WIXLIB

SBS Underfloor-engined DaimlersSBSNoMTTNoIn serviceBird s457Bolton7/681/78Busselton t458-1/63 chassiscrackedParts321/55Rifle Bird459H Porter7/681/78M Brockwell,Horizon West331/55Bosun460H Porter6/6810/68Engine to 293Parts (body ex458 by MBB)345/55Petrel461H Porter6/688/78Geraldton StPatricks 64Bolton6/689/78Barrett4212/57-465H Porter7/688/78Shoeman-RebuiltWithdrawnDisposalNB 1: SBS 15 was the last SBS bus in MTT service.NB 2: SBS bodies were 48 seats, single door with a rear emergency door.Rebuilt bodies were 45 seats, 2 doors (second door after the rearaxle) and an emergency rear window.NB 3: SBS38 was rebuilt by MBB in 9/66 as a 49 seater.NB 4: SBS 41 was the last bus SBS put into service prior the company’sforced takeover by MTT.Scarborough Bus Service Semi-TrailersScarborough’s semi-trailers have been mentioned in some detail in Rattler464. In summary, all six trailers had their bodies built by MBB, (althoughBoltons assisted with the initial wooden mock-up to get the design licensed),all four White WA 20 prime movers had their bodies built by SBS or MBB,and four Foden prime movers had their bodies built by MBB, while the fifthFoden prime mover had its body built by Boltons.Austin Series 2 in SBS ServiceThe need to meet the growing population in the Woodlands, Innaloo,Doubleview and Scarborough area, together with some difficulties in gettingDaimler chassis from the U.K quickly enough, led Mr Harold Millett to useAustin/BMC (British Motor Corporation) chassis with a lengthened chassis(to increase seating capacity). Ray Nankivell obtained an engineeringRattler 4669January to March 2019

approval from BMC for this chassis lengthening to produce 39 seater buses.Although these buses were smaller and lighter than the Daimler underfloorbuses, they were noticeably cheaper and would last the four years before thethreatened MTT takeover of the company and its routes,SBS NoIn serviceMTT NoMTT withdrawnLater use3512/55529/63Parts362/56539/63Baptist church3910/56543/63Bullsbrook4012/56553/63?MBB Builds for OthersMBB built the body for Riverton Bus Service on a Daimler D650HS chassis.This bus entered service in February 1954 as a 48 seater, was renumberedas 455 in MTT service in May 1961, rebuilt to a 49 seater in March 1966 andwas withdraw from MTT service in February 1972, being converted to parts,with the body-on-wheels passing to the WA Transport Museum in 1974.The Railway Road Service had seven Guy Victory buses, three of whichwere raised passenger deck “Scenicruisers” (named “Pride of the West”,“Queen of the South” and “Wheatlander”, which were 36 seaters) and theother four were single deck (G63 was a 34 seater, the others were 36Scarborough Bus Service 32 "Rifle Bird", Daimler D650HS in MTT 459 livery still with its MBBbody prior to 1968. Photo: BPSWA Archives; N Pusenjak collection.Rattler 46610January to March 2019

seaters). As John Young mentioned(6, p205) these buses were “30 yearsahead of their time with hydraulic disc brakes, air suspension andindependent front suspension. They had a lot of mechanical problems . .”,which probably explains their service life of only about 11 years for the threenamed buses. G64 did not get its body until after the other buses, as it washeld for spares, until its body was built by Martin Nixon in 1964. (MBBhaving closed in the early 1960s.)Above: Scarborough Bus Service 36, Austin Series 2, photographed in Mt Hawthorn, c1958.Photo: BPSWA Archives; Ian Atkins collection.Below: Riverton Bus Service 4 Daimler Freeline D650HS with MBB body. Later MTT 455.Photographed outside the SBS/MBB premises when new in February 1954.Photo: BPSWA Archives; Nick Pusenjak collection.Rattler 46611January to March 2019

Railway Road Service Guy Victory BusesWAGRRRS NoNameBody byIn ServiceWithdrawnG58Pride of the WestMBB7/61Before 1972G59Queen of the SouthMBB7/61Before 1972G60WheatlanderMBB9/61Before Martin Nixon9/64?MBB Rebuilds for the Railway Road Servivce(4)The Western Australian Government Railway Road Service had seventeenAEC Mk III half cab buses, originally bodied by Boltons with wooden framedbodies in 1947 to 1949,. From the late -1950s most of these buses wererebodied by “Comeng” (Commonwealth Engineering), Boltons, or HowardPorter, although 7 were rebodied by MBB (A17 in August 1956; A25 inSeptember 1959; A5 in November 1959; A12 in July 1960; A7 in April 1960;A10 in August 1960; and A16 in October 1961), with the re-bodying involvingconversion to full-fronted metal framed body and in most cases, slopingpassenger windows. In the early post WW2 years, country WA roads wereoften gravel or crushed limestone with corrugations and/or potholes and thewooden framed bus bodies suffered from the extensive use on such roads.Three of these 17 AEC Mk III buses were also later converted to tow twoaxled luggage trailers.The RRS also inherited three full fronted AEC Mk IIIs from the MidlandRailways (when the WAGR took over the MR in 1948). These three buseswere also rebodied by MBB (ex MR 5 which became RRS A70 was re-bodiedin June 1960; ex MR 6, which became RRS A71 was re-bodied in November1961; and ex MR 8 which became RRS 72 was re-bodied in 1962).Various Owners – Austin ChassisRay Nankivell mentioned that when Daimler chassis became difficult toobtain from the UK, MBB went looking for business in the school bus marketand obtained many orders. Orders also came for furniture removal vans andtrucks as well as from country bus companies, and from funeral directors forhearses.Rattler 46612January to March 2019

WAGR Railway Road Service Guy Victory WUM G58 "Pride of the West" and G59 "Queen ofthe South" stored at the Kensington St East Perth WAGR RRS Workshop, c1971.Photo: BPSWA Archives; N Pusenjak collection.Some of the MBB built bus bodies on Austin chassis included (this list isprobably incomplete): Cooper’s Bus Service (Benger) – H1304, H1305, and H730.MacRobertson Miller Airlines – UAN 424; and a Series 2 Austin.UYM188 Love’s (Albany).MA353 “Miss Magnet”.A bus in the Goomalling Museum.SW5412 (Schmidt).6PG677 – motorhomeTCO82 Mandurah Bus Charters, andSt Ildaphonsus College (New Norcia) (later St Benedict’s College,later Salvado College).Motor Body Builders was an offshoot of the Scarborough Bus Service,based at 267 Scarborough Beach Road. The building is still standingalthough sold and converted to other commercial premises, though thename Scarborough Bus Service remains in the concrete rendered frontageof the premises, (when viewed on the 28th March 2018). MBB worked at therear of the SBS building and in an open yard on the Brady St side of theSBS workshop. A paint shop (or shed) was placed in the yard.The Scarborough Bus Service started in the 1920s and met the needs of agrowing population by building the bodies of a majority of their buses in theirown workshops. By the 1950s they had an attractive deep blue livery withRattler 46613January to March 2019

yellow flashes down the sides on a fleet of buses which were eye-catching.MBB also took on contracts which helped other bus companies, school busoperators and individuals to transport their segment of the population ofWestern Australia, until the compulsory government take-over and theformation of the Metropolitan Transport Trust, which led to the demise ofSBS and of MBB.Coopers Bus Service of Benger and Bunbury 4, Austin # H1304 enroute to Carey Park, June1973.Photo: BPSWA Archives courtesy Alan Mortimer.References:1.D. Urquhart’s website; www.perthbus.info . Considerable assistance is acknowledgedfrom this website in writing this article.2.Nankivell, M.G.(Ray), “My Family Line of NANKIVELL, Cornwall to Australia” privatepaper typed March 2018 (copy held by BPSWA).3.Ray Nankivell worked “pre-apprenticeship” for Beam and Parlour Cars in 1941-2, beforecommencing a five year Body Building apprenticeship with Campbell & Mannix on April19th 1943, and continued there another 2½ years before moving to Scarborough BusService and Motor Body Builders from mid-1951 to 1965, then establishing MetalBodies & Co, before being “head-hunted” to go to Howard Porter Pty Ltd from 1972 for2½ years and finally as manager of Freighter Industries WA. Body section for a littleover 2 years before resigning and moving into business broking for about 15 years.4.Young, J; Railway Road Bus and Truck Services of Western Australia, Success Print2010, particularly pp1122, 126-728-9, 153, 189 and 193-205Rattler 46614January to March 2019

BUSSING ARUBA STYLEThese colourful buses on the beautiful Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba really catch the eye!Tour Guide, Cesar, explained that the buses are imported second-hand from the US andrefurbished for the tourist trade. Windows are removed to allow fresh air flow (air-conditioningnot required) and then the buses are painted in the bold and attractive colours popular in theCaribbean. Above is a 2007 Hyundai Country, and below, a former school bus; an Internationalwith Bluebird body—with complimentary maracas!Rattler 46615January to March 2019

RESTORATIONSMalcolm Nixon of Nixon Engineering – Transport Engineers - of Wagga,NSW, has restored a magnificent 1912 Daimler CC double decker bus tooperating condition. The bus was originally one of 25 similar busesoperated by the Melbourne Omnibus Company founded in the same year tobecome the first motor bus operator in Melbourne.In 1912, the Company imported two complete Daimler CC model doubledeck buses to test Australian conditions. If successful, more importedchassis were to be placed in service, with bodies copied by local coachbuilders. The London County Council had ordered a similar 400 DaimlerCC buses for its London fleet. The Melbourne buses cost 1,250 each ondelivery. The specification called for an average speed up to 18mph with afull load.The buses proved to be reliable on the initial route between Brunswick andSwanston St and by the end of 1914 some 25 were authorised by theMelbourne City Council for a variety of routes, including an all-night service.That year more than 3 million passengers were carried, with the busesaveraging 34,000 miles per annum.Further expansion of the Melbourne fleet was halted when Daimler’sfactories in the UK were switched over to producing war chassis. Inaddition, a number of the London buses were commandeered for servicewith the Army in France.The Daimlers operated until 1920 when the Melbourne General OmnibusCo, as it became in 1914 through a merger, was absorbed into theMelbourne and Metropolitan Tramway Board [MMTB].The photos and technical information have been supplied by MalcolmNixon, who is a member of the Wagga Veteran & Vintage Car Club, and areused with permission.Additional information has been sourced from Wikipedia and the MelbourneTram Museum.Rattler 46616January to March 2019

Rattler 46617January to March 2019

Daimler built approximately 560 CC Bus chassis between June 1912 to1914. There are only 2 known CC in the world, one in Wagga Wagga,Australia and CC444 in England missing its motor.In 1913 Daimler factory produced 1000 vehicles with a workforce of 5000people and manufactured CB model and CC model with both using the same4 cylinder sleeve valve engine.The difference between the models is that the CB model had a 13ftwheelbase and heavier chassis for 4 tonne truck. The CC model had 12ftwheelbase for buses. In 1914, when war was declared, production of theCC stopped and the factory ramped up production of the CB model 4 tonnetruck for the military. In Australia, this is the oldest restored British builtDaimler commercial vehicle on the road.Rattler 46618January to March 2019

PostscriptsIn Perth, the first enduring metropolitan bus service was started by Mr R CField, in 1912 also. Field ran an open sided charabanc between CottesloeRailway Station and Cottesloe Beach on a summer service initially, thenbetween Redcliffe and Perth via the causeway all year round. In the 1920she sold out to Ethel and Harry Caisley, who in turn sold their growing fleetand premises in Redcliffe to Beam Transport Ltd in 1937. Beam became afounding fleet in the Perth (Metropolitan) Passenger Transport Trust [MTT] in1958.A staged photo of R C Field and his charabanc circa 1912.Photo courtesy of SLWA, Battye Library.There had been an earlier attempt to launch a motorised bus service in Perthby business entrepreneur, Sam Copley, who imported Stirling buses, thenchassis, from Scotland in 1903. The buses cost 800 each landed inFremantle. The venture was short-lived as the state of Perth roads at thetime (limestone, blue metal, gravel, pot holes and uneven timber bridgedecking) played havoc with the solid tyres, mechanical parts, chassis andcoachwork. Within a few years the bus were stored in a depot in JamesStreet, Perth and were lost forever when fire destroyed the premises duringthe first World War.Melbourne had a second venture into double decker buses in the late 1930s,when one complete Leyland TD5c gearless bus and 44 chassis to be bodiedby Australian coachbuilders were imported to replace the Bourke St cableRattler 46619January to March 2019

trams. The buses were not placed in service until 1940 when, at the requestof Government during the second World War, the cable service continuedrunning until the street cables were due for replacement. Unlike Sydney,however, the Melbourne public preferred high capacity single deck trams andsingle deck buses to the double deckers for their relatively short durationtrips and the buses were retired in 1954.Sam Copley imported both single and double deck buses from Scotland for his Victoria Parkand North Perth services. This is Stirling's Motor Carriages, Ltd., advertisement for the singledeck model. Photo from the Motor Car Journal, 12 September 1903.Bottom: MMTB Leyland Titan TD5c Line up Nth Fitzroy 1940 . Photo: MMTBRattler 46620January to March 2019

CATCHING THE BUS“Catching the Bus” - Illustrated Chart by Christopher SpavenIn 1950 when a young Chris Spaven moved from the bush to Cottesloe inPerth’s western suburbs with his family, there were 16 metropolitan busoperators actively providing public transport services throughout Perth,including 14 private companies. Few workers and their families ownedmotor cars and all relied heavily on buses. In those days, St George’sTerrace was a colourful bus parade of reds, cream, orange, brown andshades of green. As a child, Chris had occasional adventures on Metro,Beam, United and Foden pulled semi-trailers owned by North Beach Bus Coand WAGR.Many years later, Chris was living in Wembley and became friends with thelate Nick Pusenjak. Chris was enthralled by Nick’s encyclopaedicknowledge and enthusiasm and embarked on a project to bring to life a briefperiod of unique diversity in bus types. Howard Cowell’s photos hadrecorded the transition from wartime utility to underfloor buses. Chris set outto illustrate all the operators, all the makes, body styles and also to recordsome rare vehicles such as the 3 axle Leyland, forward entry Reos andsedan door entry Parlorcars. All buses except one were still in 1950’sservice. Thornycroft had disappeared and Reo, another big pre-war name,was dying. Unfortunately, Chris could not cover all operators in themetropolitan area at that time and therefore Caisleys and Federal areomissions.There are 21 buses illustrated on Chris’s chart. 13 of these buses are inpreservation at the moment with 5 restored to operating condition, 7 areawaiting restoration and the Parlorcar is in storage at the WA Museum’sWelshpool premises waiting for the finishing touches to its restoration. All ofthese buses have been collected and preserved under the auspices of theBPSWA and we hope they will all eventually be displayed in our own futureMuseum building.Chris has very generously donated his chart to the Bus Preservation Societyof Western Australia (Inc.) to occupy pride of place in our own museumbuilding when this comes into being. Meanwhile, Chris’ chart and adedication plaque to the late Nick Pusenjak are currently on display inRevolutions Museum in Whiteman Park. The Rattler cannot satisfactorilydepict Chris’s chart and we urge all members and interested people to visitRevolutions in Whiteman Park to see the chart and appreciate what acolourful parade Perth’s buses operated in the days before the MTT wasformed. There is a full description of all the buses illustrated on the chartand also a copy of Chris’s background notes regarding the history of thechart. We acknowledge Chris’s notes in the preparation of this article andhis ongoing support of the work of BPSWA.Rattler 46621January to March 2019

BUSES OF YESTERYEARA Pictorial History of Metro’s Leyland Royal Tigerswith bodies built by Boltons LtdIn 1952 and 1953 Metro acquired 26 Leyland Royal Tigers with PSUR1-1mid-engine, underfloor chassis buses. They were powered by Leyland’sE0600 6cyl 9.8L 125hp diesel engine and a 4 speed synchromesh gearbox.The single door saloon seated 48 passengers and came with a rearemergency door. The full load was 84 passengers, later reduced to 62under the Trust.Campbell and Mannix built 14 of the bodies with traditional timber framesand Boltons built 12 with metal frames under licence from CommonwealthEngineering. The two types h

Rattler 466 4 January to March 2019 The first bus numbered 466 in the MTT fleet was a rare, rear engine Foden