St. Christopher’s Coach BU04 CBY in Bury St Edmunds - 1 Apr 2009 (DSCN2982)

As far as I know Roger this was a standard bus seating 39 passengers with the usual open area for wheelchairs, prams etc.

The company I drove for had three similar buses (albeit seating 40 passengers) which were used on normal bus service work. With these comparable seating capacities I would say the St. Christopher’s vehicles was a basic bus.

They were built in Turkey by BMC, familiar initials. When formed in 1964 the company was 26% owned by the British Motor Corporation.

The Falcon was a nice bus to drive but had some features that could catch you out. They wouldn’t move off until the doors were fully closed. Since this wasn’t the case with the other buses we had one got used to pressing the door close button and going for the handbrake to set off. Using that method on a Falcon resulted in a lurch before the doors fully closed and then it would move.

Another feature was with the manually operated wheelchair ramp. This was set in the floor and hinged along the body edge. It was lifted out to reach the pavement. After lifting the ramp back and placing it in the floor if it wasn’t fully ‘home’ the bus wouldn’t move. The recesses got dusty and gritty and I once failed to spot a tiny stone that wasn’t obvious yet sufficient for the sensor to activate. It took a little while before I worked it out and was able to move the bus!

One other thing I remember was a nice little sound they made as the brake was released.