Historic buses

Magnificent: I just dropped everything urgent and watched the whole 11 min. All of that period nostalgia, and the music. 61 is right up with 66 (or even ahead). Undeniably USA, but so much translated to Australia and other countries. I have done a lot of long-distance bus travel when linking disjointed railways. My closest to this style was in central America for the buses, and NZ for the art-deco bus stations (and some USA ones survive still). The screening is also available at youtube, where you can fast forward or back track:
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Elsewhere I have mentioned the stage play and film 'Bus stop', by William Inge. The same period and style.
Thanks for posting, and I hunt when I have the time to see what other events that club has created, filmed and posted.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Thanks for Berrigan view. Did you post it before, in a thread on semitrailer buses? Or had somebody else posted it from a history book?

Essendon Fields (Essendon Airport, Melbourne, Vic.) Benders International. Sun.29.3.15. (Roderick Smith)
This was at the Pioneer Express 60th anniversary rally. This had been a Pioneer Tours vehicle. I guess mid/late 1940s.
Although the excellent paintwork gleams, the gossip was that the company plans to repaint it into a Pioneer scheme.
History of Pioneer Tours / Ansett Pioneer:
flxibleclipperclub.com.au/wp/?page_id=1225
and www.ansettpioneer.com

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Essendon Fields (Essendon Airport, Melbourne, Vic.). Pioneer Express 60th anniversary, MCI7 & GMC. Sun.29.3.14. (Roderick Smith) IIRC, the GMC was very advanced for its time (1950s? 1960s), and inspired the prolific Australian GM/Denning.
It may have been beaten by the MRWA half-deck Guy, and WAGR's Scenicruisers.
www.driverbuslines.com.au/fleetphotogallery.html doesn't mention a year.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Hi,

uuuuuuuugh dribble drool (or how ever Homer would say it in writeing).

Rodders you have done it again.

Now that's a bus.
Powerful purposeful and strong and dare I say a little bit sexy?

Well, maybe not "sexy" but there is no doubt as to the purpose of that machine.
It's a BUS of the highest order.
(I want one of those and a DC3 in MY garage.)

just saying

-b




P.S. and I suppose, having a Screemer in its guts would make it, to some, just about perfect?

There is no doubt that the MCI and the PD4106 are truly beautiful coaches - and for our audible pleasure I believe that Bobs is right in that they both are Detroit powered.
The president of the Flxible Clipper a lib has his MCI for sale, and yes I also drool and cherish the thought

An almost 30 years career driving buses and coaches saw me spend a couple of years in those GMCs. They were an absolutely glorious bus to drive, and nothing since has inspired me so much, or come close to matching them for general driveability. When the company got rid of them, they had to drag me out of the seat. I still suffer 8-71 withdrawal symptoms if I get too close to one.

..I worked at Ansair in the very early 1980's on the production line knocking together the ACTION buses for Canberra for about 12 months, and in my lunchtimes i would wander across to see the dirty stuff where all the recondition work was going on ....

...I could never get allocated to the repair bays, where they would take in the "Gray Line" coaches after their heavy work and trials and tribulations travelling across some pretty harsh roads across and throughout Australia....

...i was told by the old hands and repairers over there that some of these Ansett Pioneer coaches had stainless steel chassis' (GMC or MCI ??) and they were the best ones ....although i was horrified to see on some of these old girls coming in for refurbishment and the cracking through the bodywork downwards of the outside skinning :'(

Hey Detective, I was at Action on Thursday and I don't think the place has changed in 30 years
Reckon they still have the worlds largest collection of old Renault buses, plus some interesting relics "down the back" from days gone by - they told me to put the camera away as I attempted to take some happy snaps...
I also recently heard that one of the series had a stainless chassis, but could not confirm which one..
The cracking you mention was quite common, due to the lack of asphalt on our roads at the time plus the desire of tourists to see the real outback.

Having recently pulled apart my Austral as part of the conversion process, I can confirm that it was built like a tank - imagine a super strong triangulated structure, and then add some more metal just in case; no wonder it weighs 14 ton! But that was the way it was done, to avoid the stress cracking from bouncing on outback roads.

...Hi Brett .. the run-of-the-mill ACTION buses we nailed together in about 1983 were on a Mercedes Benz chassis (4x2) and produced as a city bus... BUT ...those second hand imported MCI coaches were an absolute legend on our Aussie highways eh

You either love them or hate them, more and more of us still love them. The MCI's, the Silver Eagles, the GM PD4106 and the few PD4107 are all iconic rare vehicles on our soil. As some of us get older, and sightings of these vehicles becomes rarer, prompt u turns are becoming more common as are unusual journeys following these beautiful beasts.