Narrabri has farewelled an iconic piece of its transport history, with an old double decker school bus leaving town around 30 years after its retirement from the school run.
The Amalgamated Electrical Company (AEC) double decker, thought to have been built in 1950, chugged along the streets of Narrabri for the last time on Friday before starting the long journey to its new home in Sydney.
In the 1980s the bus did the West, Village and Town runs at a top speed of 50 kilometres per hour, safely delivering the children of Narrabri to school for many years.
The chassis was imported from England, and the body built in Sydney, where the bus operated in the public transport system during the 1950s and 60s.
Former driver of the double decker, Cliff Dorahy, knows the history of the vehicle well.
“It was originally owned by NSW government transport, and they used it down in Sydney for a good few many years, and then sold it to Toronto bus service and we bought it from Toronto,” he recalls.
“It was a run down, worn out wreck when we bought it and after we brought it home we rebuilt it, installed a brand new engine, everything has been reconditioned and it still is in top condition mechanically.”
Cliff Dorahy, and his wife Margaret, provided the town bus run for 22 years, over which time insurance and public liability became a huge burden.
“Rules and regulations changed, that was the main thing, at the point when we sold the bus business, it was just getting impossible to run with all the rules and regulations so we pulled the pin at the right time.”
When the Dorahys retired from the bus run in September 1989, they sold the double decker locally to a farmer who converted the interior into living quarters so the bus could be used on his farm for his workers.
The 65 year old vehicle recently sold at auction for $20,000 to a Sydney buyer, which Cliff said was a phenomenal price, considering they bought it for $1000 in 1980.
“I’m pleased that somebody has bought it and they’re still going to keep it running and make use of it,” he said.
Cliff is passionate about transport history and hopes the old double decker one day ends up in a museum.
Two other double deckers, previously owned by the Dorahys and operated in the Narrabri district, now reside in a museum in Sydney.
Cliff has many fond memories from his time driving the bus.
“One time we had 160 kids on board, there was a break down and we had to take on extra kids to the west school, but the bus didn’t even know they were on board,” he remembers.
“It used to be able to take off in fourth gear; it just pulled away as if it was in first gear.”
Narrabri resident and former passenger on the double decker, Garry Kearin, remembers with a smile his days riding the bus to school.
“We used to catch this bus to school 35 years ago, Mrs Dorahy was the conductor at the back of the bus, she used to take your money and give you a ticket and send you upstairs or downstairs, and Mr Dorahy used to drive the bus, he didn’t have to deal with the kids,” he said.
“If we played up, we got kicked off it, got a hiding from Mrs Dorahy, and we had to walk home.
“It’s sad to see it go, because everyone remembers the old double decker school bus, everyone used to catch it to school.
“Hopefully they take good care of it, it probably would have been better off going to a museum, but it’s been sitting in a shed for ten years with back packers living in it, so at least it’s running again."
A new battery was recently installed in the bus to get it going and it started up second turn.
“Not bad after 25 years,” said Cliff.