More Lewis Bros

[White Super Power]

http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... ?pos=-8652
http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... ?pos=-8653

[Simes]

Beautiful shots there....

[Tim Williams]

Amongst my "old bus stuff" boxes would be various Lewis Bros fleet lists + colour slides of all buses throughout the late 60's + 70's and on.

Two brothers Norm. & Percy Lewis started the operation, but when I was there (as one of two Group Accountants - group, yes there were 22 companies and not just buses) John Lewis (son of Norm) ran it.

John's desire was to do things "His way", build his own buses (often innovative but not always 100& successful) and this included no destination blinds, boards only and a fleet of many colours and he was a total Leyland fan.

But John would listen to other people, at times, such as importing a double decker (ex City of Oxford AEC Renown no. 362) and changing from Lewsi Brios to simply LB and a new livery style - both my ideas but the latter looks a bit tacky and perhaps silly in retrospect.

Great to work there, always lots of challenge and variations especially during the bust up with the SA Gov't and subsequent abandonment of the urban bus services in Adelaide.

I last spoke to John about 3 years ago, he retains Bulls, but purely as a truck-freight company operating between Adelaide & Darwin.

The history of the Lewis Group would certainly be worth documenting, but rather sooner than later, knowin the ages of some of those involved.

[Herbert]

Excellent photos & info, thanks WSO & Tim. How many semi-trailers did Lewis have? Would it be the same trailer being hauled here by this Volvo?


Bruce Harris photo/Ian Kerr Collection

[Simes]

Is it the same "John Lewis" as the company that (or did) supply resturants and cafes?

[Tim Williams]

Lewis had only one such semi-trailer coach/bus - the unit was one of three, I think, built for the Department of Supply and operated by them at Woomera.

The Volvo PM simply replaced the Bedford TK and was operated by a contractor - Rod Lewis ( from Karoonda near Murray bridge, is no relation to the Lewis faimily) - Rod was the Manager of Salisbury Passenger Services.

John Lewis of Lewis Bros is not the same gentleman as the food chain person.

[Simes]

John Lewis of Lewis Bros is not the same gentleman as the food chain person.

Ok thanks for that, when I saw references to a group and that he's now in trucking I wondered if the business I spoke of was once part of that group....

[Swift]

That Albion American style coach is just out of this world!
I also love that aerodynamic device on the back of that AEC.One has to question wether an AEC ever gets to a speed that requires it!
Wow the 1970s are a pot of gold!An era of truly interesting transport.

[Tim Williams]

The so called "aerodynamic device" was actually the air intake for the re-located rear engine.

John Lewis liked AEC's as well as Leylands, but he (like many other operators) did not have a good run with the AEC 505 horizonal engine - they were prone to over-heating and then breaking the head gasket.

Hence several buses were rear engined, one at least with a Perkins 6354 diesels -and it was the only horizontal version of that engine in the country. The overhead scoop/air intake provided (apparently) a lot more clean and cooler air flow around the engine than in the mid under floor position.

All the re-engineering and manufacture was done by Lewis at Glynde SA.

That style of air intake for rear engined buses was quite the trend in those days.

[Herbert]

Tim, was Salisbury Passenger Service part of the Lewis group of companies? If so, I think there are a couple of photos of the Perkins-engined AEC Reliance in the Bruce Harris/Ian Kerr Collection - I'll post them if people are interested.

[Tim Williams]

Yes I would be most interested.

I travel with my job quite alot, I fly back to Adl Friday night, and time permitting I will look through my old bus stuff over the weekend as my fleet lists etc. should provide reasonable detail over all Lewis buses.

[Herbert]

Bruce Harris photo/Ian Kerr Collection


Bruce Harris photo/Ian Kerr Collection

[Swift]

Australia sure was a hotbed of fascinating buses.A rear engined ,Perkins powered AEC Reliance..I'd never have thought!
Wouldn't this effectively make them a Swift??

[tt1324]

what wonderfull treasures you guys have. thanks for sharing. any others like Bowmans or Harcourt Gardens. thanks guys

[Tim Williams]

I know that I have enquired about this before, but if anyone would provide a "how to post photos" on the forum in non-technical speak, I could post all sorts of treasures including some really great black & whites by Neil Mackintosh taken in the 60's mainly in Adelaide, but also a few NSW shots.

I am sure Neil would be happy to have his photos posted, duly acknowledged of course.

I have many colour slides of the late 60's and 70's and colour photos thereafter.

Someone only has to tell me how.................................

[Andrew]

You need to upload photos to the internet first - that's the hardest part.

Once your pictures are saved somewhere on the internet it is a matter of getting the internet adress of their location (which will generally end in a .jpg) and then place the link in the post window here and put the [img]tags around the address.

As for a place to host the pictures, you'll need to check with your ISP or visit a site such as fotopic which allows you to upload your photos for free.

If in doubt, engage a savvy 9 year old to do it for you!

[tone167]

I know that I have enquired about this before, but if anyone would provide a "how to post photos" on the forum in non-technical speak, I could post all sorts of treasures including some really great black & whites by Neil Mackintosh taken in the 60's mainly in Adelaide, but also a few NSW shots.

First things first ... do you have a scanner at all? You'll need a scanner to scan the photos and slides into your PC. You can pick up a decent scanner for under $100 these days, although one that can scan slides might cost a bit more.

Once the photos are scanned in, use a site like Flickr, Fotopic or Photobucket to upload the images to.

Without knowing how old you are, perhaps enlisting the assistance of a kid/grandkid/niece/nephew who is clued up on computer stuff could be the go?

Either way, here's hoping you can get this sorted - the main reason I keep hanging around here and bothering everyone is because I can't get enough of the older pics ... especially when they show vehicles with a bit of scenery around them to put them into some sort of context. The pics in this thread are a prime example of the sorts of pics I love to see (I'm a huge fan of Herbert's work - or more specifically of Herbert channelling the work of Bruce Harris et al through his PC and onto ATDB).

Good luck!

[Industry]

We have been seeing some very interesting buses and coaches lately from 50-60's and then came to mine Lewis Bros in Adelaide with their own bodies and the semi-trailer coach from memory that travel to Coober Pedy.

Has anyone have any photos they can share with us of this interesting builder/operator.

I know that theer is a couple in the Redline thread but believe they made many interesting buses and coaches over the years.

[Brenton lewis]

Lewis had only one such semi-trailer coach/bus - the unit was one of three, I think, built for the Department of Supply and operated by them at Woomera.

The Volvo PM simply replaced the Bedford TK and was operated by a contractor - Rod Lewis ( from Karoonda near Murray bridge, is no relation to the Lewis faimily) - Rod was the Manager of Salisbury Passenger Services.

John Lewis of Lewis Bros is not the same gentleman as the food chain person.

This was my farther rod lewis
Any pic of anything lewis bros would be great if u have any

[Fleet Lists]

The two threads on Lewis Bros have been combined to prevent duplicating answers to the latest request,

[Fleet Lists]

Besides the tho two photo links in the first post, the only photo I can find in the photo gallery is http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... pos=-13376

[Denv12]

I would like to see a history of the company including the bus building.They must have had a variety of chassis.The history should include the transition from Lewis Bros to Quest Tours and where Max Winkless bought Quest Tours in 1985.

[Denv12]

Here's one of their buses around 1984.