What happens to a bus or coach that is deemed to have reached the end of its economic life with a passenger service operator? Some are scrapped, some are dismantled for parts to keep other similar buses on the road and some are sold for conversion to a motor home or for static use as a shed or sleep-out.
In the latter roles they often end up mouldering in a yard or paddock especially once the cost of a motor home conversion or the cost of repairing and servicing a heavy vehicle is realised (and let’s be honest, there’s usually a good reason why it has been retired from a fleet).
There are two ex-Dunedin City Transport (DCT) trolleybuses in the yard beyond the gate. Until recently there was a third but it seems to have been moved out. They are in a very sorry state of repair. This is the old North Taieri landfill site. In the late 1980s/early '90s a private operator ran a recycling operation out of here, possibly the first such operation of its kind in Dunedin. These buses were brought onto the site for use as offices and staffrooms. After the venture closed down they were simply left here.
Small container so BYOP.
Optional reading for “bus-spotters”: DCT ran a total of 79 of these. The first entered service in 1950 and the final remaining units were all withdrawn in 1982. For anyone who doesn’t know what a “trolleybus” is, it’s a bus powered electrically. It receives its electricity from a catenary or system of overhead lines. The general advantage of a trolleybus is that it is virtually silent in operation (leading to their nicknames of "Silent Killers" or "Silent Death", references to the fact that a number of pedestrian injuries and fatalities occurred because the victims didn't hear the buses coming) as well as being emissions free; both big plus points in an urban environment. The downside is that the catenary is expensive to build and maintain (and ugly to look at), the buses are restricted to only being used on routes where there is a catenary, and because they are a niche product trolleybus chassis are generally more expensive than mass-produced diesel chassis. The CO believes that in New Zealand only Wellington still runs trolleys and has recently announced that their days are numbered. Upon retirement there were limited options for further use of the DCT trolleybuses. With no engine to power them they were largely restricted to being towed to a location and used as a sleepout or store shed. Most that were used for these purposes are now in very poor condition. Some were actually driven to their final resting places while being powered by a mobile generator sitting on a trailer being towed behind the bus! One example, the so-called “Tiger Tea” bus, due to the advertising livery in which it is painted, is preserved at Toitu Otago Settlers Museum. The Otago Heritage Bus Society is also in the process of bringing back to Dunedin the very first DCT trolley to enter service. Since retirement it has had an interesting life in a Wellington transport museum and in a bus collection in Foxton.
There is some confusion about what “make” these buses are. Some refer to them as Leylands, others as British United Traction and still others as Metropolitan-Vickers! British United Traction (BUT) was a company jointly owned by Leyland and the Associated Equipment Company (AEC). BUT specialised in building railway equipment and trolleybuses and often used electrical components from Metropolitan-Vickers and mechanical components from Leyland and AEC. Adding further to the confusion is the fact that BUT was initially based at Leyland's works at Kingston-on-Thames and then in 1948 moved production to both the AEC plant at Southall and Leyland's plant at Leyland. If you visit the “Tiger Tea” bus at Toitu you will see the Leyland logo on the rear axle hubs and the BUT logo on the front hubs. No wonder there is confusion!
Chassis Make/Model: British United Traction RETB 1 Bodywork: New Zealand Motor Bodies, Christchurch (1 to 55); Dunedin City Transport Dept (Nos 56 to 79). 1 to 55 steel frames with aluminium side panels; 56 to 79 wooden composite construction. Weight: 12,044lbs Dimension: 33ft 4 in by 8 ft Electrical: Metropolitan Vickers Motor: 135 bhp with over hung generator Controllers: Electromagnetic contactors operated by 2 12v batteries in series (batteries non-regenerative). Acceleration not automatic, but on a 13-stage scissor arm system. Current limit relay for hill climbing Braking: 2-step rheostatic; compressed air; and coasting brake for hill work (limits speed to 15mph forward or 2mph reverse on hills) Tire Size: 110 x 20 (12 ply) Air Pressure: 80psi (fully inflated) Seating: 40 plus driver Number Purchased: 79 1st Entered Service: 23 December 1950 Last Day in Service: 31st March 1982
See geocache GC1ZG01 for more.