What got you into buses?

[Bob]

Hello I suppose :)
I guess this would make a nice introduction post as well :)

Well, generic I would say, just obsessed with transport as a young child (all the usual stuff: Buses, trains, planes., Blackpool trams.) I obtained some knowledge as I went along.

For all the bullying I experienced as a little boy ('You're weird' etc), I don't regret it at all, being interested in buses helped me in all sorts of ways at school and still does, I study A-level geography and transport can be relevant.

I have never taken numbers or really photographed buses either, and there was a period of time when I didn't use the bus at all I so my memory of times before that are hazy...

I do vaguely recall the final days of Leyland Lynx's (especially on Coventry 7) (The horrible Bell Green- Brownshill Green days.)- The old 7W for the Browns Lane Jaguar plant. And what may be a false memory of 7's turning round at the top of Allesley Village.
The horrid (at least I thought so) smells of the coach seated- DP's  (I still have no idea what that acronym actually means) on the 900.*

Metrobus MK1's in Coventry- Or at least one of them, purely for the reason as a child I noticed the doors opened differently to what I now know to be the MK2's.  (If anybody knows the fleet number of the last TWM MK1 in Coventry or has a photo I'd be most thankful).

I still remember the whole Pool Meadow bus station boycott/partial closure (call it what you will). The fact Pool Meadow is thriving now shows common sense prevailed (despite current stand allocation, which still makes me miffed. But you can't please everybody.)

Thanks very much everybody :)
*This does lead to a sickening (literally sickening) but vaguely amusing tangent which I shall omit.

Just purely out of interest are you a fellow Aspie?? :-)))))

[Ben]

Hello I suppose :)
I guess this would make a nice introduction post as well :)

Well, generic I would say, just obsessed with transport as a young child (all the usual stuff: Buses, trains, planes., Blackpool trams.) I obtained some knowledge as I went along.

For all the bullying I experienced as a little boy ('You're weird' etc), I don't regret it at all, being interested in buses helped me in all sorts of ways at school and still does, I study A-level geography and transport can be relevant.

I have never taken numbers or really photographed buses either, and there was a period of time when I didn't use the bus at all I so my memory of times before that are hazy...

I do vaguely recall the final days of Leyland Lynx's (especially on Coventry 7) (The horrible Bell Green- Brownshill Green days.)- The old 7W for the Browns Lane Jaguar plant. And what may be a false memory of 7's turning round at the top of Allesley Village.
The horrid (at least I thought so) smells of the coach seated- DP's  (I still have no idea what that acronym actually means) on the 900.*

Metrobus MK1's in Coventry- Or at least one of them, purely for the reason as a child I noticed the doors opened differently to what I now know to be the MK2's.  (If anybody knows the fleet number of the last TWM MK1 in Coventry or has a photo I'd be most thankful).

I still remember the whole Pool Meadow bus station boycott/partial closure (call it what you will). The fact Pool Meadow is thriving now shows common sense prevailed (despite current stand allocation, which still makes me miffed. But you can't please everybody.)

Thanks very much everybody :)
*This does lead to a sickening (literally sickening) but vaguely amusing tangent which I shall omit.

Just purely out of interest are you a fellow Aspie?? :-)))))

No I'm not.

[Bob]

Coventry had Fleetlines til 1997 as well, quite a few of em

[Kevin]

As a kid our family never had a car so we went everywhere by bus and/or train, and living where we did (still do) we were (are) quite blessed with possibilities (as per my signature). Having to get the bus to school in Walsall every day probably developed my interest, and I have fond memories of deliberately not catching the 51 and getting the 951 behind (much to the annoyance of the driver who seemed to think his bus was only for people going to Bloxwich and beyond). I enjoyed the buses themselves and I remember being excited if we ever went to Kingstanding swimming baths because it meant I could go on a Fleetline (I think, never sure if it was them or Atlanteans) on the 28, or if a Lynx turned up on the 951. Even when we went on holiday to visit family in Holland I got excited with the prospect of what I now know to be a merc 0405 bendibus from Rotterdam to their house, and got even more excited when I saw one of the same buses pass me on the Walsall Road once, presumably on trial before TWM bought some of them.

For me though the obsession isn't spotting or photographing buses, from a young age I developed an unhealthy obsession with timetables and route maps, collecting the bus timetables from the west midlands and train timetables from the whole of the country, and constantly updating the collections chucking out the old ones, that is until the age of the internet and I didn't need any of it anymore.
I even pretended that my local park was a town and all the paths were roads, developing "bus routes" along those "roads", spilling out onto the streets and into other parks nearby and generally getting over the top with various different "towns" nearby all with their own "bus network" and "buses" between them all, doing the same at School, Uni, scout campsites and pretty much anywhere I know well. Still remember most of it all to this day and even catch myself walking along a particular route if I'm in any of those areas, with a bus engine noise in my head (the noise differs by route, obviously).

Merging the fascination with the route maps and my penchant for developing routes of my own, it was inevitable that a) I started to get excited by any changed that got announced and the Network reviews whenever they came around, my mind occasionally going into overdrive at the prospect of having input into improving the network, and b) I started getting into the history of things, and when I went to Aston Manor transport museum I noticed old maps and timetable books for sale so bought a few, then it drew me in even more "I wonder what happened to the routes before / after that?" to the point that now I regularly trawl Ebay and stalls at Wythall / Aston Manor for any maps that "fill in the gaps" so to speak, naturally kicking myself for chucking out all the maps and timetables I used to have whenever they were updated.

[Stu]

The horrid (at least I thought so) smells of the coach seated- DP's  (I still have no idea what that acronym actually means) on the 900.*

*This does lead to a sickening (literally sickening) but vaguely amusing tangent which I shall omit.

In this case, it means "Dual-Purpose" ;)

[Rob H]

I think the first moment I became into Buses was when I going to primary school with my mate Marc and his dad down at the Wheatsheaf and we caught the 69 to Hatchford Brook School every school day when it ran and it was operated by Metrobuses and on a few occasions we got a Lynx and ever since the first time we got the Lynx I always wanted to be on the next day aswell but I do love Metros too but always Good to get a Lynx for a change :) The Metro's & Lynx's were two of the best Buses  :)

[trident4370]

The Metro's & Lynx's were two of the best Buses  :)

I would go as far as to say THE 2 best buses from my childhood!


I've always had a soft spot for Lynxes Metros and especially B10L as anyone who knows me will tell you! Infact It was B10Ls that first got me into buses, I remember when the 12s main allocation changed from B10L to B10B and I could tell they were different buses (even if my family thought I was just a mad kid!) so I set about learning the basics online (Tony's fotopic taught me a lot) and for a while my knowledge just about stretched to; lynx, metrobus, tridents, and the two B10s, but as I hit my teens I took a stronger interest in buses as a hobby and have gradually built up my knowledge to what it is today, and I hope to improve on it even more!  Also when I hit about 15 I started learning about trains, up until then it was rare for me to catch a train but one day that changed and from that day I realised I also loved trains and again have built up a basic knowledge of the railways today.

[Buz89]

I have Aspergers also was diagnosed in 2010, I used go up town with my nan lol on 55, was always a mk1 metrobus, I also collected bus models.

[:D]

I wasn't really "into" buses, I was more of that tactics guy you see in the football. I'm not interested in bus fleet numbers, their history and so so, I'm more interested into what they going to do with the bus routes in the future, if the bus is "new or old" (Sometimes bus types if I'm interested in features), money (tickets prices), and noticing odd things about the buses.

Aaand, this started when I was commuting on the 26 to Hodge Hill, it was horrendous, one of the worst commuting experiences I ever had. I was literally hoping they would change it, going as far as researching about it (to find out if they will change it) almost everyday and taking whole variety of buses to avoid the 26.

[Gareth]

I used to go to Hodge Hill school, so I too had the daily commute on the 26 every day for 5years. I feel your pain. However in the last two years I would often walk to the fox and goose or the hunters moon to get the 90,92,93 or 94 instead.

[Liverpool Street]

The job.

[Tony]

The job.

The doors at the front!

[winston]

The job.

The doors at the front!

Paying the driver or showing my pass.....  :P

[Ashley 4566]

siilar story to others. The interest started in childhood, years of childhood judgement didnt deter me, the slack i still get now. My mom bought me a copy of Buses magazine when i was 10, at that point I didnt have a clue as to what it meant. Maybe a year or so after that I found Tonys fotopic site so a small knowledge base blossomed, my journey to school consisted of a walk so using a bus was a rare treat at that time. My knowledge base then grew mostly down to Tonys site given the lack of oppurtunity to do any exploring until the age I was 17 and once I had some freedom it was just brilliant so now I know a fair bit, im a keen basher and photographer. As ive said before ive tried to explore outside the Midlands as and when possible. I have a growing photo collection, timetables, books and a few models. Im not too picky with what bus types I like (no green machines :D)

[Liverpool Street]

The job.

The doors at the front!

Haha!