Ventilation

I recall an article (now long lost) in a copy of Buses Magazine of the late 1960s on the conundrum of a batch of Bristol Omnibus Bristol/ECW MWs (or was it REs?) and their inconsistent arrangement of hoppers and slider ventilators. The article left an impression far beyond its original purpose or intention. It seemed to typify the enthusiast of the time and the interest in minutiæ the hobby generated.

Let us not forget the importance of ventilators and hoppers. Aside from a minority of buses now equipped with aircon, ventilators and hoppers have proven their worth over many, many decades in airing buses. There really is no cheap alternative to getting fresh air through a vehicle other, of course, than an open rear platform.

Whatever the arrangement on modern buses, the issue of ventilation does remains an issue, though, not least because we are now in summer. But it also can be a minor irritation to passengers, too, especially in spring and autumn or in colder, wetter weather.

I’ve always found it interesting that passengers in search of air will open their adjacent ventilator, the one immediately above their head, and not the one forward of where they sit. This means that they get almost no benefit at all from the ventilator but that people behind them, who may be happy with their own micro-climate, suddenly have it disturbed. In typical British fashion, we rarely complain, putting up with the rush of unwanted cold air.

Even so, ventilation is of importance. But thankfully we’ve lost the front-facing upper deck hinged ventilators of old that would send an unwelcome blast of Siberian air all the way down the upper deck—just because someone at the front was feeling hot.