THE SCOTTISH VINTAGE BUS MUSEUM - AUSTRALIAN ALBION VENTURER 050 OJO
1877 is a winner!
Former New South Wales Department of Road (later Government) Transport & Tramways Albion Venturer SPCX19W double decker 1877 which arrived from Australia last September is to benefit from a lottery grant of £30K towards its complete restoration. It was one of 160 purchased between 1939 and 1949. 1877 dates from 1947 and is fitted with a Commonwealth Engineering body built at Granville, Sydney. The chassis is to export wheelbase of 17'6" and the body is 8' wide.
The DRT&T developed its own steel framed bodywork in conjunction with Waddingtons of Camperdown (later Granville), who were absorbed into Commonwealth Engineering during WWII and the unique features of this design which owes as much to American as British practice are becoming apparent as the vehicle is stripped for restoration. The body is now a bare shell, and the running units have also been removed for attention. Seats are also away for refurbishment and reupholstering.
Albion
Motors were an important part of our vehicle building history here in Scotland,
and many bus chassis were exported as well as being seen in Scotland, Glasgow
Corporation being one of the biggest customers. A fully operational, preserved
Albion Double Decker from 'down under' will assist greatly in underlining the
importance of Passenger
The group who were responsible for bringing the vehicle to Scotland hope that the main restoration work will be complete in around 12 months. 1877 last ran in commercial service for a New South Wales Independent, Guilfoyles of Scone NSW in 1981, after an impressive 34 years of service. - perhaps it will visit Scone Perthshire in the future?
The
arrival of this bus fills a very important gap in the ranks of preserved buses
here in Scotland. The Albion CX19 was the Glasgow Company's most successful
double deck chassis, but none of the
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Lathalmond Open Weekend, August 2006 (Jim Crichton) – JOB DONE
My name is Graeme Knappick and I live in Lawson, New South
Wales, which is in the Blue Mountains, West of Sydney.
The black & white photo was taken in Pittwater Road, Brookvale on Dec. 8,
1968 when it belonged to the Department of Government Transport (DGT). The bus
was operating on V6 route 190 to Wynyard from Palm Beach which is the longest
run in Sydney. ('V' stands for Brookvale Depot). 1877 entered service in Sept,
1947 and was withdrawn in Dec, 1969.
I drove this bus a couple of times on special events and was a very close
friend of Bruce Pinnell who was the former owner.
He passed away on June 6, 2004 and would be so pleased to see the bus back in Scotland
and under restoration.
Terry Peters, an ex service-driver of
1877 between 1965 & 1969, e-mailed on 22nd March 2008 to say the black
& white photo was taken at the driver change-over point outside Brookvale
Bus Depot.
Follow restoration progress at the restoration project website at www.albioncx19project.org.uk
An
Albion Discovery
Members of the Group involved with 1877 recently discovered an Albion AM463
in poor but restorable condition 'somewhere in Fife'. The AM463 was a special
chassis built for the War Department and most were turned out as Ambulances.
They were sold off post-war and a number were acquired by Walter Alexander
& Sons for service vehicle use. The example in question was Alexanders 159,
and was new in 1939, being purchased by Alexanders from W F. Wight Ltd. on 17th
April 1947. It ran as a lorry at Alloa until 19th July 1952 when the breakdown
crane from similar 150 was fitted and it was sent to Pitlochry, being withdrawn
and later sold to a David Smith Jnr. on 26th June 1967. As an ex Alexander
vehicle and an Albion there must be somebody out there who would like to
attempt a restoration.
Other
Australian restoration projects:
www.albion1615.blogspot.com
follows the current restoration of the only prewar CX19 to survive in the
world.
www.leyland1379.blogspot.com
follows the current restoration of ex Sydney Leyland 1379 which carries a
Camperdown-built body by Waddingtons. (David
Griffiths)