I become a bus driver!

Well this was back in 1970 and I had been a bus conductor for six months. You had to work for at least six months back then before you could apply for it. Like most young conductors I wanted that licence and to sit up front of that half cab. Check out the photo of the A.E.C. that I eventually was driving.

Way back then the training was done on 'crash box Guys' one of the old buses that we kept just for training. They were a half cab much like the one above and the gear boxes were the crash box type which for those who have never heard of them were boxes that did not have modern synchronized gears. If you could drive them you could drive anything that came your way.

We trained for about six weeks and then the Chief Inspector came out and checked out your driving standards. If he thought you were good enough you passed! That was it no other tests just the Chief. It was said at the time that if we had plenty of drivers you failed and if we were short you passed! They must have been short because I passed out.

Well then you are let loose on the general public lord help them and given a conductor. Just as it was when I first became a conductor you were the new boys and given whoever they wanted to give. I had some good ones and some bad ones I guess. The only thing was that my wife to who I just got married to said that she did not want me to have a female conductor.

I could not argue to much I guess because she had seen some of the problems that caused when male/female partnerships worked together for a long time.

The buses way back then were a real mixture and you soon learned to drive just about anything. We had preselect gearboxes, white stick Damliers, long Leylands, AEC's just about everything. I am not going to claim here that I was the best driver around but I have always taken a pride in my driving and like to think that I gave my conductors and passengers a good ride all in all.

We did have our moments though and when I had passed out my old driver 'Billy the Wombat' and myself used to race each other occasionally! This today would never be tolerated and rightly so, but back then with a quiet bus it was just a bit of fun.

And to end today's blog the next move for me and Cardiff Bus was the One Man Operator that would take over the driving of just about all bus firms but this was back in 1972 and was just about to be introduced. It was more money and for a young man recently married I was up for it big time. More in the next blog.