Centralian Safaris.

[AUSSIE BUSMAN]

I am planning THREE CENTRALIAN STYLE CHARTER TRIPS LATER THIS YEAR AROUND AUGUST, SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER.

We will be chartering coaches and trailer from local Melbourne operators. Indicative prices at this stage are $1295 per person for 16 DAY Melbourne/Birdsville/Central Australia return. Possibly one de;parture via Oodnadatta. That's all up including cook, all meals, camping gear, safari trailer, admissions.

Send me an email to register interest and preferred dates DARYL JONES bus-man@bigpond.com

Hopeful of a good response......let's bring back a special holiday adventure.

[Croc]

I've driven many of the old Centralian and Centralian staff vehicles. Warren Casey had sold his interest in Cnetralian but found he was stil guarantour on some when the company failed. The Denning Landseer featured earlier on this topic was number 29 in the fleet and the tri deck looks like number 14 'Lady Katherine' generally driven by Keith (Storky) Grant - it was a single axle with the tri-deck roof.

From the top of my head at Casey's at the time:
Numbers 9 and 10 were old Hino track buses used for school runs and charter = very heavy to steer with no power assist.
Numbers 12 and 18 were old 1970's Bedfords - drum brakes, lots of turns lock to lock - probably both ex Southland with the Hino track buses.
The rest of the fleet was ex Centralian
14 was the tri deck mid mount
15 had a tag axle and was conventional in that it had a rear engine and reverse pattern gearbox as was so typical for Denning. This had the Centralian/Caseys Purple with yellow painted out and white painted over the stainless (this was done to help sell off the better vehciles) and I think this was the bus I woudl regulalry see parked with dump trucks on the hill as ai left the airport for melbourne.
16 was the Hino single axle coach with (I think) 33 seats with a front engine that you climbed over to get into the driver's seat
Number 17 was a bedford coach, this one famously crashed at the corner of Centre and Mackie roads in East Bentleigh running into an old reservation that now containes an old persons home but was subsequqnrly reapaired and I think i saw it travelling with a circus - nice to drive, quiet, well geared but would lose brakes if the air pressure fell under 80 psi (which it would do regularly).
18 was a 50 seat single axle bedford slow but synchro (low speed diff kept it under 60k & it used to overheat) (I think 18 was ex Southland not Centralian)
19 was an Albion coach with the engine in the front (great when you eventually found the overdrive - some drivers would insist wasn't there)
20 had a jumbo tag with a mid mount
21 was the 1981 Denair. It had the modern dash but the old exterior appearance. Great on a highway run
22 was a mercedes 0303 painted Melbourne Sightseeing
23 was the Coaster with the 'McConnell Conversion' which meant its 13 (or was it 16) coach eats were raised to allow luggage to go in under them through the boot
24 was the Melbourne Sightseeing Toyota which later went to Bayside/Nuline
27 was a mercedes 0303 (this one belonged to Nuline (in Craig Coops day, way before Bayside) buit was operated by Casey and very tired inside
28 was a bogie drive mid mount. This was fun, different old style dash
29 was the (then) late model Denning Landseer

I dont recall a #26 and think that there was probably another bus or two in the old yard in East Boundary Road (where Centralian had been)

Bill Armstrong (of Armstrong's coaches now Victorian Touring Coaches) had another tri deck that was ex Centralian

The name Melbourne Sightseeing was bought by Australian Pacific and they took just a toyota, possbily a 303 Benz (22?). Not long after that Warren Casey retired from buses again

[Centralian]

Thanks for sharing those recollections of Casey's vehicles. The earliest reference I can find among my fleetlists to caseys was in a 1982 publication by The Bus & Coach Society of Victoria. Here's a copy of the Casey's fleet reference:

Casey's 1982.jpg (33.77 KiB) Viewed 13153 times

[Croc]

I moved to Bentleigh East after working for Casey and for a long time after would hear the GM's doing school runs in the morning. My recollection was that when Caseys was sold that these school runs some drivers and a Denning or two went to Sandringham Coaches (Moorabbin) and for a short while these vehicles were still around.

Thanks for publishing that list. I can identify some of the buses that were still there from 1989 on when I was around the place. I'm suprised to see number 14 (which was a tri deck and the classic Centralian vehicle not present in the list)

[Centralian]

A 1976 fleetlist for S.W & D.C. Armstrong of Glen Iris shows them as having new a Denning Tri deck underfloor GM, body number 523 of 5.1975 build. It was still with them in 1982.

[Croc]

This was certainly still in their fleet in 1989 and for a few years after that. C

[ashmenz0]

Hi Everyone
Does anyone out there have any information on Denning build no. 444 ? We own this coach now which has been converted to a motorhome.
Regards
Ash

[CCCC]

Been looking for this thread for a few days so thanks to the previous poster.



http://www.caravancampingsales.com.au/G ... Id=2609530

[Croc]

It looks like Casey's number 14 which was a mid mount (and therefore had a forward pattern gear box like a car pattern. It had a two stroke GM engine mounted in the middle and in the back (where the engine normally was) a kitchen had been fitted. (it was just an empty space when I knew the vehicle). It looks like someone has attempted to make a ramp for the back now. It had a reputation for breaking axles - but I dont recall it actually breaking one. It went well and (like it's peers) had that disinctive engine sound. It used to to regular school routes for Mt Scopus College and Caulfied Grammer School and was a regular on the road around Moorabbin. I would love to some current photo's (or some old ones). Peter Kane published some Casey's pcitures online from the 1980's which I cant find but whihc may be worth a look.
Thanks for your post CCCC
C

[blanchycraig]

I moved to Bentleigh East after working for Casey and for a long time after would hear the GM's doing school runs in the morning. My recollection was that when Caseys was sold that these school runs some drivers and a Denning or two went to Sandringham Coaches (Moorabbin) and for a short while these vehicles were still around.

Thanks for publishing that list. I can identify some of the buses that were still there from 1989 on when I was around the place. I'm suprised to see number 14 (which was a tri deck and the classic Centralian vehicle not present in the list)

I also worked for a brief 12 months alongside my father and brother Damian at Melbourne Sightseeing. My brother drove for Caseys and dad n i M/S. Ian Mcmillan was manager then and Warren Casey was my Godfather.

[silver75]

Attached is photo of coach owned by Max Curtain of Dandenong in 1975, permanently subcontracted to Camping Tours of Australia by Centralian Staff. Reg number was VIC IS3360, Denning body (444), Albion Viking (referred to in posts above).
More photos to come of this coach which I worked on as a courier throughout 1975...sadly most pictures I took that year were slides but I do have a few photos.

[silver75]

attached is photo of the Camping Tours of Australia by Centralian Staff coach reg number Vic IS3360 at Heavitree Gap Caravan Park in 1975

[peterbell]

I just came across this forum and the Centralian photos by accident, what a pleasant surprise, so I registered.
In reference to the Denning approaching the creek on the brochure, this photo was taken on Coopers Creek by one of the passengers on the track into the Burke & Wills Dig Tree near Innamincka. The bloke in uniform was the courier (Gary Matheson) and the cook (Pat) is in the yellow shorts & top taking a super-8 movie of Gary having a great time stumbling over the rocks getting himself wet... It was amusing to see the comments about “what was the driver doing” “why was the coach stopped in the water, etc”. I was driving the coach for Bill Armstrongs Charter Coaches at the time and the positioning was partly set up for the passengers. The creek crossing was routine having been there before. The trip was one of Norm Brown's Centralian Staff Camping Tour "Specials" and it focused on the ill fated Burke & Wills expedition. Heavy localised storms & rain hampered the trip around the Moomba area, and after getting hopelessly bogged in the wet blacksoil we had to backtrack and improvise the route from there through dry country. It was a great trip, and I still have a copy of that photo at home. I did a couple of Norm's specials, always enjoyed them greatly even if the poor old “truck” took a battering on some of the tracks Norm loved picking out. I gave up the coaches 30 years ago but my wife (ex CT's cookie) & I still love going bush in our 4X4 and have a big 12 month trip away coming up shortly.

[Centralian]

Thanks for sharing those memories Peter and bringing life to that brochure cover. I guess the generation that were going on these camping trips back then are now the clients of APT or Scenic cruising the rivers of Europe or railing through the Canadian Rockies.

[Mr Scania]

The coach with the kitchen is shown under the Ayers Rock section in the Explore Australia bible.