The

TTLER Monthly Newsletter of the

Bus Preservationlpociety

of Western Australia

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Presumably posed on the foreshore at Flinders Bay, judging by the destination board, this WA Government Railways Road Services van [4777] was a little out of the ordinary. Based on a Foden PVSC6 chassis (N2 27338), it had a short wheelbase (17'6") with heavy duty springs and seemingly was originally destined to be a double decker in NSW. For some reason, the chassis was diverted to WAGR, fitted with Commonwealth Engineering single deck full front bodywork and entered passenger service in April(?) 1950 as F33. In 1958, it was rebuilt as a van, with all seats and side windows removed, and operated from Bunbury Depot on Margaret River area freight runs. After withdrawal, it ended up at Soltoggio Bros and was eventually scrapped. Can any reader provide additional information relating to this vehicle or the photograph date / location?

RATTLER 347 July 2001

Bus Preservat ion Soc ie ty of Western Austral ia ( inc)

[X] Postal address ^ S e c r e t a r y For all general correspondence, ] 1 Trafa lgar R o a d including membership enquiries Lesmurdie W A 6076 and other matters.

The RATTLER is a monthly publication circulated to members of the Bus Preservation Society of Western Australia (Inc) as part of their subscription. It is not sold through newsagents or booksellers, so does not have a 'per issue' price.

Copyright © 2001 Bus Preservation Society of Western Australia (Inc) and individual authors. Material published in The RATTLER may not be reproduced in any form unless prior written approval is sought and received from the Editor, except in the case of information extracted from news items which may be used in kindred enthusiast publications provided that acknowledgment is made of the source.

The opinions expressed in articles in The RATTLER are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect or coincide with the views of the Bus Preservation Society of Western Australia or of the Editor.

Editor: Colin Davison Distribution : Christopher Bell Material for publication in The RATTLER, including news items, articles and photos, should be sent to

or by e-mail to

PO Box 58 Burswood WA 6100 seedee@iinet.net.au

General Meeting The next General Meeting will be held on Friday 27 July 2001, starting at 20:00, and will be followed by the 2001 Annual General Meeting.

The venue will be the BPSWA Depot at Whiteman Park. Entry is via the Dulwich Street gate, which will be attended by a Council member between 19:30 and 19:45. Anyone arriving after that time will be unable to gain entry unless they have their own individual key to the gate padlock. Members with transport difficulties are requested to contact the President, Max Hayles, on 9349 4125. Remaining meeting dates for 2001 are 28 September and 23 November.

July 2001 The RATTLER 347

Production of The Rattler The unfortunate delays so far this year in providing members with timely copies of the newsletter have been discussed with the current Editor, Colin Davison. It has been agreed that he will complete all outstanding issues up to and including the August edition. Effective from the September 2001 issue, Mark Tattersall will take over as Editor. Colin intends to continue contributing material, including general Transperth news, for inclusion inTheRattler. At this stage, it is anticipated that the long overdue March issue will be

Wished by the end of August, along with that months edition, while the April and May issues are likely to reach readers around mid-September, from which month the former production deadlines will be resumed.

l i t is proposed that detailed news about Transperth and private operator bus § fleets will no longer appear inThe Rattler. Any reader who has a specific • interest in such material is requested to contact the President, Max Hayles 1(9349 4125), so that they can be included in arrangements for periodic • circulation of "bulletin" style updates, from September onwards.

Photo albums A number of photo albums, mainly containing historical views of Metro and early MTT buses, are missing from BPSWA's archival collection. Any reader who knows of their present location is requested to telephone the President, Max Hayles on 9349 4125.

Fund raising jpdating the "Sausage Sizzle" item in the last issue, BPSWA has now

participated in 7 "Sizzles", boosting our income by a healthy total of $1165.

Kalgoorlie News iSBIliHill^sli^^ili -•mm

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Early in June, the State government announced a project to upgrade every bus stop in Kalgoorlie - Boulder. New bus stop posts on which basic route and timetable details (from Goldenlines Bus Service) can be displayed are being supplied by Dept of Transport and installed by the City Council, with the aim of improving the quality of information and amenity provided to the public. Albany and Carnarvon have already benefitted from a similar project, with other regional centres due to follow suit.

RATTLER 347 July 2001

From Cameron Bell of South Perth

I'm curious about the ex-MTT Leyland bus shown in the accompanying photos (below). It was pictured at Pardoo Station in northwest WA and the number clearly visible inside was 489. I look forward to whatever details of the bus any reader can provide.

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Perth MTT 489 [UQB489] was a Leyland Royal Tiger OPSU1/1 (chassis number 511585) with bodywork by Boltons of West Perth. It was new to Metro Buses Pty Ltd as 112 [45 712], one of a batch of ten 48 seaters numbered 106 to 115, entering service on 9 November 1952. The body style is almost identical to Kalamunda Bus Service 17, the 1951AEC Regal IV owned and preserved by BPSWA member Stuart Kostera.

The Metro fleet formed the major component of the MTT fleet when it began operating at the end of August 1958, and 112 retained its previous number. Later, the emergency door in the centre of the back end was removed, allowing the seating capacity to increase to 49. 112 was renumbered 489 in 1975 to make way for a (then) new Mercedes Benz O305 (which in turn has been withdrawn, in December 1999).

According to the June 1978 issue of Rattler, the OPSU1/1 was withdrawn

July 2001 RATTLER 347

from MTT service in April 1978 and officially passed to the WA Week Organising Committee, reregistered on WA Gov't plate [XQF011]. 489 was repainted in a somewhat garish livery of yellow top (still visible in Cameron's pictures) relieved by orange, red and black bands, and dubbed "Fun Bus". Internally, some seats were removed and others rearranged to enable fitting of a mini-bar for dispensing samples of WA wines. Seating capacity was thus reduced to 36.

The alterations were so that the bus could be used to operate two-hour "Vintage Tours" twice daily during the 11 days of WA Week (trust an event )ganiser to want more than 7 days in a week!), from Monday 29 May to

Friday 9 June 1978. These departed from the Perth Central Bus Station at 10:30 and 12:45, and visited points of historic interest around Perth. The MTT supplied the drivers, mainly from the select group of Causeway Depot staff who were once regularly rostered to conduct the popular Sundays only City Clipper Tours, and also maintained, cleaned and fuelled the bus.

If any reader can supply additional information on the history of 0PSU1/1 112/489, particularly its owner(s) after the WA Week Committee, please contact the Editor or BPSWA Secretary - Ed.

Royal Tiger OPSU1/1s delivered to Met

stMJi e the old hrernarttie Depot, in February 197

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RATTLER 347 July 2001

Transperth News Compiled by C W Davison

Patronage increase In late May, Hon Michelle Roberts, the Minister responsible for Transperth, announced statistics which show that Perth's public transport system has experienced one of its highest ever periods of growth, In the 8 months to February 2001, there had been a 7-2% increase in patronage, equating to almost 38 million journeys, compared with a little over 35 million in the equivalent period in 1999 - 2000. Much of the growth was attributed to improvements made to the network (ironically, at the instigation of the previous government) which saw the introduction of an extra T8 million operating kilometres. Major initiatives, such as the introduction of the 900 Series High Frequency Buses service between Fremantle and Rockingham, and continued enhancement of the popular Circleroute, were cited as significant factors in the performance boost.

Fares increase In late June, WA Treasurer Eric Ripper announced increases in a range of State government fees and charges, including some public transport fares. While concession fares will remain "frozen" in accord with pre-election promises, standard (ie, adult) fares for some zones rose an average of 2-5% as from 1 July. Arguably, the most notable rise was the modest 10 cents added to the 2-zone fare, taking it to $2.80 - this affects quite a significant proportion of Transperth users. It will be interesting to see whether the fare increases have an adverse effect on sustaining the encouraging patronage gains mentioned above.

Machinery of Government Review In regard to the proposed absorption of the Department of Transport into a new Department for Planning & Infrastructure (DPI), the Machinery of Government (MOG) Review Panel, chaired by former Transperth CEO Stuart Hicks, advocates establishment of a new WA Transit Authority. Available details are still quite sparse, but it seems likely that this agency would take over responsibility for the Transperth and WAGR passenger systems, as well as regional bus operations such as Bunbury City Transit and Kalgoorlie's Goldenlines Bus Service, among others. The Authority would seemingly have some degree of independence, especially in terms of operational policy, while being dependent upon the DPI for its annual budget and much of its financial expenditure, its other income being derived mainly from farebox revenue.

July 2001 RATTLER 347

Bus fleet

After the flurry of activity in May, deliveries were back to the normal monthly quota of 8 in June (the reason for the slow down, or last months speed up, is unclear), outstripped two-for-one by withdrawals.

As predicted in last months issue, PATH Transit's pair of Dennis Dart SLF midibuses have been withdrawn and sent to associated ATE subsidiary South Link in Adelaide, SA (see photo below). Difficulties with spare parts availability and a desire to standardise the fleet to a greater extent are the

ain factors behind their re-allocation, although their reputedly sluggish jjerformance (compared with most other buses in the PATH Transit fleet) and consequent driver complaints may well have provided added incentive for their removal from Transperth activity. 2001 went east a day or two after its withdrawal on 7 June, whilst 2002 left Perth to follow its twin on the two day trek across the Nullarbor Plain about a fortnight later, on 21 June.

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New vehicle 1206 TP1206 1207 TP1207 1208 TP1208 1209 TP1209 1350 TP1350 1351 TP1351

1817 TP1817 1819 TP1819

deliveries 06/01 Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L

Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L Mercedes Benz O405NH Volgren CR225L

Chassis Nos : 1206- WEB612418 21 097603 1207- WEB612418 21 097605 1208- WEB612418 21 097600 1209- WEB612418 21 097606 Body Nos : 1206- VP0149 1208- VP0151 1207- VP0150 1209- VP0152

1350- WEB612418 1351 - WEB612418 1817- WEB612418 1819- WEB612418

1350- VP0147 1351 - VP0148

B41Dw .06.01 B41Dw .06.01 B41Dw .06.01 B41Dw .06.01 B41Dw .06.01 B41Dw .06.01

B35Dw .06.01 B35Dw .06.01

21 097601 21 097602 21 097607 21 097695

1817- VP0153 1819- VP0154

Withdrawn 06/01 121 UQB121 M.BenzO305/HP B41D .03.76 130 UQB130 M.BenzO305/HP B41D .06.76 147 UQB147 M.BenzO305/HP B41D .12.76 192 UQB192 M.BenzO305/HP B41D .12.77 193 UQB193 M.BenzO305/HP B41D .12.77 198 UQB198 M.BenzO305/HP B41D .03.78 264 UQB264 M.Benz 0305/HP B41D .05.79 265 UQB265 M.Benz 0305/HP B41D .05.79 275 UQB275 M.Benz 0305/JWB B41D .03.79 276 UQB276 M.Benz 0305/JWB B41D .03.79 304 UQB304 M.Benz 0305/ JWB B41D .03.80 306 UQB306 M.Benz 0305/ JWB B41D .03.80 360 UQB360 M.Benz 0305/ JWB B43D .07.81 379 UQB379 M.Benz 0305/ JWB B43D .01.82 2001TP2001 Ds Dart SLF / Vgn B30Dw .10.97 2002TP2002 Ds Dart SLF /Vgn B30Dw .10.97

Perth Bus, Rosehill Southern Coast, Fremantle Southern Coast, Fremantle Swan Transit, Kalamunda Swan Transit, Kalamunda Swan Transit, S'thern River Perth Bus, Hillview Perth Bus, Hillview Perth Bus, Hillview Perth Bus, Port Swan Transit, S'thern River Swan Transit, S'thern River Perth Bus, Cambridge PATH Transit, Joondalup PATH Transit, Karrinyup PATH Transit, Wangara