Peter – well done on starting this thread. It is very interesting and hopefully I can add to knowledge pool about Choat’s Passenger Service. My name is Robert Triggs and my father Robert (Bob) Triggs managed the bus company for most of his working life.
Chris Chardon’s book “Stirling: a personal view” provides some history about Choat’s garage and the early days of Choat’s Passenger Service.
My brother Don and I both “worked” at the Bus Depot in Stirling, serving petrol, washing buses and answering the phone. One of the buses not mentioned in the thread is an old 11-seater Packard which was used in the very early days of Choats to provide a very personalized “dial a bus” service. I recall it sitting in the old depot in Stirling and believe it was disposed of just before the business was taken over by the MTT (more on this later).
Later, Don and I learnt to drive in a variety of vehicles, but including the buses. We both took our driving test in a bus. Other vehicles included Dad’s company car, a Mark III Zephyr, Max Choat’s V8 Customline and a few times in Ron Choat’s Falcon, under Ron’s tuition. Ron was good enough to let me drive him to Golf at the Blackwood Golf Club a couple of times to build up my driving experience.
We were then able to become part time drivers for Choats while we were studying, first at High School and later at Adelaide Uni. Don used to drive the School bus to Mt Barker High which he attended. I drove the 8:00 am bus to the city on my way to School at Adelaide Boys High in my Matriculation year (I went to Heathfield High before that). Both of us were in school uniform which was accepted without comment by the passengers. At least, none that I heard anyway. Don interrupted his studies to work for three years as a bus driver for Choats. After graduating, with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Computing Science and Geophysics, Don worked for the STA as a Schedules Investigator.
It is great to see the pictures on this thread and I drove all of these buses at some time. Including “Big Bertha” which had a “crash gearbox” and very heavy steering. The later buses had synchromesh gears but still required double de-clutching to change gears. Some buses were allocated to specific drivers. For example, Allan Hooper, Bert Ey and Donnie Shaw all took exceptional pride in looking after “their” buses and were very much “professional” drivers.
There was a funny story about one of the drivers, Kenny Wright (deceased) who was once complimented by a passenger for his attention to safety. She noted that he always stood up at the “Devil’s Elbow” to check no other traffic was coming. In fact, Ken was short of stature and when driving "Big Bertha”, needed to stand up to get leverage on the wheel to make the turn.
I had a similar experience when the clutch on a bus I was driving into town failed. It was possible to change gears without the clutch but stopping was a problem. Luckily it was a Sunday with little traffic so by controlling the speed I was able to catch all the lights down Glen Osmond road, along Pultney Street and into Victoria Square. A lady got off the bus and said it was the smoothest ride she had ever had.
There are many other anecdotes about Choats and its drivers, which perhaps will be added to this site over time.
Most of my other driving was on weekends. I would often do the “feeder” runs from Stirling East and Piccadilly connecting with the main bus to and from town. I also occasionally did the school run to Oakbank Area School and weekend “Specials” – where a bus was hired for special events.
I have added some more bus pictures, including a picture of the whole fleet taken in 1967, on the South East Freeway between Stirling and Crafers before it was completed.
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The pictures of the fleet were quite historic involving all of Choat’s buses and drivers at the time. A friend of Bob’s, Ray Sampson, was in charge of the Highways Camp at Crafers and gave permission for the photo shoot on the freeway site. The photo was taken on a Sunday after the arrival of the 10:00 am from the city and before the 1:15 pm down from Aldgate so the whole fleet could be included.
Of course, Harley Maxwell Choat founded the business.
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The Death notice that appeared in the Advertiser, 21-1-70 provides some history:
Founder of Bus Firm
The death has occurred of Mr Harley Maxwell Choat 70, founder of Choat’s Passenger Services, which operates buses from the Adelaide Hills.
Mr Choat began the service from Mount Barker in 1927, with an old Studebaker car taking passengers to Adelaide.
He was one of the first men in SA to make use of the 36-passenger bus, which many considered too large to negotiate the “Devils Elbow” on the Mount Barker Road.
Today the firm has 12 coaches operating from Adelaide to Aldgate, Uraidla and Carey Gully, and also servicing primary and area schools in the Hills.
Mr Choat is survived by his widow, five children, 17 grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Here is a quote from Chris Chardon’s book: “Stirling: a personal view”
“ Choats Passenger Service was commenced in Mount Barker with a hire car type of service, running to a timetable, by Harley Maxwell (Max) Choat in 1927. Max lived in Mount Barker. Max, whose parents were Joseph and Alice Choat, grew up as a boy in Clarence Park. Max’s wife was Sophia Ruth (nee Milne). Max’s brothers were Arch and Ray (both lost their lives in action in World War I), Wesley (Prisoner of War World War I), Harry, Mervin and Ian. Max and Sophia’s children were:- Amy Maxine (Lockett), Alice Norma (Triggs), Ronald Maxwell (known as “Chugga”), Barbara Ruth (Staniford) and Janette Helen (Russell).”
(As an aside – Arch and Ray died in the battle of Fromelles. Wesley escaped from a prison of war camp and eventually returned home.)
Choat’s Motor Service began as a partnership comprising Max, Ruth, Maxine and Ron. Max ran the business, assisted on occasion by brother Merv. In particular on one occasion when Max was indisposed – which is a separate story which others could elaborate on better than I.
Bob Triggs joined the company, after the war, in 1946 and married Norma 9 August 1947. During the war Bob flew in the RAAF as a Flight Lieutenant in 7 and14 Squadron.
In 1953, Choats built another garage in Carey Gully to support a service from Carey Gully to the city, which also came to be managed by Bob, shortly after its completion.
As time went by it was no longer practical to run the business as a partnership. In 1953 the business was re-structured into two family companies: a holding company, CHOATS MOTORS PTY. LIMITED (ACN 007 547 113) and CHOATS PASSENGER SERVICE PTY. LTD (ACN 007 547 104). The Motor Company owned the buses and leased them to the Passenger Company.
The companies had six equal shareholders:
Max and Ruth Choat
Bob and Norma (Choat) Triggs
Ron and Joy Choat
Maxine (Choat) Lockett
Jannette (Choat) Russel
Barbara (Choat) Staniford
Directors were Max, Bob and Ron; and Bob was appointed the Public Officer and Secretary. Bob continued to be responsible for management of the business and the new companies.
Ron had become a full time driver for the business. Bob Lockett also drove a bus in the morning, on his way to his main job.
Over the years, Bob Triggs gave a number of people the opportunity to be trained as drivers so they could benefit from part time work. These include Greg Wheeler (Now a surgeon), Rob Field (Magistrate) and Hamish Ross (became a Mobile Oil Executive). Bob was also instrumental in establishing Ken Choat (son of Ron Choat) as an apprentice mechanic with Choats and Stephen Hooper (son of driver Alan Hooper) as an employee of the State Transport Authority.
Max’s health deteriorated in later years after a car accident and as he developed diabetes. He passed away in 1970. Max’s Will included a clause indicating his wish that Bob Triggs continue to manage the Family companies.
The South Australian Government moved to nationalise many of the country bus services in the years leading up to the “take over” in 1974. Choat’s was not compulsorily acquired but it was becoming very difficult to maintain profitable operations. “The1973 oil crisis had massively increased the cost of living, domestic industry began to erode due to a lack of cost-competitiveness, and government funds were waning”(
http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/297301).
A shareholder meeting was held and the Family unanimously appointed Bob to manage the takeover. Bill Brewer was the tax consultant and auditor at the time, a member of Rowe McGee Brewer and Summers. Bob negotiated with Derek Scrafton (now Professor Derek Scrafton at UniSA), who was an advisor to the Minister of Transport (Geoff Virgo), to have Choat’s included in the takeover; and negotiated clauses in the Indenture which benefited all bus services involved in the takeover.
Both CHOAT companies went into liquidation under the appointed liquidator AL PORTER (Chief Accountant for the MTT) and were deregistered 20/9/1975.
After the “takeover”, Frank Harris (General Manager of the Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT)) asked Bob to manage the Aldgate Depot. Bob held this position until he retired in 1984.
Ron became an inspector for the State Transport Authority.
Ruth Choat died in 1986.
References:
Chris Chardon’s book “Stirling: a personal view”
Under Mount Lofty: a history of the Stirling district in South Australia, by Robert Martin
“Battle of the Buses”. A clear winner in this competition was the Choats Bus Service, established by Max Choat in 1927.
Bob Triggs spoke at Historical Society meeting attended by Tom Wilson (MTT), Rob Field (Magistrate) and Phil Kiel (From Minister for Transport Office when Geoff Virgo was minister)
STA Magazine – Among Ourselves
Articles in Mount Barker Courier
Acknowledgements
Thanks to my sister Vanessa for her encouragement to prepare this posting and thanks to Bob Triggs and Don Triggs for checking the accuracy of the information provided.
