Restoring the One Remaining Albion CX19GW: m/o 1615

Gearbox Number Three

2008-12-31T21:02:00.000-08:00

click on any photo to enlarge
As has already been described below in "The Mystery Gearbox", once the gearbox had been separated before the engine was lifted out, we were slightly surprised to find it was a post war type GB211P, with all straight-cut gear wheels.
By an extraordinary chance Craig found a real pre-war box at the Loftus tram museum (see the link at the top of the page) , and with top cover lifted off, we found as expected, helical teeth on the third speed gear wheels, but not on the clutch shaft or front wheel of the countershaft. Yet we knew such things existed: I have them in my collection of Albion spare parts, brand new if a little rusty on the surface.
All this time we knew that the bare chassis of Albion 1619 was still sitting forlornly in the bush beside the old shed which used to be the depot building of the tram museum. It carried a 6LW Gardner engine and another pre-war gearbox, this time with an undamaged casing. About a year ago it was moved inside into the old depot building, and late in winter 2008 we arranged to meet there and get the box out (after some dramas with keys to the gate outside the shed, due to a truck owner who, given permission to park inside the gated area, proceeded to lock up with his own padlock, not the jointly operable one).

The box from 1619, out in the weather for at least the previous 30 years, yet the gear wheels are in beautiful condition, with only slight rounding off on the leading edge of the second speed wheel, second from the right. Every time a driver selects 2nd to start off, there is a little crunch here.

With much strong arm work the gearbox which must weigh about 100 kg. came out easily enough, despite the bolts having sat and rusted in the weather for ten years. We whipped the top cover off to discover...... straight cut teeth on all gear wheels.
However the case, of prewar design with no external ribbing, is in near perfect condition. All the available top and third gear wheels with helical teeth and a later type counter shaft with a double-instead of single-row rear bearing can now be used in a sound casing. And yet the two cases are not quite identical. This one below, from an unknown bus has a much smaller aperture for access to the clutch finger adjustment.

Just for comparison: the spare gearbox found loose at Loftus some years ago. It contains the precious third speed helical gears. The damage to the clutch housing is pretty bad, but now there is no need for a very expensive weld job. The smooth curves of the two cases make a strong contrast with the heavy ribbing on post-war boxes. The reason for the ribs is not obvious, either.
See the earlier post: "Engine Out".

Showing the very good condition of the case around the top of the mounting ring. During overhauls these probably got damaged by the use of chains for lifting the box in and out.

From the front, the throwout bearing, incorporating the clutch brake. The hub of the friction-lined clutch disc mate with the splines in the centre, allowing the disc to move in and out slightly when disengaging.

The disc closest to the camera spins with the clutch disc, but the throwout bearing remains fixed, only moving fore and aft to operate the clutch release fingers. So if the clutch pedal is depressed hard, the clutch disengages then the throwout bearing (carrying a small friction lining) hits the spinning brake disc and stops the clutch plate dead. This makes it easier to perform an upward gear change quickly, especially on a hill start.
Next step: dismantle this box, and when funds permit, have the case shot blasted to clean it thoroughly. Then the varied collection of gears, shafts and bearings can be assembled to build a gearbox with helical gears on top and third, which will produce a sound none of us has ever heard.

photos David Griffiths

Spring Cleaning in June

2008-12-31T20:30:00.000-08:00

click on any photo to enlarge

The trip to Parkes went off without a hitch.
On the outskirts of town in Renshaw Road Phil Dixon's men got stuck into the job, first cleaning off the heavy build up of mud and grease by water blasting, so that the special sand particles used in the abrasive cleaning booth would not be clogged up and rendered useless for future jobs.

It's looking much better already

The greenish undercoat has gone on, to be followed by the silver top coat. It seems an odd colour for a chassis but many British makers followed this practice. Early photos show this to be the case, but after many years' service and many steam cleanings, it became hard to tell. See the first page of 'Albion 1877 Restoration' : click on the link at the top of the home page of this blog.

After the silver is dried and a little hardened outside in the winter sun the tilt tray truck is lined up.

One happy restorer. Now there is a clean slate to work with, which makes all the hard work to come seem a little more attractive.
Our sincere thanks to Philip Dixon.

all photos Phil Dixon

Rolling

2008-12-31T19:41:00.000-08:00

And out of the wilderness stepped a saviour.
Albion Club member and avid truck collector and restorer Phil Dixon offered to do the sandblasting and recoating of the chassis in the original silver, at an unbeatable price: zilch. Phil just happens to own Protector abrasive cleaning, industrial and powder coating in Parkes, NSW, west of Dubbo.
All we had to do was get the chassis there. Towing it was out of the question, and the only practical way seemed to be to load it onto a tilt tray truck. But the chassis is 27 feet long and 17 feet 6 inches between wheel centres. It might be too long to fit on the tray, or the overall length of the loaded truck might exceed limits even for a three axle vehicle.
Craig has a mate: mate owns a tilt tray and there might be a time when he needed to bring a load from say Dubbo, and instead of making the trip out empty could take the bus at a greatly reduced rate. So measurements were made and it was found that all the dimensions would be within limits.
A possible chance came up when a bulldozer might have to be brought to Sydney from Parkes, but the job fell through. Eventually however, in the stars, Venus came into alignment with Mars and Orion was in the ascendant, so the trip was on. I shall have to find out the name of the mate so he can be given a plug on the net.
The pictures tell the story.

Craig's van has done its job of towing the chassis out onto the road, now the cable and winch of the tilt tray can take over.

Despite everything the handbrake still works: the winch and cable can't stop the chassis running down the slope.

Steering on an Albion is never easy but standing up it's even harder.

Looks like it's going to fit.

How lucky is that: within the end of the tray by about 6 inches.

All photos by Bill Parkinson

Ready To Roll

2008-12-29T21:42:00.001-08:00

After the main work of dismantling the body was over and dust cleared away, Craig continued on, to remove the front bulkhead (firewall) once it was decided finally to rebuild it . The floor cross bearers had come out too, once he found they were sagging at the extremities. Many other small brackets and fragments of body had to removed.
Finally there stood a bare chassis exactly as supplied by Albion Motors except for absence of front mudguards, the Gardner engine and the gearbox. As noted earlier the original gearbox, after the bus' many overhauls, had been replaced with a post-war type. A prewar version with a somewhat damaged case (see 'The Mystery Gearbox' post) had been found at the Tempe bus museum. And since then we have yet another prewar box. More in a later post.
With no body or engine or gearbox the frame looks remarkably light and racy.

Hauled out of the garage behind Craig's Toyota van, the chassis sits in the driveway ready for sandblasting. The right hand chassis rail looks alarming crooked, but in fact all British double decker chasses featured this narrowing to the front, from the 1927 Leyland TD1 onwards. It gave more room for the front wheels to move from lock to lock, and brought the engine mounts closer in to be more rigid. Perspective alters the impression, but from just ahead of the second cross member to the rear wheel arch, the rails are quite parallel, then they dive up and over the rear axle, then down for the rear platform. There is also a drop down just behind where the firewall would normally sit, to lower the saloon floor a couple of inches.

Closer in can be seen the vacuum reservoir tank (R), the brake servo (L), and the fuel tank (Top L). The lump on the prop shaft is a vibration damper: a kind of flywheel mounted in friction linings so its inertia takes out the twists and shakes in the drive line.

From behind the extensions for the back platform are clearly seen, and the gussets to which the heavy rear cross bearer mounts. On a single decker the main chassis rails would simply extend out straight to the back.

The nerve centre: it seems the driver gets very little room to move, but the cab extends well left of the chassis rail, and outwards over the wheel arch. Albion were very early users of tubular cross members for the chassis: light and very strong.
Fortunately we have two brand new rubber "Albion" tread pads for the pedals.

In the centre of shot is the steering box, held in a bracket at left and steadied by another at right. The steering linkage is very simple and accessible even when the cab and mudguard are in place. Beside the front wheel is the vacuum brake servo, and between it and the fuel tank is the battery box. The stud poking straight out just above the front cross tube is a radiator mount.

all photos by Bill Parkinson

What Body Frame?

2008-12-29T21:39:00.000-08:00

click on any photo to enlarge

It's over a year now since the last blog post for which I apologise.
Life is full of distractions such as Craig's need to earn a living as a train driver and pay his mortgage, and my deeper involvement in the running of Sydney Bus Museum at Tempe NSW.
And my old computer now around for at least 8 years has just been pensioned off. It had reached the point where Google didn't support Mac OS9. So no photos could be uploaded, except on my wife's computer, which wasn't always convenient.... Now I have a lovely new iMac with OS10 Leopard and the fun can begin again.
Craig meanwhile however has managed to keep the ball rolling, with occasional assistance from yrs trly. In August 2007 we spent an entire weekend to achieve the complete destruction of the remaining parts of the bottom deck. All was cut up, dragged outside Craig's garage and kept for use as patterns. All very easy and quick; you feel you've achieved something but it's the exact opposite. It's only clearing the way for the hard yards ahead.
With most of the frame components of a new bottom deck already made it was time to clear away the rusty bits of the old. Looking at the photos it seems tempting to keep the many pieces which appear quite OK: trouble is they may have some rust in just one corner which fatally weakens them, and is very slow and difficult to patch and fix. An example is this below: the rear bulkhead of the downstairs saloon which is a major part, holding up the top deck and providing massive diagonal bracing against side to side sway.

The rear bulkhead cut away at floor level and from the side frames. A lot of it is fine, but look closely at the top RH corner and the bottoms of the verticals. Very hard to fix in situ. The extent of the diagonal bracing can be seen.

In between work and living a life, Craig had already removed all the exterior and interior panels, and the flooring of the rear platform. The staircase had gone and all that remained there was the light steel frame of the staircase enclosure.

Craig and I are standing in the doorway to the back platform now cut away from its attachment to the chassis. My hand is on the pillar where I would grab the handrail to jump aboard. A solitary remnant of top deck floor sits behind Craig's head.

Outside the garage, still being help upright by Craig out of shot at right, the frame of the light structure enclosing the staircase, which attaches at left to the rear bulkhead. At right is the aperture for the fixed rear window.

The view from behind of the place where the bulkhead used to sit, on the equally massive rear body cross member. This bit was made by Waddingtons Ltd: the rear chassis cross member, made by Albion, is tubular and just out of sight behind the square section beam.

click on photo to enlarge

The dire condition of the back of the bottom deck. Taken from almost the same spot as above, but further back, a view from floor level of the right hand side of the rear platform, which sits under the staircase. The heavier section at bottom right is one of the two cantilevered chassis extensions which support the platform and stairs. The wood packing is there to raise the offside floor of the platform to create a fall to the left, so that water drains off the platform, not in.

The same area from the offside. The condition of the skirt rail, made of 1 1/4 inch angle iron, is terrible: The burned spot at bottom RHS is where one of the rear bulkhead pillars has been cut away. The heavy section at right forms the step up into the lower saloon and marks the end of the vehicle's chassis. The rear platform and stairs are simply hung off the end, supported on the two extensions underneath.

The tragic remains of the back platform floor. Fortunately not hard to make new, using angle iron and cutting and shutting to get the curves.

Close up, viewed from ahead of the cross beam, the detail of how the U-section end of the back platform extension attaches to the main chassis. The cross beam sits on the chassis ends, and the angled gusset with the hand-sized hole in it is what attaches the beam. At no point is any part of the body welded onto the Albion chassis, because the heat would damage the tempered steel. And supposedly the body could be removed for replacement or overhaul, although this rarely happened.

The main rear cross bearer of the body. It has to support a major part of the entire weight of the top deck and passengers: the rest is taken by the bulkhead behind the driver. and the pillars along the sides, between each window. It is one of the very first items to be fitted by the body builder, by sitting it on the stub ends of the chassis rails. The (Albion) chassis cross tube is visible at top right. The angle gusset with the hole in it (far right) is still attached to the chassis ready to receive the new beam.

The same beam, showing detail of its design; and also, poking off the top, some of the sub frame which supports the floor inside the bottom deck. Although at first glance it doesn't seem to need more than a sand blast and paint job, its outer extremities are rotten and very hard to unpick from the pillars they support. And it is such a vital part of the structure.

Looking pleased with themselves but deep down knowing the real work is yet to come, the destroyers carry out the cross beam. It can be seen to taper from right to left, to provide the

fall on the rear platform floor. It looks complex but is mainly a heavy box section at top, available off the shelf from steel suppliers, and many pieces of 1" and 2" angle.

The process of removing the remaining floor boards begins. Craig has already long ago removed the frame sections from the offside. (See: "Decision: the Bottom Deck Gets New Frame"). The floor has to come up to allow removal of the floor cross supports, so that the bare chassi can go for sand blasting and painting.

The tedious business of chiselling out malthoid and bitumen paint from the screw heads holding the floor down: two screws in every board into every cross beam (at 18" intervals).

Hard to get out an even harder to put back in: the very complex structure around the rear wheel arch. It has a wooden box with a raised floor on which sits a valance (left) and a steel subframe for the longways back seat.

The box over the rear wheel arch is gone, leaving most of the nearside frame standing free after cutting the pillars off at floor level. Rather than try to cut everything into a mass of small pieces , Craig's brainwave was to look ahead and keep whole assemblies as far as possible, so that important small details in construction can be reproduced in the new frame. Note the blue rope at top centre holding the lot up.

Almost the entire nearside wall has been cut off at floor level: sounds easy but we discovered just how much it weighs: a lot. And glass is very heavy. The frame was held propped up as we cut, so that it didn't twist and collapse inwards.

Now, how to get it off the bus and onto the floor. Answer: three men including Craig's father Bill Parkinson. (Who took ALL the photos by the way).

ALL the floorboards are lifted, and almost the only piece left except for the floor cross bearers (which are the bus equivalent of floor joists), is the front bulkhead. It is really very sound and I would have said keep it. But we saw this rust at floor level, and Craig decided it had to go. As can be seen it is sheet steel and some box sections, with some tricky bits where it curves over the flywheel housing and clutch.
Later when preparing to remove the floor bearers, Craig noticed that although mostly free of rust, they were all "banana shaped" i.e. curved downwards, apparently from being overloaded. As they have to come off anyway to bare the chassis fully, they too will be replaced with box sections. Quite simple really.

First Things Last

2007-06-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

The newly-restored badge for the radiator, posed on the top tank to be used for the rebuild.

Seeing this item could well be fitted in the last minutes of the last day of the restoration project, the timing is odd, but having it helps to add impetus to the whole thing. There's lots of work to do before we have a bus ready to receive a radiator, let alone a badge.
So the badge will spend some considerable time wrapped in tissue paper, soft cloth and a padded bag.
The shiny metallic bit is gold plate: we were told it would retain its sheen!

Back in the real world: work is beginning to tear up the lower deck floor, then the remaining frame will be cut off on the nearside to floor level so the chassis and running gear can get a thorough clean and paint. The new framing with all its gussets and rails will be clamped into place and welded up, and in no time we will have a new bottom deck frame.

This is Nothing But a Frame-Up

2007-06-10T04:51:00.000-07:00

All the roof bows and side pillars have been fabricated by FRG Bagnall at Silverwater; waist rails (window sills) and letter boards (the frame sections above each side window), gussets to go between roof bow and pillar, floor bearer and pillar, waist rail and pillar are cut and bent, and most parts for the cab frame made from scratch.
The photos show some bits laid out ready to weld, or clamped in place to see how they will fit up.
click on any photo to enlarge it

NEW PILLARS AND A ROOF BOW LAID OUT ON THE FLOOR TO SHOW HOW THEY WILL RELATE TO EACHOTHER WHEN RAISED TO THE VERTICAL AND ATTACHED TO THE FLOOR BEARERS ABOUT 15" FROM THE BASE OF THE PILLAR

PILLARS, IN BLUE, WITH WAIST RAILS AND THE ACCOMPANYING GUSSETS HALF-WAY ALONG. AT THE FAR END SOME MORE WAIST RAILS HAVE BEEN LAID IN TO SIMULATE LETTER BOARDS WHICH ARE ACTUALLY MORE THAN TWICE AS WIDE IN SECTION

THE SAME COMPONENTS, VIEWED FROM ONE SIDE. THE CURVE IN THE PILLAR AND THE FLANGES ATTACHED TO THEM CAN BE SEEN

VIEWED FROM THE OFFSIDE OF THE BUS, JUST BEHIND THE CAB DOOR, A PILLAR WITH WAIST RAILS AND GUSSETS IS CLAMPED IN POSITION USING THE ORIGINAL SEAT RAIL CHANNEL WHICH IS STILL IN GOOD CONDITION AND REUSEABLE
April 2007. Photos by Bill Parkinson

Since then, more cutting and folding of sheet metal has gone on, to make sections for the drivers cab and the so-called letter boards, about 9 inches high, positioned above each side window in the bottom deck saloon. Six 8 foot by 4 foot sheets of 20 gauge galvanised steel were purchased, enough to make all the necessary stringers and gussets for the bottom deck frame, also cab parts, and have some left over for cab ceilings, cab door frames, etc.

CRAIG MEASURES THE DEPTH OF A SHALLOW CHANNEL SECTION STRINGER WHICH SITS IN THE OFFSIDE CAB WALL: ITS FUNCTION IS A BIT OBSCURE BUT IF WE LEAVE IT OUT.........
Above it and forward a bit, below the side window sill is a black box with wires into it: this is the stop light switch. It is actually a mercury switch arranged so that if deceleration occurs, the mercury surges forward, completes a circuit, and the stop light comes on! Trouble is, once you stop, the stop light goes out again and traffic behind you may not realise you have stopped. So a conventional switch attached to the foot brake linkage will be installed.
click on the photo to enlarge it

THE FRONT CORNER PILLAR OF THE CAB, AN EXACT REPLICA OF THE OLD EXCEPT NOW IT IS GALVANISED AND A BIT RESISTANT TO RUST.

THE SILL OF THE WINDSCREEN, ACTUALLY TWO PIECES, AN INNER AND AN OUTER WHICH WILL BE SPOT WELDED TOGETHER.

MARKING THE POSITION OF THE NEXT FOLD IN ONE OF 12 LETTER BOARDS. I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF ADOPTING RAILWAY CARRIAGE BUILDERS JARGON FOR THIS ITEM, WHICH GOES ABOVE EACH SIDE WINDOW AND IN A TRAIN CARRIAGE WOULD CARRY LETTERING, e.g. SECOND CLASS, SLEEPING CAR, etc.

THE FIRST FOLD HAS CREATED THE INSIDE BOTTOM LIP, TO WHICH THE LINING PANELS CARRYING ADVERTISEMENTS AND INTERIOR LIGHTS WILL BE FIXED. THE NEXT WILL CREATE THE BASE: THE DIVIDERS HAVE BEEN SET TO THE WIDTH OF THE BASE OF THE LETTER BOARD, 45 mm. Although the bus was built well within the era of Imperial Measurement standards, it is handy to use the metric system because a tolerance of +or- 1mm here and there is an easy rule of thumb, preferable to +or- 3/32 of an inch!

CRAIG USES THE SPOT WELDER AT SYDNEY BUS MUSEUM, TEMPE TO ATTACH THE OUTER FLANGE OF THE DRIVERS CAB DOOR JAMB, FRONT, TO WHICH THE DOOR LATCH STRIKER WILL EVENTUALLY BE SECURED.

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE FRONT JAMB OF THE CAB DOOR: THE STEP CAN BE SEEN CLEARLY. This accomodates the thickness of the finished cab door, so that the wall of the cab is flush with the door when closed.

Decision: the Bottom Deck Gets a New Frame

2007-02-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

What with my time being pretty fully committed to getting Leyland TD4 no. 1579 ready for the big day out at Motorfest on Australia Day, and Craig working strange and long hours on the railway, not a lot has changed with m/o 1615 since the last blog entry.
However there has been activity: much further dismantling has made it possible to extract pillars and roof bows in order to find a good example of each to use as a template for the bending of new ones. This involved completely removing the floor of the top deck, which is in fact the roof of the bottom deck; hundreds of woodscrews and many tongued and grooved oregon planks, mostly rotted at one end or both, or along the sides.
In the event Craig found it impossible to unpick the whole of the welded junction of a floor cross member to a vertical pillar in order to obtain a complete example of a pillar to use as a template. Something had to give: either the floor bearer or the pillar would be damaged. As the floor bearers are actually in quite good condition, it was the pillar which had to suffer.

THE DETAIL OF THE JUNCTION OF VERTICAL PILLAR (at right) AND A FLOOR CROSS MEMBER. THE TRIANGULAR GUSSETS MAKE THE JOINT IMMENSELY STRONG BUT ADD TO THE DIFFICULTY OF DISMANTLING IT. Something has to stop the body slumping sideways during cornering, and these gussets are a major part of it. In addition, the bulkheads at front and rear of the bottom deck incorporate massive amounts of diagonal bracing.

THE VIEW ACROSS A LOWER DECK CROSS MEMBER AT FLOOR LEVEL. THE VERTICAL PILLAR HAS BEEN CUT OUT, LEAVING WHAT APPEARS TO BE A PERFECT FLOOR BEARER, READY TO HAVE THE NEW PILLAR SLOTTED IN AND GUSSETS ADDED.

THE SAME BEARER FROM A HIGHER VIEWPOINT. The entire weight of bottom deck, top deck, body and passengers is borne at seven such points on each side of the bus.
The angle iron rail heading diagonally at top right is part of the battery box: pre-war deckers had the batteries under the nearside front floor, a bit harder to get at, but closer to where they are needed, ie the starter motor.

LOOKING ALONG THE OFFSIDE TOWARDS THE FRONT. THE DRIVER'S CAB HAS GONE, CUT OUT BECAUSE NO ONE PART OF IT WAS REALLY GOOD ENOUGH TO KEEP. The front scuttle had suffered an impact at some stage and was distorted inwards, and all the other horizontal and vertical frame members, plus the cantilever rail at the top of the cab side, would have needed rust cut out and patches inserted, such that it will be quicker to make new ones.
A firm at Silverwater has been found who specialise in shaping and bending of steel sections. They can supply exactly the sizes we want and curve them to our needs.
It may then be possible to fabricate one entire side of the body, fit it to the existing floor bearers and then put the roof bows in place to hold it all together..

THE BLUE PIECE IS A LENGTH OF 50mmX50mm STEEL BOX SECTION (RHS: rectangular hollow section) which has been cut at regular intervals part way through with a fine cutting disc in the angle grinder so that it will curve to the shape of an existing pillar. Then, solidly clamped to the pillar, the cuts will be welded up so that a rigid curved section results, to be used as a template for four such pillars. The 50x50 pillars are used at either side of the front bulkhead and the rear bulkhead, which forms the front wall of the rear platform. The other ten pillars, at the intermediate points along each side, are 45mmx45mm sections.
Those of you in the know will say: "Ah, but those pillars should be a top-hat section, not square..." So, having curved the pillars and bows to shape, they will have a flat strip welded to one side to provide the flange, which is necessary in certain places, especially along the sides where windows and pillar covers are held in place.

AT THE TOP OF EACH PILLAR THERE IS A FAIRLY COMPLEX JOINT TO THE ROOF BOW cum TOP DECK FLOOR BEARER. MOST OF THESE JOINTS HAVE SUFFERED SEVERE RUST, SO WILL ALL BE REPLACED. THIS VIEW SHOWS THE PILLAR AT LEFT, AND THE ROOF BOW AT TOP. THIS EXAMPLE IS THE BEST SURVIVING, AND WILL BE USED AS THE PATTERN FOR NEW ONES.
In the event, it was found later that the curved section forming the brace between bow and pillar was a very clever folded and rolled channel, embracing the two sections with the pentagonal bits acting as strengthening. Making the brace is beyond the scope of our skills and tools, so we will resort to an earlier method, used in 1937 production of these bodies, which used flat gussets and a curved plate to achieve the same thing.

A COMPLETE ROOF BOW, EXTRACTED IN ONE PIECE TO BE USED AS THE TEMPLATE. ONCE AGAIN THE BEST SURVIVING ONE OF ITS KIND. NOTE HOW LIGHT IT APPEARS, YET IT AND SIX OTHERS SUPPORT 16 SEATS AND THE WEIGHT OF 33 SEATED PASSENGERS. SOMEHOW THE ORIGINAL BUILDERS, WADDINGTON'S, MANAGED TO BUILD IN A TIGHT-FITTING WOOD INSERT, WHICH TAKES THE SCREWS HOLDING DOWN THE FLOOR BOARDS, PASSING THROUGH THE ONE INCH DIAMETER HOLES. Presumably the wood was sawn to the curve and slid in from one end before welding commenced; could be interesting.

Oh Dear: Is That Rust?

2006-08-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

click on any photo to enlarge

Craig has been spending every available moment pulling body parts out in order to expose the basic frame of the body.
Although the top deck frame is not bad at all, the bottom deck is anything but good.
In fact every piece of it seems to be pretty terrible.

THE WHITE DEPOSITS ARE LEFT BY THE ALUMINIUM CLADDING WHERE IT HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE STEEL. THE ORANGEY COLOUR OF THE FRAME IS NOT ALL RUST: IT WAS ORIGINALLY COATED IN RED LEAD PRIMER, FROM THE DAYS BEFORE LEAD BECAME BANNED IN PAINT. See below for a shot taken from the opposite direction: the outside of these frame sections looks better than the inside.

SOME FLOORBOARDS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE TOP DECK FLOOR TO EXPOSE THE HORRENDOUS CONDITION OF THE ROOF BOWS. This view, taken at the nearside looking forward, shows the wood insert in the top hat section steel bow to be in fine condition! All seven bows are similarly affected, so all will be replaced one by one. The wiring appears to be to one of the downstairs saloon lamps, above the longitudinal rear seat.

Fortunately the chassis is unaffected, and the frame parts are not high technology in any way, so if anything the way forward is very clear: make lots of new frame parts from easily obtained steel sections and sheet and weld them together to make what will emerge as a virtually new frame.

THE STAIRCASE AND REAR PLATFORM FLOORBOARDS HAVE BEEN REMOVED. THIS VIEW, LOOKING IN FROM THE ENTRY TO THE REAR PLATFORM, SHOWS WHAT IS LEFT OF THE 1.5" ANGLE IRON SKIRT RAIL. IT LOOKS AS IF THE YEARS AT MANLY AND BROOKVALE, IN SEA AIR, HAVE TAKEN THEIR TOLL.

ALSO LOOKING IN FROM THE SAME VANTAGE POINT, SHOWING THE REAR WINDOW FRAME. It can be seen that not one component of the steel frame has escaped the demon rust. Note the closely-spaced holes punched in the inner face of the top hat section: these were partly for lightness, but in buses built before the advent of pop rivets they were also to enable the use of a pneumatic riveter while some poor sod held a heavy dolly onto the rivet head outside. Imagine the noise as the Waddington factory knocked out two completed buses per week.

AT THE NEARSIDE OF THE REAR PLATFORM, LOOKING FORWARD. AT CENTRE BOTTOM OF SHOT IS THE SUBSTANTIAL CHASSIS EXTENSION SUPPORTING THE REAR PLATFORM, STAIRCASE AND REAR PANELS. Slightly to right of centre is the end of the heavy channel section chassis frame. In single decker chasses, this continued to the back of the bus: for double deckers the extension was provided, cranked downwards about 12 inches to create a low entrance level.

The Mystery Gearbox

2006-06-20T04:25:00.000-07:00

There is no mystery about the gearbox which came out of 1615: it's a normal, post-war, CX19 gearbox, GB211 in Albion terms, with straight-cut teeth on all gear wheels. As mentioned in the blog post dealing with the engine removal, this gearbox appears to be in beautiful condition, but it is not the gearbox that 1615 was built with. This is only to be expected, as the DRTT would fit whatever gearbox it had to hand at the time of overhaul, and as far as dimensions are concerned pre-war and post-war Albion CX19 boxes are interchangeable.

A VIEW OF THE MYSTERY BOX, SHOWING THE DISTINCTIVE CLUTCH THROWOUT (withdrawal) MECHANISM THROUGH THE ACCESS HOLE AT RIGHT AND THE OIL FILLER NECK AT LEFT. THE GAP IN THE TOP OF THE CASE IS JUST THAT: A PIECE BROKEN OUT, BUT THIS CAN BE REPAIRED BY WELDING.

Craig had found some months ago at the Tramway Museum, Loftus, another gearbox which we easily identified as of Albion make because of its clutch withdrawal mechanism and oil filler neck. The surprise came when we took the top cover off and peeked inside: it had helical-cut teeth on the third speed wheels! This initially sounded very exciting, because I was aware that pre-war CX19 gearboxes had the " silent third" feature, achieved by the use of helical gears. But further research in the Instruction Book for CX Group Commercial Vehicles indicated that such boxes had helical gears on top speed as well........

THE RUST CREATED BY PARTIAL FILLING WITH RAINWATER LOOKS WORSE THAN IT REALLY IS: THE STEEL USED IN GEAR WHEELS IS OF SUCH HIGH QUALITY THAT IT IS ALMOST STAINLESS. THE HELICAL TEETH ON THIRD SPEED WHEELS ARE CLEARLY VISIBLE, AND THE STRAIGHT CUT TEETH ON TOP SPEED (left, at the front of the gearbox) ARE OBVIOUS.

So what had we found? I decided to pull down the mystery gearbox with a view to deciding whether it might be made good enough to fit in place of the not-really-original post-war box. The peek inside with the top cover plate removed had already revealed major wear on the 2nd speed gear teeth. But this was not a problem as the stash of Albion spares acquired from Toronto Bus Service in the 1970s included a pair of 2nd speed wheels.
The box had sat outside, with no oil in it for many months and was partly full of rainwater. This made it look bad, but it dismantled fairly easily and revealed that apart from the 2nd speed wheels the only serious wear was in the splines of the countershaft, where the third speed wheel sat. And the first speed wheel at the rear of this shaft was decidedly chewed-looking.
Not having a spare countershaft, I decided to remove the countershaft (also known as the layshaft) from the post-war Albion box which I had kept aside for 30-odd years as a source of spares should my Albion, ex-DRTT m/o 1892, need them. This shaft proved to be in quite nice condition, with one tiny difference: its rear support bearing was a double-row roller bearing, as opposed to the single-row bearing found in the earlier, mystery, gearbox. This will not be a problem, as the shaft can be transferred along with its longer bearing housing to the casing of the mystery box.

THE CASE OF THIS PRE-WAR GEARBOX IS SMOOTHER AND CLEANER LOOKING THAN A POST-WAR BOX WHICH HAS HEAVY RIBBING IN MANY PLACES. THE PLATE ON THE SIDE IS WHERE A GEARDRIVEN TYRE PUMP CAN BE FITTED IF DESIRED. Compare this photo to the photos of a post-war case in Bulletin 9, www.albioncx19project.org.uk

So we now have the ingredients to build up a sound, rather special gearbox with the silent third feature. This will probably make it the only one of its kind to survive in the world.
My friend Paul Adams in Scotland, restorer of Sydney m/o 1877 and author of "Albion of Scotstoun", is in contact with other Albion experts who may be able to give the story on this odd gearbox, with helical gears on third speed but not on top.
Watch this space.

By the way: the excessive wear on the second speed wheels in the 'helical' box indicates to me that it had suffered from a trick used by most of the old drivers, to make life easier: changing gear without the use of the clutch.
This can be done, by judicious timing and synchronising of road speed and engine revs. but I have always suspected that it would result in tapering of the teeth on gear wheels due to the need to use slight extra pressure on the gear lever to push the gears into mesh with the inevitable slight load on them. Second speed teeth are badly tapered, the the dog clutches for top and third similarly, and the countershaft at the area where the third gear wheel sits has considerable rotational free play.

Engine Out

2006-05-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

To assist overhaul of the engine and cleaning and painting of the chassis and front suspension the engine had to come out. Given the wear and loss of compression, it's a wonder the engine runs as well as it does, just another of the strengths of the Gardner design.

THROUGH THE CAB DOOR SHOWING ALL PANELS AND THE FLOOR REMOVED, AND THE SLINGS IN PLACE TO TAKE THE STRAIN
Craig had unbolted the gearbox from its clutch housing and lowered it to the floor on the previous weekend. In spare moments he had also stripped all the external panels from the cab, removed the cab floor and dismantled the gear shift housing from its mounting on the side of the engine crankcase.

THE WEIGHT HAS BEEN TAKEN: THE HOIST HAS NOT FOLDED AND THE SLINGS HAVE NOT SNAPPED
So all we had to do was take the weight of the engine on slings from a cantilever engine hoist. But Craig had had a heavy work week with no spare time, so first thing was a trip down the Princes Highway to Dapto to Pete's place to collect the hoist.
The hoist (see picture) is a heavy steel bar, extendable by a metre or so horizontally, and raised by a hydraulic ram. But each extension loses you about 250 kg in safe lifting capacity, and the Gardner is a very long engine, so by the time we had the hook over engine centre, the SWL was 750 kg. Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound, suck it and see, give it a whirl and all that.

THE FIRST SIX INCHES OF THE MOVE FORWARDS OUT OF THE CHASSIS. SO FAR, SO GOOD. THE JIB OF THE HOIST CAN BE SEEN TO BE AT FULL EXTENSION

And slinging the engine posed problems with the gear we had to hand. We estimated the engine minus gearbox weighed about 800 kg. The Gardner workshop manual very wisely suggests using two eyebolts screwed onto specially extended cylinder head studs as lifting points, but lacking these with their peculiar British Standard Fine threads we had to improvise.

We did not want to use chains which would bear against the cast aluminium sump and risk cracking it, so what soft nylon straps we could locate were obtained. One of these was only a metre long and despite some head scratching to try combining it with chains to get length, it was abandoned in favour of a nylon towing rope of presumably at least a ton capacity. Craig's friend Ian, from Morris Mini restoration days, turned up to help and was a tower of strength. Three heads are better than two.
Straps and ropes were carefully arranged to avoid crushing pipework or delicate aluminium alloy auxiliaries, and the hoist raised to take the strain. Everything held: the front tubular crossmember bolts were taken out, and the rather complex pivoting rear engine mounts had to be partly dismantled to release them.

IAN AND CRAIG KNOCK THE TUBULAR FRONT CROSS MEMBER DOWNWARDS TO REMOVE IT FROM BETWEEN THE CHASSIS RAILS. THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN A POST WAR CX19 WILL NOTE THAT THIS CROSS MEMBER IS DIFFERENT, TO SUIT THE LOWER FRONT ENGINE MOUNT OF THE GARDNER
The engine is not mounted on the centre line of the chassis: as in all double deckers it is angled to the nearside, so the drive line passes under the row of seats on the kerb side of the bus, giving a lower floor at the centre corridor. So the nearside mounting gets tangled up with the chassis cross member under the engine firewall, necessitating removal of many bolts and pins to free it up. Luckily these were made to be quite accessible, and came apart easily despite having been untouched for 40 years or so.

THE MAGIC MOMENT: THE ENGINE COMES CLEAR OF THE CHASSIS AND ALL THE VARIOUS PROTRUSIONS, INCLUDING THE RADIATOR SUPPORT STUD, LOWER CENTRE OF PICTURE
By now the engine was dangling from its straps and we gingerly dragged the hoist forward, lifting it to clear the front axle, lowering it to clear the radiator mounting brackets and removing protruding pieces of cab and engine to enable forward progress. By mid afternoon it was all clear and it all seemed to have been quite easy, didn't it? With the Gardner manual in one hand and the engine exposed to easy scrutiny, we looked for the magic letter 'S' stamped on the rear of the crankcase to indicate it is a Type 3, with copper-lead slipper bearings. Earlier engines have cast babbit metal bearings which require skilled hand scraping to get a perfect fit. No 'S' --- but removal of sump will reveal all.

THE GEARBOX ON THE HOIST COMES CLEAR OF THE FRONT AXLE. IAN LOOKS RELIEVED
Now we could use the hoist to drag the gearbox forward and lift it out over the front axle. The opportunity was used to take its top cover off.
Two major surprises emerged: all the gears were in beautiful condition, apart from the expected minor chipping at the front of the second speed wheel, caused by drivers changing down to second on steep hills and not timing it 100%, and by engaging second roughly when taking off from a stop.

CRAIG POINTS TO THE ONLY VISIBLE WEAR IN THE GEARBOX, ON THE FRONT OF THE SECOND SPEED WHEEL. THE CLEAN GLOW FROM WITHIN THE GEARBOX IS VERY ENCOURAGING
Everything inside shone like polished silver, but to my great surprise, there were no helical teeth on any gears! My theory was that early prewar buses had silent third gearboxes with this feature abandoned on later versions. So maybe 1615 got a post war box in its career (quite likely) or my theory is rubbish (very likely). The intriguing thing is that elsewhere we actually have such a box, with helical gears, so its origins are a matter of some interest. Your comments on this mystery, please.

THE VOID LEFT IN THE ENGINE BAY LOOKS RATHER SAD, BUT SHOT BLASTING AND PAINTING WILL CHANGE ALL THAT.

To Dismantle your Shed

2006-04-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

THE FACE OF THE BUS; ALMOST THE ONLY THING WHICH TELLS THE CASUAL OBSERVER THAT THIS IS AN ALBION YOU'RE LOOKING AT, MATE. AFTER 68 YEARS THE BADGE IS SADLY LACKING IN LUSTRE.

THE RADIATOR BADGE WAS CEMENTED IN PLACE TO PRESERVE IT FROM SOUVENIR HUNTERS. CRAIG CAREFULLY PRISES IT AWAY, AND IT WILL BE SENT AWAY FOR RE-ENAMELLING IN VITREOUS ENAMEL.

THE GARDNER 6LW WOULD NEVER WIN A BEAUTY CONTEST, BUT IT BEATS EVERY OTHER DIESEL ENGINE EVER BUILT AT FUEL ECONOMY. BUILT BY L.GARDNER AND SONS LTD., BARTON HALL ENGINE WORKS, PATRICROFT, MANCHESTER, IT WAS USED IN BUSES, TRUCKS, RAIL VEHICLES AND SMALL SHIPS, AND COULD DELIVER UP TO 17mpg IN A DOUBLE DECKER BUS APPLICATION.

First remove the external steel cladding. Then remove the cross beam, noting which way up it was fitted. And so on, until your bus will fit inside.

With 1615 safely ensconced in the shed, some research was undertaken to establish how to go about obtaining spares for the Gardner engine, to enable it to be given a full overhaul. My friend Michael Myer of North Shore Diesel Injection Service at Woy Woy is a specialist in Gardner engines. Woy Woy on the Central Coast just north of Sydney is surrounded by small fishing harbours and inlets plied by ferry services, and many of these vessels are propelled by Gardner engines in their marine form, so Michael is not short of work. He advised firstly to find the engine number, on the upper surface of the crankcase, in front of the injector pump, and beside where the front cylinder block mounts. And to establish if the crankcase is iron or aluminium alloy. If iron, the bearings will be hand scraped babbit metal, not modern slip-in shells, and will have to be updated. It is aluminium (phew) and the engine number is 31935.
While he was at it Craig established that the bus' Chassis number is 60004D. In Albion's weird and wonderful model and chassis ID system, all the 60000 series numbers to 60500, with suffix letter to be added, were allotted to the CX19 Venturer, starting with 60001A, then B,C, D, etc. up to L (I and G were not used after 1938), making a group of ten, then came 60002A,B,C, etc. So by my reckoning, 60004D is the 34th chassis produced of model CX19. I await correction by an expert in the field.

Noises in the Night

2006-04-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

click on any photo to enlarge

To avoid as far as possible any disruption to other traffic, Craig planned to move the bus to his home near Wollongong in the early hours of morning. Craig, his long-suffering girlfriend Olivia Walker, and I assembled at Sydney tramway museum at 4.30 AM, armed with some tools in case of trouble, cameras still and video, and drums of water to cope with the losses from the leaky water pump gland.

AT 4.55AM THE RADIATOR RECEIVES THE FIRST OF MANY DRINKS: THE WATER PUMP GLAND GAVE UP LONG AGO, BUT SPARES FOR GARDNER ENGINES ARE NOT DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN

I have to say it was a rare pleasure to be allowed to participate in this undertaking: the combination of the slow steady beat of a Gardner 6LW and the sounds produced by an Albion gearbox is a pretty intoxicating mix. The gearbox is unlike any other in existence, because it has the pre-war specification of helical gear teeth for third gear: the so-called "silent third", which reverted to straight-cut teeth in post WWII production. So it has all the sounds of an Albion CX19, with the added sophistication of "silent third'. Those readers who have heard it will know what I mean.

HEADLAMPS FITTED AROUND 1940 OR '41, AND RUNNING ON 12 VOLTS, ARE NOT A DAZZLE PROBLEM

In pitch darkness at 5 AM the journey began down the Princes Highway. South of Waterfall, we diverted onto the Old Highway, in order to reach Wollongong via Bulli Pass.

CRAIG AT THE WHEEL OF A VEHICLE DATING FROM 1938; HE DATES FROM 1978

Craig correctly reasoned that one short sharp descent would be preferable to the alternative route via Mount Ousely which involves much more hill climbing and a longer, if gentler, descent to the coastal plain. Second gear was used for the majority of the way down the Pass, which has a 20 kph speed limit for trucks and buses. A truck followed us all the way and overtook at one point but showed no desire to exceed our speed. The grade is 1 in 8 at some points.
Unlike some well-worn gearboxes, 1615's showed no sign whatsoever of wanting to jump out of gear on the long 5 kilometre descent, but at the bottom, after acting as a compressor for so long, the engine belched a nuclear mushroom cloud of blue smoke to underline the fact that the piston rings and bores are in dire need of attention.
By 6.40 AM we were outside Craig's home in Figtree; about 55 km from Loftus we reckon, without a moment's trouble from the old girl, apart for some pauses for a drink of water in the radiator.
Reversing into the entrance drive was quickly completed, Olivia took a shower and departed for work, and some flattened cardboard was pushed under the engine of 1615 to catch the various fluid leaks from the machinery room behind the radiator.

DESPITE HAVING ITS TOP DECK OFF, THE DOUBLE DECKER IS STILL TOO HIGH TO FIT INTO THE AVERAGE GARAGE

Next step: remove the front fascia of the garage so the bus can fit under the entrance beam to be locked away for the next few years while work proceeds on the body frame, cutting out the many rusted sections, welding in new metal, and returning it to 1939 condition.

IN THE DRIVE. CRAIG PARKINSON STANDS BY WHAT WILL KEEP HIM OFF THE GOLF COURSE FOR A FEW YEARS

SWEEPING UP THE LEAVES AND TWIGS DISLODGED BY THE PROCESS OF REVERSING INTO THE DRIVE.
THE BUS AWAITS THE REMOVAL OF THE GARAGE FASCIA TO PERMIT IT TO ENTER. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Step One (of 1,894) ---- Remove the Top Deck

2006-04-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

The appointed day for lifting the top deck was Saturday March 25th. Craig was on a month's leave from work, father Bill is retired now, and your correspondent was eager to help.
Firstly some shunting of trams was needed. A clear space under the travelling cranes had to be created in the workshops, by moving Brisbane car 180 to another road in the Display Hall. Two wooden overhead work towers sitting on the deck of Ballast Motor 93u had to be lifted off, and 93u put in positon to receive the top deck when it came off.

David Griffiths unscrews the desto box which has brackets securing it to the floor. photo Bill Parkinson

The Gardner 6LW engine in 1615 is a little worn these days, lacking some compression, and needs a few moments cranking to get it going. Surprisingly, the electrical system is 12 volt, quite sufficient to start a Gardner, but rare by 1939 when all other diesel buses had 24 volt systems with more grunt for starting cold engines in winter.

The bus was driven down the slope to the Workshop entrance so Craig and I could get to work with angle grinders, cold chisel, crowbars and side cutters to remove the few remaining rusty bolts, and top deck lamp wiring.

Sparks fly as Craig Parkinson cuts bolts around the stair well. photo Bill Parkinson

By lunchtime, space in the workshop was now clear, and 1615 was reversed in by the west door of the shops, turned 90 degrees and positoned under the cranes. Chain drags were attached to the southern crane and hooked around the lower front corners of the top deck. At the northern end the same was done to the rear corners. These were felt to be stronger and better able to take the strain than the waist rails, which are literally a bit wasted by rust.

The method of slinging can be seen as the lift begins at dead slow speed. photo Bill Parkinson

The strain was taken, and the top deck showed a strong desire to stay attached in the region of the rear nearside destination box.. We found we had not sliced through three bolts hidden under the box where it protrudes into the top deck beside the rear three-seater. With step ladder, grinder and crowbar these were quickly dealt with and the lift recommenced.

Cutting the last remaining electrical wiring, to the front desto box. photo Bill Parkinson

This time the front destination box wanted to stay joined to the bottom deck: its winder passes through the ceiling of the drivers cab, and we had not noticed it still had the winder handle attached! After these two minor setbacks the lift proceeded and we watched closely to see if the deck would quietly form into a U-shape, suspended at each end!
In the event, not a millimetre of distortion could be detected: the skirt rails and waist rails remained dead straight. As Bill Parkinson commented, " It's just a Warren truss, really".

Aloft and completely free of the lower deck, the top deck can be seen to remain dead straight and true, a tribute to its builders. photo Bill Parkinson

The lift completed, the team waits at the other side of 93u to observe the sideways transfer of the top deck between the two driving cabs of the ballast motor. photo Bob Merchant

An aerial view from the mezzanine meal room floor shows the descent to the flat bed of the ballast motor, number 93u in the Sydney Tramways service stock register. photo Bob Merchant

The cranes travelled westwards about 5 or 6 metres and the top half of 1615 descended neatly onto the deck of 93u.
Observers immediately commented that if we placed a few chairs into the top deck space we could make 93u into a passenger car for the first time in its life.

Craig prepares packing pieces to receive the descending deck. photo Bob Merchant
Strange things happen when you take a top deck off its bus: there is no way in, no doorway to the space inside. And the floor of the top deck, a very handy place to park all sorts of things, seat frames, interior trims, glass, screws, handrails, becomes the roof of a single decker and you have to take all this junk off before you can drive it away. The photos show the before and after.

We prepare to clear the roof, until a few minutes ago a floor, of material from the stripping of the top deck interior. photo Bob Merchant

All seats, trims, glass, cushions and debris have been cleared from the roof and it has had a good sweep, preparatory to driving the bus out the door. photo Bob Merchant

The bus emerges from the west door of the workshops as a single decker. photo Bob Merchant

In Tramway Street, getting a few cobwebs out of the engine before garaging the bus back in the top shed to await driving to Craig's home in Wollongong where a lot of cutting and welding of rusted frame components will begin. photo Bob Merchant

Biting the Bullet

2006-03-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

With a temporary home in the "Top Shed" at Sydney Tramway Museum (STM), Loftus, on Sydney's southern fringe, work began in earnest, removing body panelling inside and out.
There were no surprises---- just lots of rust, in a frame 66 years old. The frame material is light (1 mm) steel, given only a perfunctory coat of red lead primer in 1939, so in Sydney's hot humid coastal climate rust is a fact of life.

The bus stands outside the top shed with all top deck panels removed, as well as interior linings and trims, sliding windows and seats. August 2005 photo Bill Parkinson

The Gardner 6LW engine of 1615. At 8.4 litres, max. RPM 1800, output 100 BHP, it is the most fuel-efficient diesel ever built.
photo Bill Parkinson 3/8/2005.

Craig's hard work has seen him able to buy his own house in Wollongong, with a substantial shed on the property. The plan at one stage was to raise the side walls of the shed along with its roof, to give sufficient headroom for a double decker.
Then another idea surfaced. STM has two heavy travelling electric cranes in its workshop. They can lift an entire tram, so half a double decker would be a breeze. Sydney double deckers were built as a single decker with wooden roof, which then had the top deck, constructed separately, lowered onto it. We would do the reverse.
In the event, not much was found to be securing the top deck to the bottom: of the original 80 or so bolts, only about 12 were still intact, some only partially due to rust, and there was some electrical wiring and three destination display winders to be removed.

The bottom deck, still driveable, will go to Craig's house, to have its frame restored, engine and mechanicals overhauled, chassis cleaned and painted, and wheels, brakes and tyres renovated.
The top deck, now sitting on the flat bed of a Sydney tramways ballast motor, can then be restored. This will be done at ground level, obviating the need for awkward scaffolding and elevated work platforms.

The story so far....

2006-03-29T23:58:00.000-08:00

Australian Albion fans show off their wares to the visiting Scotsmen. From L to R: Robert Hood with 2023, Rick Robinson, David Griffiths and 1892, David Wilson and 1187, Ben Barnes, Craig Parkinson and 1615.

In 2003 the idea of a tour to Australia by Albion enthusiasts from Scotland was mooted. Organised by Andrew Stewart of Fly Discover Travel, Adelaide, himself the erstwhile owner of an Albion CX19 double decker, which became famous as Albert, veteran of 15 return journeys from London to Bombay in the late 1960s /early 1970s, this tour was to show what Australia had to offer by way of preserved Albion vehicles.

Albion Venturer model CX19GW ex NSW Dept of Road Transport and Tramways fleet number 615, registered number m/o 1615, in George Street City on an enthusiast outing marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of NSW government bus services, in 1983. photo Bill Parkinson.

1615 was acquired for preservation from West Bankstown Bus Service by two members of STM in 1975 and donated to the Museum as an example of the first tramway replacement buses, used after the closure of Manly trams in 1939. photo Bill Parkinson

Australian Albion enthusiasts were aware that they had a rare treasure to be unearthed. Not seen out on the road for many years was the former NSW Department of Road Transport and Tramways bus once registered as m/o 1615.
It is a 1939 Albion Venturer, model CX19GW, the "G" meaning it has a Gardner engine, and it was shut away in the unused sheds of the Sydney Tramway Museum at their old site in the Royal National Park, at Loftus, south of Sydney. The impending visit of the Scotsmen acted acted as a catalyst for its return to operable condition.

To his eternal credit, a young member of the Sydney Tramway Museum, Craig Parkinson, the son of Bill Parkinson who had put in countless hours of work on m/o 1615 in the 1970s and early 80s to restore it to its original colours and maintain it mechanically, came forward.
Craig single-handedly dug out the bus from its dark and dusty shed, cleaned out the fuel system, pumped up tyres, installed batteries, and started the engine for the first time in nearly 20 years. Helpers then removed an entire wall of the shed to facilitate its removal without having to move tonnes of other accumulated material, and with much toing and froing, 1615 emerged into the daylight in December 2003.
The wall of the shed was reinstated, and 1615 was driven to the new site of the Sydney Tramway Museum and placed over an inspection pit, in covered storage.

The bus after having 20 years of dust washed off sits in the top shed at STM with every prospect of a major restoration about to happen......

##############

This article appeared in Australian Bus Heritage magazine, issue 2 March 2004.
It is included here to provide a more comtemporaneous account of 1615's rescue.

SURE AS THE SUNRISE

An Albion CX19 double decker rises from the dust

On Saturday 3rd January 2004, m/o 1615 (“1615”), the last remaining 1939 model Waddington-bodied Albion Venturer was extracted from storage at the old Royal National Park site of the Sydney Tramway Museum. 1615 was one of only 17 pre-WWII CX19s supplied to the N.S.W. Dept of Road Transport and Tramways by Albion Motors Ltd of Scotstoun near Glasgow. Some had Albion oil engines, then still in their early stages of production, but most had Gardner 6LW diesel engines. 1615 is the last survivor of the group and is now the only pre-war CX19 in the world.
Thanks largely to the efforts of Bill Parkinson and the band of South Pacific Electric Railway (SPER) members who recognised the heritage value of the vehicle, as one of the buses bought to replace the Manly Trams after closure in 1939, 1615 has been preserved as a complete omnibus, even with its original seats.
Informal discussions occurred from time to time with directors of SPER about the future of 1615. There was never any clear idea of what could happen. What should happen was quite simple: it would need restoration, but the question of who should do it, and where, and who would provide the resources remained uncertain, and at the time of writing is still uncertain. The Sydney Tramway Museum’s resources are more than fully committed to its ever-expanding tram fleet, and the equipment for restoration of buses with steel frames is different to that needed for wooden-bodied trams.
Then one of those happy accidents occurred—some members of the Albion Club in Scotland decided to organize a Tour Down Under, to arrive in January 2004, so as to be in Sydney for Motorfest on January 26th. They knew Australia was a treasure chest of preserved Albion trucks and buses thanks to the company’s vigorous export activities, and they wanted to come and have a look. They knew about 1615, and the Model 80 bus at Tempe, m/o 1187, thanks to correspondence between U.K. and Australian Albion enthusiasts over the years, and were anxious to see them. Twelve months ago all they were going to get was a glimpse of 1615 covered in dust, buried in the back of an unlit shed, and a static view of 1187, the 1935 model 80. unable to be run because of cooling problems.
This sad scenario was enough to arouse the energies of members of both SPER and Historic Commercial Vehicle Association (HCVA) to do something about it. Howard Clark, chairman of SPER, was adamant that the visitors should be shown a good time. On December 17, 2003, SPER and HCVA members Howard Clark, David Griffiths, Peter Kahn, Craig Parkinson (son of Bill), Bruce Pinnell, Vic Solomons, and David Wilson met at the old R.N.P. site at Loftus to assess the chances of getting 1615 out of its awkward location, of moving it to Tempe for display, and of running it during the visit of the Albion Club members. A meeting afterwards at Sydney Tramway Museum, and a submission then the board of SPER, resulted in permission to remove the bus on January 3rd 2004.
Rather than try to clear a path forward, past tonnes of stored equipment and two other double deckers, 2619 and 2806, it was decided to remove a section of the shed wall behind 1615, and back it out. Craig Parkinson then showed himself to be one to accept a challenge. Craig put in a lot of hours to check the fuel system and cooling system, fit batteries, and try to run the engine which had not turned for 12 years. It started almost immediately. On January 3rd a team of Ben Barnes, David Griffiths, Chris O’Brien, Chris Olsen, Bill Parkinson, Craig Parkinson, and Roland, the caretaker at the R.N.P. site, rapidly removed the wall cladding, pumped up tyres, started the engine, and backed it out, running on clean fuel from a 5 gallon drum set up by Craig beside the engine. The reversing process required about ten to and fro movements to clear the shed and its posts, after which Craig had blisters on his hands from the steering wheel.
A number of trams was driven out of the Tramway Museum to permit 1615 to be parked over the inspection pit for checking fluid levels, brakes, exhaust, etc. Craig put in many hard hours chiseling encrusted mud and grease from the running gear and then used Tempe’s steam cleaner to freshen up the engine bay and under-body area. Craig drained the old oxidized fuel from the tank and filled it with fresh diesel, and fitted a set of nearly new rear tyres from the chassis of 1619, lying at Loftus old site.
It was now ready for driving, on trade plates, from Loftus to Tempe, a move which occurred on Saturday 17 January, with Bruce Pinnell at the wheel. When you look at 1615, think of Craig. His energy, skill and enthusiasm has been a prime contributor to the present state of the bus.
Once at Tempe, Ben Barnes and David Wilson put in some hard yards cleaning out the interior of dust and junk. On Saturday Jan. 24th, 1615 was run around the yard at Tempe so that some old hands could renew acquaintance with the idiosyncrasies of its gearchange, and some new hands, e.g. Craig, could get to grips with it, prior to the arrival of the Scotsmen on Sunday 25th.
Late in the day, on a last run around the yard, it quietly died, right in the middle of the yard. The Amal fuel lift pump had packed it in. The first plan was to remove the pump from the derelict chassis of 1619, sitting in the open at the old RNP site, Loftus. The second plan, to call Michael Myer of Turnwell Diesels Woy Woy, established that he had in stock kits for Gardner lift pumps, so Craig and Ben Barnes made the bold decision to head for Woy Woy at 6 p.m. Saturday. The kit was taken back to Parkinsonville, Wollongong, fitted to the pump, which was returned to Tempe by 8 a.m. Sunday, to be refitted, pumped up and bled of air from the injection system. 1615 started, ran fine, and hasn’t missed a beat since.
Next day, the Scots were deeply impressed. Some of them, experts at constant mesh boxes, had a run around the yard, but only one, Paul Adams, can claim to have mastered the gear change immediately, at first acquaintance. The Gardner engine with its heavy flywheel and relatively low compression ratio, makes the up gear change very slow compared to a post-war CX19 with Albion oil engine.
The challenge is now to formulate a plan for the restoration of 1615 which is acceptable to its owners, SPER, and the owners of the bus restoration facilities, HCVA. Discussions with three groups, the Boards of the two Museums, and the group of individuals interested in this unique vehicle, will continue for some time until a mutually acceptable arrangement is found. There is great good will on all sides, which bodes well for the future, when it is hoped that both societies can look forward to occasional joint ventures involving trams and buses.
As a postscript, readers will be interested to hear that m/o 1187, the oldest surviving Albion double decker in the world, is now operable, after having its cooling problems cured. The completely useless water pump, corroded and leaking furiously, has been overhauled and refitted, and the tendency to boil on normal running has been cured.
Its Gardner 6LW engine has a water circulation manifold on each block of three cylinders, and the entry from the back block to the front one was totally obstructed by corrosion. A pair of bronze manifolds, as opposed to the original ones, of cast aluminium alloy, was supplied and fitted by Michael Myer, mentioned above, and the bus now runs like a rocket. If its brakes are up to the task, it may be registered and be run on restricted duty.

The Bus in Question

2006-03-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

click on any photo to enlarge

Albion Venturer m/o 1615 is a model SPCX19GW: that is, a SPecial for Sydney transport, Wide (8 ft.) with Gardner engine. Until February 1940 it was fleet number 615, and registration number m/o 1815, but to remove the disparity between fleet number and licence number (registration number) 1000 was added to the fleet number. The figure 1000 arises because originally N.S.W. motor omnibus registrations (m/o plates) 1 to 1000 were allocated to private operators, so Department of Road Transport and Tramways plates began at m/o 1001 in 1933 when State Government omnibus operations began. However for a short period in the late thirties, the disparity was 1200, and our bus fell into that group.

Manly, West Esplanade, October 1939. A remarkable shot , not of 1615, but of its near relative 1613, in its original condition. It is believed that the occasion is the first day of tramway replacement buses at Manly. It is in that very brief interval when registration numbers of these buses were 1200 out of synch. with fleet numbers, so for the moment it is m/o 1813. photo courtesy Allan T Condie.

An order for 17 CX19s was placed in early 1938, they entered service in 1939, 13 with Gardner 6LW engines and 4 (m/o’s 1611 to 1614) with Albion EN242 diesels. M/o 1612 was involved in a serious incident on the Northern side of The Spit bridge, in 1949 when it failed to take a tight downhill corner, ran over a bank and overturned. Sadly, there were fatalities and the bus was written off.
Bodies, entirely steel framed and seating 28 down, 33 up, were built by the Waddington Motor Body Company, Granville NSW, to a design prepared by DRTT engineers. Originally they were licensed to carry 19 standing passengers (!) but this was later reduced to 13, making 74 passengers all told. They entered service in 1939 at Manly Depot, converted from the tram depot.

Just to the north of West Esplanade, Manly, was a reserved area which was part of the loop used to turn trams at Manly Wharf. When the trams finished, the space was sealed and used as a bus stand. It is now under the new Meridian building: 1615 may be standing on what is now the kitchen of the Allhambra Restaurant! Various differences can be seen between 1615 (now in green and cream livery) and the post-WWII Albion CX19 beside it: notably the absence of an opening lower deck emergency window and the presence of swages in the panels, lined out in black in the pre-war livery. photo courtesy David Wilson.

After 20 years service m/o 1615 was withdrawn from Brookvale Depot where it had been since that depot opened in 1952 . It spent a mere few days at Willoughby depot, and in November 1959 was sold to West Bankstown Bus Service in South Western Sydney, which operated several ex-government CX19s. It and 1619 were purchased in 1975 for preservation and later donated by David Wilson and Adrian Price to Sydney Tramway Museum, on the premise (if one were needed) that each was a “Tramway Replacement Bus”, being used to replace trams on the Manly system which closed in 1939.

IN THE COLOURS OF RADIO 2WL WOLLONGONG, PARTICIPATING IN A PARADE DOWN THE MAIN STREET photo Bill Parkinson

IN KEIRA STREET WOLLONGONG, AT THE OPENING OF A BETTER BRAKES BRANCH STORE, ABOUT 1979 photo Bill Parkinson

A Wollongong radio station sponsored its repainting, into a mainly blue colour scheme, but by about 1980 Bill Parkinson of the Tramway Museum had spent many long hours repainting it back to its 1939 colours of red and cream. It saw some years as a Museum vehicle, but as pressure grew to concentrate on building the new museum site, the bus fell into disuse and was stored out of sight in a corrugated iron shed at the original site of the Sydney Tramway Museum in Royal National Park, Loftus NSW. Through a series of sad occurrences and bad decisions, 1615 is now the sole surviving pre war CX19 in Australia, and almost certainly in the world, but happily its future is now assured. The bare chassis of 1619 is at Loftus, with its engine, and offers are welcome from would-be restorers. A UK-style body could be fitted: the unlikely result would then be an 8-foot wide UK double decker of 1939!.

On an outing for the 50th anniversary of NSW Government buses, 1615 stands in Eddy Avenue below Central Railway Station. Behind it is Leyland TS7 Tiger ex-m/o 1275, also owmed by STM and now on display at Sydney Bus Museum, Tempe. The date is 1983. Photo Bill Parkinson

With the impending visit of the Scottish Albion fans in January 2004 acting as a spur, it was extricated, fired up, dusted off and tarted up for display. The major effort for this exercise was provided by Craig Parkinson, son of Bill who kept the bus alive in the 70s and 80s.
After seeing some service as a demonstrator at Sydney Bus Museum, Tempe, during the Albion Tour Down Under, 1615 returned to Loftus where room was found for it in the new depot buildings, and Craig got stuck into removal of panels to see how bad the steel framing of the body was. Answer, it’s pretty awful, with major rust in the pillars of the firewall behind the driver, as well as all the usual trouble sites under the fixed panes of glass which were “sealed” with glazier’s linseed oil putty, and along the sills of the sliding windows.
But steel is cheap, and with access provided by removal of all internal and external panelling, and windows, the frame will be renovated. Above all the vehicle is complete, with all its original seating, fittings and trims, and largely unaltered structurally from its 1939 condition. The bus has even recovered its rear destination display box: these were removed by the DRTT in the 50s and simply thrown away, but a Tempe (and Loftus) member, Brian Mantle, made one from scratch, including winder mechanism, which was fitted at the time of the 1980s repaint.

The bus after its first repaint into Government colours from the West Bankstown livery. The setting is at La Perouse, and the colour scheme is the later, wartime, version of red and cream, with fewer black bands and reduced use of the cream colour. Photo Bill Parkinson

Craig’s plan is to lift the whole top deck away, using the overhead travelling crane at the Tramway Museum’s workshop. Seeing virtually all the feet of the top deck pillars are rusted away, just taking out the seats and cutting the wiring to the top deck lights should free it up!
By this means, work on the top deck frame can be conducted at ground level, not 10 or 12 feet up on a shaky scaffold, and the roof, which is hail damaged, can be reskinned. Craig will transport the whole top deck by truck to his home where he estimates it will fit in his garage in Wollongong: what a perfect set-up for restoration! A good deal of the top deck framing will need new metal welding in to replace rusted sections: front corner sections, waist rails, pillars and skirt rails as required.
When the top deck is done, and reskinned but not painted, it will return to Loftus, and the bottom deck can actually be driven to Wollongong to get its treatment. As was done at Waddingtons in 1939, the two will be reunited using the overhead crane. Using new aluminium is a great saving in time, avoiding arduous paint stripping and panel beating, as new panels can be created in a matter of minutes with guillotine and swaging machine. The roof is a toss-up: setting hundreds of solid rivets will be a chore, but so would tapping out hundreds of hail pock-marks, sometimes with dubious results.
It is estimated that about 35 sheets of 8x4 and 6x4 aluminium sheet will reskin the whole bus. Cost: about $1000. Armed with the experience gained on my Waddington-bodied Leyland TD4, I will attempt to keep Craig supplied with some of the necessary frame components: the angle gussets for the top deck pillar feet are already made.
The re-entry of 1615 into Museum activities will be eagerly awaited: it is not only a unique Albion, but a very charismatic vehicle with its many distinctly pre-war features such as swaged body panels, (visible as black lines in the photos) and a much darker-feeling interior with lots of dark brown trims. The Gardner engine gives a very different sound to the EN242B in the post war CX19s, and the “silent third” gearbox with its helical gears from clutch shaft to countershaft in third and top sounds much quieter, but also sweeter.. And because people were smaller of stature in the 30s, pre-war Sydney deckers are 2 inches lower in height than the post war buses, at 14 feet 2 inches.
And finally, an appeal: does any reader know where Craig might obtain a fair sample of the radiator enamel badge? 1615’s is very battered.