Thomas Lang (Tom) Calderwood (born 1907) arrived from the UK with his mother (Rosina) and sister (Sarah) in January 1927. His brother John (born 1900) had arrived one year earlier. Previously, the family had lived in Tarbert, Loch Fyne in Scotland where they were said to have owned the Commercial Hotel. On arriving in Melbourne, they first lived at 11 Railway Terrace, Williamstown.

Tom and John purchased the North Williamstown – Williamstown route from Albert James Granger. The business comprised the route and three Dodge motor buses. It was a circular bus route from North Williamstown to Williamstown (Route 57A) which was gazetted in January 1928, perhaps having previously been run by motor cabs.  The history of Calderwood’s buses became very much intertwined with the social history of Williamstown.

The family then moved to 169 Ferguson Street, their depot being behind a property in Stevedore Street. During the Depression years, Tom purchased John’s share of the business. By 1937, Tom had moved to 10 Charles Street with his wife Stella. They then moved to 97 Stevedore Street, which secured the depot which was behind the property.

A Sunday afternoon extension of Route 57A into Newport was added in July 1936.

In 1939, Tom took over Route 80A, Newport Station to Spotswood Station with 2 buses.

In December 1939, Tom Calderwood started Route 100A – Altona to Point Cook. This was extended to Nth Williamstown Station in 1940, but was cut back to Altona at the other end later that year.

In February 1940, Tom enlisted in the Army and served for 5 years in Tobruk and Papua New Guinea in the 9^th Division. Whilst at war, Tom’s wife Stella (born 1914) endeavoured to run the business but eventually found it too difficult with her young children. The business and property was sold around 1942 to the Williamstown District Bus Service (consisting of a number of drivers) and the family moved to 130 Melbourne Road, on the corner of Hosking Street.

Route 100A went to Parlorcars on 2/10/1940 and then to Charles Lucas 9/7/1941 who surrendered the licence on 23/9/1942.  It was restarted by John George Hall and then went to Mrs Mary Amelia Hall 5/7/1944 after the death of her husband. It then went to Stanley Charles Rowe in 1946 and stayed with him until 1955 when it went to John Joiner.

Route 80A went to Alice Pring 5/3/1941 It then went to G Millar on 4/2/1942 and then A Louder 27/10/1943. Route 57A went to John Lawrence Hannan on 11/6/1944. It then went to Charles Lucas 31/1/1945 and stayed with him until it was merged with the 74A in 1948.

After the war, Tom Calderwood moved to charter work. His first bus was a small Diamond T, purchased from an operator in the Dandenongs. The Diamond T was soon replaced by an International with a body by Cheetham & Borwick. Local newspaper advertisements indicate that he was offering tours from at least November 1946, first in “charabancs” and then “modern luxury buses with seating for 27 to 31 passengers” in 1949. In 1953, Calderwood’s held 4 charter licences. By 1964, this had extended to 5.

However, in 1971, the Calderwood family made an unexpected return to running route services, via Tom Calderwood’s son-in-law, Arch Murray. Route 101A from Yarraville Station to Kingsville, had been started by George Frederick Palmer (Clive’s father) in 1940. After a number of owners, including Bill Quince, Arch McConnell acquired the business in 1955. Arch Murray took ownership in 1970. Murray sold to Sita in January 1975.

Meanwhile, Calderwood’s Coaches had grown to 6 licences by 1973, still operating out of 130 Melbourne Road. Management had moved to his son Tam (Thomas William) in the late 1960s after Tom retired. Tam decided to pursue other interests in NSW. The licences (and buses) were sold separately: one to Torrance & McConnell of Tongala in September 1973, and the other five, one to Sheeran of Merricks, two to Brien’s and the last 2 to Point Cook -Werribee P.S., on 15th December 1973.

During this period of charter operation, the whole fleet was renewed every five years or so, with the CAC Bedford OBs replaced with CAC SBs and then by Comairs. In 1964, the first of 4 Cheetham & Borwick bodied buses arrived – 2 Bedfords, one SB3 and one VAS2. In 1965, an International AACO 183 arrived. And finally, an AEC 505 coach arrived in November 1968, registered KDS 987, the first diesel in the fleet. It was a rather handsome vehicle.  This was followed by 3 Custom Coaches/Newhnam bodied Bedford VAM70 coaches from 1970 to 1972. The final new bus for Calderwood’s was a Hedges bodied Bedford VAM70 that was new in February 1973. All the VAMs had underfloor engines.

Soon following the sale, Tam and his family moved to Mosman in Sydney, where he still lives. Tom with his wife Stella, daughter Noelle and son-in-law Arch Murray, moved to the Gold Coast. Thomas Lang Calderwood died in 1982.

The later history of the pre-war Calderwood route services

In January 1931, another route (Route 71A) began – from Williamstown Shops to Newport. This was started by Albert Granger. Having previously been a fuel merchant in Brunswick, he had moved to The Strand in Williamstown with his family in 1931 to run the bus service. They later moved to 22 The Strand with his sons living in adjoining properties. Route 71A was extended to meet the Williamstown Road Ferry in June 1940.

Route 57A and Route 71A merged in 1948, forming Route 71A Newport – Williamstown Shops – Victoria St. The business was sold to the Nicol family in 1950 but still traded as Granger’s Bus Service.

Soon after being renumbered as Route 471, it was purchased by George Sita on 1/1/1972, then to Pulitano BS on 15/5/1972 and back to Sita on 24/11/1980. On 4/9/1995 Sita extended the service through Altona North to Sunshine over Routes 433 (ex West Newport Bus Service) and 455 (ex Sunshine Bus Lines). Route 471 went to Transit Systems on 4/3/2019.

Route 80A, Newport Station to Woods Street was prescribed in July 1933, but the first operator was Tom Calderwood in late 1938 / 1939 with the route extended to Spotswood Station. Arthur Louder took over the one bus route in 1941 and Charles Lucas acquired it 1946. It closed in 1951 following a dispute with the MCC who would not increase fares.

Route 100A was again extended in November 1945, this time to Laverton Air Base. By (at least) 1947, Rowe’s Bus Service had taken over the route, Rowe having been one of the members of the Williamstown District Bus Service.  Stanley Charles Rowe lived at 55 Osborne Street which served as his depot as well. He had previously been described as a Linesman (1921) and Seaman (1937).  J Joiner acquired the service in 1955 and traded as Altona Bus Service. He later moved the depot to 31 Rose Street, Altona.

Ultimately, Route 100A was acquired by Sitch in 1967 who kept the Altona Bus Lines trading name in part. The Rose Street depot was maintained for a period before moving to Slough Road in the early 1970s. Route 100A became 415 in 1971. For a period during the early 1980s trains to Altona were reduced to operate only in peak hour. Route 415 was briefly upgraded from October 1981 to act as feeder shuttle into North Williamstown until the full time train timetable was subsequently restored by the incoming ALP government.

The service was later operated by the Kefford Group (1988-2009) under the Westrans banner, before they too sold to CDC. As suburbia grew west, Route 415 was extended through Altona Meadows to Laverton in the early 1990s. It has operated multiple iterations in the years since.

The Slough Rd depot was closed in January 2018 with operations moved to the Wyndham ‘super depot’ in rapidly growing Truganina.