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| I have three London
Transport Gibsons, the first is numbered
25189. The ticket box has 29844-X painted
on it. |
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| The large wheel
on the left selects the fare. Two smaller
ones on the opposite side select fare
stage and ticket type. Ticket types
are ORD, C, C/M, X, COM and EMS. The
date is set by turning dials under an
opening on the top. |
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| The prices, in
pre-decimal shillings and pence, are
½d, 2d, 3d, 4d, 5d, 6d, 7d, 8d,
9d, 11d, 1s2d, 1s3d, 1s6d and 1s9d. |
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| Used on country
services, the date is printed instead
of the route number printed on central
buses. |
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| London Transport
issued special support straps which
held the machine tightly and safely
against the middle of the conductor's
body. |
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| My second Gibson
is numbered 32550. The ticket box has
32550-8 painted on it. |
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| The prices, in
decimal currency, are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12½, 7½,
2½ and 1½. |
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| Converting machines
from shillings and pence to decimal
pence took place in 1971. |
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| However, inflation
in the following years meant that the
price bands would need constant changing
or multiple tickets would have to be
issued. |
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| To avoid this,
most Gibsons were given a band with
letters instead of numbers and fare
charts were displayed in buses. |
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| Such machines
were called alpha-coded. |
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| My alpha-coded
Gibson is numbered 34181. The ticket
box has route 247 painted on it, although
this route seems to have been converted
to Pay As You Enter before alpha coded
machines were introduced.. |
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| Using a letter
instead of the amount allows any range
of fares to be used with one price allocated
to each letter. This means the passenger
always gets the same ticket and the
amount is calculated from the counter
for each letter. |
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| Machines often
had a label pasted on the top of the
ticket compartment showing the current
fares (an example is shown below). |
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| The letters on
this machine are A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, J, K, L, M, N and P. |
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| Ticket Classes: |
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| ORD |
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Ordinary (Adult) Single |
| C |
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Child Single |
| C/M |
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see below |
| X |
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Excess or Unpaid Fare (replaced by R for
Return on country buses and coaches) |
| COM |
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Adult Combination Tickets |
| EMS |
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Early Morning Special |
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The C/M class appears not to have been used.
I've been told it was meant to be Cheap/Midday. |
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I asked a contact at the London Bus Museum,
Weybridge and got this reply (a Spot was an
inspector): |
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I wasn’t sure until
I asked an old LT hand. He says it was or
at least should have been for a Child/Combination.
Where there wasn’t a fare shown on the
Fare wheel, and it was necessary to issue
two tickets for one fare, the theory was that
for an Adult, the first ticket was ORD and
the second COM, for a child’s fare the
first ticket was a C and the second a C/M.
He reckoned that the latter was rarely if
ever used, and they usually did a C &
COM. Suspect some sharp eyed “Spot”
might have picked it up, but unlikely. |
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| An example of a sticker showing
fare values for alpha-coded machines (dated February
1980). |
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| I haven't recently been able
to find a suitable ink for re-inking a Gibson. Water
based inks may damage the mechanism and should not
be used. |
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