Bell Punch Ultimate Fare System 5 way Transport Wallasey Ferries Ticket Machine
On offer today is a Bell Punch Ultimate Fare System 5 way Transport Wallasey Ferries Ticket Machine in pretty good cosmetic condition with some surface scratches/blemishes commensurate with age and use.
Some machines were supplied with an all over hammered paint finish whereas others had a painted top plate but unpainted aluminium body. This is one of the latter and is quite striking and handsome. The ticket machine is also in full working order (and pretty heavy).
Approximate Size (WHD): 22 x 16 x 10cm
Mode of Use:
The 5-way machine was capable of issuing 10 denominations; 5 as single and 5 as double. The double tickets were issued by holding in the small button as the lever is pressed to push out the ticket.
A double ticket is distinguished from two single tickets by having the fare stage printed on the top ticket only. The fare stage is set using the knob on the side of the machine. This can be pulled out or pushed in to select one of the three positions to print the fare stage on the ticket. In the examples here they are single, child and return.
Ticket records are taken from the numbers on the tickets rather than from the machine counters. On this machine, (LH front view), the end counter is used to count the total tickets issued and indexes 1 digit when any of the other ticket levers are depressed whereas the ticket lever counters do not index. Using the double ticket button, the end counter indexes by two digits and the pressed ticket lever counter indexes by one digit.
These ticket machines were used by many bus services, and even car parks or deckchair attendants, and were the mainstay of ticket machines from the late 1950s until the late 1980s. This one however is pretty special: just look into the ticket cover and we see the print WALLASEY FERRIES 70s 1749. We presume that 1749 is the fleet number or “clipper” number.
Unfortunately we do not have any Wallasey Ferries ticket rolls but we do have three, unused, Bell Punch ticket rolls from Leicester City Transport that come with this wonderful machine. They have never been used , each roll stapled closed and having a 7 character alphanumeric series number sequence starting at zero.
We are not sure whether or not the ticket machine was used on the "Ferry Cross The Mersey!” or in actuality by Wallasey Corporation Transport Buses. Whichever, this is a fantastic artefact celebrating as well as having use on an icon of Liverpool, I doubt there is a similar one on offer.
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