Hey Malc do you remember the Stratford Blue busses ? they appeared to be from a different planet only because of colour / all the barrow boys around the Bull Ring / if I was rich I used to treat myself to a Marsh &Baxter pork pie from station Buffet on platform 2 /// 6p, a fortune then .. unrebuilt scots Royal Scot complete with bell 6100/ the 1st Jubilee I spotted was Camperdown on a Bristol -Bradford / 1st stop Tamworth , that was special / shunter 6878 never seemed to break down / signal box at the end of Platform 6 amongst the rubbish / I must have been filthy by the time I got home playing with barrows trucks &post office wagons / hahaha good olde days
Yeah, I remember Stratford Blue buses; I think they were mostly Leylands. Ashamed to say I've never been on one. I started spotting too late to see unrebuilt Scots, but I worked with a guy who went to Saltley Grammar School and recalls seeing a streamlined Semmy in the cutting by Belchers Lane bridge. 'Jubes' were the most common namers in New Street; some, like Sturdee or Tanganyika you could guarantee to see on every visit, while others (like Vernon) never seem to have made it to Brum. You could see most of the Scots if you went there regularly, but the 2 rarities were Black Watch and HLI (which was our acronym for Highland Light Infantry City of Glasgow Regiment). HLI DID finally put in an appearance on 2 consecutive evenings in the late 50's, witnessed by the regular crowd on the first night and by literally hundreds the next night after the word had got round! With all that writing to cram in, HLI's nameplate was definitely 'different'!
Clan Campbell was also spotted in there on a late 50's evening. Great days!
At the risk of thread drift, I've just been in Moor Street Station and they've got a green BR-liveried Brush 4, 47773 (D1755), on display in there
- not a soul was looking at it!