MOTAT Collections - Petrol / Diesel Buses

Petrol / Diesel Buses

A brief history of omnibuses in Auckland

Auckland has had a long association with the bus. Horse buses appeared in the mid to late 19th century in competition with the Horse Tramway. Evolving with the invention of the steam, petrol and later diesel engines. The increasingly reliable vehicles served the outlining and semi-rural areas of Auckland not already served by the Tramways from the 1920s. Without the need for expensive fixed infrastructure such as tracks and overhead wires, the flexibility of the road going buses has been their ultimate success.

Operator – North Shore Transport:

• No.4 1924 White Motor Company. 4-cylinder side-valve petrol engine, wooden-bodied 23-seat omnibus. Built by Gilmore, Joel & Williams, Auckland for Alf Smith, The United Service Motor-Omnibus Co Limited, Devonport. To NST sometime after 1924. then to Rangitoto Scenic Tours after 1938.
• No.72 1949 Daimler Half Cab, 5 cylinders Gardner 5LW engine, wooden-framed, 33-seat omnibus, built by NST. One of 6 in fleet. In service with NST 1949–1968. Stored.
• No.80 (1955) Seddon Half Cab. Perkins diesel engine, wooden-framed, 33-seat omnibus, built by NST. One of 3 in fleet. In service with NST 1955–1968. Stored.

Operator's – Auckland Transport Board – 1929–1964 and Auckland Regional Authority – 1964-Early 1990s

• No.14 1946 Bedford OWB, petrol engine, wooden-bodied 33-seat omnibus, built by the ATB for Tramway Feeder and Hospitals bus services. One of 9 OWB and 34 OB buses in ATB fleet. In service with ATB 1946–1958. Sold to Green Line Buses Avondale, then a School Bus in Huntly. Under restoration MOTAT 1.
• No.201 1953 Daimler Freeline, 44-seat under-floor diesel bus. Bodywork by Saunders Roe in the UK. Exhibited at the 1953 Commercial Vehicle Show in Leeds, before being exported to NZ. One of 160 in ATB fleet. In service with ATB/ARA 1953–1983. Restored and operable.
• No.301 1954 Bedford SB. Petrol engine, 35-seat lightweight wooden body for Grafton Bridge services. One of 12 in the ATB fleet. In service with ATB/ARA until 1977. Stored
• No.359 1953 A.E.C Regal Mark IV, 44-seat under-floor diesel-engine bus, New Zealand Motor Bodies metal-framed bus. One of 13 buses in ATB fleet built for St. Heliers / Tamaki Drive Services. In service with the ATB/ARA 1953–1969, then the NST 1969–1971 and back to the ARA 1971–1977.
• No.464 1953 Leyland Royal Tiger, 44-seat under-floor diesel-engine bus. Saunders Roe kitset body. One of 50 in the ATB fleet. In service with ATB/ARA 1953–1983.
• No.1527 1978 Mercedes-Benz O305 diesel under-floor diesel bus. New Zealand Motor Bodies built body One of 300 in fleet of buses which replaced the Trolleybuses and many older petrol and diesel buses from the Auckland Regional Authority fleet. In Service with ARA, ARC (Auckland Regional Council), then The Yellow Bus Company after deregulation and Stagecoach. In service 1978 – 1 August 2005.
• No.1603 1978 M.A.N SL200 No.1603. Rear engine diesel bus. 1981 Hawke Coachwork built steel Framed body. 45 Seater. In service 1982 – 2008. One of 88 built. In Service with ARA, The Yellow Bus Company and Stagecoach 1982 – 2008.

Operator New Zealand Railways Road Services

• No.3592 1964 Bedford SB, 35-seat bus built by New Zealand Motor Bodies. One of the most numerous bus designs to ever be used in NZ. In service with the NZRRS until early 1980s. Then the NZ Prison Service, then finally McLouds Helensville, School bus operator until 2002.