Down Memory Lane

SBS3688Y SG

Singapore public transport has changed and progressed rapidly since its early days, from bus conductors to One-Man-Operated(OMO) ticket dispensing machines, farecard validators to the current EZ-Link cards. Bus technologies also changed rapidly to the current modern and comfortable public transport.

I'd like to find out what people missed about the good old days; be it interesting, pleasant or unpleasant memories...

Anything about Singapore's previous public transport can be discussed:
- services
- buses, bus-stops..
- etc...
cheers, and enjoy! Very Happy

kopiosatu SG

any pics of the old buses?

Qoo`~` SG

sometimes the air-con can be quite cold, miss the natural breeze at night when travelling in buses with no air con...

SBS3688Y SG

What I missed....

- The old non-A/C Sentosa private buses during the 80s..
Back then, there was no road link to Sentosa; only by ferries or cable car. I missed those Sentosa buses with route no. 1,2, etc..(those buses were prob ex-SBS buses)??
They were of manual gear, and some exit doors at the rear were sealed up to install additional seats. The yellowish handstraps really attracted me too!

- CSS727 using one-door minibus with manual gear; from AMK to Airport during the early 80s... and I remembered CSS introduced svc737,747,757 to and from Airport is it??

- Buses with a ticket conductor in the early 80s...and they would come to u, punch a hole in your ticket...and they even provide change!! I was attracted to the double-sided stainless steel ticket holder that holds many different colours of tickets together using a special rubber band in the middle of the ticket holder and also the ticket puncher(resembles a plier).

- I even remembered taking SBS svc64 in the early 80s,,,and the driver drives into the fuel station midway to top-up the fuel!!!

- And the coin boxes on OMO buses in the early 80s...The top of the coin-box is made of transparent plastic. You drop the coins into the box with a cringing sound, as the coins land on the stainless steel horizontal surface of the coin box. Then the driver activates the lever; the stainless steel surface depress and the coins drop into the box! I've seen a couple of such coin-boxes on Scheme B buses...

- I remembered the early ticket machine since its introduction on svc 130...The ticket paper was white, thicker than the current ones, with a longitudinal rectangle shape..and when the ticket is dispensed, it is "protruded/cantilevered out" from the machine??....but this type of machine only serviced for a short period of time b4 being replaced by the normal one that was used till the late 90s..

SBS3688Y SG

Visit the following website...
http://www33.brinkster.com/busbuzz/bus_story.htm

There are a number of pictures of old buses...enjoy! Cool

kopiosatu SG

ooooh the old coin boxes, then they had a metal arm… then when the coins fell through the arm would move too…

SBS9818A SG

I remember the B57s and Of1417s of the old days. Not to mention the Leyland Atlanteans. When I was a kid I used to enjoy taking Sv. 143 a lot, wonder if it was because of the 2-axle LOs or because it had new Superbuses at the time. Still remember the last stop along Teban Gardens Rd, the driver will chase pax down.

The memories..

SBS9818A SG

Originally posted by SBS3688Y:
[b]What I missed....

- The old non-A/C Sentosa private buses during the 80s..
Back then, there was no road link to Sentosa; only by ferries or cable car. I missed those Sentosa buses with route no. 1,2, etc..(those buses were prob ex-SBS buses)??
They were of manual gear, and some exit doors at the rear were sealed up to install additional seats. The yellowish handstraps really attracted me too!

- CSS727 using one-door minibus with manual gear; from AMK to Airport during the early 80s... and I remembered CSS introduced svc737,747,757 to and from Airport is it??

- Buses with a ticket conductor in the early 80s...and they would come to u, punch a hole in your ticket...and they even provide change!! I was attracted to the double-sided stainless steel ticket holder that holds many different colours of tickets together using a special rubber band in the middle of the ticket holder and also the ticket puncher(resembles a plier).

- I even remembered taking SBS svc64 in the early 80s,,,and the driver drives into the fuel station midway to top-up the fuel!!!

- And the coin boxes on OMO buses in the early 80s...The top of the coin-box is made of transparent plastic. You drop the coins into the box with a cringing sound, as the coins land on the stainless steel horizontal surface of the coin box. Then the driver activates the lever; the stainless steel surface depress and the coins drop into the box! I've seen a couple of such coin-boxes on Scheme B buses...

- I remembered the early ticket machine since its introduction on svc 130...The ticket paper was white, thicker than the current ones, with a longitudinal rectangle shape..and when the ticket is dispensed, it is "protruded/cantilevered out" from the machine??....but this type of machine only serviced for a short period of time b4 being replaced by the normal one that was used till the late 90s..

[/b]

The private Sentosa buses were ex-SBS Merc LP1113s, based on a truck chassis, that is why they had the door in the middle. Sv. 170 buses used to do that, refuel at SBS Woodlands Depot (Turf Club/Kranji MRT), pity it has now been demolished.

Yusry SG

Not limited to just 170, but many buses that passed by the ex Somapah Bus Terminal (eg, SV 12) also stopped by Somapah to refuel.

kopiosatu SG

CLASSIC!!! Mr. Green

kopiosatu SG

i used to look out for volvo buses... where they would wrap the engine area with brown leather... and it was automatic then...

but TIBS had better buses than SBS then...

Yusry SG

I think those buses with "engine area wrapped in brown leather" were the Mercedes Benz OF1417 and not the Volvos. The Volvo B57 had metal engine covers.

Macintosh SG

If i not wrong, quiet a few of the Mercedes Benz OF 1417 were deployed on SV 130. Very Happy

kopiosatu SG

was it mercedes?

hmmmmmmmm didn't have mercedes sign that time leh... more i remember its volvo.
automatic transimission?

Yusry SG

Yes, the Volvo B57 were SBS's first single-deck buses with Automatic Transmission, but the engine cover was completely metal about 1 m tall from the main platform.

The Mercedes Benz'es were the ones that had leather clad engine covers, but were manual transmission.

The Volvo B57 and some of the Mercedes Benz OF1417 shared the same body (New Zealand Motor Bodies), so you may have mixed them up.

SBS9818A SG

Oh yes, Somapah Bus Terminal had a refuelling point for whatever wierd reason. Anyone who is interested to know where it is can just visit Expo.

SBS9818A SG

Perhaps a few B57s could have been refitted with the vinyl covering?

SBS3688Y SG

I've not seen/noticed these described Sentosa buses in the past..

But I remembered those buses with exit door at the back(just infront of the rear bench seats), but were sealed up to accomodate another pair of seats. A couple of passengers can seat next to the driver, as there's a seat located just infront of the front door! The bus looks slightly shorter than the current regular sized SBS buses.
And I remembered these buses(eg svc262) also used to serve SBS in the early 80s b4 some of them end up as Sentosa buses. Laughing

NeonTetra SG

i only have some blurred memories of the old SBS bus...super lousy and noisy...no air con Mad

SBS3688Y SG

Supplementary Private Buses on SBS svc136

Back then, during the 80s and 90s...private buses used to join some SBS bus svc during peak hours. Such svc included SBS24,61,136...

Quite a different and unique experience travelling on different types of private buses serving SBS route136. I was a sec. student back then and only paid 20cents per trip (concession card is not accepted on private buses).

Those who long for such experiences can still hop onto the Scheme B buses along Shenton Way during evening peak hours. It ranges from the typical non A/C private buses to luxurious tour coaches!!