Beyond a handful of demonstrators, the Leyland Lynx did not make any impression on the Australian bus market. ACTION, the public transport authority in Canberra, operated at least one of the demonstrators, with an Australian-built body of a different style to this fictional version. The logo used here is of a more recent style - apologies for this but it is a case of using whatever I can get (14-Dec-16).
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Tags: Leyland Lynx ACTION Canberra Australian bus
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The government-operated bus service ACTION provides public transport throughout the Australian capital of Canberra. Notable to British transport enthusiasts in taking a batch of batch of Leyland Nationals, it also tried the latter's successor, the Leyland Lynx, but did not follow-up with an order for the type. This fictional image depicts an alternative Leyland product with bodywork by Leyland's Australian subsidiary, Pressed Metal Corporation of Sydney. As with the accompanying Leyland Lynx, the logo may not be strictly accurate for the period represented, but the overall effect is quite striking. Thanks to Peter Lynch for the base image (14-Dec-16).
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Tags: Leyland Tiger Pressed Metal Corporation PMC ACTION Australian bus
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Thanks again to Peter Tullock for another interesting monochrome image supporting notes sourced from Tony Petch in New South Wales. These ‘Viewmasters’ operated by Murray Valley Coaches revolutionised the long-distance services operating between Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra. The previous coaches had been normal-control ‘side-loaders’ with no central gangway and a door for each row of seats (much like a charabanc with a permanent roof). There has been conflicting information about the precise colours so I have opted for those depicted in contemporary advertisements (20-Nov-22).
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Tags: Murray Valley Coaches Foden PVS Lawson
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I've had a few Australian visitors to my Flickr site, which is nice. Especially for them, here is the first of a short series of Australian semi-trailer buses. The quality has been limited by the source material but I hope that they are of interest. This image depicts one of four AEC Matador 4x4 tractor units with operator-built bodies placed in service by Parramatta BC in New South Wales. The choice of tractor unit was determined more by availability of war surplus stock than the need for a particularly rugged design. The chassis was shortened in the company's workshop and fitted with a coach-built cab to match the profile of the company-built 11.4 metre semi-trailer. Contemporary advertising suggests that it initially carried a more stylish livery but this is how it appears in the book The Australian Articulated Bus (Trans Australian Publishing 1987). One problem experienced in service was the difficulty in drawing the complete unit close to the curb at bus stops; there were also several reported incidents of semi-trailer buses drawing away from bus stops with the conductor still on the kerb (11-May-10).
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Tags: semi-trailer bus AEC Matador Parramatta Bus Company digitally coloured
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I was recently loaned a long out-of-print book about Australian articulated buses. I wouldn't normally attempt to work from material in books for copyright and technical reasons, but they're so unusual that I decided to make an exception. This particular vehicle is described as a 1947 TMC (not GMC) with a 55-seat Waddington semi-trailer. It carries the livery of the Rover Motor Company of Cessnock, New South Wales, which is described in the book as red and silver with a blue band (the lighter tone of the tractor unit suggests that it was all-over silver). This company seems to have been one of the pioneers and major user of semi-trailer buses, which were a reaction to wartime constraints on the import of new buses. Initially used on busy urban routes, many seem to have migrated to tours and charter work in later life; indeed the last ones were purpose-built for this kind of work. Regular operation of semi-trailer buses ceased in the early 1960s but isolated examples continued to work into the 1980s, by which time a new generation of 'walk-through' articulated buses had begun to make their presence felt. Rover Motors continues to trade as Rover Coaches, one of the largest coach operators in New South Wales (11-May-10).
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Tags: semi-trailer bus Rover Motors digitally coloured
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