Info Sought: WAGR Mercs and Volvos.

Hello everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone out there has any info on the old Mercs and Volvos that the former WAGR/Westrail road services operated from the late '60s (not sure) to about the early '80s.

It is of my limited understanding they operated COE 2223s, 2224s; semi-forward control 2620s; G89s, F12s and a couple of F10s and an F6. That's all I'm aware of and info is scant.

The info I can gather is that the Mercs operated the Geraldton and Esperance runs, ex Perth; the G89s and F12s operated the ilmenite contract, and the remainder of the Volvos were used as MoW (Maintenance of Way) vehicles.

If anyone can expand/enlighten me on this topic further, I would be most grateful.


Cheers!


P.S. Mods, I hope I have posted this in the correct section.

This will be tricky.
I have a datasheet, but no time to scan it, and some photos.
WAGR had run road services from 1941, generally with combined passenger & freight accommodation, and on branchlines. I have photos of some, still in service in Jan.69. IIRC, they were Foden.
Buses replaced trains on some regional trunk routes from the early 1960s.
From 1961, three Guy Scenicruisers were running to Albany and Narembeen. They had Leyland engines, and an onboard refreshment service.
As at 1965, the fleet had 65 buses. The 1965 sheet mentioned also seven recent 20-seat Leylands (with three axles).
I can't recall these; only the older ones.
The 1968 sheet was a reprint of the 1965 one.
When I arrived, the pride of the fleet was the newly-introduced Hino type. My memory is of no airconditioning, and vinyl seats: very basic. When I rode one on a later holiday, it seemed to be underpowered and a breathless high revver.
The then WAGR bus manager resigned, to become the head of the Hino agency in Australia. My fondest memory of the new pride and joy was being unable to start in Meekatharra. It was roll started by a vehicle straight out a Ken Maynard cartoon: a decrepit truck, owned by a kangaroo shooter. Once mobile, the bus cut over an hour out of the schedule on the long run to Perth.

I have nothing on the types which you list, but a complete perusal of my Jan.-Feb.69 holiday photos (b&w and colour) may bring up something interesting. That is at the end of a queue, and is unlikely to happen until 2013.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Hi Roderick Smith, much appreciated!

My interest with the Mercs and Volvos operated by the then WAGR/Westrail, was started of a book by John Young. In the book are the odd pics of the Merc Rundhaubers and in-text referencing/mentioning of the cab-over Mercs and the name "Volvo". Only stumbled upon the pics of the Volvos by pure accident.

G88 (not G89 as I erroneously mentioned):

F12

Credit:http://hunteroldtrucks.com/


Credit:http://www.railheritagewa.org.au/archive_scans/thumbnails.php?search=Volvo&submit=search&album=search&title=on&caption=on&keywords=on&type=AND

Regarding the coaches, perthbus.info is an invaluable source; here's a link to the Westrail/WAGR section:
perthbus.info/index.php?page=4

Some pics, with thanks to perthbus.info:

http://perthbus.info/image.php?image=1EA82987
http://perthbus.info/image.php?image=1EAA7626059
http://perthbus.info/image.php?image=1EAA763EA4

I hope you can unearth some more info!
I also hope the pics I have supplied (via the mentioned websites) have helped jog some people's memories!

Thanks again!


Cheers!

Mr T the photo's of the G88 i think by the look of the area in the back ground is of the land backed wharf in Bunbury. WAGR had a contract to haul mineral sand from Capel to Bunbury. They were still carting in the early 80's when i lived in Bunbury. The second photo i think is taken around there workshop area which was at the northern end of victoria st in Bunbury

Gull bus service in Geelong had a Mercedes Benz V8 auto trans ex WAGR coach for a number of years. They used it mainly on an airport service run Geelong to Tullamarine airport (Melbourne). I think it used to run down to Albany & had a seperate diesel powered airconditioning unit in the front luggage bin on the right hand side of the vehicle. I've no idea where it is now as it is some years since I've seen it. Cheers Tim

Hi Tim, thanks for keeping this thread alive!

I checked perthbus.info about the ex WAGR O303 working for Gull, she belonged to an original batch of O303s which had Howard Porter coachwork.

perthbus.info/prequery.php?qid=602337223690630301&cid=60

An image of a sister, when back with the WA Govt:
http://perthbus.info/image.php?image=1EA5C63183F

I never got to ride on the HP bodied O303s, but only on the Ansair bodied O303s and even then, that was during their second life, while wearing the Transperth livery. They were then being used on the Perth - Mandurah run, prior to the suburban line being built.


Cheers!

Mr T, yep, thats what she looked like. I believe that when it first came to Geelong, after they'd driven it across the Nullabor they had it painted in Gull livery & were taking it from the workshop yard up to the office to do it's first airport run when it put a leg out of bed. Very expensive to repair.Much later Mercedes (Melb) did an overhaul on the automatic transmission & first run to the airport it got to the Tullamarine freeway & the trans started slipping to the point that it was undrivable. Towed to MB in Melb & they found that something had been assembled incorrectly. Oops. Gull have since sold the vehicle, I heard that it had been sold for motorhome conversion but don't put too much money on that. cya Tim

Ouch, that must've hurt!! :'(

How many years did she serve with Gull?

I found an image of an O303 that looks like it was converted to a motorohome. According to the fleetlists, it's in Victoria, but the fleetlists also say she's ex-Crown, not ex-Gull:

http://perthbus.info/image.php?image=311441678A

The reason why I've put the image up here, is because her former, WAGR identity is not known, so you never know...


Cheers!

Mr T, I dropped into Gull today & had a chat with Scott (the manager), he tells me the old girl was sold to a local auto electrician who started to do the motorhome conversion, some 2 years down the track he was sick of it & sold it to someone else for the cost of what he'd put into the conversion. Scott did not know who the person was or have any idea of the coach's current location. Sorry I have'nt done any better for you. He will look to see if they have any photo's of the old girl & if so he'll let me know. Cheers Tim

Hi Tim,

much appreciated for the reply!

It's always good to hear what has happened to former WA Govt vehicles in their subsequent lives; it makes tracking down a bit of transport history that bit easier!

Cheers!