(^36) ABCMay 2018busnews.com.au
Top:
She still looks
great after all
these years.
Below:
For bus fans
that’s a lovely
rear-view mirror
sight, indeed.
followed by a few different roles
until I retired two years ago. But I
have been here at the museum for
over 30 years.” Impressive stuff for
sure, we say!
Workingwithsomanygreat
buses, did Chechlacz have a
favourite in the fleet?
“It’s very hard [to choose]. I like
the Routemaster; it’s a brilliantly
designed bus for both the driver
and passengers. Another favorite
of mine is the Leyland Titan
OPD2/1-2033 – at the moment
its being refurbished and having
an engine rebuild. The Leyland
bus started its life at the nearby
Burwood Depot in 1948 and has
the synchromesh gearbox, it’s a
great bus.”
ALL WALKS OF LIFE AND AGES
“A large proportion of the people
involved are from the bus industry,
but we’ve got people from
other walks of life that are here.
Ex-Telecom people, IT people
and our financial manager, Phil
Stanton, he’s been the director of
a few companies and he’s made
quite a significant contribution to
the place,” Chechlacz explained.
“We’ve got other guys that have
engineering backgrounds, all
sorts of people.
“Our oldest members are in their
eighties and, surprisingly, we have
quite a few younger members
coming through at the moment.
Many of them come because
they are interested in the more
modern-day buses, but when they
get here and start driving the older
buses it opens up a new world for
them. I am quite confident we have
a secure future with these younger
recruits. We have guys as young
as 16, so we have a very broad
age group.”
HEAD ABOVE WATER
So financially how does the
museum keep going? Chechlacz
explains they manage to keep their
heads above water as they are
more fortunate than some other
museums, where they can actually
take their exhibit out to the people
and events.
“We also hire out the buses for TV
commercials and films,” Chechlacz
...the buses are maintained even though they’re
on historical plates. We still inspect them twice a
year – the same as any heavy vehicle.”
BACKING THE FAVOURITE
“I have 42 years in the bus industry;
18 years with State Transit, where
I was involved in scheduling and
planning,” Chechlacz said. “Then
I was operations manager at
Bankstown Bus Service for 12 years,
FEATURE DRIVEN
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
#1