It's déjà vu all over again!
The route history of 733 goes back to 1941 when the 103A was established to run from the corner of Golf Links Avenue and North Road to what was then called the East Malvern tram at Wattletree and Burke Roads (this tram destination was renamed Malvern - Burke Road on 10/7/1955). The bridge over the railway line from Golf Links Avenue to Hanover Street was built with the assistance of the Metropolitan Golf Club around 1912 and was the only bridge across the line to Dandenong, east of Caulfield, for decades (the overpass at Warrigal Road was not built until 1967). The route originally went over the bridge to the north side of Oakleigh Station, where it joined Shave and (later) Grenda routes. This continued to be the case through a succession of owners (initially Arthur Papps' Red Bus Service, then Quince, Trotter and Clarinda Transport) with a number of route changes to the north and south of Oakleigh. By 1958, when Ventura acquired the route, the 103A was operating from Oakleigh to Clarinda and East Clayton from the north side and another part of the 103A (formerly the 202A) was operating from the south side as Oakleigh to North Clayton via Huntingdale. Not long after Ventura acquired the route (I can't remember exactly when), both were relocated to the south side and the terminus was in Johnson Street (see photo below). Eventually, through another series of changes, the 704 became the Oakleigh to North Clayton part, and the 733 was the other part via Clarinda, now extended to Box Hill via Mt Waverley. The 733 moved to the north side when it was thru' routed to Chadstone in 1976. It stayed there when the thru' routing stopped and the old 702 (now the 742) went to Chadstone instead (1987). More recently, the 704 moved to the north side as it was deemed that Haughton Road between Oakleigh and Huntingdale was not appropriate for buses. So, now the 733 is to be back on the south side.
Here, from the BCSV archives, are some of the above route histories, researched by Graeme Cleak and recently retyped by Craig:
ROUTE 704 OAKLEIGH – EAST CLAYTON
Kerr's Luxury Travel commenced an Oakleigh – Clayton service in 6/52 which linked his existing North and South Clayton Town Service. It was given No. 202A and in 9/54 some rationalisation in the area saw the route altered to 103A, with the service running Oakleigh – Clayton then splitting to North Clayton and East Clayton and transferred to Clarinda Transport (Trotter & Kerr). Ventura Motors took over in 5/58, and in 1/66 the North Clayton part was absorbed by Ventura's 265A (Box Hill – Mt Waverley – Clayton – Oakleigh). Renumbered 704 in 1971. A further local service using this number was Clayton – Browns Road starting in 5/72. The main service extended to Chadstone on 23/10/72, then the Browns Road service was given number 707 on 18/8/75. The Oakleigh – Chadstone section was deleted 1/3/76.
ROUTE 733 BOX HILL – MT WAVERLEY – OAKLEIGH
A country route from Oakleigh to Clarinda was running in 7/33. The next development was in 5/41 when 103A commenced East Malvern Tram – Oakleigh – South Oakleigh, which was run via Golf Links Avenue to North Road. Then in 12/46 Cheeseman and Kerr began a route from Mordailloc to North Clayton, and in 12/50 the 103A was further extended to Moorabbin via South Road, at this time operated by Quince. Trotter took over 19/9/52 and deleted the East Malvern – Oakleigh section. Meanwhile, Kerr cut back his run to be South Clayton to North Clayton in 3/52.
The 103A was cut back to be Oakleigh – South Oakleigh in 6/54. then extended to Clarinda in 8/54. In 9/54 Trotter and Kerr formed Clarinda Transport, and by absorbing the 202A formed 103A Oakleigh – Clayton – North and East Clayton (some trips by Clarinda). Sold to Ventura in 5/58 (who retained Clarinda Transport name for some years). At the other end, Ventura started 265A Box Hill – Mt Waverley in 2/61, which extended to Monash University in 8/64, Clayton in 1965 and finally absorbed the North Clayton and Clarinda part of 103A in 1/66 to form Box Hill – Mt Waverley – Clayton – Clarinda – Oakleigh. In 1971 it was renumbered 733 and extended to Chadstone in 3/76, but reverted to Oakleigh on 5/6/87.
My slightly blurry photo from late 1965 shows number 41 (HFE 020), a curved screen CAC SB3 from 1960 ready to go to East Clayton via Clarinda, and behind it, number 26 (GLP 538) a flat screen CAC SB3 from 1956, ready for the North Clayton via Huntingdale service. Both of these buses used to work the main Box Hill to Mordialloc route before being relegated to less popular routes by the acquisition of AEC and Leyland vehicles.
