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Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:38 pm
by Centralian
The first photo post I did was a couple of years ago now and was on Pykes Tours who were a Sydney based day tour operator in the '60's and 70's. Their fleet included a number of imports including Duple bodied Thames chassis and Van Hool bodied Bedford Vam and Val chassis. Hope you don't mind my re-posting a few of those images that I took in the mid '70's.

Admin Note: see post http://www.busaustralia.com/forum/viewt ... 10&t=20592 TV 629 was reported there as TV 620.

TV 596 http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... pos=-17387

TV 202 http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... pos=-17377

TV 003 http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... pos=-17370

TV 629 http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... pos=-17376

HSY 393 http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... pos=-16588

JZB 083 http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... pos=-17386

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:47 pm
by DENAIR
Hi the Van Hool Val ended up as a school coach with Hoys Wangaratta
Image

cheers denair 8)
http://austtransport.fotopic.net/

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:00 pm
by Centralian
Thanks Denair , was always an unanswered question for me as to where that Val ended up. I'd love to know what became of the rest of Pykes fleet, if anyone out there has any info ?

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:09 pm
by ed K
The one in Action colours is in a backyard at West Ryde plus another bus.

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:26 pm
by ALBION1881
I say there be some bus museum in England would of love to get there hands on these buses these would be a rare bus over there it is a pity we over here could not one of them and restore it.If it was the van hool twin steer bedford that would good restored great pictures mate I like to more of unusal buses.

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:55 am
by system improver
There must have been some reason that Pykes went for these imported vehicles other than their quality and looks eg. ex Brit in charge or other personal connection. Also, how did they manage to get these vehicles through the protection barriers at the time? They must have been more expensive than the local product. A harbinger of things to come though. Any info would be welcomed.

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:03 am
by TV600_Denning
Love the twin stack headlights on the Val, Very 70's man, groovy!

Thats one of the most unique bus fleets i've ever seen, thanks for sharing!

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:12 pm
by AEC Decker
AEC Decker remembers Pykes Tours operating sightseeing tours along Sydneys' eastern suburbs beaches in the 1960s & 1970s. :D

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:26 pm
by boronia
That Mee bodied thing looks plain ugly, what a comparison to the euro coaches. (And it doesn't seem to be registered :oops: )

Pykes morphed into AAT, I think the Van Hools operated in AAT livery for a while.

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:07 pm
by GM
I do not know when Pykes Tours started but they were around in the 1940's. GM

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:15 pm
by GM
When most operators had changed over to Metal Framed bodies the Duple Bodies were still Wooden Framed. GM

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:15 am
by system improver
GM wrote:When most operators had changed over to Metal Framed bodies the Duple Bodies were still Wooden Framed. GM
Gee, didn't know that. I wonder if they were the only ones in Britain to do this.

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 11:35 pm
by alburybuses2
GM wrote:I do not know when Pykes Tours started but they were around in the 1940's. GM
AAT Kings website - History, in part : " One of the original components of AAT was Pykes Tours, who pioneered sightseeing in Sydney with a pre-World War 1 drive-yourself car service. In the 1920's Colonel Pyke extended the business to motor tours of Katoomba & Jenolan Caves using seven seater cars. Coaches were first introduced in 1935 and raised the passenger capacity to 14. Of note - the first ten tourist licences issued by the NSW Government Motor Dept. were registered to Pykes and are still held and operated by AAT Kings"
900249 Pykes Tours, Sydney Foden PVSC6 ex MVC Viewmaster CoachesLawton body - David Jones[1].JPG

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:28 pm
by alburybuses2
[quote="
The attachment 900249 Pykes Tours, Sydney Foden PVSC6 ex MVC Viewmaster CoachesLawton body - David Jones[1].JPG is no longer available
[/quote]
Pykes original paint scheme for the Fodens was a modified MVC, here is how I remember them after the repaint.
(If one keeps looking, it will turn up, even 10 years later). Pykes sale advert may be of interest (sori about the poor quality).

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:16 am
by Looselion
Not sure if this image featured earlier. Most have disappeared. An Ansair/Ford photographed at Katoomba.

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 8:30 am
by eagle
I recall as a child in the mid 1960's boarding a Pykes Bus in Martin Place and travelling to Katoomba on a day tours.

Many years later an ex Pykes Bus still in their cream colours but converted to a motorhome was on Bribie Island for years.

Your post is most timely for me, I have no idea what happened to the motor home.

ps the pic's don't appear on your post or perhaps its me operating this end. .

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 9:30 pm
by Centralian
I've re-attached the photos. People may also be interested in this bit of Duple bodywork badging that appeared on the front bumper bars of the Duple body and visible in the above images.
Duple.jpg
Duple.jpg (47.71 KiB) Viewed 40576 times

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 10:46 pm
by eagle
tv202 is the style and colour I went to Katoomba and the one that was on Bribie as a camper'

many thanks for the posting

Re: Once upon a time ....... Pykes Tours

Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2017 7:22 pm
by Dennis96
Found this one in the Perth suburb of Bayswater this afternoon. Ex Pykes ?