What It Was Like

[Looselion]

Here's a vivid reminder of the conditions facing operators and tourists alike back in the 1950s and 1960s, as we observe a Redline tour coach in western Queensland on its way to Central Australia. This was the then near new Denning VK41, fleet No 51.
Pretty much the entirety of the 1960s saw Australia in drought which is well reflected in this shot, taken by Allan Leaver.

[Tim Williams]

The Albion Vikings were great fun, probably best described as basic and under-powered, but they were reliable - the only major fault that I was aware of was that, they could jam in the top gear (6) if a reasonable change down (to a lower gear) was not done. 6 speed constant mesh gearbox, Leyland 0401 engine, full air brakes (with the Clydesdale) and leaf spring suspension - basic but good!!

[Merc1107]

Leaf spring suspension on unsealed roads... I'll bet that was a bone-shaking ride!

[Looselion]

Actually the VK41's plodded on with factory air over hydraulic brakes, although in true pedestrian fashion they did the job. As for the leaf spring suspension, each Centre tour/express unit carried a spare front/rear main/wrap leaf pair, and every driver was versed on how to do the job! Here's an excerpt from Ian Lynas' web page devoted to the VK41: "2020 VK41's were constructed and amongst the earliest countries to take the VK41 was Australia with the second chassis built, 53000B to an operator called Redline Coaches based in Brisbane, Queensland, but who operated a whole network of long-distance routes between Australia's major centres. The VK41 became the mainstay, but a large number of them were converted to rear-engined layout, initially with the Leyland unit but later with General Motors 6.53 units rear mounted. Quite a number of Redline units were never identified as to their chassis numbers." Ian omitted to mention that Redline made an arrangement with Leyland Motors to convert their many standard VK41's to rear engine configuration, with factory warranty, at their West End Brisbane workshops.