Todmorden JOC

Sunday 29 Sept 2019 – Showbus, Hertfordshire County Showground The insignia of the Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee as carried on preserved former TJOC 15 (YG 7831), a Northern Counties bodied Leyland Tiger TS6 that was new in June 1934. On January 1 1931 Todmorden Corporation sold 50% of its bus undertaking to the London Midland & Scottish Railway and thus the Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee was formed. Until changes in the late 1960s/early 1970s half of the bus fleet was owned by the Corporation and half by LMSR or later by British Railways. This bus had been one of those owned by the Corporation.

Showbus, Donington - Sun 25 Sep 2016 The Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee was a bus undertaking owned jointly by Todmorden Corporation initially in partnership with the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company (1931-1947). After the nationalisation of railways the partner became British Railways (from 1947). This Leyland bodied Leyland PD2 /1 was new in January 1950 and was one of the vehicles owned by Todmorden Corporation. Prior to 1947 the total bus fleet saw shared ownership but from 1947 each partner owned their own individual buses to an equal number.

Sunday 8 August 2021 – The ‘Buses Festival’ rally held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough. The Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee was a bus undertaking owned jointly by Todmorden Corporation initially in partnership with the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company (1931-1947). After the nationalisation of railways the partner became British Railways (from 1947). Preserved HWY 36, a Leyland bodied Leyland PD2 /1 was new in January 1950 and was one of the vehicles owned by Todmorden Corporation. Prior to 1947 the total bus fleet saw shared ownership but from 1947 each partner owned their own individual buses to an equal number.

Sunday 8 August 2021 – The ‘Buses Festival’ rally held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough. The Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee was a bus undertaking owned jointly by Todmorden Corporation initially in partnership with the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company (1931-1947). After the nationalisation of railways the partner became British Railways (from 1947). Preserved HWY 36, a Leyland bodied Leyland PD2 /1 was new in January 1950 and was one of the vehicles owned by Todmorden Corporation. Prior to 1947 the total bus fleet saw shared ownership but from 1947 each partner owned their own individual buses to an equal number.

April 1972 – Calderdale Joint Omnibus Committee was created in 1971 with the merger of the Halifax and Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committees. Due to the late delivery of new buses CJOC acquired four Park Royal bodied AEC Regent V double deckers from Maidstone & District Motor Services as a stopgap, two of which had highbridge bodywork that were allocated to Halifax garage and two with lowbridge bodywork that were allocated to Todmorden garage. VKR 36 was new to M&D in February 1972 with fleet number DL36 although it was later renumbered 6736. With CJOC it was given fleet number 363 and was operated in M&D green and cream which fitted in rather well in the Todmorden area as it had more than a passing resemblance to the former TJOC livery which was being replaced with the old HJOC colours. It was seen in Smith Street, Rochdale awaiting departure on the through service 95 to Burnley, a service created after the formation of CJOC.

Circa 1970 - Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee 28 (572 EYG) was an East Lancs bodied Leyland Leopard placed in service in January 1964. TJOC was a bus undertaking owned jointly by Todmorden Corporation initially in partnership with the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company (1931-1947). After the nationalisation of railways the partner became British Railways (from 1947). Prior to 1947 the total bus fleet saw shared ownership but from 1947 each partner owned their own individual buses to an equal number. This bus was owned by British Railways and it entered service with similar bus numbered 37 (573 EYG), a bus owned by Todmorden Corporation. I recall visiting Millwood garage during December 1963 and seeing the brand new buses parked ready to enter service on 1 January. Number 28 was seen in Smith Street, Rochdale about to return to Todmorden on the Saturday only limited stop service jointly licenced to TJOC and Rochdale Corporation. Once upon a time this service ran every 40 minutes from 1335 to 2215 with one bus provided by each undertaking, the journey taking 35 minutes each way. However, in the late 1960s the service was reduced and operated by just one TJOC bus. Travelling from Rochdale to Todmorden when the through service wasn’t running required a change of buses at Summit between Littleborough and Todmorden.

Monday 3 April 1972 – Contrasting buses seen in Smith Street, Rochdale. On the right is a Calderdale Joint Omnibus Committee Leyland bodied Leyland PD2 that had been new to the Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee around 1951 (looks like one of the KWX 12-19 batch). It was ready to operate to Burnley via Littleborough, Summit and Todmorden. On the left is a SELNEC PTE Mancunian (Park Royal bodied Daimler Fleetline or Leyland Atlantean), a style introduced by Manchester City Transport in 1968 so the bus would have been new within the previous four years. After SELNEC was formed in November 1969 various exchanges of bus types occurred and this Mancunian was now working at Rochdale garage (so quite likely it would have been a Daimler Fleetline). It sports service number 6, the former Rochdale Corporation number, operating to Littleborough and Summit. So the two buses were heading in the same direction. Directly behind the Mancunian is one of the 10 Seddon Pennine bodied AEC Swifts delivered new to SELNEC in late 1971/early 1972 that were said to have been ordered by Rochdale Corporation. Registered TDK 540/541J and TDK 542-549K they would have been numbered 40-49 by RCT but became SELNEC 5040-5049. The roadway behind the buses became the trackbed of the Metrolink tramway some forty odd years later. The site on the right is where the Council Offices and Bus Station were subsequently built and having outlived their usefulness were later demolished so that, other than the tramway infrastructure, the view doesn’t really look a whole lot different in 2017!

March 1974 - Calderdale Joint Omnibus Committee 325 (NWW 89E) was new to the Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee as their number 9 in February 1967. It was seen on the parking ground close to Crossfield bus station in Halifax. Calderdale JOC had been created by the merger of the Halifax JOC and Todmorden JOC in September 1971 and on 1 April 1974 Calderdale JOC became part of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.

A little while ago I was rather pleased to be the successful bidder on eBay to buy these three tickets printed for use on an unusual joint service operated by the Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committee (TJOC) and Yelloway Motor Services of Rochdale. The service, licenced as an ‘Express Carriage Service’, was to cater for fans of Burnley Football Club travelling to home matches from Stacksteads and Bacup. The operating partnership came about because TJOC was the operator of the regular stage carriage bus route between Bacup and Burnley and Yelloway held excursion licences from Stacksteads and Bacup. Yelloway agents sold the tickets which were recorded (charted) by the Yelloway Chart Room in Rochdale although vehicles would be provided by either operator. During my time working at Yelloway I recall telephoning the duty inspectors at TJOC to request them provide duplicate vehicles when required. The reverse side of all three of the tickets have identical printing as shown in the lowest of the examples above. This style of ticket was widely used by Yelloway on its coastal services and dance hall services. The term ‘block ticket’ was used by the company to differentiate them from ‘excursion tickets’ (a square piece of paper) and multi-part carbon tickets used for single and period return journeys made on regular services. The ‘block ticket’ comprised two portions, one for the outward journey and one for the return journey. When making a sale the pair were detached from the retaining block which carried the ticket number, the block was then used for accounting purposes. A ticket punch was used to punch out the date of travel. They are a nice souvenir to have from my days at Yelloway.