Pay As You Enter

In the 1970s OMO was not just a washing powder. The letters stood for One Man Operation, a system of streamlining operations across the country’s bus services. It did this by placing ticket sales and money handling in the hands of the bus driver, negating the need for conductors and rendering many of them redundant. This meant that the driver not only had to drive the bus, but was now a bus company’s customer services operative and money man. One man operation was a concept which began the 1950s with the advent of the full-fronted bus, as it was not able to be put into practice on any route operated by a half-cab vehicle. By the early sixties simple economics provided the drive for blanket OMO and the removal of half cabs from scheduled services. Following the Transport Act of 1968, the formation of the National Bus Company the following year meant that vehicles could be relocated between separate operating areas with minimum fuss to satisfy operational requirements across the UK. By the early 70s Western National’s double decker roster in Cornwall was made up predominantly of Bristol Lodekkas (such as No.1973, pictured above at Camborne in 1980). To speed up OMO in this area front entrance "Pay As You Enter" vehicles were required.
To this end second-hand Leyland Atlanteans were shipped in from other operating areas. Western National's drivers and fitters had plenty of experience with the type as they had taken control of Devon General's fleet of over 60 machines. The fact that the NBC had a corporate livery meant that transference could be achieved with little delay, and the vehicles duly arrived from Trent, PMT and, in the main, Maidstone & District between 1975 and ‘77. The two Maidstone & District Atlanteans pictured above and below are examples of the two types transferred, although these particular vehicles were not among those which headed to the south west. In the following posts I will describe the transferred vehicles in more detail.