Newcastle Buses - 75 Years

Started by 743, September 22, 2010, 09:42:54 PM

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743

Today (22 September) marks 75 years to the day since the first Government bus service ran in Newcastle. Here are some photos from today.


Newcastle's newest bus, Euro 5 Volvo 2078, sits at the original City bus terminus in Pacific St prior to commencing a commemorative re-run of the original 1935 bus route to Mayfield West.


2078 in Hunter St, Newcastle. It was probably the first bus to go down this section since 1981 (and only had an inch to spare on either side for most of it!). This section of Hunter St was standard roadway until 1981 when it was closed and turned into a pedestrian mall; it re-opened as a "road" (and I use the term loosely as you can see in the photo!) late last year.


2078 at the old Tighes Hill off-peak terminus where the early Government bus routes connected to trams for travel into Newcastle.


2078 in Ingall St, Mayfield East, near George St; this was one of the original bus stop locations (or at least very close to it) for the first bus route and the first ever fare section point introduced for the service. The desto is displaying the current service that operates along this section of road.


2078 sits at the approximate location of the original Mayfield West Terminus in Werribi Street East. Sources detailing the original bus route are few in number so the commemorative bus run was an attempt to be as correct as possible based on the available material.


The bus after returning to Hamilton Depot sitting next to Mercedes O405 Mark V 3123.


Assorted buses sit at Newcastle Station City Terminus on the 75th anniversary. This Terminus opened in the late 1990's so is only a relatively new feature of the network in a 75 year context.


Volvo 1419 on Scott St near Pacific St, Newcastle East, in between trips. The desto had not been changed from the previous trip but it was an interesting scene in that the bus was sitting just around the corner from the original 1935 City Terminus having just completed a 100 which partially covers the original bus route (other segments are covered by Routes 104, 111 and 118).

Happy Birthday, Newcastle Buses! Even though I'm a Canberra person now, I'll always have a soft spot for you  :)

Buzz Killington

What a great selection of photos! Thanks also for a bit of background information.

Really hard to pick a favourite photo but I think I'm going to have to go for the second one.