Swedish based Scania-Vabis (now known as Scania) was involved in bus production from the early in the 20th century, first with convertible truck chassis. Formed by a merger in 1911, the company’s origins can be traced back two decades earlier.…
Volvo – Arrival into Australia (B57, B58 and B59)
AB Volvo grew from a ball bearing manufacturer AB SKF and Volvo is a derivative of “volvere” which is Latin for “I roll”. From day one vehicles were built tough in order to cope with the difficult driving conditions found…
Southland Bus Service (Jones)
This is the story of Tom Jones’ Southland Bus Lines empire, formed after integrating his existing Murrumbeena B.L. and South Rd B.L. operations with Moorabbin Bus Lines, which he purchased from George Elston in 1965. It is interweaved with tales…
Murrumbeena Bus Lines & South Road Bus Lines (Jones)
This is the story two original bus companies owned by Tom Jones, which would later form part of the Southland Bus Lines empire. Information has been sourced from Graeme Cleak’s invaluable Melbourne bus route histories, BCSV fleet records, an article…
![Elston’s [Moorabbin Bus Lines]](https://bcsv.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Elstons-670x300.png "Elston’s [Moorabbin Bus Lines]")
Elston’s [Moorabbin Bus Lines]
Other than the story of Moorabbin Bus Lines, owned by George Elston, the below history also recounts Geoff Foster’s childhood memories growing up in Beaumaris and how he first became to be interested in buses. The company story has been…
Phillips Bus Service
The history of F.A. Phillips Bus Service of Cranbourne and the life of long standing BCSV member Bill Barrett are inextricably intertwined. We sadly lost Bill at the age of 69 in September 2009 (far too young). This article is…
Impressions of Europe – France
My 1979 Eurailpass trip had begun with the crossing to Paris, some exploration of the Metro and bus system then visits to the trolleybus operating cities of St Etienne and Lyon on our way to Switzerland. 2014 saw Jeanette and…
Impressions of Europe – Austria
The country which gave us Weiner Schnitzels, the Von Trapp family and a rather unpleasant fellow called Hitler is one of the smaller European Countries. It is quite long east to west while being narrow in the west and broader…
Impressions of Europe – An Introduction
Introduction Since retiring from full time work in 2011, my wife and I have been fortunate enough to take three trips to Europe since 2013, the first time I had visited the continent since 1979. During this time numerous changes…
A peek at Dubai
Whilst travelling to Europe in May 2013, my wife and I took the opportunity to stop over in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for two days. I took the opportunity to take a brief sample of the local public transport. Dubai…