Roy talks about the advent of the conductorless Atlantean buses
Resource Type: Audio | Posted on 19th July 2011 by Liam Physick
Roy recalls the arrival of Atlantean buses, which, unlike their predecessors, did not use conductors, and of the (fortunately unjustified) fears of he and his fellow drivers for their safety
Interviewee: Roy
Interviewee Gender: Male
Interview Transcript
Roy: Later on in years, there came the Atlantean buses.
Paul: That’s right. But they were the first, they were the first . . .
Terry: Drive, conductorless . . .
Roy: Driver-controlled . . .
Paul: You know, no, they, they, they, they were, the pneumatic doors and the engine in the back, weren’t they?
Roy: That’s right, yeah. At first we had a bit of a problem because, when the, the new buses came into town, the Atlanteans as they were called . . .
Paul: Yeah
Roy: . . . and I can remember driving the first E, the E, they had a E1, a E2 and a E3, and the first buses that were like that, with the driver on the front, and no conductor . . .
Paul: Right.
Roy: Well, you could have a conductor if you wanted, but the, no driver, no conductor, we were the E2, the E1 and . . . what was it called, the E, what was it called, E . . .
Terry: E1 or E2?
Roy: E1 or E2 . . .
Terry: And E3.
Roy: Experimental, that’s the word I’m looking for . . .
Paul: Right, right.
Roy. With the Experimental 1, the Experimental 2 and the Experimental 3, and one came out of Speke, I think was the Experimental 1, the Experimental 2 came out of Garston, and the Experimental 3 came out of Penny Lane.
Paul: Right, so they, they, they, they kind of split them out and put them in, in, in different depots so there was one in each depot?
Roy: One in each depot . . .
Paul: Yeah.
Roy: And you went out and E1 was, as I said, was E2 for us, for Garston, and I can remember the E2 was the first experimental bus which we went on with driver only and it was, we, we, we were only, we were concerned about . . . the safety of us being in the front of the bus . . .
Paul: Yeah.
Roy: . . . driving, low down . . .
Paul: Yeah.
Roy: . . . and the door open at the front to let the people on, but there was no protection from (sic) us
Paul: No, no protection of the engine either, cos, cos the engine was in the back, wasn’t it?
Roy: That’s right, and, and we were there, open to everything else, and we were in a position where we were about to . . . boycott it if you like . . .
Paul: But did, did, did you think there was the possibility of physical threat, do you mean? Was that right?
Roy: Yes, because if, if, if we became involved in a . . .
Paul: Fracas?
Roy: . . . in an accident of any sort . . .
Paul: Yeah.
Roy: . . . . we were open to anything because there was no protection in front of the bus, was there?
Paul: Yeah. Yeah.
Roy: The front of the bus was right, we were here, and the front of the bus was there, the passengers came on here, but if he hit anything, would we be safe?
Paul: No, probably not, and, and on that . . .
Roy: Probably not, but I don’t remember any accidents happening, like that, but that’s what was the concern of drivers at that time.
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