Request:Woomera Rocket Range Leopards.

[Fleet Lists]

Hunters Hill Bus Co.,later North & Western bus Lines of Sydney operated a couple of Freighter bodied Leyland Leopards built in the mid 1960s that originated from the Womera rocket range in S.A.Many other operators had them too and I would love to see as many pictures of these handsome buses as I can.
Can anyone explain their origins in some detail and how many came from there and ended up scattered with subsequent operators?
I stumbled on a silver one doing a charter in Willoughby around 1999/2000!

[venturatiger]

Hi , as per request hers are some shots of Woomera Leopards that operated in Victoria
all courtesy of Bruce Tilley collection, apart from Rick Thege of Ballarat which comes from Pete Kane collection
enjoy
Cheers Venturatiger

[MAN_LOVER]

Very nice buses,

I have a pic of one in yellow and blue in a Nowra car yard 15/10/98 as VCN239 believed to be ex Stuart's of Nowra.

Another i photographed with Member of parliament Peter Knott, named Mary, XIR952, on 24/2/02.

I have the complete badge off North & Western m/o 8123.

[Fleet Lists]

The Vic Hayes 1983 list shows three such buses with North & Western
m/o 4446 which is the one which became m/o 8123 mentioned by MAN_LOVER and is listed as such in the 1993 fleet lists. This one had chassis no PSU3/1R L44557 and body 4050 dated 31/5/66.
m/o 5376
m/o 5677 with the plates going on to a new bus in 1984

[venturatiger]

Hi, Man Lover's reply, got me thinking , had a look at my Stuart's photos & the result is below
enjoy
Cheers Venturatiger

[Andrew]

Interesting looking vehicles. The rear view mirrors don't look big enough to have a shave in haha compared to the big ones on buses today.... Also, what a difference painting the black around the windows and in the centre of the front of the bus makes! (as seen in the Bellarine unit)....

[MAN_LOVER]

The one i have photographed in car yard has the same door conversion as seen on the Stuart's, so that's enough to convince me!

[THE INFORMANT]

Love the Safari trailer being towed behind the Stuarts Unit -LOL

[Fleet Lists]

With IPC 100 was Ventura before or after Rick Thege?

[Ben O]

The one i have photographed in car yard has the same door conversion as seen on the Stuart's, so that's enough to convince me!

Stuarts originally purchased four - three were operated and one was sold without use to Kennedy's. All can be found on the fleetlists

That one in the car yard probably was the Stuarts one, although the Kennedys one did spend a considerable amount of time in a Nowra car yard too. That member for parliament Leopard was an ex Stuarts one.

Ben

[venturatiger]

Hi, IPC100 was sold to Rick Thege ,Ballarat from Ventura.

I recall driving the Ventura one , was very slow on the hills

Cheers Venturatiger

[Fleet Lists]

Thanks - the reason for my question will show in the photo gallery tomorrow.

[Swift]

Can someone give abit of a back story on these buses when originally ordered new by Dept of Supply and their subsequent disposal to private operators?Time to put the mystery to rest!
I enjoyed the pictures thanks.Any rear shots?I always liked that styling touch of the lip coming out the back of the roof.
Anyone else notice the similarity of the windows to the GM New look buses in the U.S?
Actually in my case ,I always compared the New Look's windows with North & Western's example of these buses!!!

[venturatiger]

Hi Swift, (100) IPC100 was new in 1968 & the rego at Ventura dates back to 1976 & was replaced by a new Leopard by 1981

Cheers Venturatiger

[Swift]

The door on all the onside views gives me the impression that Hunter's Hill Bus Co. added a rear door behind the rear axle on theirs (Forest Style) for route work.Also they were twin leaf doors rather than a single piece outward opening door as in above pictures.

[venturatiger]

Hi , bit of searching managed to find 2 more
Ist is from Bruce Tilley collection
2nd is from Andrew Potts collection, which indeed shows a rear door was fitted
enjoy
Cheers Venturatiger

[Albion Victor]

The Hunters Hill Bus Co vehicle has a completely different widow set up than all the others shown.

Is it also a Woomera one albeit a later model or if it is one of those shown, was it altered after purchase?

[Swift]

The Hunters Hill Bus Co vehicle has a completely different widow set up than all the others shown.

Is it also a Woomera one albeit a later model or if it is one of those shown, was it altered after purchase?

I hope someone can answer that and more.
Also noticed no grill at the front.I have a picture of two different units taken in North & Western days and they both have a grill at the bottom just above the front bumper.
Maybe this one is the third unit they had??Looks so good in the Hunters Hill scheme.
I think this is probably the unit I remember layed up at night time in Macquarie University all those years ago as I recall it didn't have any hubcaps on,like the other one/ones.
Appreciate the pic immensely Ventura Tiger.

[venturatiger]

Hi, have come across 2 more Woomera Leopards this time from Andrew Potts collection
enjoy
Cheers Venturatiger

MO5454 of Prior's of Batemans Bay


(69) LKU739 of Warrnambool Bus Lines

[Swift]

Thanks. I can't believe how many were/ are out there!!!

[system improver]

Here is a pic from the Ken Magor Collection. I guess that the Woomera livery was light blue. Just what, if any, alterations were done at Hunters Hill BC is still a bit of a mystery. I would assume that the header would be the most obvious, and perhaps the rear door. Further research (see below) shows that this style of window was fitted to this later batch of Dept of Supply vehicles, according to body number, new in early 1969. I agree that they look very smart in the Hunters Hill BC livery:



And here is another Bruce Tilley photo of a sister vehicle to the above two, at Cunninghams of Colac in 1973:

[VIKing]

Hunters Hill Bus Co purchased 3 of these Leopards, all were model PSU3/1R with Freighter Lawton B45F bodies when purchased -
5376 Body #4677, purchased 2/71 converted to B43FR by Coachmaster and registered 7/5/71
5677 purchased 3/71, also converted to B43FR before registration 6/71 Freighter Lawton. This one operated in blue from June to August in 1971.
4446 purchased 12/73, converted to B43FR and registered 6/74.
All were originally manual gearboxes.
Regarding the vehicles operated by Stuarts of Nowra, these were acquired in 2 batches, the first were to ones sold to Callala and reacquired, the second group acquired later included MO 0737 and the one onsold to Kennedys. Stuarts told me this batch came from an Air Force base and not from Woomera. Not sure exactly when these were acquired, but I first noted MO 0737 in November 1986.

[Swift]

All were originally manual gearboxes.

That must be how they all came. I can't remember if Hunter's Hill had mono control or air post semi auto set up in theirs.I rememeber the ones I saw and heard over the years in Eastwood definately sounded like they had 0680 engines in them, even though I have since learnt that at least one remained 0600 powered through it's life at Hunter's Hill and North & Western..

I have also seen a couple of photos of an AEC Reliance with this body at some bus depot around the Granville area.

[Bedford-29]

Yes it is thanks fleetlist.