Mass Transit
Soviet Bus Stops
Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig has been on a mission to raise awareness of Soviet bus stops. He feels that they're an under-appreciated form of architectural art, "built as quiet acts of creativity against overwhelming state control." But he warns that they're disappearing fast due to demolition.He collected together over 150 of his photographs in the 2015 book Soviet Bus Stops. More recently, a documentary film, again titled Soviet Bus Stops, follows his years-long effort to photograph the bus stops.
More info: Soviet Bus Stops
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jun 14, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Architecture, Mass Transit, Books, Documentaries, Bus
2 A.M. in the Subway
Some daring female leg action here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 06, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Mass Transit, Movies, Police and Other Law Enforcement, Public Indecency, Twentieth Century
Worst bus service
The following story appeared in The Book of Heroic Failures by Stephen Pile (first published in 1979):Can any bus service rival the fine Haley to Bagnall route in Staffordshire? In 1976 it was reported that the buses no longer stopped for passengers.
This came to light when one of them, Mr. Bill Hancock, complained that buses on the outward journey regularly sailed past queues of up to thirty people.
Councillor Arthur Cholerton then made transport history by stating that if these buses stopped to pick up passengers they would disrupt the time-table.
Versions of the story have subsequently appeared in other books, and have circulated online. However, all these other versions seem to rely on Pile's reporting.
And when I searched newspaper archives I couldn't find any confirmation that this incident happened. Which makes me wonder if it really did.
Of course, it might have been reported in a local paper that was never archived online. But some searching around the Internet reveals that I'm not the only one to have wondered if the story might not be true. Check out this comment by "skifans" in the CasualUK subreddit:
This PDF of Staffordshire County Council elections also makes no mention of anyone of that name. A Cholerton stood (and won) a seat in 1973, 1977, 1981 and 1985 - and did not stand in future elections. The seat they stood in for the first to is Stoke On Trent No. 19 (9630), maybe someone knows how to work out where this is but I can't, but for the last 2 it's called Great Fenton - thats in Stoke but not the right area for a route between Hanley and Baghall, on Google maps Great Fenton looks to be just south of the city center and Hanley just to the north, with Bagnall being a small village further to the north east. But the bigger problem, Councillor Cholerton has the first initial F, not A.
There was also an Arthur Cholerton in Stoke, but not as a counciler. Someone with that name was Lord Mayor - but they held the position between 1971 and 1972. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lord_mayors_of_Stoke-on-Trent) Alternatively maybe F. Cholerton and Arthur Cholerton are the same person? Between 1981 and 1989 Frederick Arthur Cholerton held the position of chairmen of Staffordshire county council, may they have gone under both names? https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Your-council-and-democracy/Civic-and-Ceremonial/The-Chairman-of-the-county-council/Past-Chairmen.aspx
Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 11, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Mass Transit, 1970s, Bus
Urban transport of the future
"The nightmare of traffic jams. On a street in New York City, the postal clerk George A. Compton, immobilized with his car in a traffic jam, after an exasperating wait went berserk. He got out of the car and took off his shoes and started to climb the river of cars, leaping easily from car to car."
"Will cities be like this? Here's how the problem of traffic in cities could be lightened, if not completely solved: tiny single-seater cars that occupy a small area."
Source: La Domenica del Corriere - December 16, 1962 (via ebay)
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 18, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Mass Transit, Transportation, 1960s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Follies of the Madmen #272
Please spend half a minute to contemplate the subtext of this imagery. A pagan housewife (prefiguring BEWITCHED?) performs black magic to seduce and beguile a priest, with hubby nowhere in sight. Happens in 1950s suburbia every Sunday.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 17, 2016 -
Comments (10)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Domestic, Food, Mass Transit, Religion, 1950s
The Brown Line
The number 2 bus runs on number 2 so I figure that's the brown line.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 16, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Garbage, Trash, Waste and Other Detritus, Mass Transit, Utilities and Power Generation, Excrement, Natural Resources, Bus
New York bus driver’s “spring fling”
On Friday March 28, 1947, at 6:55 a.m., Bronx bus driver William Cimillo got into his bus to start his daily route. But then something happened. The open road called to him. He said later that he was overcome by "that old spring-time urge." He started driving, and he didn't stop until he reached Florida, where he was found four days later at a race track. During the entire trip, no one ever asked him why he was driving an empty New York bus down the highway.
"Baby, this is it... I just got the old springtime urge."
The bus company filed charges of grand larceny against him, but the public rallied in support of him, feeling that Cimillo simply gave in to that "yearning for escape" that everyone feels at one time or another. So eventually the company forgave him and put him back on the job, on the condition that he was on probation for one year.
Read more about Cimillo's adventure here and here.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 23, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Mass Transit, 1940s
Station Wagon or Limousine?
Posted By: Nethie - Sun Aug 22, 2010 -
Comments (9)
Category: History, Mass Transit, Motor Vehicles, Cars, Transportation, 1960s
Outside His Comfort Zone
Posted By: Nethie - Fri Apr 23, 2010 -
Comments (4)
Category: Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Eccentrics, Mass Transit, Travel
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |