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PERSONAL
MEMORIES OF L484 AND CENTRAL SMT
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Danny Kane
of Larkhall came home from the Army in 1955
with a glowing reference which he hoped
would help him to join the police. The
height limit at that time was 5ft 10ins and
Danny failed by one inch. He decided to try
bus driving and joined Central SMT that same
year. He was employed as a spare driver on
different routes driving various types of
vehicles for the first few months, then the
Newton run came up for allocation and he
decided to apply. Because he was young and
new to the garage, he thought some of the
older drivers would be favoured but, to his
surprise, he was the only one to apply and
he got the job. Jim Jamieson was already on
the Newton run and Danny became his regular
opposite shift partner. Their bus was L484
and Danny felt it was tailor made for him
and described it the best bus he had ever
driven. He liked it so much he fitted a
small carpet in the driving cab! Jim and
Danny covered the main shifts from 4.00am
until 7.00pm with the last shift covered by
a relief driver on a spreadover. Danny
recalls the various types of passengers
throughout the day - early morning would be
miners, steelworkers, nurses, factory
workers and bakers. Next would be school
children followed by housewives out for
their 'messages' during the day. From 3.00pm
the process would be reversed and in the
evening people going to the cinema, theatre
or dancing kept the crews busy. Danny was a
bus driver for 43 years and has many happy
memories of his time at Central. |
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Bobby
Robertson of Larkhall worked as a
cabinet maker, which he was quite content
with until a particular member of management
made everyone's life a misery so he decided
to try bus driving for a year. He ended up
working for Central SMT for 35 years and
never missed a shift in all that time. He
passed his test on 6th January 1967 but had
to wait for his badge to come through before
he could drive. On Friday, 12th January his
badge duly arrived and his first shift was
driving L484 on two factory runs. Bobby
remembered it as a very comfortable bus to
drive, probably because it was identical to
the training vehicle at that time. That was
the only time Bobby drove L484 as it was
transferred to East Kilbride soon after.
During his time at Bothwell Road, Bobby
remembered a lot of the drivers were time
served tradesmen, like himself. There were
joiners, brickies, electricians, plumbers
and butchers. Pay on the buses was above
tradesmen's rates and this attracted men
from various backgrounds. |
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John McGeoch
of Cambuslang remembers the arrival of L484
at Nerston Depot, East Kilbride along with
other transfers from Bothwell Road in 1967.
John and his mate Andy Fleming drove L484 on
the 70, 71, 77 and 79 routes from Strathaven
through East Kilbride to Glasgow but only
for six weeks as it was then allotted to the
180/181 service between Busby and Glasgow.
Known drivers on that route were Bobby
Robertson and Sammy Brandon. John's memory
of the bus, which was in the twilight of its
service years at that point, was that
problems were being experienced with the
vacuum brakes and that the radiator had to
be topped up at the end of each journey.
Nevertheless, he said it was still a good
runner. John was a driver for 18 years, 11
of which were on the Strathaven route. |
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