The

TTL Monthly Newsletter of the

N2 332

C W Davison

Two views illustrating the official opening on Thursday 30 March of the new Kwinana Bus Station and the unveiling of the first of the new 900 Series High Frequency Buses routes. Mercedes Benz O405NH 1170 leads 1168 and 1169, all three sporting the eye-catching new livery which will be standard for buses on such routes. More inside and on the back page.

RATTLER 332 April 2000

Bus Museum of Western Australia (Inc) Postal address EE3 -Please forward all general correspondence, secretary including membership enquiries and ^ 11 Trafalgar Road other matters, to Lesmurdie WA 6076

1 Tha RATTLER is a monthly publication circulated to members of the Bus Museum 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 © 2000 Bus Museum 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 Museum of Western Australia or of the Editor. Editor: Colin Davison Distribution: Kevin Clarke Material for publication inTheRATTLER, including news items, articles and photos, should be sent to - PO Box 58

Burswood WA 6100 or by e-mail to seedee@iinet.net.au

Bus Museum News General Meeting The next General Meeting will be held on Friday 26 May 2000, starting at 20:00.

The venue will be the BMWA 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.

Subject to confirmation, further General Meetings during 2000 will be on 28 July (AGM), 22 September and 24 November.

April 2000 The RATTLER 332 3

Whitemap Park Depot/Workshop The next two regular workdays will be on 14 May and 11 June, starting from about 10:00. If any member wishing to help with the restoration and maintenance work finds the regular Sundays inconvenient, there is usually some work in progress on most Wednesdays as well.

Name change The proposal to change the name of our organisation to Bus Preservation Society of Western Australia (Inc) was passed unanimously by members who attended the General Meeting on f-'riday, 24 March. Once the necessary y perwork has been processed by the relevant authorities and official sanction obtained, the new name will become effective. Recommendations for alterations to the organisation's constitution will then be drawn up and presented to members for approval.

New members A very warm welcome is extended to Bob Pearce of Femdale, and Marinus Maas of Bassendean, who joined the BMWA in the last couple of months.

Forthcoming events The annual British Car Day will be on Sunday 21 May 2000 at Gingin and BMWA will attend with at least one bus. All members and their families are invited to go along for what is usually a very pleasant day out. For more details on departure time, etc, and to notify your interest in participating, please contact Kevin Clarke on 9379 3223 in the next week or so.

On the same day, 21 May, Bennett Brook Railway will hold its popular Friends of Thomas the Tank Engine Day at Whiteman Park. If a spell as part ...'the crew of "Bertie Bus" holds more appeal than the trip to Gingin, please telephone Pat Hallahan on 9291 6071 soon and let him know of your availability to assist.

Fund raising The battery recycling drive mentioned in The Rattler 327 is an ongoing project. Members who know of any "dead" vehicle batteries are asked to contact Max Hayles (9349 4125) or Cam Bell (9367 7016) who will arrange for their collection. Alternatively, if it is more convenient, members can deliver expired batteries to BMWA's (soon to be BPSWA's) depot at Whiteman Park, preferably on one of the days when work is in progress (see above) or by prior arrangement.

4 The RATTLER 332 April 2000

In a similar vein, if any member has any unwanted household or other items (except clothing) which they are prepared to donate to BMWA to be sold through swap-meet venues, with the money raised helping our restoration and other funds, please contact either of the two committee members mentioned above.

Vehicle news After several years, 1965 AEC Regal VI ex WITT 654 has had its engine restored to 'life' and moved under its ov/n power earlier this year. Its long period of idleness has led to some minor problems, though, particularly with air and oil seals and certain electrical components. Even so, it was hoped these defects could be rectified fairly expediently so that the bus could be presented for a pre-licensing inspection during April. 1949 Leyland OPS4/1 ex Metro 81 has had the chronic leak in its radiator repaired.

From the mailbag . . . . Fred Kluth, of Casuarina, NT, wrote : Reference WAGT trolleybus 4,The Rattler 330, Feb 2000 -Firstly, the reference to Park Royal construction is total fabrication and utter rubbish. The bodies of Leyland were of great importance to the company in their development stages. Ne1 was Leyiand built, with their latest improvements. N24 was WAGR to Leyland's specs, as ordered by WA Gov't. The subsequent square front and destination box, as shown in John Young's wonderful photo of it (N24) at Doodlakine ("» Rattler 329, Jan 2000), are the WAGR's skill in rebuilding it after a nasty accident. The above is a Leyland Lion section used in the repairs around 1945 or 1947. Those who travelled on the Wembley / Floreat Park route would know N24 in its original condition. Numbers 4,7,8 and 10 seemed always on this route and I always thought the drivers had a preference for them.

Nick Pusenjak of Wembley wrote : While going through some photographs last year, I found this one of Coogee - Spearwood Bus Co's rear engined Foden N27. The picture, taken in New South Wales shortly after the body had been constructed, was salvaged from a pile of Foden material being consigned to the tip by Diesel Motors of Bentley, the WA distributors of Foden products.

April 2000 The RATTLER 332

Also in the batch of Foden photos was one of a brand new Foden PVR in the livery of Rutty's Bus Service (ofFigtree, NSW- Ed), providing an insight into the first owner of another rear engined Foden bus, as requested in ™eRaff/er299 (July 1997).

Transperth News 900 Series High Frequency Buses / new Kwinana Bus Station )eatured on this month's cover and back page are recently delivered buses in an eye-catching new livery for the latest public transport "product" in a long line of innovative ideas introduced by Transperth and its predecessors. Previously referred to as 'System 2T in Transperth's Better Public Transport 10 Year Plan released in 1998, the new style service was publicly unveiled by the Minister for Transport, Murray Criddle, at an official ceremony in Kwinana on Thursday, 30th March, with actual passenger carrying operation starting from Sunday, 2nd April. The dozen or so 900 Series routes due to be developed by 2007 are intended to be Transperth's premier bus services, second only to the electric train services. They feature frequency levels very similar to the

6 The RATTLER 332 April 2000

trains, generally every 15 minutes during the day on weekdays and half hourly during evenings and at weekends, and with limited stops. They will traverse routes that are more direct, with no more than about 10% variation from the most direct route available on the road network. As with the Circle Route, only wheelchair accessible, airconditioned buses will be used. The first route, between Fremantle and Rockingham via Kwinana, is numbered 920 and replaces the former route 120 service. For the most part, it follows the alignment of the Rockingham - Fremantle Transitway which is due to be built in several stages over the next five or six years. Part of the Transitway will be along Gilmore Avenue, the main north - south distributor road through Kwinana. Introduction of the 920 service has therefore require^ construction of a new bus station in Kwinana. This is adjacent to the Kwinana Hub Shopping Centre and replaces an older facility, built in the early 1970s and substantially upgraded in 1983, on Rockingham Road near the western end of Thomas Road, a somewhat isolated and awkward location a couple of kilometres outside the Kwinana township. New traffic signals have also been installed at key locations enroute and other minor roadworks were carried out at a number of points to accommodate the new service and the low floor buses.

Associated with the new service is a much needed review and upgrade of most other bus services in the Rockingham and Kwinana areas. The Perth -Rockingham service, Route 166, has been improved to Citylink standard operating daily and renumbered 866. Previously mainly a 'with flow' peak service, Route 126 (Fremantle - Rockingham direct) now runs throughout the day on weekdays, with most journeys linked to the Mandurah service. Local feeder route frequencies in both Kwinana and Rockingham have been greatly improved, particularly during evenings and at weekends.

Bus fleet

Deliveries of new Mercedes Benz units continue on target at a rate of some 8 or 9 per month. As illustrated elsewhere in this issue, the three latest ones for Southern Coast Transit, 1168,1169 and 1170, have been finished in a special livery for the new 900 Series High Frequency Buses service between Fremantle and Rockingham, which commenced operating on 2 April. The new livery features teal blue and Transperth green, separated by an elegantly curving white band, with yellow and black "brand name" decals. The first bus done, 1168, has a slightly lighter shade of blue, supposedly

April 2000 RATTLER 332

due to an error in communicating the paint specification. It is understood that 1171 to 1179 inclusive will be similarly treated for use on this route. Recent deliveries have had larger size fleet numbers applied, the latest ones having black numerals applied to silver painted surfaces instead of white ones, which were difficult for operational staff to read. Earlier examples are to have their small numerals replaced with the larger versions.

New deliveries 03/00 1167 TP1167 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1168 TP1168 Mercedes Benz O405NH )69 TP1169 Mercedes Benz O405NH

1170 TP1170 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1322 TP1322 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1323 TP1323 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1522 TP1522 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1524 TP1524 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1525 TP1525 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1722 TP1722 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1723 TP1723 Mercedes Benz O405NH New deliveries 04/00 1523 TP1523 Mercedes Benz O405NH 1724 TP1724 Mercedes Benz O405NH Chassis Nos:

Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L

Volgren CR225L Volgren CR225L

B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw B41Dw

B41Dw B41Dw

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.03.00

.04.00

.04.00

1167- WEB612418 21 093159 1168- WEB612418 21 093343 1169- WEB612418 21 093335 J70- WEB612418 21 092882

1322- WEB612418 21 092853 1323- WEB612418 21 092835 1522- WEB612418 21 092857 Body Nos: 1167- VG1238 1170- VP0054 1168- VP0050 1322-VP0042 1169- VP0052 1323-VP0040

1523- WEB612418 21 093661 1524- WEB612418 21 093208 1525- WEB612418 21 093677 1722- WEB612418 21 093175 1723- WEB612418 21 092873 1724- WEB612418 21 092873

1522- VP0038 1524- VP0045 1525- VP0043

1722- VG1240 1723- VP0039

Withdrawals 03/00 235 UQB235 M.BenzO305/FWA B41D .12.75 PATH Transit, Karrinyup 272 UQB272 M.Benz O305 / HP B41D .06.76 South'n Coast, Fremantle

8 RATTLER 332 April 2000

At the Rockingham Bus Station, southern jterminus of Route 920, a new entry and exit have been constructed to enable buses to avoid delay inducing turns on to Council Avenue. The engineering work was still incomplete on Sunday 2 April, although sufficiently advanced to allow buses to use the new route in and out. In the above view, new Mercedes Benz low floor 1170 is seen entering via the newly surfaced entry, disporting its rather cluttered rear end in the process. The new Kwinana Bus Station on Gilmore Avenue is seen below a few minutes before its official opening ceremony began on Thursday 30 March.