My thanks to Mark for the photo and information, and good luck with the new engine! The bus looks great.

NEW ZEALAND'S ONLY BRISTOL K AND ONLY LONDON RT?

Around fifteen years ago my faithful correspondent Vic Brumby (How are you Vic? Still out there I hope?) sent me some pictures that he took in New Zealand during a trip in 2003, including this glorious Bristol:

Seen in Taupo, North Island, this Bristol KSW5G originally served with Wilts and Dorset as their no. 341 (HHR 823), the last of the type to be delivered to the company in 1951 (though many more were to follow in subsequent years). It was still in the fleet in 1963, but at some stage thereafter two girls and four boys set off in it from London and travelled through 30 countries in Europe and Asia before arriving in New Zealand 2 1/2 years later. Their stated intention was then to take the bus to South America and continue their tour but Gerry Hopkins tells me that, on reaching New Zealand, two of the party were penniless and left. The rest could not finance any further travel, so the bus was abandoned in NZ. There it was refurbished with non-standard high- backed seats and was used for tours around the Taupo Lake area. It was a credit to the sturdiness of the Bristol KSW that it got as far as it did, and was still earning its keep.

(Paul Green told me that it was a 5G re-engined as a 6G, chassis number 86.002, built 12/1951. Allocations; 1952 Salisbury, 1954 Basingstoke, 1955 Andover, 1963 Salisbury, 1967 withdrawn. Thanks Paul.)

Well, the story has moved on. Roger Hawkins from New Plymouth emailed me in October 2020 to say that the bus was up for sale on trademe.

The seller is (of course) saying that it's a London bus (which it's not), that it's the only one of its kind in New Zealand (which it probably is), and is asking 129,000 NZD. If anyone finds out what happens to it, please let me know. But the bus in the picture below really IS a London bus.

Roger Hawkins also kindly sent me this picture which he took of ex London RT2592 (formerly LYF 317 but now re-registered in New Zealand as GB 111) in use at a tram running day outside the Whanganui Tram depot in October 2020. Is this the only RT is New Zealand? It looks in fine condition.

The bus was new in 1951 and arrived in New Zealand in 1971, apparently being first operated by the Wellington Lions Club. As recently as 2019 it was being run by Neville Gorrie, owner of the Grand Hotel at Whanganui (North Island), for hotel guests and charity events, and that may still be the case. My thanks to Roger for the information and the picture.

MORE PHOTOS FROM TRAVELLING MAT!

Every now and again Mat Foster kindly sends me pictures from around the campsites, and here is his latest contribution (May 2020).

This is typical of the kind of scene that Mat sends me, and it shows just how varied and interesting the vehicles can be. On the right we have what I think is a 1971 former Auckland Bedford VAM70 with an NZMB dual-door body that used to seat 42 (but probably not any more!). It bears the name SHAFRELAIR (I think) on the front. In the centre is a classic Bedford TK truck converted to a movan in the way that only New Zealanders can do - piling one garden shed on top of another! And on the left is an AEC called Buster, and we can see that in more detail below.

Buster is an AEC Reliance 470 with an NZMB body (originally seating 41) registered EN 7420, new in 1960 to the fleet of Hawkes Bay Motors, passing to Mount Cook Landlines in 1981 before winding up as a movan. A neat little machine, and hard to believe that it's 60 years old!

Here we see a vehicle with roof-mounted add-ons and a registration which looks like 'FP 850'. At first I thought it must be a former New Zealand Railway Road Services Bedford SB, but Mat tells me that it's actually a 1950s Canadian Ford, formerly registered P2.828.

So here is the same bus, seen in years gone by when it was still P2.828. Mat says he's had this photo # for a long time but doesn't know where it came from. The destination is Matapouri, way up north. I wonder who the operator was...

Finally here's a 3-axle beauty - I love 3 axles! It's a 1984 MAN 22.280 (registered UH 2571) imported from Australia in 1996. It was advertised for sale on Trademe in Nelson during March 2020 with an asking price of NZ$129,000. Keith Rapley emailed in June 2021 to say that UH 2571 has PMCSA bodywork and was with the New South Wales Police in Australia. Thanks Keith, and thanks also to Mat for another great collection of images.

FORMER WELLINGTON REGAL STILL GOING STRONG

In January 2020 I received an email from Mark Dawber of Marshland Road, Christchurch who had noticed Mat Foster's picture of AEC Regal EV 6804 (see further down this page) with a large vertical rear extension. He told me that he thought it had visited his paddock over the New Year.

Fortunately in February 2020 it returned to Mark's paddock for a couple of days, and here it is:

Mark wrote "I took the attached photos this morning. There is very little left of the original bodywork. Shane (the owner) said that even quite recently he has had to do some rust repairs around what was the driver's door and now there is no driver's door! His primary concern is keeping what he thinks is the oldest house bus in NZ, with its original engine, on the road. Shane has several other old buses which are at his property in Waimate. He also has most of the history of his AEC, except for a grey area in the first ten years after it went out of service in Wellington."

In fact it seems that this was originally (1947) Wellington C.T. number 26, AEC Regal III (chassis number O962304) with a N.Z.Motor Bodies body. It was re-registered EV 6804 in 1965, OO 6650 in 1989, ASN 702 in 2002, and AEC 47 in 2004, which it now is. As a caravan conversion it was noticed for sale in February 2010 in Beachlands, Auckland for $40,000.

Below is a picture of the big end. Thanks very much to Mark for the pictures and the information.

NZ RAILWAY CUBS, AND A SURVIVOR!

In November 2018 Grant Taylor sent me some surprising information about (and pictures of) a pair of halfcab Leyland Cubs supplied in 1937 to New Zealand Railways Road Services, numbered 360 and 361 and operating out of Dunedin. The bodies were built in the NZR workshops at Addington, Christchurch. No. 360 was severely damaged in a very serious accident on the Port Chalmers road one night in mid 1944.

Here is the crash of Cub no. 360 on 20 June 1944. Photo by Otago Daily Times.

The lights fused and, in the darkness, the bus left the road and ran down a bank before it could be stopped. The bus was full but amazingly there were no fatalities. The remains were shipped up to NZ Motor Bodies at Petone, Wellington, and re-bodied. The new body, although timber-framed, was a design prototype for the NZMB "Steelbilt" steel-framed body which was just about to come on stream and used the Steelbilt cladding system of separate panels joined with sliding caps. Grant said "I believe it may not have returned to the South Island when re-bodied as I bought it locally in Hastings (it left the NZRRS fleet in 1955) and it had been here for many years."

Here is no. 360 in Grant's back yard some years ago. Photo by David Jones.

The bus still exists and Grant is trying to convince someone to come and take it away! Below is a picture of no. 361 after retirement by NZRRS in the early 1960s and conversion to a mobile fruit and veg shop. No. 360 looked identical to this when it was first built.

This is no. 361 as a mobile shop after retirement by NZRRS. Photo by John Herbert.

Grant says "I've got six Cubs altogether including the very last Cub chassis made, plus three more Leylands, an AEC, a Seddon and a Bedford." My thanks to him for this interesting tale and the fine photos.

NORTH SHORE SEDDON HALFCABS

In September 2016 Jodi Lucas said he was selling his housebus and wondered if I could tell him anything about it. It had me stumped, but he then started to find answers for himself. Apparently it claimed to be a 1956 mk. 6/2 Seddon Atkinson, possibly with a railway history. I had no idea that Seddon built any halfcabs.

Jodi came across a chassis number (31672), an engine number (RL25383) and evidence that it was first registered in New Zealand in 1956. An entry at the bottom of this page by the NZ Omnibus Society reveals that North Shore Transport of Takapuna acquired 14 Seddon Mk.6 buses like this between 1951 and 1956 with 34-seat halfcab bodies made in-house by North Shore. This is surely one of those, but the chassis number doesn't match up with any of them. Maybe there was a 15th?

The MOTAT museum in Auckland has another Seddon halfcab - former North Shore Transport no. 80, again with a North Shore B34F body. Built in 1955 it is registered EX 9630 and in 2008 was stored, unrestored. It looks as though others may have been converted to movans but it's not known if they are still around.

Then in July 2018 Mat Foster sent me a picture of a Seddon in use as a movan (shown below), although he can't put a date or location on the image. It clearly came from the same batch.

There's no doubt about the identity of EX 9642 shown here - it was the registration used by North Shore no. 94 when it was in service. According to the Omnibus Society website the registfsration lapsed in 2003, but who knows... Here's a picture of the same vehicle at Orewa Depot when in service in 1969, with the kind permission of photographer Peter Trevor, and with the assistance of the New Zealand Omnibus Society.

Then Neville Jarvis, who used to drive this bus with North Shore Transport in the 1960s wrote to me in July 2018 to confirm that ALL the pictures above are of the same bus - no. 94. But that's not the end of it. Mat Foster also sent the picture below, which shows another NST Seddon, this time bearing the registration FE 935.

At first I thought this was no. 86 from the fleet, but Neville Jarvis says that it is actually no. 79 (formerly EX 9629) and he sent a picture of it taken by him in the North Shore company depot at Takapuna.

Thanks very much to everyone who contributed to this interesting story. Maybe we haven't heard the last of it.

MORE PHOTOS FROM MAT

Regular contributor Mat Foster has sent me another couple of pictures from around the campsites of New Zealand. He doesn't know where or when they were taken (if you know, or were the photographer, please get in touch), but it's quite possible that one or both of these vehicles are still around. Maybe readers can supply some info. We start with an AEC Regal with an interesting back end.

The registration appears to be EV 6804. My sketchy records say that similar EV 6806 was a Wellington Regal, EV 6810 was a Wellington OPS2 Leyland Tiger, and EV 6832 and EV 6871 were Wellington Reliances. So I'm guessing that this particular EV is a former Wellington Regal - they had at least eight of them. The shape of the destination window on the front also supports this. Can anyone confirm the identity and whether this movan is still around?

Above is another AEC Regal and I've no idea of its origin. I suppose Dunedin is a possibility. Thanks again to Mat for the intriguing pictures.

OLD AUSTIN HOPES FOR RESTORATION

Diane Stanley in New Zealand has been offered this bus, which she has been told is a 1948 Austin. She loves the look of it and fancies restoring it as a housebus for herself and her daughter. John Wakefield reckons it's an Austin K2 and would be a real challenge to put back on the road. Perhaps it would make a nice static summerhouse!

A VINTAGE MORRIS COMMERCIAL HEADS SOUTH

In April 2018 John Wakefield kindly forwarded me these pictures from Gordon Taylor. The first one (above) shows 1925 Morris Commercial CP 3838 seen here in the U. K. It had originally been a 1 ton truck, but was rebuilt with a Caseley toastrack body from one of the Sidmouth Austin 20 cars (UO 7095). In 2005 it was taken out to Nelson by Englishman Gordon Taylor who planned to use it (and a Bedford OB) for heritage tours.

Unfortunately for Gordon the OB (JAB 867) had to be returned to the U. K. as the New Zealand authorities would not approve it for fare-paying passengers. However he did manage to run the Morris Commercial (now registered MC 1925) on a Nelson Heritage service as seen above, although the project failed in 2011 through lack of patronage.

The Morris was then reported to have been sold to a shipping company owner in Auckland, possibly for his private collection. Does anyone know who has it now? By the way, that's Fifeshire Rock in Tasman Bay behind the bus, and not something stuck on the roof! The rock marks the old entrance to Nelson Harbour.

New Zealand buses page 2 is here and page 3 is here.

Some New Zealand bus links:

• Auckland's only working tramway, at the Museum of Transport and Technology
• Surviving Bristol VRs in New Zealand
• The NZ BusInfo website is a great and detailed listing of older buses.
• Mike Butler's virtual New Zealand Bus Museum aims to record all New Zealand historic passenger vehicles
• A website about New Zealand Trolleybuses by Nick Stoneham
• The Omnibus Society of New Zealand cares for 30 local historic vehicles
• Remarkable Experience offer tours of Queenstown in a restored 1937 Chevrolet bus
• The Wellington Tramway Museum
• A comprehensive website about the history of Trolleybuses in Wellington
• Lachlan Rendell's site about Wellington's 50th Anniversary Trolleybus Festival
• Film of old trolleybuses and buses working in New Zealand (PMP Video)/li>

SOME LINKS WITHIN THIS WEBSITE:  Home   Email   Links   THE COMPLETE WEBSITE MENU   Events Diary   Halfcab list   Small-Ads   Classic Irish Buses   Classic Manx Buses

SB