tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485294124607222741.post1295440652144984442..comments2023-10-03T15:08:59.274+01:00Comments on Railway Photography by Phil Trotter - Blog: Memories of SWT in the '50s and '60s.Phil Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12620932485603700367noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485294124607222741.post-5101251754519019122017-02-11T13:32:16.212+00:002017-02-11T13:32:16.212+00:00what a fantastic story you have explained everythi...what a fantastic story you have explained everything in perfect bus man language, I have been a bus fanatic since 1951 when my father a conductor used to take me to the garages to sit in most of the buses you have mentioned, i also worked as a conductor from 1966 to 1971, I have been collecting S.W.T. photos for over 25 years and have over two thousand photos however one has always eluded me until now A.C.Y. 27, I have always lived up Gorse Avenue and to see 79 on the front is brilliant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485294124607222741.post-75424699632519722392016-03-09T16:33:00.663+00:002016-03-09T16:33:00.663+00:00"Salt of the earth" indeed! I remember ..."Salt of the earth" indeed! I remember as a very raw student conductor in 1969 conducting the last trip to Penyfan on a Saturday night. About a dozen boarded on Murray Street and I took most of their fares, but at the next stop we were overwhelmed with a full standing load and I decided not to try and get round the bus, but to get the fares as they got off (unlike some conductors I fully intended to issue tickets!). But when we started setting down I was met with a succession of "I've paid" (which I couldn't dispute as I had taken some fares) or "He's getting mine" - pointing behind. They obviously recognised me as a new and not very brave conductor and took full advantage!<br />Jim DaviesJimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14502754753792780008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485294124607222741.post-35459592178209760922015-06-12T20:21:58.160+01:002015-06-12T20:21:58.160+01:00I had been all the afternoon on the single deck re...I had been all the afternoon on the single deck regents unique to llanelly , specially built to get under the 9ft headroom bridges in the new dock area. Leaving gorseinon on the llanelly to swansea service I forgot there was an upper deck so most of the passengers upstairs had a free ride as far as fforestfach cross when I suddenly realised I wasnt on the single deck bus on this trip, thankfully there was no inspector about or I would have been in trouble.I wonder if other conductors on that shift had the same problem, I have kept quiet about it til now. ray nelson dafen llanelliAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485294124607222741.post-14504635732727458372015-06-12T20:15:16.918+01:002015-06-12T20:15:16.918+01:00reading about a bus breaking down, my driver and I...reading about a bus breaking down, my driver and I were working an afternoon service from llanelly to swansea. as we drove down the hill to gorseinon cross the engine of our AEC regent lost power, rather than take a chance of breaking down on the road with passengers on board my driver turned into the united welsh garage which was just on our left and swapped our invalid bus for one of theirs. they loaned us a new bristol, the growl alone made the shift for me although new passengers were confused to see a SWT conductor on an united welsh bus. we got to singleton street terminus on time and when we got back to gorseinon our bus was waiting for us on the stand, the united welsh mechanics had fixed it for us. we were rival companies then sharing route 2 but we were also all busmen and we helped one another in times of difficulty even though we mocked one another's buses in friendly banter. a few years later the companies amalgamated. ray nelson dafen llanelliAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485294124607222741.post-8293324911316799852015-06-08T17:21:52.324+01:002015-06-08T17:21:52.324+01:00I also worked as a student summer conductor with S...I also worked as a student summer conductor with SWT at Llanelly depot 1967 - 1971. I was a regular on the last swansea on a saturday night, the last bus from the united welsh garage in singleton street to llanelly at 10.45pm. always packed and always jolly, the men had their return tickets in their hatbands and I had to remember where to put them off, especially dai of cave street or he would have ended up in our depot.Never had any trouble, 71 seated and 8 standing leaving swansea, eased off at fforestfach and the ivorites, picked up again in gorseinon then on the Llanelly outskirts, it was a very tiring shift ending with 2 round trips to Swansea but have always looked back on it with pleasure. ray nelsondafen llanelli<br />alsoworked on the unique single deck regents on the low bridge L7/8 route in the dock area, the areas were some of the poorest in llanelli but the people were the salt of the earth ( halen y ddaear)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4485294124607222741.post-90899872620553249622015-06-08T17:12:16.995+01:002015-06-08T17:12:16.995+01:00re the mumbles train, a student friend worked on t...re the mumbles train, a student friend worked on the mumbles line, one elderly female passenger boarded and asked if this train stopped at the pier. Bill's reply was " I sincerely hope so madam because if it doesnt then we will all get wet. I would just have said "yes" but Bill was Bill.The train stopped in the appropriate place by the upright old railway line set on the driver's left. I remember this line so well, a ride to the pier was a special treat for me and I became good friends with Veronica Barrington and spent a lunchtime with the driver of the last service Frank Dunkin, well on in years but a mind as sharp and clear as ever.My artifacts of my time with S.W.T. and film I made of the buses in Llanelly in the 60s are now along with bus no 38 in the safe keeping of the Swansea museum on Fabian Way. ray nelson dafen llanelli Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com