Old destination displays

[Westy]

In the old roller blind era, did any of these Birmingham City Centre short workings 'exist' & if so, how were they displayed?

Was a generic 'City Centre' displayed & the drivers told the passengers what's what?

[Mike K]

In the old roller blind era, did any of these Birmingham City Centre short workings 'exist' & if so, how were they displayed?

Was a generic 'City Centre' displayed & the drivers told the passengers what's what?

These short workings are in the main buses into the city centre finishing at the terminus and not continuing round a city centre loop. Going back many years the blinds on some routes were specific to the terminal point (e.g. City Navigation Street, City Paradise Circus), but most then moved to the genetic 'City Centre'. Where buses did a loop round the city centre, but were finishing at the terminus and not continuing round the loop to do the outbound journey, the driver would tend to set the blinds to 'Not in Service' (or for those of us old enough to remember, 'SPECIAL') when close the the city centre, to avoid people boarding for the outbound journey.

[Justin Tyme]

In the old roller blind era, did any of these Birmingham City Centre short workings 'exist' & if so, how were they displayed?

Was a generic 'City Centre' displayed & the drivers told the passengers what's what?

In WMPTE days at least buses would show the exact destinations, such as 'Ethel Street', 'St Martins Circus' and 'Lancaster Circus'. 

Until 1975 BCT and WMPTE South Division buses generally showed the outer destination in both directions.  When that was finally changed, buses initially showed 'City Centre' only if doing the city loop (New St, Corporation St, Bull St, Colmore Row) - otherwise they displayed 'City Terminus'.  In the late 1970s 'City Terminus' was replaced by more precise displays, such as 'City High Street' (with 'High' above 'Street').

[Steve3229vp]

In WMPTE days at least buses would show the exact destinations, such as 'Ethel Street', 'St Martins Circus' and 'Lancaster Circus'. 

Until 1975 BCT and WMPTE South Division buses generally showed the outer destination in both directions.  When that was finally changed, buses initially showed 'City Centre' only if doing the city loop (New St, Corporation St, Bull St, Colmore Row) - otherwise they displayed 'City Terminus'.  In the late 1970s 'City Terminus' was replaced by more precise displays, such as 'City High Street' (with 'High' above 'Street').

Yes that's correct, up until that point the only buses to show 'City' were cross-city services that had the same service number in both directions especially when the service number and destination was on the same blinds, so if you was in Perry Barr and you saw a bus showing 'City' you knew it was either 29 or 29A (later 90/91) and not a 33

When the 21/22 City to Weoley Castle services were converted to driver only operation in 1971 drivers were instructed to show 'City' on inward journeys, the rest of the Birmingham services followed in 1974.

[Wumpty]

I'm sure I remember some city routes had different other letters to signify where in the city centre they stopped. 

"E" was the exception and then there were others like D, and F that would indicate other curtailments.

I'll stand corrected and bow to greater knowledge on this.

[cardew]

I'm sure I remember some city routes had different other letters to signify where in the city centre they stopped.

"E" was the exception and then there were others like D, and F that would indicate other curtailments.

I'll stand corrected and bow to greater knowledge on this.

Yes, I recall 50K to Alcester Lanes End as a child in the seventies.

A list of the 50 variants on flickr from the sixties has some incredibly short journeys, such as 50A from City Centre to St. Martins Circus which can't have been more than a couple of stops

[Steve3229vp]

I'm sure I remember some city routes had different other letters to signify where in the city centre they stopped.

"E" was the exception and then there were others like D, and F that would indicate other curtailments.

I'll stand corrected and bow to greater knowledge on this.

The letter system was A to the nearest point to the City and the further along the route the further along the alphabet, the E for exception didn't start until 1974 when all the other letters stopes being used except for A and C  for the 11 and 8 which also started in 1974.

[busfan2847]

I'm sure I remember some city routes had different other letters to signify where in the city centre they stopped.

"E" was the exception and then there were others like D, and F that would indicate other curtailments.

I'll stand corrected and bow to greater knowledge on this.

The Birmingham approach was to give each of the short workings a different letter with A closest to the city terminus and going upwards from there. On the 50 to Maypole letters reached 50K Alcester Lanes End. (50F was Moseley Village, 50J Kings Heath)

[Steve3229vp]

The Birmingham approach was to give each of the short workings a different letter with A closest to the city terminus and going upwards from there. On the 50 to Maypole letters reached 50K Alcester Lanes End. (50F was Moseley Village, 50J Kings Heath)

The 5 (Portland Road to Perry Common) went up to L (Perry Common/Enderby Road) which I think was the only service that did 

[Tony]

The 5 (Portland Road to Perry Common) went up to L (Perry Common/Enderby Road) which I think was the only service that did

The blinds only went up to L so that certainly was the route that went the furthest

[Justin Tyme]

The 5 (Portland Road to Perry Common) went up to L (Perry Common/Enderby Road) which I think was the only service that did

There were a few others: 36L to Millhouse Road/Bierton Road, 48L to Maypole, 67L to Chester Road/Tangmere Drive, 90L to Lambeth Road/Queslett Road.

The letters D, G and I were not used, no doubt because they could have been mistaken for numbers.

It's worth pointing out that letters A, B and C (sometimes also others) were normally used for short workings from the outer terminus, not from city.  For example, at the Maypole there was at least one 50B working to Rea Street/Digbeth.

[Steve3229vp]

There were a few others: 36L to Millhouse Road/Bierton Road, 48L to Maypole, 67L to Chester Road/Tangmere Drive, 90L to Lambeth Road/Queslett Road.

The letters D, G and I were not used, no doubt because they could have been mistaken for numbers.

It's worth pointing out that letters A, B and C (sometimes also others) were normally used for short workings from the outer terminus, not from city.  For example, at the Maypole there was at least one 50B working to Rea Street/Digbeth.

D was used: 54D Garrison Lane/Cattell Road 

[Wumpty]

The blinds only went up to L so that certainly was the route that went the furthest

Off at a slight tangent then.................

Where/when did the letters A, C, E (we know about), N, S, W become standard blind features/stand for, as I don't ever remember X being on there until well into the 90's?

[Justin Tyme]

Off at a slight tangent then.................

Where/when did the letters A, C, E (we know about), N, S, W become standard blind features/stand for, as I don't ever remember X being on there until well into the 90's?

This was in 1975 - at the same that A, C and E were changed to become what they generally still are today.

N was for Night Services, S for School Contracts and W for Works Contracts (contracts were not available to the general public).

One of the services WMPTE took over from Midland Red was the peak hours only X2, Hasbury - Birmingham Limited Stop.  This was run by Stourbridge garage from the takeover.  I think I recall seeing a PTE Leyland National, with 4 track number blinds, on the service in the mid 70s showing X2 - or is my memory playing tricks?  I don't think X was on the blinds when the change to A, C, E, N, S, W was made.

[Gareth]

D was used: 54D Garrison Lane/Cattell Road

56D was also used. Can't quite remember where to though. Saltley Gate? Washwood Heath Garage?