Green Signals26 Dec 2024

A Life in Transport: Buses, trains and trams - Roger Bowker

Richard Bowker is in conversation with his father Roger Bowker, a legendary transport industry professional who spent 62 years in the bus industry working for Eastern National, Oldham Corporation, SELNEC, Greater Manchester Transport, Rossendale Transport, Eastbourne Buses, London Transport and Stagecoach Group.

A pioneer with the industry, Roger Bowker’s passion for excellence in service whilst at the same time delivering a profitable business means he is highly respected amongst his peers. His passion for transport began with railways though and in this video, he discusses the influence that his father (who also worked on the railways during the Second World War) had on him.

We hear about 10000 and 10001, the Coronation Scot, Clan class locos on the West Coast Main Line, rides on the Keswick line as well as the Coniston and Lake Side branches. We also hear about tram and trolleybuses. Everything is covered!

This is a wonderful trip down memory lane but where all the memories and messages are as relevant to public transport today as they were in the 1950s and 1960s.

In this episode:

(00:00) Intro (00:30) Influence of Bob Bowker, Father (01:12) A reserved occupation during the War (06:12) 10000 & 10001 (08:02) A Coronation class Pacific at Perth (10:27) Trips to London and London trams (13:20) Moving to Barrow (16:37) Barrow railway scene in the 1950s (18:52) Ration Books (19:40) Freight trains to Barrow (23:11) Shipyard station and Sunday school outings (25:27) The Coniston branch (26:30) The Lake Side branch (29:55) First ride on a Derby Lightweight DMU (34:12) Family runabout tickets (36:04) Morecambe (36:38) Liverpool and the Overhead Railway (40:11) The Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith line (42:50) Gricing on Clan class locos on the West Coast Main Line (44:42) Water troughs (45:43) A love for Buses (51:00) Training as a schedule clerk at Eastern National (55:32) The Virgin bid for East Coast (56:50) East London Buses, Stagecoach and Souter Investments (1:00:30) Greater Manchester Museum of Transport (1:06:00) The Last Bradford trolleybus (1:07:07) The Midland Pullman (1:08:54) A passion for trolleybuses (1:10:20) Final thoughts

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Credits: Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)

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