. The original lifts at James St & Hamilton square were 3 sets of very large hydraulic operated lifts & one set of stairs to the surface booking hall. At James St, there's also the water st exit & at Hamilton Square, there is the shore Rd exit. Both are accessed by steep ramps. The shore Rd exit is now just used in emergencies. James St hydralic tower was destroyed by a bomb in 1941. The lifts at both stations were replaced by electric ones, though I need to research the exact date for that. If you're interested in the early days of the underground, there is two other videos that might interest you :- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wZdWkdw2V6c.htmlsi=q6wudmkKMYjBV90u ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5fdT0lMwJjk.htmlsi=BfLM_OFFZjlbhcfg
@@Merseywail That’s cool, It’ll be interesting to see the result of the restoration project when it’s finished. Interesting that the additional escalator wasn’t ever built, especially at Hamilton Square. Because there’s the 1 escalator that got built. But it fascinates me that they installed the rubber hand belts for the second escalator, but put normal stairs in place of where the moving escalator steps would have been installed, if they went ahead with the original plan. Yeah I’ve used the water Street exit a few times at James Street, I’m glad they’ve retained the old feel to it. I did actually have to use the exit to Shore Road at Hamilton Square once as well, that was last year, that was because all 4 lifts were out of service. That was fun. The travelator idea would have been cool to see if it went ahead. If it was to link up with Old Hall street, was it meant for Moorfields Station? It’s cool how the previous older lifts were so huge. So if there were originally 3 even bigger lifts, I’m guessing it would have been 2 where the 4 are now, then 1 in the abandoned shaft next to the stairwell. But yeah, seems like a bit of a mystery as to when they were first replaced to be electrified button-operated lifts. And yes I’ll check out those videos, thanks.
@NostalgiaFromMyChildhood the escalator at central, also suffers from the legacy of government funding cuts. The second set has always only one up escalator. It was widened during the station upgrades. I've yet to do the Shore Rd exit myself. Hopefully, I will.. the Travelater was to link Moorfields to old hall street.. I would think the James St lifts would have gone electric by 1942/3, seeing as the originals were destroyed. The class 502 restoration is coming on well. This video shows some of the latest work.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Av9DSO2P7bk.htmlsi=XiEE-NHSECaVd8Eq The open day scheduled for this Sunday has unfortunately been cancelled by the organisers the Merseyside transport trust. It's very disappointing for us as we wanted to show the public the completed driving trailer
@AndrewG1989 me too. I used to love a day trip on the old coaches. Luckily I occasionally get the chance to do day trips on old coaches . Being a member of various preservation groups.
