On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:27:20 +0100, "Chris Read"
wrote:

"MIG" wrote:

On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

I assumed that this was to stop people finding one by their seat and
being tempted to stay there, ie force them to already be on their way
out rather than delay the bus at the stop.

In RM days, this was often inconvenient for conductors, stuck issuing
tickets at the front of the top deck. They sometimes resorted to two loud
taps, with metal clippers, on a suitable surface above the driver, as an
improvised 'ding ding'.

How much of a view they had of the platform from that position is a matter
of conjecture........

On a lowbridge bus, with a sunken gangway, you could kick the bulkhead
behind the driver's head with your heel, while watching the mirror
above the stairs. On a highbridge bus, you could stamp on the floor
above the cab.

Both actions were likely to strain relations between conductor and
driver.
--
Terry Harper
Website Coordinator, The Omnibus Society
http://www.omnibussoc.org

"MIG" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jul 16, 9:41 pm, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:35:01 -0700, MIG
wrote:

On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

Some buses used to have a strip on each side reachable from every
seat. In that regard we've gone backwards...

I have seen those, but I don't remember seeing one on an upstairs.

The remaining Metrobuses in our fleet (TWM) have these on the ceiling
upstairs (and also on the lower deck on some buses), but they suffer from
the disadvantage that you have to stand to reach them and some shorter
people have trouble reaching them at all.

Ivor

"Mark Brader" wrote in message
...
M.I.G.:
On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

Neil Williams:
Some buses used to have a strip on each side reachable from every
seat. In that regard we've gone backwards...

In most North American city buses that I've used, there's been a cord
running the length of the bus on each side, typically through metal
loops at (or below) the upper corners of the main windows. So only two
electrical switches at the front of the bus are required. Depending on
the layout around the back doors, there may be a separate cord behind
the doors on that side, requiring just one more switch.

It seems a very good method to me: cheap, simple, and effective.
The only downside is that passengers seated by the aisle have to lean
across one person to reach the cord. (And if there is a section where
the cord can't be reached easily for some reason, pushbuttons can still
be provided there. Or short sections of vertical cord anchored at the
bottom can be attached to the horizontal cord.) In Toronto these days
the cord is plastic-covered metal for durability; at one time it was an
ordinary cord.

Is this method used in Britain to any extent?

Not since the demise of RT's and Routemasters, no.

Ivor

"MIG" wrote in message
ps.com...
On Jul 16, 10:27 pm, "Chris Read" wrote:
"MIG" wrote:
On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell
push,
at the top of the stairs.

I assumed that this was to stop people finding one by their seat and
being tempted to stay there, ie force them to already be on their way
out rather than delay the bus at the stop.

In RM days, this was often inconvenient for conductors, stuck issuing
tickets at the front of the top deck. They sometimes resorted to two
loud
taps, with metal clippers, on a suitable surface above the driver, as
an
improvised 'ding ding'.

How much of a view they had of the platform from that position is a
matter
of conjecture........

Chris


Yes, I remember a female conductor doing something with her heels that
I thought was some kind of Spanish dance step, till I realised what
was going on.

I always thought that the use of a buzzer for the upstairs pushbutton on
RT's/RM's was a good idea, so the driver knew a passenger was upstairs if
pushed to stop, or the conductor was up there if it was a start signal.

Why can't they do that now, so when a buzzer sounds the driver knows it's
come from upstairs..?

Ivor

On Jul 16, 10:27 pm, "Chris Read" wrote:
"MIG" wrote:

On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

I assumed that this was to stop people finding one by their seat and
being tempted to stay there, ie force them to already be on their way
out rather than delay the bus at the stop.

In RM days, this was often inconvenient for conductors, stuck issuing
tickets at the front of the top deck. They sometimes resorted to two loud
taps, with metal clippers, on a suitable surface above the driver, as an
improvised 'ding ding'.

How much of a view they had of the platform from that position is a matter
of conjecture........

Which gives another answer as to why there was only one bell, and that
near the stairs: so that the conductor gad to be in view of the
platform in order to be able to give the genuine starting signal.
Quite a clever safety device.

On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:40:16 -0700, MIG
wrote:

I have seen those, but I don't remember seeing one on an upstairs.

ISTR some Manchester buses had them on both decks.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

"Offramp" wrote in message
ps.com...
On Jul 16, 10:27 pm, "Chris Read" wrote:
"MIG" wrote:

On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

I assumed that this was to stop people finding one by their seat and
being tempted to stay there, ie force them to already be on their way
out rather than delay the bus at the stop.

In RM days, this was often inconvenient for conductors, stuck issuing
tickets at the front of the top deck. They sometimes resorted to two loud
taps, with metal clippers, on a suitable surface above the driver, as an
improvised 'ding ding'.

How much of a view they had of the platform from that position is a
matter
of conjecture........

Which gives another answer as to why there was only one bell, and that
near the stairs: so that the conductor gad to be in view of the
platform in order to be able to give the genuine starting signal.
Quite a clever safety device.

The buses I first drove had three or four bell pushes upstairs and also
down. They all operated a buzzer, except the one at the top of the stairs,
which operated a bell.

On a "buzz-buzz", driver did extra-special checks on mirrors before pulling
away. You could see inside the lower saloon using the offside mirror, and
the platform using the nearside one.

On a "ding-ding" you knew the conductor was on the platform or at the top of
the stairs.

Nowadays, of course, bells/ buzzers are merely provided as a source of
amusement to keep the passengers happy, and serve no useful purpose.

"Press Once" says the notice.
So Wally does.
Once.....

.....With each finger.

There is not now anyone on a bus capable of ringing a bell responsibly,
apart from the driver, and he can't reach them.....

On Jul 17, 1:43 am, "Ivor Jones" wrote:
"Mark Brader" wrote in message

...





M.I.G.:
On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

Neil Williams:
Some buses used to have a strip on each side reachable from every
seat. In that regard we've gone backwards...

In most North American city buses that I've used, there's been a cord
running the length of the bus on each side, typically through metal
loops at (or below) the upper corners of the main windows. So only two
electrical switches at the front of the bus are required. Depending on
the layout around the back doors, there may be a separate cord behind
the doors on that side, requiring just one more switch.

It seems a very good method to me: cheap, simple, and effective.
The only downside is that passengers seated by the aisle have to lean
across one person to reach the cord. (And if there is a section where
the cord can't be reached easily for some reason, pushbuttons can still
be provided there. Or short sections of vertical cord anchored at the
bottom can be attached to the horizontal cord.) In Toronto these days
the cord is plastic-covered metal for durability; at one time it was an
ordinary cord.

Is this method used in Britain to any extent?

Not since the demise of RT's and Routemasters, no.

Ivor-


And I can only remember them downstairs on Routemasters, with a push
button at the top of the stairs.

On Mon, Jul 16, 2007 at 10:27:20PM +0100, Chris Read wrote:

In RM days, this was often inconvenient for conductors, stuck issuing
tickets at the front of the top deck. They sometimes resorted to two loud
taps, with metal clippers, on a suitable surface above the driver, as an
improvised 'ding ding'.

How much of a view they had of the platform from that position is a matter
of conjecture........

There was a mirror at the top of the stairs so they would have had at
least *some* view of it.

--
David Cantrell | London Perl Mongers Deputy Chief Heretic

Nuke a disabled unborn gay baby whale for JESUS!

At 21:19:14 on Mon, 16 Jul 2007 Paul Corfield opined:-

On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:06:26 GMT, Mojo
wrote:

I've noticed by the "bay" of 4 seats near the front of the bus on
Mercedes Articulated buses there is a button which reminds me of the
door open buttons on mainline trains. They only seem to light up when
the bell has been pressed.

Does anyone know what they do?

Aren't they simply a bell push? This saves people having to stand up or
stretch to a push mounted on a vertical stanchion. I'm guessing but I
assume they illuminate to show that the bell has been pushed elsewhere
and there's no need to bother.

That's exactly how it worked on the bendy I rode on today.

--
Thoss