(^34) ABCMay 2018busnews.com.au
Sydney Bus Museum –
More Than a Collection of Buses
A
VISIT TO THE Sydney
Bus Museum is
a must for any
bus enthusiast.
This collection of
impeccably restored historic vehicles
displayed in the Old Tram Depot at
Leichardt is more than just old buses.
It’s our industry’s history curated
and preserved by a team of
long-serving, dedicated and proud
bus historians.
At our photoshoot, it was a re-visit
to buses of our childhood and an
opportunity to be the driver not the
passenger this time.
We had the pleasure to speak
with several volunteers on the day;
the dedication and passion for the
museum was quite remarkable.
Many of them were quietly
spoken but emotional as they
explained their work and what it
meant to them.
Chechlacz passionately recounted
how the museum started:
“Originally, the Historic Commercial
Vehicle Association was formed in
1964 by a group of enthusiasts that
were interested in buses and trucks.
In 1986 they were granted a lease
over the old train depot at Tempe to
set up a museum and it’s developed
from there.
“In 2010, State Transit advised
us that they needed the property
back from Metro Bus Depot, so after
some negotiations we moved here
to the Old Tram Depot at Leichardt.
After a few delays we opened to the
public in 2016”.
RUNS LIKE A BUS COMPANY
“Essentially, we run the museum like
a professionally run bus company
and I am the operations manager,”
Chechlacz said.
“We arrange all the events; we
run a regular Sunday service for our
visitors from the Museum to the
Queen Victoria Building in Sydney.
“We do a lot of outside events
such as Australia Day in the city, the
transport heritage event at Central
Station, which is over the Queen’s
Birthday long weekend, and the
Shannon’s Easton Creek Classic at
the racetrack – plus many other
different community events as well.
“We carry several thousand
passengers over these events,”
Chechlacz added.
When you think of a museum
you think of displays that just
need to be cleaned and
maintained, but there is a lot more
to keeping this place operating
from what we learned.
Chechlacz said, “We have a
workshop section that looks after
the buses that are maintained even
though they’re on historical plates.
We still inspect them twice a year
- the same as any heavy vehicle.
We basically follow the same
procedures for all of the buses that
are in our collection.
“Out of the 70 buses in the
collection there are 50 buses
housed here; the other 20 are kept
at outside locations. Out of that
50, there are about 30 that are
registered for use.”
Pictured:
The test-driven
Mercedes-Benz
(top right) is just
one facet of the
museum and its
various exhibits.
(Photos: Sydney
Bus Museum).FEATURE DRIVEN