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21 Years' Moorland Service

22nd February 1957
Page 46
Page 46, 22nd February 1957 — 21 Years' Moorland Service
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

TWENTY-ONE years of operation have brought little change in the conditions under which West Yorkshire Road Car Co., Ltd., and United Automobile Services, Ltd., run their joint stage service between the industrial West Riding and Whitby, on the Yorkshire Coast.

Indeed, fuel rationing has restored the pre-1935 position, when the service entailed a transfer by passengers at either York or Malton. This is, of course, only a temporary measure, but a feature of the route that has seen no change is the snow and ice which makes a mockery of this " daily" service most winters.

The variety of the scenery along the 75 miles traversed in summer (when there is an extension to Bradford from Leeds) is no compensation to the driver who, in winter, has to negotiate the Devil's Elbow at Saltersgate, climb the 1 in 44 Cow Wath hilt outside Goatb!and, and drop down the 1 in 5 Blue Bank for a mile into the Esk Valley before negotiating Ruswarp Bank into Whitby. No wonder U.A.S. take the precaution of fixing " stop-for-gearchanging " boards at certain points!

An idea of the serious effect that snow has on the service is gained from the experience of a driver from the West Yorkshire depot at Leeds three years ago. Returning from Whitby on the afternoon service one day, his bus stuck in the snoWdrifts at Saltersgate, about 12 miles from the resort.

He managed to get the bus back to Whitby and, returned to Leeds by train. The road from Pickering to Whitby was closed for a fortnight and, eventually, a driver was 'sent from the York depot to bring the bus back by way of the Scarborough coast road.

Two of the longest delays oecurnl during the winters of 1940 and 1947. In 1940, the service was cancelled for seven rig weeks; the severe winter of 1947 caused an 11-week shut-down.

Since the early days of bus services over the Yorkshire moors, there has been a change in operational tactics in bad weather. "We used to go on into the snowdrifts then," a U.A.S. official told me, "hut I'm glad "tb say that wiser counsels eventually prevailed."

lt was found that too much damage was done to the vehicles, and passenger safety became increasingly important over the years.

In winter, two through services are normally operated daily in each direction. A West Yorkshire crew takes the

morning bus out of Leeds for Whitby, has a 2+-hour layover, and. returns in the afternoon, the timing out of Whitby being 3.25 p.m. Generally, similar arrangements are oper.ated by U.A.S. working out of Whitby.

Vehicles are sometimes pooled in summer, a WestYorkshire crew taking a U.A.S. bus out on the early morning service from Leeds, and vice versa with the U.A.S. front Whitby. The extension to Bradford in the summer is worked by crews from the Bradford depot of West Yorkshire. Additional non-stop express services are also run at week-ends in the peak holiday months.

The normal service run takes four hours, including a refreshment stop. Bristol-Eastern Counties 31-seaters are popular vehicles now, on this route.

The service is timed not only to suit through passengers, but also to connect with the shorter service 91 between fvlalton and Whitby, operated by U.A.S, This stretch, too, can be held up for weeks by snow drifts. At other times, however, U.A.S. provide a reasonable service throughout the day for the isolated villages of what can be a very lonely part of England, W.R.L.


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