CMCMANUS SUPPLIED PHOTOS Part 67

[leyland4ever]

309 Leyland Lioness 91 interior 1935

308 Leyland Lioness 91 front door area Hackney 1935

The seats look very comfortable! I think from that point of view, I'd prefer to travel in this bus than almost anything made in the last 50 years!
The door is very similar to the doors originally fitted to the 1929 H type Glenelg trams -right down to the hinges! I suspect the MTT may have manufactured their own doors.
And as Paul pointed out - that bonnet is very high, and there must have been a huge engine in there - grossly over-powered. I suspect.

The MTT purchased five single deck buses in the mid 1930s - two Lionesses, 91 & 92, a Lion (half cab) 93, and two Dennis Lancets (halfcab) 94 and 95.

I've never been able to find out much about what they were used for, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that they did not get a lot of use, the Macks being preferred. (The MTT was never a fan of one-offs, or even two-offs! If anybody knows anything further, please let us know!)

They also purchased eleven double decks, at much the same time, which we do know quite a bit about - they were primarily used on the Anzac Highway services to St Leonards (later Graymore) and Somerton, lasting until late 1954 (except for 101 and 102 which were sold a little earlier).

Cheers,

Trevor

[paulgersche]

Hi, Trevor.

Looking at the destination on the bus in pic 308, would it have been likely that the buses would have been used for developing "feeder" services at tramway terminii, such as photos that we have already seen in your posts at Cheltenham, etc? I read on wikipedia that Broadview was founded in 1915. (A precursor to the Northfield service?)

Also, looking a the same pic, the driving position seems to be quite high, so it may be that seeing over the bonnet was not such an issue as I first thought.

Paul

[leyland4ever]

Hello Paul,

Yes that's probably right - in fact, about the only use the MTT had for buses prior to the 1950s was on feeder routes to trams.

The St Leonards/Somerton routes only commenced in 1938, and they were the only City based services for some time.

The MTT had run a service to East Glenelg via Anzac Highway (I think taken over from the SAR when the MTT purchased the Garfords from them), but that ceased in 1929, when they began the City/Glenelg tram service.

The MTT also operated a service to Edwardstown for a while, also a former SAR service, I think, but not for all that long.

Buses also ran to Albert Park and Tusmore,prior to trolley buses taking over in 1938.

I think they were the only trunk routes operated by MTT buses prior to 1950.

There were quite a few tram feeder routes, which were mostly operated by single deckers, one-man, although occasionally a double decker would be used on services that had a large number of school children.

The ones I can remember off the top of my head were:

Kilkenny to Port Adelaide via Addison Road (later truncated to Cheltenham when the tram was extended) - usually operated through to Largs North, later Osborne.

Kilkenny to Woodville North via Hanson Road, started in the early 1950s, and then extended through to Port Adelaide.

Robe Terrace to Broadview, then Hampstead, then Folland Ave, finally to Northfield (connected with Walkerville trams)

Walkerville North to Gilles Plains (started in the 1950s).

Portrush Road (Magill route) to South Payneham, then Firle, then Reid Ave. (This had started as a direct bus from South Payneham to City.)

Hyde Park to Westbourne Park (operated by the MTT for a short while, and then transferred to a private operator.)

There were some other feeders operated by private buses - Prospect to Blair Athol, and one or two others.

All in all, they would have required quite a few buses to service in peak hours.

Cheers,

Trevor