Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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tonyp
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Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

In Private Observations a few days ago I made passing reference to Walter Selby (Syd) Wood, 1871-1950. It led me to browse that part of Bankstown Library's Syd Wood papers that are online. Wood was a pioneer of modern Bankstown, his factory being the only major industrial establishment in the central area of Bankstown as late as the 1940s. According to his Army papers in the AWM, he was born in Folkestone, UK in 1871 and emigrated to Australia c1908. He established the coachworks in Chapel Rd, Bankstown in 1912 at the age of 41. By 1916 he was shown as a widower with a daughter Elsie. Incredibly, in 1916, at the age of 44, he enlisted in the AIF as a private and was sent to the Western Front, being discharged as a Lance Sergeant in 1917.

After WW1 he turned his business towards motor buses and by 1924 had produced Sydney's first double deck bus, called The Majestic, for Bede Brennan, owner of the Majestic Theatre in Bankstown. Syd Wood was to produce many more double deckers for Sydney. Some photos will follow in the next post. No doubt some others have researched Syd Wood in more depth and there is more material on their buses available, like the many photos of HHBC buses.

By 1942 they had produced their 1000th bus, a beautiful semi-coach for Adelaide, pictured in my previous post in the Private Observations thread (and again below). At this stage, the photo indicates that there were about 50 employees, few of evident military age at that stage, and quite a few boys. I wonder if some of those boys might still be around? I believe that the older gentleman in the centre of the back row is Syd Wood, by then about 71 years old. By 1932 he had evidently married again and his wife is mentioned in the dedication of Wood Park (the land for which he donated to the council) in Bankstown in 1942. Syd Wood died in 1950 and his second wife, Jean Wood died in 1962, the year that the company's last bus, Hunters Hill mo 4576, was delivered.

I do recall discussion here in the past about a brother or brothers who also joined Syd in Bankstown. One of these joined Syd to start manufacturing commercial dishwashers (a line of business suggested by Syd's second wife) in part of the Chapel Rd factory in 1932 and this business, called Eswood, still exists today. According to Eswood's history, the brother was Ed Wood. There was also an Arthur Wood, who purchased Syd Wood buses, who ran the Bankstown Eldridge Rd Bus Service - related or not I don't know.

Syd Wood buses were highly regarded and he had a flair for style and finishes, very American-influenced, that was unmatched in the industry. The company was also distinctive for using timber body framing until the very end. Syd Wood produced a lot of buses that directly or indirectly went into government bus service in the interwar years, but after WW2 that work went to Comeng, Clyde and, in the mid 1950s, CCMC, leaving Syd Wood largely with the private operator market, mainly in NSW but with some interstate sales.
Last edited by tonyp on Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
tonyp
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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The Majestic Theatre bus, Sydney's first double decker. Presumably it carried its patrons to and from the destinations listed.

Image

The 1942 photo previously posted. I believe Syd Wood is in the centre of the back row. At left is Chapel Rd and in the distance, on the other side of Rickard Rd where the Town Hall is now, there is a glimpse of the old Capitol Hall.

Image

The bus in the 1942 photo, a beautiful example of the Syd Wood style. Very much "American" buses which were the latest thing in those days and often also on an American chassis. Anybody know anything about the Adelaide-Kilburn service?

Image

A staff and family picnic in 1949, perhaps at Bobbin Head. One bus at least is "Parramatta-Northmead" - which company? I well remember those back doors set an extra row forward which, with the front door set back, were excellently placed for the all-door loading that was normal in those days. By 1950, Syd Wood had moved to a more modern front end that remained standard until the end of production. At the rear there was often a panoramic wrap-around rear window. In their very last bus, mo 4576, they introduced a moulded fibreglass rear that subsequently became standard from all other manufacturers, but alas no more for Syd Wood.

Image

(All photos Walter Selby Wood collection, Canterbury Bankstown Library)
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by Fleet Lists »

We have quite a good collection of Syd Wood buses in the photo gallery. https://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/th ... ?album=422

WE have some more Hunters Hill photos to be added over the next month or so.
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tonyp
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

Fleet Lists wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:25 am We have quite a good collection of Syd Wood buses in the photo gallery. https://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/th ... ?album=422

WE have some more Hunters Hill photos to be added over the next month or so.
I know thanks, I've already seen them. Excellent work Fleet Lists. GM also used to post many photos here over the years.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

This thread with input by GM has further photos and details of "The Majestic" and a comment that suggests that mo 4576 may not have been quite the last bus delivered by Syd Wood, rather a Thornycroft delivered to Jack and Les King of Kempsey and plated 25 September 1962. Can this bus still be identified?

viewtopic.php?p=717927

Over the months of 1962, though, it is evident that the company was winding down as Syd's wife, Jean who likely had inherited ownership of the business, died on 15 June 1962. It also comes to light that Syd and Jean's house, high on the hill at the top of Remi Street, Bankstown, was demolished not long ago. Above the house is Wood Park (on the west side of Apex Park) that Syd donated to Bankstown. Both house and the park have a vast view over Bankstown and the Georges River valley. A bit hard to appreciate now as it's adjacent to the Stacey St traffic hellhole and some green brightsparks have planted a big grove of gum trees right in front of the lookout, blocking out the view. There is a parking bay for the lookout on the Hume Highway, just west of the Stacey St intersection.

https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/prop ... -117994599
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by Fleet Lists »

The Majestic Theatre bus, Sydney's first double decker. Presumably it carried its patrons to and from the destinations listed.
Brennan was the owner of bus routes 22 from Milperra and 23 from Picnic Point via East Hills to Bankstown, where he also owned the Majestic Theatre, hence the name of the bus.
These routes ceased in 1927 due to a fire and where later restarted by Arch McVicar.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

I think I'm on to the Thorneycroft too, it's the one that ACTION had for a while.

https://www.actbus.net/fleetwiki/index.php/BUS_240

Image


I note that the body date given here is 29 May 1962, which must be very close to that of mo 4576. I see that it's also production number 1,913 which must the the final number of bodies manufactured by Syd Wood. They had reached 1,000 in 1942 as noted in the earlier photo.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by Fleet Lists »

The ZIB 240 photo was already in the photo gallery as a Leon Batman photo but did not link correctly to the Syd Wood page which has been corrected.
Also the history has been updated.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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tonyp wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:54 pm I think I'm on to the Thorneycroft too, it's the one that ACTION had for a while.
IIRC, this came from Bowden's Tamarama BS.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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Yes it did but was new to JJ King, Coffs Harbour in 1962 (acquired through Bowden dealer) who also operated route 79 to Tamarama. Bowden reacquired it in March 1974 only three months before route 79 ceased.
IIRC it was not the only bus from Bowden to go to Canberra where there was a shortage of buses at the time.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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viewtopic.php?f=60&t=81418&p=962755&hil ... ma#p962755 confirms that some Duples also went Tamarama Bus Service to Canberra
Also see https://www.flickr.com/photos/25653307@N03/2688349853/
A bit more investigation shows that there were 10 buses involved BUS 240 to BUS 249
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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Bowdens had other buses with Syd Wood bodies too.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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I also believe they did but no others seemed to have gone to ACTION with the other nine either MBS or Duple according to the ACTBus website.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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Most of the Thorneycrofts had gone by the time Bowden closed down. I recall that Helensburgh BS got a few of his hand-me-downs over the years.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

Coincidentally, the subdivided site of Syd and Jean Wood's mission-style house is for sale this weekend, if anybody wants a block of land with a great view:

https://www.realestate.com.au/property- ... -203034438

The gate and gatepost at left are still there today:

Image

I would have thought it would be a local heritage item, considering the major contribution he made to the development of Bankstown, but progress has swept it away. Wood Park is to the right, uphill, and an observatory on the roof would have given them a view over the factory about 1 km down the hill and beyond to Liverpool and Menai. A picture of the successful businessman who stuck with his locality from the time the railway arrived and kicked off its growth as a suburb. The dedication for Wood Park mentions his support for business, music and sport in Bankstown.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by VIKing »

The Thornycroft that operated in Canberra was new to Kings of Kempsey (prior to the Tony and Peter era) as MO3624. It was body 25/9/62, 47 seats. This was the last body built by Syd Wood (#1913) - m/o 4576 was the last Syd Wood bus built for Hunters Hill Bus Co. MO3624 was dereg 24/1/74 and was sold to Bowden, It was repainted but never registered before the service ceased. We held a farewell Bowden tour, which used the Thorncroft (on trade plates) for part of the tour including a run to Town Hall. It was sold to Canberra .... one of the executives from ACTION was watching the TV news at home in Canberra and there was a story about Bowden ceasing on the news. ACTION were desperate for buses so they contacted Bowden the next day and stiched up a deal to buy the fleet. As I recall the Thornycroft was retained as part of the ACTION historic fleet, but when that fleet was rationalied it was released for external preservation and later on wound up back with Kings (Tony and Peter) in Kempsey.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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VIKing wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:29 pm The Thornycroft that operated in Canberra was new to Kings of Kempsey (prior to the Tony and Peter era) as MO3624. It was body 25/9/62, 47 seats. This was the last body built by Syd Wood (#1913) - m/o 4576 was the last Syd Wood bus built for Hunters Hill Bus Co. MO3624 was dereg 24/1/74 and was sold to Bowden, It was repainted but never registered before the service ceased. We held a farewell Bowden tour, which used the Thorncroft (on trade plates) for part of the tour including a run to Town Hall. It was sold to Canberra .... one of the executives from ACTION was watching the TV news at home in Canberra and there was a story about Bowden ceasing on the news. ACTION were desperate for buses so they contacted Bowden the next day and stiched up a deal to buy the fleet. As I recall the Thornycroft was retained as part of the ACTION historic fleet, but when that fleet was rationalied it was released for external preservation and later on wound up back with Kings (Tony and Peter) in Kempsey.
Thanks for that. Do you or anybody have an exact date for mo 4576? I'm sure I've seen it on this forum in the past. By November 1962 the executors of Jean Woods' estate were calling in creditors so it was definitely all over by then.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by VIKing »

m/o 4576 was 10/7/62, it was body 1904 (though none of the buses, to my knowledge) carried body numbers
The last few Sydney Wood bodies were
1906 03/05/62 - Parsons, Wauchope Bedford SB MO4531
1907 17/05/62 - Freebody Cooma Austin MO4325
1908 06/06/62 Sullivan Cootamundra Austin
1909 30/07/62 Bowden Waverley Thornycroft
1910 01/08/62 Footes BS Adelaide Bedford SB
1911 15/08/62 Lucas Warrnambool BMC
1912 31/08/62 Elston Moorabbon BMC
1913 25/09/62 King Kempsey Thornycroft
tonyp
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

Thank you for that VIKing. Gosh they were busy right to the end - nationally too. Presumably there was nobody to pass the business to so they wound it up. I haven't been able to find out whether there were any other children other than Syd's daughter.

Also where do you get that list? Bankstown Library Syd Wood papers? Does it cover Syd Wood's entire production?
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by 1whoknows »

What body no did the one at Dural have? It was m/o 5927 ex HHBC and I have a body date recorded of 7/62.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

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1whoknows wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:28 am What body no did the one at Dural have? It was m/o 5927 ex HHBC and I have a body date recorded of 7/62.
As per VIKing's post above that was ex mo 4576 (1904). I think Dural also had ex mo 4399.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by 1whoknows »

I spent several years of my childhood travelling back and forth to primary school in 1912. Mr Elston also had a SW bodies on a BMC, 2 Albion FT39s and a rebodied former Ford Blitz furniture van. So I was always a fan. As a child I thought that SydWood must be the name for the fake wood laminate used in the interiors!!
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

1whoknows wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 8:37 am I spent several years of my childhood travelling back and forth to primary school in 1912.
It took me a moment to realise you were referring to the body number, not the year! Such longevity. :lol:

Formica and anodised aluminium dress strips were a couple of Syd Wood's decor features. He had a real flair for it, which would be appreciated more when they were new rather than after a number of years of being knocked about. It was very American-influenced (like his house) and would now be considered very desirable and cool retro like classic American cars and buses. It was so nice compared to the government buses which used bland masonite (or some similar material) for bulkheads and seat backs. I hope when Sydney Bus Museum restores its Syd Wood bus, they are able to refresh some of these features. That Adelaide coach featured above must have been a real beauty. CCMC carried on similar nice stylishness for a while, but after Syd Wood was gone, everything became much blander across the industry.
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

An interesting sideline - perhaps the only model kits ever made of a Syd Wood bus, a normal control Bedford. Not sure that they would have had air doors in the 1930s but certainly by the 1950s.

http://www.little-bus.com/bus-kits/bsw3-4.html
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Re: Syd Wood, bus builders, 1912-1962

Post by tonyp »

Here is the Syd Wood factory in its last couple of years, the long industrial building at upper left of the photo, fronting Chapel Rd which runs from top to bottom here. The factory was demolished not long after 1962 and Rickard Rd (running across the photo from the right) was extended to the left. Diagonally across the intersection to the centre of the photo is the site of the present Civic Centre that replaced the old Capitol Theatre that can be seen in the photo. The large car park at the bottom of the photo is where Keating Park is now. The site of the factory is now the Aldi car park. The older front section of the factory with its shop awning on the street would have been the original 1912 coachworks and a large extension was built later as the bus business expanded.

SydWoodc1960red.png
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