Coventry Corporation TIMs (pre-war)

TIM machines in Coventry first appeared around 1935/36 and by 1938 at least 350 machines had been supplied. There were separate series of Standard (short-range) and Major (long-range) machines. Tickets from the Standards have been seen numbered in the range 606 to 797 and 1 to 13 (some of the earlier machines showed an additional "A" in a separate panel). Tickets from Majors have been seen numbered in the range P2 to P175. A selection of four tickets is illustrated here from the World War 2 period.

During WW2 tickets were printed in grey ink. Above is a ticket from what is believed to be Coventry's first machine (a short-range one). Note the dot appearing after the machine number 606. This is to help identify the issuing machine as number 606 and not 909 (which could occur if the number were read the other way round). Now go and search your TIM collections for similar examples and let me know what you find!

Towards the end of the war, ticket rolls were being manufactured from very inferior recycled materials, not all of which were paper! The utility ticket roll used in short-range machine 740 shown above is made of very grey paper which is full of flecks of red, blue and green materials.

The first 40 of the long-range machines displayed the machine number and ticket class together as shown above for machine P9.

The remaining long-range machines, P41-P175, had the machine number set in the main frame of the ticket and the class shown separately as illustrated above. Note also the use again of a dot after the machine number 169 to prevent possible confusion with number 691. It is worth noting that the special number 69 does not need a dot because it can be read just as enjoyably either way round and it remains the same. (The same could be said for the not so special number 96).