Bus Terminus

Calder Road, Sighthill

Thank you to Robert Laird, Longstone, Edinburgh for allowing me to reproduce the two photos above. I was interested to see the drivers or conductors beside their buses in both of these photos.

Sighthill looks rather more rural in these photos than it does today!

Photo 1: Robert tells me that this was taken in 1950.

Photo 2: When was this taken? The buses are some of those that were purchased when the tram system closed in 1956, but it seems to have been much later before Route 3 was extended to Sighthill. I have a 1971 transport map and this still shows Route 3 going only as far as Saughton Road, Longstone.

Robert wrote:

A Job on the Buses

"My dad returned from the World War II, expecting his job with A&J McNabs to have been kept open for him. Alas not.

However, a girl in the office suggested he go down to Shrubhill Depot as they were looking for drivers.

Anyhoo, he did and after a short daunder round Leith in a single decker he was hired!! Things were so much simpler back then.

The Christmas Parties and summer picnics with E.C.T. (Edinburgh City Transport) employees' families remain vivid in my mind. Halcyon days"

Robert added:

The Terminus

"Both these show the old terminus at the end of Calder Road at the Union Canal.

Photo 1: In this photo, the old pre-fab houses are visible in the background.

Photo 2: In this photo, the building beside the bus is a toilet that was built for the bus crews. According to my dad, it was an absolute nightmare prior to facilities being provided for them.

Both snaps are taken looking back toward the city form the terminus.

Robert Laird, Longstone, Edinburgh: October 27, 2011 (2 emails)

Reply

Alan R Hall

Sedgefield, County Durham, England

Thank you to Alan R Hall, Sedgefield, County Durham, England for commenting on this photo:

Photo 2.

Alan wrote:

Date of the Photo

"The two buses on the right in this photo are both Leyland PD2/20s and the front one is from the batch numbered 401-500 which were delivered in 1954.

The bus on the left, however, is a Guy Arab IV delivered in 1956. The conductor of that bus is using a TIM ticket machine which were introduced in Edinburgh from 1933 (on trams) and by 1935 on some buses. Edinburgh didn't get its first Setright machines until 1962 and, as far as I can remember, the TIMs were then quickly phased out.

So, this photo would seem to date from some time between 1956 and 1962."

Alan R Hall, Sedgefield, County Durham, England

Reply

Lilian Young

Hamilton Square, New Jersey, USA

Thank you to Lilian Young Hamilton Square, New Jersey, USA for commenting on this photo:

Photo 1.

Lilian wrote:

Sighthill Terminus

"My Mom, brother and I lived in the prefabs on Calder Road from 1946 to 1952. We lived between the first and second bus stop after the terminus.

Sometimes, in inclement weather, people would walk to the terminus rather than wait at the bus stop, but the crew would not let anyone board the bus until their break time was over.

When asked why people could not get on the bus until the crew had completed their break, the crew indicated that if a bus company inspector came by and saw people waiting on the bus the crew could be fired.

In those days each bus had a driver and a conductor. The amount of time for the break depended on when the bus got to the terminus, and if it was late the crew had to make an immediate turnaround in order to keep to the schedule."

Prisoner of War Camp

"Close to the terminus on the opposite side of Calder Road from the prefabs there was a prisoner of war camp. The prisoners lived in Nissan huts."

Alan R Hall, Sedgefield, County Durham, England

Reply

Steven Oliver

Duns, Borders, Scotland

Thank you to Steven Oliver for his comments on this photo.

Photo 2.

It had originally been suggested that this photo had been taken some time around the mid-1950s, but this puzzled me because Route 3 did not go as far as Sighthill in the 1950s (or even in the 1960s).

However, Steven Oliver has provided the answer to this puzzle.

Steven wrote:

The Terminus

"I think I can help with the location of this terminus.

One of the 70 Guy Arab IV/Alexander buses, new in 1956-7 features in the photo. This is likely to have been on service 8.

All of these Guys were based at Central Garage throughout their life with ECT. The presence of this bus suggests that the location is the turning circle just outside Gilmerton.

This was the terminus of services 3 and 8. It had a toilet block for use by crews. The toilet block is still there today and is still used by drivers.

Steven Oliver: Duns, Borders, Scotland: November 14, 2011