National Bus Company (NBC) "They don't grow on trees" Training Film Complete
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- Опубліковано 14 сер 2020
- The complete, restored and unedited National Bus Company (NBC) Training Film produced by World Wide Pictures in the 1970's/80's. The production aimed to reduce the needless wear and tear of more complex and advanced vehicles being introduced to replace the more rugged vehicles nearing the end of their lives.
The film features wonderful footage of Driver Bailey at the wheel of a semi-automatic Leyland National, his transgressions and the subsequent damage caused by continues poor operation are highlighted.
This is a fabulous piece of social history and worthy of a watch for any interested transport historian. Please visit my website for further content. www.wesleytierney.com
(C) National Bus Company
World Wide Pictures
21-25 St Anne's Court, London, W1V 3AW
Working as an instructor with London Country back in the 70's and 80's I must have shown this film hundred and hundreds of times......It was a very useful tool !!
I bet Driver Bailey is a top manager now for a transport company
London Country, you had a depot in Guildford round the back of the Police station and courts. Ex Alder Valley driver here based out of Hindhead 👍. Bristols and Nationals NBC bread and butter.
Adrian did we know Alan bond?
@@leedorey1490 Arriva packed up in Guildford back in December 2021 and we all thought that Leas Road garage would close. It did, for a little while, now Stagecoach are in there. Sadly the same can't be said of Alder Valley's garage in Hindhead. I used to visit as a kid and the staff were always very welcoming and let me have a look round. National 131 (NRD131M) was my personal favourite based there, had a hellfire run from Guildford to Hindhead on that once in the late-80s. Driver gave it a proper caning. 🙂
ua-cam.com/video/8Sh7Pr1OkXs/v-deo.htmlsi=SABux8S1Wi1e3EPp
I remember helping to make this training film as a technical assistant in Bristol. I spent a week with the film crew and the presenter. it was a really interesting time and I even appear in the film driving the bus onto a pit and popping up to undo a nut on the steering!
Well done for preserving this
Was this Lawrence Hill depot?
@@shaneraines2094 Hi Shane, the Bristol part was filmed at Berkeley House and the mechanical bits were CRW central repair works now a trading estate on the same site as Lawrence Hill depot.
driver bailey's technique's quite admirable. he's merely ensuring job security for his mates in the maintenance yard (whilst simultaneously amusing himself). what a noble man.
good point that. If the buses never need repairing, there's no need for mechanics.
I used to love driving these semi autos. Once you got the hang of it you could really give a nice smooth ride. Drivers these days have much less to do...
Less to do. But the buses are worse.
Alan Partridge was absolutely gutted when he found out that World Wide Pictures were giving this job to Tony Bastable!
Mind you, he recovered by buying himself a new walnut gear knob for his Rover SD1.
He got out of all that bus stuff, bitter bastards....:)
But when Leyland buses found themselves needing a host for their annual awards party at the belfry golf club, Partridge got his own back and slid in like Torvill and Dean. Even Chris Tarrent was impressed after Patridge showed of the complimentary canadian pine sented air fresheners he got at the event.
The late, great, Tony Bastable on narration. He did a great job thrashing the bits off new cars for Drive In on Thames TV back in the 1970's/80's.
He didn't just narrate it, he was the producer as well.
This is right up my street! I've been "on the buses" since the Summer of 1972. For over 50 years, this sort of thing has been my hobby.
Makes Stan in On the Buses look like the perfect bus driver
Bristol when it was served by proper buses in the late 1970s. Just missing Eddie Shoestring peering out of a shop doorway...
This is 1980s as the Leyland national is v reg, 79/80
For a minute I thought you said he was peeing out of the shop doorway.
@@Keithbarber 79 is the late 70's
I thought that 2nd gear stop was at Rownham. Remember it back in the 80's on the old Badgerline buses.
Great memories, love the mk1 Leyland National with the characteristic sound of the 510 engine.
the famous National clatter
I am only here as looking to buy a 1972 (mk1) Leyland National myself, why? well its tax exempt, mot exempt (if not carrying paying passengers) and my insurance quote is £145 for the year!
@@chrispartosbro4555 Where can I get an insurance quote for a bus?
@@michaelcallummayaka Sorry mate thought i had replied, Rigton on 01943 662 345, ask them about breakdown cover (cheep as chips if included with your insurance) as the likes of AA and RAC not touch you, they took a few days to get back to me so bare that in mind if you plan buy, insure and drive the same day.
I liked them until I had to drive them and realised what a pig it was, an engine that was unreliable and which could accelerate you in a cloud of blue smoke to the detriment of other road users and lets not mention the heating system which was temperamental
Shots there of Bristol city centre with the original road layout. Shots of Durdham Downs in Bristol too. I'm from Bristol, born in '74 and I remember riding Nationals. I loved them as a kid. The button in the centre of the windscreen always facinated me.
Love a slice of Bastable industry specific information video.
Like Woollard, well spoken, engaging, direct.
Looking back at the emergence of culture, technology and events of this time will always fascinate me.
He was a classy presenter.
I appreciate these old videos that actually explain the technical problems and the ramifications of not treating machines correctly. No one is taught technical details today and I can’t stand it. I once had the opportunity to ask an engineer at Rolls Royce about details of a turbine engine. I can’t remember the exact thing I asked but I swear the guy just said “oh I’m not sure about all of that, that’s more on the science side of it”. But… he builds the thing. He builds it and he doesn’t even know how it works? People really are organic machines now, doing what they’re told and not even knowing what they’re doing.
In the bus operator in my area, the people having a contract at them and not being from an employment service are all taught the ins and outs of the engines of the buses here (Scania Omnilinks and a couple of Scania Higers, though those are driven by a touringcar company, they have a truck-like gearbox and are very uncomfortable to drive on as a passenger).
One of the drivers that once made a remark about that when talking with me, did mention that it was pretty weird given how basically it was like this "If we get a warning icon on the LCD, we call the maintenance guys and they figure it out, it's rare that we get to mess with it ourselves honestly, so it sounds pretty useless to give us that training."
@@Dutch3DMaster I must get a job there, I’ll fit right in haha. Where is your area?
The incomparable Tony Bastable R.I.P.
Always a pleasure to watch him present.
Great video, nice to see it back on youtube. Them were the days. They certainly don't make good educational videos like this anymore.
A very good film . The presenter has a very professional style!
Tony Bastable was a proper TV presenter.
Driver Bayley total ledgend mate 😊
Love old dramatic training videos love the music also 😂
It’s called Chance by John Saunders
Them Leyland Nationals were always a smoky bus, not just when up/down shifting but when cold!! you could cut the fog from the fumes lol.
I remember them, they were fast, i can remember some passengers sitting up, taking notice and holding tight........
Nice, I’ve been looking for the complete film of this for ages!
I like the man working on the bus in the background.
"mind you, if you really want to wreck the whole bus, you could always try this..."
*takes notes*
I’ve never felt so attacked.
And I don’t even drive a bus.
Imagine how the bus feels.
Brilliant vid! I love the old days!
They were still using this training film at Luton & District transport (now Arriva) in the mid 90s…..
I remember this video in the training school many years ago.
As one of these schoolboy managers said that we were inflicted with post deregulation. A bus driver is the most expensive component in a bus; and the easiest to replace. I left the industry in 1994 after 19 years driver and conductor. Don't miss it one bit. A shame because I once loved my job
Thanks for uploading this after BusThrash privated all his actual bus videos including this one and left us with some video of his Jaguar.
A strange fella.
Great stuff. And Tony Bastible to boot. Top gear never been the same since he left ! 😁
Wish we still had our national bus company, instead of this plastic circus we now have.
What?
@@train_-su6yv he meant something about deregulation. now commence the dribbling socialists...
Blame the Tories.
Me too, it’s shit, I miss my Titan and mcm metro buses in london
In my part of the world the National Bus Company drained money from unskilled County Councils and presided over the demise of higher density and higher frequency routes to prop up "social needs" services that never ever carried more than a handful of passengers. This policy of starving popular routes to fund useless ones had the very rapid effect of depressing demand and increasing car ridership. This is not theory...I was there - all the way from the early seventies until a few years ago...
Deregulation actually saved the day for passengers...higher frequencies have been introduced/reintroduced on more populous corridors and the cost of providing "social needs" services has been taken off the backs of ordinary everyday passengers and placed firmly with the local councils. This has forced councils to think carefully about providing resources for "dead-dog" routes (I can recall, in those dim and distant days, services which carried only two or three passengers all day - what a waste - a shared taxi would've been far cheaper)...
Ironically we are now seeing the opposite effect - Councils being forced to cut the last of those social-needs buses (and lots of other things) to pay for the cost of free OAP bus travel which central government has systematically and deliberately underfunded...and before any smart-arse suggests it, bus companies don't make a fortune out of OAP passes...the payment for each ticket is reduced as free OAP usage increases...
Hopefully we'll never see the NBC back...it was a disaster...
The buses of my childhood. My local NBC operator, Crosville converted some of theirs to Gardner engines when they withdrew their fleet of Seddon RU’s.
6LXB engines I believe
Estos vídeos valen oro!
driver bailey's antics serve a twofold purpose. chiefly, it's passive-aggressive retaliation against the bus company that's short-changed his career. secondly, it serves as a therapeutic vehicle, to vent his frustrations regarding his failing marriage, and delinquent children. he's only human... can we fault this man?
Plenty of passive aggression taken out on a company vehicle by a driver pissed off at a dictatorial employer.....
"Can we fault this man?" - no we can't
Driver was helping full auto machines to come in sooner 😀
Back then, most buses were owned by the state, paid for taxpayers. Bus subsidies are still common today. Poor driving technique, deliberate or otherwise, can result in expensive repairs, higher fuel consumption, shorter service lives and, ultimately, greater environmental costs. Broken-down buses lead to delayed and cancelled services. So, Driver Bailey was blowing off steam, but he was not being a good citizen.
Liking the funky music!
Music: Chance - John Saunders. Was also used on Prisoner Cell Block H.
@@justinpearson3926 interesting, thank you very much!
@@justinpearson3926 like the sad bstrd I am I recognised it from prisoner as soon as I heard it ...cue comments check 😂
This is why we have automatics, yet they are subject to abuse too, with erratic throttle inputs.
Really enjoyed the unedited edition.
Back when this intriguing bus was a current model on the roads of Britain.
Would love to know the exact year this cool production was made.
My guess circa 1979.
V reg bus. So 79 as a minimum...
@@cjmillsnun that's about when I first encountered the Leyland National when I was six. Two of them in fact. I never forgot the sight.
In my city they drive all those automatic buses in manual mode and rev the shit out of the engines , keep them in drive at traffic stops. And what not. I have never seen one driver using the automatic mode..they always manually select gear for faster acceleration. As they can hold onto the gear for longer and mash the throttle.
Many drivers don't like volvo due to their slow acceleration even with a larger more powerful engine. They prefer the older TATA & ashok buses with manual transmission. Those 24v cummins 5.9 & 6.7 engines accelerate faster than volvo.
@@KuntalGhosh They sound like idiots who should receive a warning.
Sine bus drivers are intelligent, others the opposite.
NBC did seem to be more concerned about body damage than some London bus companies, where that kind of thing was quite routine
I love this background music
I think it could be by John Saunders aka Astral Sounds.
***Edit***. It's called Chance by John Saunders
Nice footage of FLFs.
Does Driver Bailey work for Amazon Prime now?
What was not mentioned to that coasting for too long causes the bus to lose air and the air light did come on.
'very interesting and informative
When I started at First back in 1999, we had National 2’s, Olympians, Lynx’s, Bristol VR’s (only three) and Atlanteans.
22 years later and I bet the majority of those would still be running on service now, whilst the modern crap served up would all be over the pits or sat in the yard with NFS stickers all over them.
I started a few years later and know exactly what you mean but the modern stuff is so much easier to drive. That box is just in front of the brake pedal on a VR, what's that all about? It's only when you drive one in service that you realise how little the driver was thought of in the design process.
How come poor old Olymnpians and Atlanteans don''t get apostrophes?
an interesting variety Bristol Omnibus had; Bristol Lodekkas alongside early Series III VRs.
Filmed at Lawrence Hill Depot. I remember been on the 87 or 88 bus going into that place, and then having to wait while they changed drivers.
In the days when we had a decent bus service.
I agree the twice a week service back then was a lot better then the dozen times a week service we get now.
So true, buses don’t have a sense of timing these days, always late
On WMT in the 70s almost all the drivers left the bus in gear at the stops (typically a Damiler / Leyland Fleet line with a preselector gearbox and Gardener engine), it was exceptional if they disengaged the drive.
Modern transmissions go into neutral by themselves when the bus is stationary with the brake applied.
I remember the Voith box did that with the tell tale whine.
How to break the Leyland national
They don’t grow on trees....ironic when all the buses shown are painted leaf green....
As Half Man Have Biscuit once said - 'Tony Bastable!'
The Patron Saint of Llandudno
Bus drivers appear to be very much put upon...almost every one I have greeted upon boarding looks about one shift away from breaking down.
What do you expect when they have enemies on at least four fronts, the passengers, other motorists, other bus drivers and management?
The good old days
Come on Bailey, get that bus out of 'ere!
11:12 "ahh yes, very satisfying" - driver Bailey.
They missed out the bit where the driver closes the middle door (exit) on a kid and then sets-off with me hanging there (United).
This brought back memories, I cut my teeth on Leyland vehicles, the National mk1 and 2, Atlanteans, Leopards and Lynx.
The Lynx was the worst!
I remember being taught to pause between the gears.
We used to call the 510 engine, the headless wonder, good when it was working. The Leyland 680 was a far superior engine.
The 510 sounded more modern. The 0680 was very coarse and old as the hills. Nice exhaust bark though.
The Stynx was a cool looking body that shook and rattled far too much.
I loved driving Cummins L10/ZF Ecomat Lynxes. If you could stand the rattles that is. Only bus I've ever driven that could spin its wheels in the wet, literally went like scalded cats. 🙂
@@LeylandFiveTen One of the Lynx I drove was F85 XCS, a Cummins engine example new to Youngs of Ayr, it was very quick off its mark, far superior to the Gardner engined ones.
They rattled worse as a 20 year old National though !
Here in Australia there is an early Lynx demo from 1984 with Leyland TL11 and Voith box and I was told it's a rocket.
@jamesfrench7299 The oldest Lynx I drove was 1986, with a TL11. I also drove one with a Cummings engine it went like a rocket, but rattled worse than a 20 year old National!
All very familiar as working as a Crosville apprentice in Chester the early 80s. Common practice to be taught to reline the brake shoes using emery or a rasp file to rough up the brake linings. Even when you pointed out to the bosses that the shoes had a black and red sticker stating that the linings contain asbestos your just told to get on with it. Also used Trichlorethelyne to clean parts without being given PPE again when asking for it. Total rubbish practices back then and the workers will only get to old age buy luck. National bus my arse!!!!
This is classic partridge.
I get the impression no-one ever messed with Bastable.
Found this by chance and by sheer coincidence my 1:76 scale NBC route 41 Bristol City Green National long wheelbase 2 door came today 🤣
What is the music that is being used it's really good
Didn't he used to present Magpie in the early 70s?
Good old Lucas key, think every man on the spanners must have one on his keys
I have one for my Bedford MJ
Every engineer had a Lucas ignition switch as a spare in the van.
I’ve still got one from a 1617 Mercedes years ago along with a original tachograph key.
Ha!....... I've still got three or four in my work bag on a key ring, just in case. Mind you, you could always flatten the end of a nail if you were desperate...... ; )
@@pastymansixtynine I've a full set of plant and tractor keys, although a lot of them won't let you start the machine now without punching in a code or the key having a properly coded transponder.
I've a set of lock picks, rakes and a snap gun as well but that's just a hobby for me lol
What did they mount those rear bumpers with, blu tack?
Considering they were made by Leyland...yeah probably
No double sided sticky tape 🤣
Chewing gum duhh!
The power of prayer perhaps?🤣🤣🤣🤣
Probably, for the demonstration.
What they didn't tell you is that you can alter the gearbox so it doesn't wear out the brake bands when slamming the gears.
How? Do you think that buses got automatic gearboxes because of such abuse of semi-auto gearboxes? Interesting semi-autos were prevalent in the UK into the late 80s but automatics were used on European built buses since at least 1977 if not earlier.
@@michaelcallummayaka As NBC was state owned their spec of buses like Leyland and Bristol had semi auto boxes as stand until bus operators went private in 1986 allowing them to have whatever bus or spec they wanted. Leyland was took over by Volvo in 1987 and dropped the semi auto. Automatic buses were around in the 70's-mid 80's but not as popular.
@@michaelcallummayaka I think Michael David is referring to the quick release valves the fully automatic Leyland pneumocyclic gearboxes had fitted to the air supply pipes where they entered the gearbox. Basically they dropped the air almost instantly so the band disengaged more quickly. Latterly operators fitted these valves to semi-autos in an effort to reduce the damage caused by slamming. My own semi-auto National had one fitted to 3rd gear only, you can tell as when you deselect the gear it lets go quickly with a hiss.
finally I FOUND IT
Tony Bastable. Like a school science master telling off the fourth form for making eggy smells in the lab with sulphur. Or a tetchy dad being asked for driving lessons by teenage stoner son
There must have been no driving discipline in the 70s and 80s that old Bastardball wasn't expert at. Such an omniscient onanist. And as one myself, i suspect he actually was a science teacher before he flooded our screens with his staff room moanings.
@@MartinvonBargen He was a history teacher and a cricket umpire, as well as a reporter..
I worked for a National Bus Company London Country including Green Line
How some things have changed today in modern hybrid vehicle coasting us actively encouraged to get better fuel and charge batteries.
Leaving it in gear typically saves fuel as the momentum pulls the engine, instead of the engine pushing itself.
Does anyone know which music is used in the beginning of the video? It was explained in the comments below the video uploaded by BusThrash but that video is no longer available.
"Chance" by John Saunders. Also used in Prisoner: Cell Block H.
@@aaronholmes8568 thanks! And it's even on UA-cam. ua-cam.com/video/J74Ifzjp6HQ/v-deo.html
I'm staying with Easyjet, never seen them hit the curb or engage reverse whilst going forward.
There again never lost a suitcase on National Express.
Conclusion: Can't Win!😢
Filmed in Bristol 🚌
The prototype for Alan Partridge.
Deregulation Caused Us To Drive Like That Pause Through Gears When You Should Be Half Way Home Don't Want O/T Great Though In An Ideal World But That Never Ever Happened
The Patron Saint of Llandudno.
wtf this was so hard to find before lol
it got deleted by its first uploader, Busthrash
OMG it's amazing they let a human drive the bus
I should licence Saunders' Chance, and see if I can speak to the successor of National about licencing the script of this kinda idk
While on the A42 north from Birmingham to the M1 today 09/04/2024 their was a white 72 seat size coach with passengers exceeding the speed limit by a lot ,i understand the speed limit is 60 MPH this guy was doing 60 to 70 and not only that there is a weight restriction on the outside lane for any vehicles over 7.5 tons and this coach driver totally ignored it as he was flitting in and out of outside lane like he was driving a car, professional drivers ,what a joke
Would anyone have a clean cut of this audio? Or know where to find it?
It was used in prisoner cell block H
and can be found on you tube
I think this is about as clean as you can expect from a 1970s video tape.
If there were anything I would do differently? Not wear brown shoes with black trousers.
They just don’t do it like this anymore
When was this filmed?
Circa 1979/1980
It’s the patron saint of Llandudno.. who? Tony Bastable
Jackie Stewart was not exactly a topical reference in 1979
6 hours to change a national gearbox? I remember changing them quicker than that. They are easy.
We used to make it last a whole shift, can't go cutting up the job, can we😂
When would this have been produced? 1980?
V PLATE Leyland national so 1979/80
Most drivers of China Motor Bus were driving bus just like that driver, they shift the gear up or down without shift to neutral first. Also they would be open all doors and shift to neutral before the bus stop completely.
...lol 🤣, probably were having a bad day
It wouldn't surprise me if CMB were showing this training film to their drivers, back in the days of British Hong Kong. It was the same with KMB drivers.
@@michaelturner4457 But most of the CMB drivers would not interest for this film, they would be say it is unnecessary. Both CMB and KMB were adding a notch on the gear selector to prevent the driver shift the gear from gear 4 to gear 2 or gear 3 to gear 1.
Whoa?!!... What are you doing?! How walk away that?! See 2:30sec. 😧
Why was this deleted? I seem to remember the original attracted some nasty comments. I can’t think why
Think the lad that uploaded this, also uploaded a video of himself driving a semi auto bus. Everyone that had seen this video suddenly decided they were driving experts and ripping the way he was driving, so thanks to them he ended up deleting the lot. There's some sad people on UA-cam.
@@thebigbowler I believe that was our boy BusThrash
@@ElliottHurst Now you mention it I remember him , shame he gone quiet as he had some fascinating vids
@@ElliottHurst His video's are private now. All he had to do was just disable the comments on that video.
I don't know much about buses, but why not just a regular Manuel? Or automatic transmissions? To do all this seems like a great deal of trouble while driving
London Transport introduced pre-select gearboxes with fluid flywheels in the 1930s. The semi autos were a development from that. Manual transmissions have a clutch to wear out, which it did, very quickly in urban operation. Automatic options were available on the buses featured but they were for the most part deemed unnecessary where most of the drivers of this era had come from crash 'box vehicles and new how to change gear. The early automatics weren't exactly smooth either, the technology wasn't available to make them better. The first properly smooth automatic bus came in 1977 with the MCW Metrobus with Voith DIWA automatic gearbox and integrated hydraulic retarder. It was a game changer for sure.
So, an engine cost more than a whole years wages? Damn
Driver Bailey just doesn't give a fuck.
18:18 Erm... if the most common component of a bus to fail happens to be in the engines and gearboxes ... I don't think that his company have bought very good buses! Possibly a bit too sophisticated to quote the NBC director ;)
Amazing how poorly engineering was in the day, expecting humans to operate machinery without any safeguard, especially when that machinery is handed from person to person.
When you have no Air you have no brakes....... It doesnt work like that. No Air and the brakes lock on.
If it had spring brake chambers, yeah. Not all vehicles had them back then.
It depends on the brake system in question. Nowadays, yes.
On a National the parking brake applies when you lose air pressure on the parking circuit as air is required to release the spring brake chambers, the parking brake is therefore failsafe. The footbrake (service brake) requires air to apply the brakes, if you lose air pressure you lose the footbrake. The service brake is not failsafe. This applies to every bus I've ever driven with air brakes up to and including current models. A phase 1 National has a 3 tank air system so as you lose air on the footbrake the parking brake applies. A phase 2 National (not to be confused with a mark 2 National) as shown in the video has a 4 tank air system so it is possible to lose the service brake completely without the parking brake applying.
They went backwards?
The 1978 - 1987 Mercedes O305 I used to drive had full spring brakes.
The bumper fell off after a little nudge like he did??. What a crap built bus.
No it was put on loose to fall off for filming purposes
Dramatic effect.
Really wrecked the ship, hah! But he was being paid to do it as a character, I bet.
So as someone looking in from outside of the National Bus circuit, how many of these faults are attributable to terrible British Leyland design, allowed to continue only due to nationalism?
I'd hardly call any of them faults, just what not to do on account of the nature of that type of gearbox (fully auto boxes suitable for intensive bus use were still a thing of the future, though some, like the Routemaster, had gearboxes with an automatic function)
None. If you drive a manual car I have no doubt I can break it for you very quickly. The same is true of semi-automatic gearboxes. Fantastically long lived if not abused, but as with many things, if they're abused they break. The MCW Metrobus came along in 1977 with a Voith DIWA automatic gearbox with integrated hydraulic retarder. Virtually indestructible, and some of the first were purchased by the NBC for Bristol a good 6 years before the NBC ceased to be. That technology simply wasn't mature enough when the National was developed.
Is that a bus or a northern fail train?
Better than no rail service at all. Pacers kept lines open.
Driver Bailey - "Bitches, Leave'"