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Videmat Machines Used On Buses In 80S


Guest heather

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Guest heather

has any one got any photos of videmat machines. they were used in 80s on buses. they,d print out your bus fare for you. childrens fairs were 2p

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has any one got any photos of videmat machines. they were used in 80s on buses. they,d print out your bus fare for you. childrens fairs were 2p

Hello heather and welcome to the Forum.

All I can offer is external views:

This one is in service in June 1983

And this is a preserved bus, seen at Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum in 2008. This picture shows the signs above the door "driver service" or "self service".

I didn't get much chance to use Videmats, as the bus routes I usually used didn't use the Videmat machines, so I was always thrilled when I did get chance to have a ticket which was a picture of the coins inserted into the machine.

There are a couple of forum members who should be able to provide further details, and, hopefully, photos.

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has any one got any photos of videmat machines. they were used in 80s on buses. they,d print out your bus fare for you. childrens fairs were 2p

Found this on the t'internet

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Even after all these years, I still don't know the correct way to pronounce the name of these machines

Is It?

Vidi mat (like the Vid in video)

Vide mat (rhymes with wide mat)

Vidy mat (rhymes with tidy mat)

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...the first one - vidi mat with the vid in video ! ;-)

Good to know I got something right all those years ago :rolleyes:

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Guest transit

....easy at the time MA ! as it was the "in word" at the time for this "modern" development ! - apart from when the inspectors who had to carry / change them when they frequently broke down , especially on school runs, and were full of washers/ paperclips screws ect ! - they were then called something else !!!! lol

Saw many getting replaced cos of this , with an inspector coming out to the site in an Escort van , then watched as he went blood red swapping the heavy cast iron Vmachine in/ out of his van !!!!

ps - the picture of the Videmat machine is mine taken on 754 which is preserved at Sandtoft.

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It was the inspector on the afternoon shift that fared the worse, by that time the Videmat's cash vault would be nearly full, and don't forget with Sheffield's cheap fare policy most of the coins would be bronze. As for the washers, paper clips and screws etc yes that did happen mainly on the school runs. but at least most of the kids would put their 2p fare in with them as well. It was the minority of adults that were the worst offenders, there would be very little cash at all amongst their contribution. The fare from Foxhill to City was 9p, and from Lowedges to city was 10p. Heaven only knows what would have gone in if fares had been like today's. W/E.

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Guest bus man

The other porblem with it , which I am suprised that Waterside Echo hasnt mentioned , was good old fashioned fraud.

If a group of say three people were boarding with a videmat machine and there fares were 6p, 4p, + 2p the total fare was 12p there fore if they just put 12p in it was possible for the two of them to get off and the remaining passanger to travel for the 12p fare this occured a lot. However the then regular ticket inspections stopped this.

Its worth pointing out that all the machine was , was a photo copier that copied what was put in the machine it was a good idea - on paper.

The machine shown above is I think a MKIV by then the cash hopper was red so as to make it easy to see and the ticket came out at the rear threw a metal slot the early ones it was at the front and was plastic .

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Rather than start a new topic I'll revive this one as it helps explain what Videmat was.

The other day I was asked which buses were actually adapted for Videmat operation.   A bit of delving revealed that all the 'H' plate 'Jumbo' Atlanteans (541-580, 642-681) and 'J' plate Jumbo Fleetlines  (682-711) had their lower deck seating reduced by one so as to presumably accommodate a machine.  561 - 580 though were only ever based at Greeland Road so probably never had a machine actually installed.  Also Fleeetlines 751-836 as well as the quad of Metropolitans (501-504) were built as Videmat capable.  Again, those only ever based at Greenland Road probably never had a machine fitted. The Metropolitans and some of the Fleetlines were used on Videmat routes in Doncaster.

By the 1980's the Jumbos were on their way out and Atlanteans 1601-1618, 1626-1632, 1678-168599, 1823-1832 were  modified for Videmat use as where Metrobus 450-461/487-488/490-492/495-496.

Where there any other Videmat buses that I have overlooked?

The Videmat routes in Sheffield were from memory, 4, 20, 33, 42, 53, 60, 97.  Have I missed any?   

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I am pretty sure they were in operation in the late 70s I worked out of Leadmill rd and remember them being on route 60 and I left the Buses before 1980 route 60 ran from the Railway station to Crimicar lane it was used by many first time visitors to the City who were attending University or one of the many Hospitals and clinics on its route plus it went through the Hgh street and past the Museum  by the time you reached the Cathedral you would have been asked a million questions IE does this bus take me to ?????

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They were definitely in use in the 70's, and before the cheap bus fares came in when SYPTE took over. I remember saving halfpenny's just to put in the machine, you got a ticket about 18 inches long!

Nigel L

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I found these online years ago, so they're not my pics, but I can't remember where they were from. Anyway if anyone claims them, I'm happy to acknowldge their scanning talents

 

890860126_STDVidemat(1).jpg.3f4b81dd8450a0990059346ac4905968.jpg703097415_STDVidemat(2).jpg.859616b6b1f6f0b3ea8b999ffa1cd41f.jpg

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As a driver at East Bank garage that used them on the 20’s and 33’s the problem was that anyone with the right money used the Videmat, anyone that didn’t used me. So I was always giving out change and getting nowt back. So every so often it was necessary to close off the Videmat in order to get some coins back to be able to give change.

When the Videmat was closed it was amazing how many passengers had to find extra coins to pay the correct fare. Fiddlemat was the terminology used by us at the time.

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