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Mk1 - W597
- Serial 30843 - 1956 |
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Mk1 - W777
- Serial 31023 - 1956 |
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Mk1 - R181-
Serial 38403 - 1958 |
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I have three unconverted Setrights
from Wales. The tickets still print in shillings
and pence. The money is recorded on two counters,
one for the shillings in pounds and shillings, the
other the pence in pounds, shillings and pence.
The two are added together for the total. Most Setrights
counted in shillings and halfpennies and were easily
converted to decimal currency. |
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W597 and W777 come from Western
Welsh. R181 has a blank serial number but is thought
to have been new to Red & White. It then passed
to Rhondda Transport. The back has the number 181
but not the letter R, although this does appear
on the ticket. |
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Mk1 - SO36
- Serial 22510 - 1954 |
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SO36 with
its later style motor |
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One of five motorised Setrights.
This one was new to Southend Transport in 1954 and
transferred to Eastern National when that company
acquired the Southend routes. The motor is of the
later type with a large button for extra speed. |
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The machine was converted to
decimal money but appears to have been changed back.
However, the word 'Shillings' is missing and the
halfpenny dial still only turns to 9½ instead
of 11½. It may be that conversion to decimal
was limited to removing the word 'Shillings"
and stopping the pence dial at 9½. Zero shillings
or tens and zero pence are shown as stars while
6 and 9 pence are followed by the letter D for old
pence. |
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Mk1 - 679
- Serial 17568 - 1953 |
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Mk1 - 744
- Serial 17633 - 1953 |
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Mk1 - 1066
- Serial 17955 - 1953 |
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Three from Western National. |
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Like many Setrights, these
have a ticket canceller on the front. A ticket can
be over-printed without affecting the number of
tickets recorded as issued. Cancelling in the main
slot would increase the total counter. |
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Mk1 - E631
- Serial 15328 - 1952 |
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Mk1 - 1120
- Serial 18809 - 1954 |
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Mk1 - BT1231
- Serial 34174 - 1957 |
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The second of my five motorised
Setrights, E631 comes from Eastern National. |
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1120 came from Red Bus of
Barnstaple and had Red Bus tickets jammed in it
when I got it. The machine appears to be typical
Western National Setright but somehow has a serial
number allocated to London Transport. The ticket
types are Western National and not London Transport. |
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New to Bristol Omnibus Co in
1957, machine BT1231 has been refurbished since
withdrawal. The additional security plates fitted
by Bristol have been removed. The dials are set
to prevent zero value tickets being issued, another
Bristol security feature. 1231 was acquired with
the standard BOC green fibre box. The box is marked
13/54. |
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Mk2 - 2180
- (no serial number) |
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2180 with
its older style motor |
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From Eastern Counties, this
motorised Setright was acquired with a motor, the
older version with a recessed button. |
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The mark 2 is bigger and heavier
than the mark 1. Mark 2s do not have a serial number
and the year of manufacturer is not known. |
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Mk1 - 308D
- Serial 46895 - 1960 |
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Mk1 - 986D
- Serial 45135 - 1960 |
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Mk1 - 1093D
- Serial 45242 - 1960 |
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These four were new to Hants &
Dorset and later passed to the new Wilts
& Dorset. |
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The letter D was added as each machine
was converted to decimal currency in
1971. |
1473 does not have this marking as
it dates from after 1971. |
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The letter M indicates motorised but
was not always applied. |
All of these four were motorised but
1093 now has a fixed handle again. |
986 is shown with a clip-on handle
attached. |
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Mk2
- M1473 - (no serial number) |
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Mk2 - F473
- (no serial number) |
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A conductor's
sling and . . . |
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. . . and
a driver's handle |
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F473 is from Alexander Fife,
in Scotland. The mark two Setright has a taller
column with larger dials than the mark one. On this
machine the hole punch is plastic, unlike earlier
versions which were metal. |
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The last two images are of
a conductor's sling to wear the machine over the
shoulder(s) and clip-on handle, used by drivers
when the motor failed or to take fares inside the
bus. |
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SO36 |
R181 |
308D |
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F473 |
W597 |
E631 |
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679 |
744 |
W777 |
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986D |
1066 |
1093D |
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1120 |
BT1231 |
M1473 |
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2180 |
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These are the Setright ticket
machines in my collection. The Setright Speed was
the standard machine for both conductors and pay
as you enter buses while I was on Hants & Dorset
and definitely my favourite type. Ours had a hole
punch mounted on the top, some had it on the side.
Before 1971 these machines had a price range of
0s0d to 19s11½d in ½d steps. On conversion
to decimal money, this became £0.00 to £1.99½
by changing the shillings to tenpences and preventing
the halfpence dial turning beyond 9½. |
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Changing or inserting
a ticket roll |
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Lay the machine on its studs and remove
the ticket roll cover (1). |
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Turn the small wheel (2) anti-clockwise
so that the groove in it clears the
small catch (3). This releases the machine's
grip on the tickets. Gently pull out
any remaining tickets and set them to
one side. |
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Position the new roll over the spindle
so that the tickets feed off in an anti-clockwise
direction. Feed the end of the ticket
into the opening so that the side to
be printed is facing away from you and
towards the machine (4). It may help
to curve (not fold) the tickets slightly
in the direction as in the photo. Also,
tearing the end at a slight angle may
help. Gently feed the tickets into the
machine. If you feel any resistance
or believe that the tickets are folding,
gently pull them out and tear off any
folded section. |
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Once you have tickets coming out of
the top of the machine, turn the wheel
(2) clockwise so that the slot engages
with the small catch. This prevents
the tickets moving without the handle
being turned. |
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Tighten the roll of tickets if necessary,
replace the cover (1) and secure with
the catch. |
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Carefully tear off the surplus ticket.
Take the ticket between finger and thumb,
pull down towards the top of the machine
with a slight clockwise rotation, the
ticket coming towards the back of the
machine. This will cut the ticket. Do
not pull tickets outwards (towards the
handle) from the machine without cutting.
This is the most common cause of ticket
jams. |
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If the tickets become jammed, proceed
as for changing a ticket roll, easing
the tickets out from the bottom of the
machine slowly to prevent them tearing.
Discard any folded tickets before re-inserting
the roll. |
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In the event of tickets becoming torn
off within the machine, this will need
to be cleared by removing the end (opposite
end to the handle) plate and then the
front and back plates. Note that this
can result in ink on work surfaces,
clothes and hands. Choose the first
two carefully and invest in disposable
gloves and/or a good hand cleanser. |
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You should be able to see the jammed
portion of tickets. Carefully remove
all pieces with tweezers, checking that
nothing drops into other parts of the
machine where it might cause further
problems. Check that you can feed tickets
through the machine before closing it. |
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You might also want to rewind the
ink ribbon onto the front bobbin. The
rear bobbin takes up the ribbon as it
is used. Take care not to crease the
ribbon. The ribbon can be rewound several
times and will print thousands of tickets
before needing to be replaced. If you
only want to print an occasional ticket
to show that the machine is working,
you need not fully rewind the ribbon. |
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Opening the machine |
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As mentioned above, you are likely
to get ink on your hands, clothes, work
surfaces and anything else you handle.
Choose a location where this will not
be a problem and consider wearing disposable
gloves. |
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Lay the machine down and look at the
plate on the opposite end to the handle.
(Note: never attempt to remove the plate
at the handle end). The top of the end
plate on your machine may look different
from the photo. There may be one screw
or two. If there is a lead or wax seal
covering the screw, this will need to
be removed and discarded. |
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Remove the screw(s). If the screw
has no head in which to insert a screwdriver,
it will need to be drilled out and replaced. |
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The end plate should now lift out
out revealing the ink ribbon on its
two bobbins. |
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Pull the front and back plates straight
out towards the open end and set them
to one side. Look out for the clear
covers over the ticket counters, these
sometimes become detached. |
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With the machine open, you can now
clear jammed tickets and rewind or replace
the ink ribbon. |
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Before closing the machine, look around
the inside for any debris such as paper
fragments which may get into the cogs
or onto the ink ribbon. |
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Tip |
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When fitting a new ink ribbon,
cut the old one so that you leave
a section passing through the
machine and hanging out on both
sides. Staple the end of the new
ribbon to the old one on the front
(half-pence, slot,) side. Pull
the ribbon through to the other
(shillings, studs,) side.
Remove the old section and the
staple(s). Fit the end of the
new ribbon to the rear bobbin,
push the bobbins in to place and
tighten the ribbon. In use, the
ribbon slowly unwinds from the
front bobbin on to the rear one.
You will need to remove both front
and back plates to change the
ribbon. |
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Closing the machine |
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Once you are satisfied that everything
is in order, slide the front and back
plates back into place along their grooves,
making sure that they seat fully into
position at the handle end. You may
need to guide them over parts of the
mechanism as you do so. |
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Locate the bottom of the end plate
into the groove in the base of the machine
and then over the pin at the top. Secure
the plate with the screw(s). |
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Mechanical problems |
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If the machine jams while the handle
is being turned, stop immediately and
do nothing until you have checked that
the problem is not jammed tickets. Never
force the handle, this can lead to major
damage. Do not turn the dials. |
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If you can remove the tickets and
the handle is still stuck, open the
machine. |
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If you cannot see any obvious problem,
try applying a small amount of oil to
the cogs and give this time to work
through. Try to avoid getting oil on
the ink ribbon or areas where it will
get onto the tickets. |
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If this allows the handle to turn,
close the machine and re-insert the
tickets. |
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If this does not solve the problem,
you will need someone with mechanical
knowledge to investigate further. I'm
afraid this is outside my experience. |
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I haven't been able to find replacement
ribbons recently nor a suitable ink
for re-inking an old one. Water based
inks may damage the mechanism and should
not be used. Re-inking is a messy business
but is likely the only alternative. |
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