Hello All,
Today I saw 1932 with all of its liquor advertising stickers off. I took a few shots of it in its stickerless state.
- Here are three shots of 1932 without its stickers on. I decided to merge these three photos into one to save space (You'll know why after you finish reading this post and have a good look). The bus certainly needs repainting; even some bits of blue from its UTA livery is showing through now...
- stickerless1932.jpg (226.51 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
Then I noticed that the bus had some fibreglass cracks at the front which wern't there before (Which was wierd), so I took a shot of one of the many cracks, plus a (brand new) cracked blinker cover...
- One of 1932's front fibreglass cracks.
- 1932crack.jpg (69.46 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
- This poor blinker cover was fitted on for only a week before it cracked....
- 1932blinker.jpg (101.92 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
After I took these shots, a man walked up to me and asked why I was taking photos. I told him that I was a bus enthusiast and that I was wondering why the bus had all of its stickers off and had the cracks. The man, who revealed that he was the driver and carer of the bus, then said to me that a couple of days ago the bus rolled from its parked state into a car parked across Rusden Street, and recieved the cracks (And cracked blinker) from the impact. He said he didn't know why the stickers were off though; the actual owner did this and he didn't know the reason (I myself guess that it was related with the crash). As a result, the bus will be written off until it gets fixed.
Then I told the driver/carer about wanting to get 1932 someday. His replies were that the St. Kilda Hotel have no plans of getting rid of it even in the distant future, as the bus still runs well despite its age and they utterly depend on it for transporting their customers.
The bus carer/driver then said that I was allowed to go inside the bus if I wanted. So, with a sincere thanks, I did. While I was in there I took some proper inside shots (Not from outside of the windscreen);
- 1932's interior from the front.
- 1932interiorfromfront.jpg (122.45 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
- 1932's interior from the rear.
- 1932interiorfromrear.jpg (116.51 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
- Left: The original body plate behind the rear door.
Right: Three jet nozzles beside a "NO SMOKING" sign (Which I believe is original) - 1932bodyplatejetsnosmoking.jpg (78 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
- The "Weathershield" under the rear emergency roof exit.
- 1932weathershield.jpg (82.25 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
- The dash.
- 1932dashbirds'eye.jpg (106.21 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
And then I found the chassi and body certification plates behind the driver's seat;
- The body certification plate. It says here that the body was manufactured by Leyland. Does this mean that Leyland owned PMC??
- pmcleylandmanufactureplate1932.jpg (193.84 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
- The chassis certification plate.
- mercedesbenzmanufactureplate1932.jpg (126.86 KiB) Viewed 1069 times
Well, these are some more pics for TOPS (Many more, actually
).
Just as a follow-up from what that driver/carer said, you'll probably have a hard time trying to get it at the moment, especially since the St. Kilda Hotel still really want to keep the bus...
Thanks,
The Man of Randomness.
"100 speed limited... by drivetrain."
I will report and cover any significant bus events from the Armidale region.