AEC Regent I 1286
The New South Wales Government placed several orders spread over a five or six year period for A.E.C. Regent double deck chassis. The number of chassis eventually totalled 161 and were supplied by A.E.C. in the years from 1936 to 1940. The last chassis were bodied in the second half of the year 1940. The purchase of this type of bus was no doubt due to the success of the Regent in London, England and other provincial cities in the United Kingdom. In London alone, Regents were numbered in the thousands.
The Department of Road Transport & Tramways (D.R.T. & T.) had by 1936 designed a standard light weight steel framed double deck body. m/o 1286 was one of a batch of 20 Regents delivered in 1937 with this standard body. The fleet numbers when new were 286, 288, 290, 372 to 374, 402 to 404, 417 to 426 and 439. In 1948 all buses in the fleet had 1000 added to the fleet number and No 286 for example, became 1286. Fleet and registration numbers then matched. These 20 buses all had bodies built by Waddington of Granville, Sydney to the standard design.
Placed in service during 1937 were 14 Leyland TD4 double deck buses, 1 Dennis Lancet single deck, 9 Leyland TS7 single deck, 12 AEC Regal 0662 single deck, 20 Albion Valkyrie SPV141 single deck, 8 Albion Model 81 double deck, 1 Leyland RTS8 single deck and 10 Leyland TD5 double deck vehicles. In all a total of 75 buses were delivered to the Department. The body building being shared by Waddington of Granville and Syd Wood of Bankstown in Sydney.
The body of 1286 was built by Waddington and it entered service on 15 March 1937. The bus seated 61, 33 on the upper deck and 28 downstairs. The vehicle operated a total of 579,163 miles with the D.R.T. & T. While it operated nearly all its service life at Burwood depot, the bus was used for a short period at the Enfield depot as a driver training vehicle. In August 1953, the bus was sold to Linsley Brothers Bus Service at Wallsend, Newcastle, N.S.W. Initially it was registered m/o. 712, then m/o. 4850 and finally m/o. 4749. The bus operated an industrial route to the B.H.P. Steelworks at Port Waratah. The company sold the bus to Allome's Bus Service of Garden Suburb, Newcastle for use on their route also to the B.H.P. steelworks. The new owner retained the registration m/o 4749. On 16 September 1978, the firm ceased trading and former 1286 was retired. The bus served 41 and one half years in continuous public service. The stint served by this double deck bus was a record until recently overtaken by Leyland OPD2 2316. This vehicle served from December 1949 to 1993, a total of over 43 years.
Specifications:
Engine: AEC six cylinder direct injection O.H.V. diesel of 7.7 litre capacity. Bore 105 mm (4.125"). Stroke 166 mm (5.750") 90 B.H.P. Maximum 1750 R.P.M.
Transmission: Four speed constant mesh "crash" gearbox and a worm drive differential.
Brakes: Vacuum assisted Lockheed hydraulic foot brake and mechanical park brake.
Body: Waddington, timber frame.
Status:
Undergoing restoration work by Museum volunteers at Leichhardt.