My dad worked at Aldenham as a carpenter for over 25 years, this brought a tear to my eyes. When skill was honest skill.

Definitely an era gone by. Now, instead of repairing, refurbishing, and reusing, we're not an era of "throw it away and get a new one". Nothing reused anymore. I personally fix every thing I possibly can before buying a new one (sometimes my wife makes fun that I spend an hour and a handful of spare parts to fix a $5 toy. But it's a satisfaction knowing that I fixed something that would otherwise be sitting in a landfill somewhere.

Has to be the best dressed workers in any large factory with their ties and immaculate appearance doing heavy dirty work. Good old England.

@Ikaruszaki

4 жыл бұрын

The crane operator with his hat!

@London1064

4 жыл бұрын

All the Craftsmen at the LT central and country area garages used to wear a shirt and tie underneath their overalls. It set an example and difference between the skilled and semi skilled staff.

Great film, love the views of London at the end without all those ugly skyscrapers!

Look at how nice London Looked back then

used to love driving the old RM & RML was at Waterloo for 6 years on the number 11

did my apprenticeship here, a great place to work still miss it left there about 1984. good memories

"Make do and mend" - what made Britain GREAT!

Wonderful. I used to be a driver at Westbourne Park. The fitters said they could do an engine swap in 2+1/2hrs. A modern bus 2+1/2 days!

@jamesfrench7299

2 жыл бұрын

Bonded windows take hours to cure. Rubber mounted are ready to go.

I worked at this job when I was a young married man, so interesting and such a brilliant video to bring back memories of a happy work time.

@civlyzed

4 жыл бұрын

I bet it is! I really enjoyed the video.

Two people on a rider operated powered truck at 6.16 . You'd get a disciplinary and a refresher test for that now!

@stevejackson4432

Жыл бұрын

Steve Davis the snooker players dad used to drive these before Steve won his world championship. I was an apprentice there & then when I finished I worked in the boiler house until 1986.

The same as what happened to the work force at Birmingham city transports tyburn road works, some where given the opportunity to take redundancy the rest where put into local garages until they reached the age of retirement I don't think any film was made of the Birmingham works but we did exactly the same work I was a sheet metal worker there and still am but now working in one of the garages

As an apprentice in the 70's I had to test the escape harnesses used on those overhead cranes. No HSE then. I had to jump out of each of them every month to test they worked ok. Then climb on top & grease all 127 grease nipples on each crane. I also had my Mk3 Cortina sprayed bus red in the paint booth.

Every day when I'm working hard in the real world I wish I was still employed at this wonderful place. It was truly more a rest home than a place of work.

wow they are really hard working. respect

Very interesting thank you for sharing.

ohh it must be such a incredible good feeling.

Fantastic Models Great video

This is why so many Routemasters and RT's are still around today.

All gone...All the skills gone.

@Nimmo1492

7 жыл бұрын

We never really had them. We've always been fucking shit at making things. Look at the fucking Austin Allegro and Morris Marina.

@bmused55

7 жыл бұрын

Ah yes, but then look at the Spitfire, the Hurricane, the Mosquito, the Lancaster and the engine that powered them and many other aircraft: The Rolls Royce Merlin. They weren't exactly shit. They won a war.

@Nimmo1492

7 жыл бұрын

Rolls-Royce are pretty much the exception that prove the rule. I've been an aviation technician, and I mist admit I was always impressed by the designs of rolls-royce engines. My favourite that I worked with was the RTM-322, but I'm not sure if that counts because it was originally a French design.

@bmused55

7 жыл бұрын

RB211 is my favourite post war RR Engine. Man, that buzz on full throttle is something to behold.

@Nimmo1492

7 жыл бұрын

I've only ever experienced that one as a passenger on a Tristar.

Listening to AEC 9.6 and Leyland 0600 for a living and dealing with those amazing bare chassis. I can't believe the bodies could go on either. Credit to Leyland being able to match the dimensions of the AEC product to gain sales.

Only just read about this process fascinating to watch this video

And here we have people *on the internet* yearning for technology and lifestyle of the 60s...

What a splendid concept of what a public service really means. Nowadays, they save money by discarding deep maintenance programs, but they have to renew bus fleets in five or seven years. At least when it comes to public transportation (which benefits all sectors of the economy), privatization is way overrated.

@TheClark1205

6 жыл бұрын

A regular city bus that you see today typically has a 15yr life but can last 20 depending on how well the care is through out its life. They last longer with little need for intensive maintenance of the body because it's all stainless steel, aluminum, and treated wood panels in the flooring. The public transportation industry is really the only thing that gives people jobs that pay a decent wage and its a industry that will always grow. You should see some of the large transit bus production plants like from New Flyer or NovaBus. They still employ thousands and thousands of people in Canada and in the US.

@bigjml

6 жыл бұрын

If it wasn't for Ken Livingstone thesw Buses would still be working in London. There are still a few of them, they run on a Heritage Route through Central London.

I really enjoyed the video, so informative, and back in the days when British made was built to last and tradesmen had a pride in their work, pity they retired the old Route Masters, privatisation and the throw away society has changed London buses forever. I remember seeing former London Transport double deckers still running in India, (Bombay) and across in Macau.

fantastic

wish we could have that quality now, for people not profits

Out of the last five bus trips i've had, three of them were spent listining to the diff bearings begging for mercy. I'm sure it's not from lack of maintaince. I expect they are meant to sound like that.

I visited Aldenham Works with my father when I was about 4 - he bought me a model coach.

This was a great idea. Buy a bus a strip it down and fix it every 4/5 years. send back out as good as new. This would still work today. As engine technology moved forward they just fit it when its in for s overall. Now its new buses for the big cities and the old ones get moved to the smaller towns .

@johnsamu

7 жыл бұрын

Michael Walker This only worked in an era when labour was cheap and materials expensive. Now in most cases it is more cost effective to scrap old materials and buy new instead of having the costs of your own low tech inefficient factory.

@johnsamu

7 жыл бұрын

Michael Walker This only worked in an era when labour was cheap and materials expensive. Now in most cases it is more cost effective to scrap old materials and buy new instead of having the costs of your own low tech inefficient factory.

@johnsamu

7 жыл бұрын

Michael Walker This only worked in an era when labour was cheap and materials expensive. Now in most cases it is more cost effective to scrap old materials and buy new instead of having the costs of your own low tech inefficient factory.

To think this incredible building was originally designed for the servicing and maintenance of tube trains for the unbuilt Elstree extension. Its first use was for building Halifax bombers, instead, until eventually, post-war, it became this. Pretty adaptable, hey? Makes me sick to think that all this efficiency was thrown away, the building flattened, and now its an industrial park. Whoopee-dos.

The Former Aldenham Overhaul Bus Works is Now part of Centennial Park in Elstree Hertfordshire

I love these old films - Brylcreem everywhere and not a single pair of safety goggles or ear defenders to be seen! More fun without HSE! 😀

Amazing this engineering was happening at the same time the US churned out 20ft long road boats thats seated 10% the capacity of the routemaster bus whilst using the same amount of fuel (8mpg).

Craftsmanship that we will never see the like of today

Wow what a really interesting video. Wonder what happened to the people when it shut down

@jusb1066

8 жыл бұрын

+gcfcos the usual unemployment and scrapheap...shut down in the early 80's so you know it was a Conservative's decision, along with privatization.

@gcfcos

8 жыл бұрын

+jusb1066 must have Been horrible after working somewhere for years thinking your job was safe only to be thrown on the scrap heap. Everyone and my family scoffed when I wanted to be a car mechanic when I left school but as long as my health holds out I'll never be without a job! Compared to most from when I left school went to work for building or the it field. Half of them are out of work now. Been watching a programme called boys from the black stuff and that brings reality home.

@Biigfish559

7 жыл бұрын

Thus life in England from 1980 onwards is neatly summarized. Only the finance robbers thriving now.

@jusb1066

7 жыл бұрын

***** yep, i was born in 1969, you are spot on

@billywhippet

7 жыл бұрын

British-mechanic

Ah! The days when Britain was civilised and nationalised industries were cheap to run but effective.

12:50 - 2:1 that this guy had as little red in his home as possible. ☮

Sadly all gone, a completely different world and way of life!😢

Great video. Did I miss something, or was there no mention whatever of motor maintenance?

@charlesregan4576

6 жыл бұрын

I think that the engines may have been overhauled at another plant, at Chiswick...

When Britain ran like a well oiled clock, decent honest people and workmen that took pride in what they did, interesting to see all those decent English people on the busy streets at the end going about their business without fear of some vermin mowing them down in a lorry.. it really brings it home what a sewer we live in now compared to then .. god help us in another 20 years...

@charlesregan4576

6 жыл бұрын

It all started to fold after 1979, thanks to Thatcher's destruction of Uk manufacturing. We do live in a sewer now compared to pre 1979, thanks to Thatcherism.

@gplusgplus2286

2 жыл бұрын

Well said.

@jean-lucpicard5510

Жыл бұрын

Those rose tinted glasses again.

A bus restoration enthusiast dream a mini Aldenham to do a body off and chassis and body restoration

all these here honest decent workers made Britain great !! Never to be seen again ..!!

What ever happened to satisfying precision ?

Video discussing passenger safety- Shows guy hanging out open platform checking for passenger safety.

@johnrroberts7900

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I was wondering why a Tapley reading of GREATER than 75% of g could be dangerous - visions occurred to me of the bus tipping end over end, lol. Now I realise it's so the PASSENGERS won't be pitched too far forward down the aisle in a crash stop. Never mind about the poor coot the driver is trying to stop for before killing him. Ah well, that driver shouldn't have been going fast anyway.

Real Craftsmen.

Aldenham - the original Northern Heights rail depot for the extension to Bushy Heath … travesty both are now gone!

ooooooooo mega 😇😇😇😇😇

the year i was born...

@ericwilliams2122

6 жыл бұрын

1957

@ericwilliams2122

6 жыл бұрын

1957

Average age of the workforce looks to be maybe 55 years old? Possibly more....or did people just look older in those days?

@Merseysiderful

7 жыл бұрын

23hublock1 Life in those days was much harder with the majority of jobs involving manual labour. Some of the men in this film would have served in either world wars.

@Merseysiderful

7 жыл бұрын

12:47 I feel sorry for the paint sprayers. They have protective overalls but unsuitable masks and no eye protection. In the 1950s the paint was also lead based.

@kylegordon

7 жыл бұрын

Average life expectancy in 1960 was 71. It's now 81. People looked older at a younger age back then.

@charlesregan4576

6 жыл бұрын

People did look older then. It was a combination of the strain of the war, the lack of a health service pre 1948, poor living conditions prior to the 1950s/60s and less awareness of health compared to today.

@ulazygit

3 ай бұрын

@@charlesregan4576there was a health service prior to the war, just not free at the point of consumption as was the idea of the NHS.

Has Aldenham bus works closed down?

@jamespotter3334

7 жыл бұрын

Oh yes there is no evidence now of there ever being a bus works it's now a business park

@srfurley

7 жыл бұрын

It was originally intended to be a railway works for the Northern Line extension to Bushey Heath. When the extension was cancelled it became a bus overhaul works instead.

welp i was trying to find more info of boku no hero academia over haul user and i come to this :T

this must have cost an absolute fortune back in the day

@charlesregan4576

6 жыл бұрын

It was not cheap, but it saved the cost of buying brand new buses every few years. Thanks to the overhaul process, buses lasted for twenty, thirty years and longer. Overhaul rather than replacement was also environmentally wiser, although admittedly back in those days they didn't pay too much heed to the environment. It also created and sustained a fantastic, skilled, workforce and it enabled London'd bus fleet to remain in excellent condition. It is a far cry from the rubbish provided to day by Britain's privatised bus companies, who are solely interested in screwing as much money out of the passengers as they can.

When we were GREAT BRITIAN,

8:36 that didnt hurt a bit

Hi Guy's my name is Mr Cannadine T. Boxill-Harris I was wondering, why couldn't you Rebuild a nice fresh shiny Scania N113, Gardner 6LXCT, Gardner 6LXC and Volvo TD102KF 3 speed Voith DIWA Northern Counties Palatine 1’s and Repaint them to a Grey Green Colour's just like the original Scania Grey Green's which were in the East London bus route's such as 168, 125, 141, 210, 173, 179, 167, 313 and also the bus route 103, if you guys would like to Rebuild about 137 of Those Scania N113, Gardner 6LXCT, Gardner 6LXC and Volvo TD102KF 3 speed Voith DIWA Northern Counties Palatine 1 Buses please could you Repaint them in the Exact Grey Green Bus Colour’s and put them on those London Bus Routes witch are the 341, N41, 34, 123, N29, 149, 221, N73, 121, 86, 30, 262, 147, 396, 41, 56 and N26 for all of us because it would be a Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Interesting Buses to see them Repainted to a Grey Green Colour's and I'am a Big Fan of all of those Scania N113, Gardner 6LXCT, Gardner 6LXC and Volvo TD102KF 3 speed Voith DIWA Northern Counties Palatine 1 Buses

see 03:43

real craftsmen nothing like that now

@andrewdavis7017

7 жыл бұрын

This country still has great craftsmen and women you may not see them around you but they are very much alive and kicking it's like people say we don't make things anymore but we do. It's just we tend not to notice

@davids8449

6 жыл бұрын

Andrew Davis . Yes you are quite right, we still make knicker liners, and plastic cups, and of course we recycle, so it can be sent to a landfill site abroad.

@charlesregan4576

6 жыл бұрын

There are still craftspeople in Britain, but far far fewer than there were thanks to Margaret Thatcher, Blair and every post 1979 government who wantonly abandoned UK manufacturing in favout of finance and low paid low skill 'service' industries.

10:05 Witness me!

No safety glasses here ...

All of the people in this video are probably dead

@jaggass

7 жыл бұрын

But alot of the buses that were overhauled are still alive.

@regbrooker8515

3 жыл бұрын

Not me , worked there in the early 60's ,best dent remover in the factory. ( reg Brooker)

@StopDropandLOL

3 жыл бұрын

Reg Brooker Glad to see you’re still kicking, Reg!

Aldenham: quel gâchis ! Vive la dérégulation (à bientôt pour la RATP à Paris...) !!!

..and not a Hard Hat, Hi-Vis or other PPE in sight. Why? Because they all knew what they were doing and had what we aren't allowed to use now: "Common Sense"

@mfbfreak

7 жыл бұрын

Common sense doesn't protect you against asbestos, a heavy part dropped on your toes (when not wearing steel capped shoes) metal splinters in your eyes or paint/sanding dust in your lungs that could lead to lead poisoning...

@jeffreyharper2710

6 жыл бұрын

It was the people allowed to use, but not actually use common sense that lead to the necessary regulations, accommodations, and restrictions to which you refer.

@LouieCastro3

5 жыл бұрын

What? No they just died more often.

once we were great with skills that could beat the world,now look at us,shame on our governments and a changing world.

@Ecosse57

7 жыл бұрын

there's an old saying: we get the government we deserve. our decline is on us.

@joeyjamison5772

7 жыл бұрын

Everything changes.

@charlesregan4576

6 жыл бұрын

It's thanks to Thatcher and every post 1979 government, who have supported Thatcherite deindustrialisation and the shutting down of UK manufacturing.

A 1950's, American version of this video: 'Yes, these buses roll out...better than new. Look...there is little Tommy! He wants nothing more than to be a bus driver one day. He comes down to the overhaul center, every day, on his way home from school' (Tommy smiles and waves with incredible energy at the bus going by. The bus driver waves back and smiles in a nauseatingly, happy-dappy way). 'These Redfish buses are the best in the world. Lovingly maintained by the best people in the business. Why? Because they care about their customers. In fact, they can't sleep at night if they are not satisfied in the job they have done. That is the American way. That is the Redfish way (loud and VERY, annoying music - as opposed to this modestly annoying music - ends the video)'. British commercials talk to you like you are a bright child. American ones treat you like a complete moron. ☮

Not a single non-white face to be seen! Those were the days! I was born 100 years too late.

This Is why Great Britain Was Great, We Were Efficient. The Materials Were Not That Expensive In The Original Purchase Of Materials To Manufacture A Routemaster Or RT Bus In The Late Forties, Fifties, Sixties Or Early Seventies Relative To A Working Man's/woman's Wages, The Finished Product Was, Being a Bus Relatively Inexpensive To Engineer And Build, A Modern Bus Single Deck, Would probably Not See Change Out of Forty Thousand Pounds, New, But Consider The Fact A Person Could Puchase a New Austin,Morris Mini Car Or Austin,Morris 1100, For £150.00 To £ 200.00 And A MK2 Jaguar For Around £800.00 To £1000.00 Pounds, In The Mid Sixties, The Average 2 Bedroom House In 1963 Down Near Dover In Kent, Cost A £1000.00 That Was Built In 1933 And Became My Home In 1963, My Father's Job, As A Radio, T.V. Brown And White Goods Repair/Service Engineer, Was Around Thirteen/Fourteen Pounds A Week In 1968, After Stoppages and With Any Bonus/Commision, For Sales Of Such Items, If He had To Look After The Shop, If The Manger Or Sales/Till Assistant was Out, Off Ill Or At Lunch And His Second Hand Austin Cambridge A55 Cambridge From The Fifties Circa 1954/56 Cost From A Scrap Yard/ Secondhand Car Dealer In 1968, £10.00, Only had a Car When He Was Working Too. Therefor Because I Grew Up Around Practical ConStruction Using Wood Metals And Other Items, They Were In Terms Of Shillings, For wood And Metal Panels Of 8 Foot X 4 Foot , If Building As Of Late Seventies/ Early Eighties, House Bricks Cost, £5.00 Per Hundred From Our Local Brickworks Hammill Bricks And Sand And Blue Circle Or Rugby Cement For a 50lb 25 Kilogram Bag In The Same Era as Those Bricks was Less Than The Bricks Per Bag. The Materials Were Not That Expensive, And The Panels As Mentioned In The Film Were Taken Off Straightened, Dents/Bent Areas Removed, And Reused After A Primer Paint Coat, Then Resprayed With The Red Or Green Line Top Coats And Protective Varnished. Wooden Coach Work/Body Framing Only New, Being Machined And Replaced Where It Was Damaged Or Rotted Away, Almost Everything On Those Buses Is Capable of Being Stripped Down Tested For Tolerances And Replaced With New Ball Or Roller Bearings, Or On the Piston Crank Shaft/ Con Rod's Big/Little End, Bearing Shells And Crank Shaft's Journal Surfaces, Being Remachined If Necessary And Oversize Shells Fitted, Where It Is Necessary, Gear Boxes, Prop Shafts Differential And Rear Wheel Drive Shafts And all Bearings Are Also Replacable If That Needs To Be Done, If Maintenance Of the Oils Are Correctly Topped Up And Renewed/Changed At Correct Intervals, Those Engines, Gear Boxes, RWD Differentials Can Last For Fifty Years, With Occasional Reworking/Remachining And Not At Every Strip Down And Refit ! My Dad Was Also Royal Army Service Corps WWII Trained As Well, So I Grew Up Around That Too, And So Were All Of The World's Cars Capable Of The Same Repairs, Replacements Parts Too And Cheaper To Repair Than Throw Away. All The Old Steel Faulty Bearings, Gears, Shafts, Damaged Pistons (Though Damaged Pistons,Rare) And Various Metal Parts Were Melted Down And Could Be Recast/ Made In To New Parts/Assemblies Such As The Above, It Was More Cost Effective To Do That, We Threw Away Less In Engineering Then. We Throw Away More And It Costs More To Replace Now In Real Terms, With New Buses Cars Etc. We Need Places, Like In The Above Film To Do That Now, It Will Actually Cost Less As Labour Is Not As Expensive As Some Of The World Would Have You Believe, If Bus Fares Were Cheaper And The Transport In The Less Big Town Areas, As Readily Available As In London, And Not Lost After 5PM To 7PM To Out Lying Villages, More People Would Be Encouraged To Use Public Transport, In The Seventies for A While We Had Three Bus Services in Our Village Group Of Three/Four Villages And One Of Those Services the 88 Service, (1968 Till 1972 And they Were Nearly Always Near Full Of Passengers), To Dover Under The Old East Kent Road Car Company Was Every Half Hour Till 5 PM And Several Buses To Or Out Of Dover In The Evening Till past 10 PM Hourly, Last Bus Out Is 5.25PM Now And last Bus In On A Saturday Is Around 1.20 PM Now, No Sunday Services For Over Twenty years Now ! There Is A Load Of Distorted Information And Re Written Statistics Being Spouted Today About Our Past Triumphs In How Well Things Were Done, The Sixties Particularly Was A Growth Time In Exports And Manufacture Of Nearly Everything We Produced And Purchase Tax Was Not Charged Across the Board On All Items Finished or Certain Materials, As Evidenced By My Father's Electrical Wholesaler Supplier's Books, When he Did House Rewiring, Yes I Grew Up With A Broad Spectrum Of Skills, But People Who I Contract to On, (when They Are A Business) Electronic Repairs Think Charging £50.00 Per Hour Is Expensive For A Component Level Fault Find Repair And Parts On Top Which Are Still Cheap And As I Do Far Less A Year In Income, Than You May think, My Direct To Me Customers, (Not Through Who I Contract To), Earn Far more Than I And Are Happy With My Work And Repair Charges/Parts Cost For Repairing Much Loved Equipment. We Need Return To Repair Of Many Pieces of Equipment And Maximise Our Skills Training And Resources In Engineering And Allied Manufacturing And Repair Trades.