A Bundy Clock, Birmingham City Transport. The Arboretum, Walsall, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom, Europe.
Walsall Arboretum is a Victorian public park located close to Walsall town centre in the West Midlands of England. Part of the park and surrounding housing are covered by the Arboretum conservation area. A Bundy Clock used by Birmingham City Transport to ensure that bus drivers did not depart from outlying termini before the due time; now preserved at the Arboretum. Bundy Clocks were a product of the Bundy Manufacturing Company of Binghamton (New York), America. It’s fascinating that at a time when the British public transport industry wasn’t particularly outward-looking, Birmingham City Transport should have imported this technology from abroad. The Bundy Clocks used by Birmingham City Transport were key clocks. Inside, in the large box part of the clock, was a paper tape spool, which turned in synchronisation with the clock at the top. When a bus or tram driver reached their route terminus, they would insert a unique key into the Bundy Clock, turn it, and the clock would record on the tape the time the bus or tram was there. Once collected, this gave paper proof to Birmingham City Transport’s managers of the timeliness (or otherwise) of its buses and trams, and their drivers.
Size: 2843px × 4434px
Photo credit: © Stan Pritchard / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: america, american, arboretum, binghampton, birmingham, bundy, bus, city, clock, company, drivers, england, europe, kingdom, manufacturing, midlands, record, time, transport, united, walsall, west, york
