GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
An Aussie Busman's Holiday Series
South Africa Mauritius and Reunion
All these destinations had a mixture of French and /Indian influences with the intrusion of Chinese buses into the markets as well. Mauritius and South African had a heavy Indian component of the industry with operators and bodybuilders, many of which were very small concerns or had their own body shops. They are fabulous to look at, with some quite ugly designs all with generally distinctive liveries. The Reunion market was very European with a small Chinese representation. The book features some amazing designs and you will find it interesting, especially the Ashok Leyland and Ashok Hino buses. MAN front engine chassis dominate the South African urban bus market and are unusual to us in Australia, although whilst I was at MAN we imported six of these FOC chassis.
110 pages of exotic buses and coaches.
NORWAY, ICELAND and FINLAND
This book looks at Norway’s, Iceland’s and Finland’s buses and coaches. Wow, what a collection of amazing vehicles! You will have to purchase to see and believe the variety of coaches and buses.
Modern public transport including a trolley bus in Bergen (Norway) although coaches are the dominant examples. T here are some massive coaches built to traverse the Country’s snow fields. What I would call “Big Bangers” and interesting combinations.
88 marvellous pages of these Countries’ passenger vehicles are featured.
Available in Soft cover only, with silk 115GM paper, which is the same as the other Busman’s holiday books.
NEW ZEALAND
A pictorial collection of buses and coaches from New Zealand. The collection includes old and modern vehicles. Many of my early 110 film are not the best quality although are a great record of the mid 70s
Who needs the boiling mud when there are great buses in the bus park!
82 glorious pages, featuring some amazing NZ body styles. A bus adventure spanning from ‘77 to 2023!
Available in Soft cover only, with lighter-weight Silk 115GSM paper than the Gone but not Forgotten Series.
Proudly printed in Australia on heavy weight, gloss paper.
EGYPT TURKEY and GREECE
A pictorial collection of buses and coaches from Egypt, Turkey and Greece including Greece’s major islands. The collection includes old and modern vehicles.
Who needs the pyramids when there are great buses in the carpark!
69 glorious pages, featuring some weird and exotic vehicles. An enthusiast’s adventure!
Available in Soft cover only, with lighter-weight Silk 115GSM paper than the Gone but not Forgotten Series.
Australia's Imported Bus and Coach Body Builders
A Colour Pictorial record of Australian Imported Bus and Coach Body Builders from the beginning of the 20th Century to the latest vehicles. It compliments the last book about Australia’s home grown bus and coach bodybuilders.
A comprehensive, indexed reference book covering 110 years of vehicles.
Over 125 body builders,
Over 365 bus operators
Over 250 different chassis makes and models and 385 glorious pages!
Colour and Black and White
215mm x 155mm
Weighs 1.2 Kg estimated.
Proudly printed in Australia on heavy weight, gloss paper.
Australia's Domestic Bus and Coach Body Builder
This pictorial history covers all of the known and some little known Australian Bus and Coach Body builders from the 1910's through to today that operated in various States and Territories. There are over 210 that we have uncovered through your help.
The basic statistics are that this book has over 1000 bus operators, over 85 chassis types with over 500 chassis models. Most importantly for this book there are over 210 Australian bodybuilders listed in the index.
To keep it reasonably simple , we have listed the bodybuilders alphabetically from A-L & M-Z in the soft cover set. If we had three images or more then the Body Builder has its own chapter. The index simply lists some of the major builders. Smaller builders can all be found in the index so you can find your particular interest still listed alphabetically.
There is also a Miscellaneous "Odd Bods" chapter for the one off/in house builders or where three images were not available. In addition there is an Unknown chapter where we still need some help trying to identify the bodybuilder. Some of these have been identified between draft completion and printing.
Don't forget the Bonus Bus chapter where late entries have been captured.
Personally, I like the body shapes and styles. Some are just ugly although we accept that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You are the final judge! The noisy bits of the vehicle i.e. the chassis are complimented by "the shed" that goes on top.. the body. Sorry, I was a chassis salesman for most of my working life.
Please go to “sneak peeks” as there are a few of different body styles and captions.
The soft cover set is a little more than 1256 pages as the index was duplicated to make it easier for the reader, in our opinion, to locate a particular vehicle.
Photographers who have contributed are acknowledged where they are known to me or can be identified. Industry personalities are also listed in the index and captions detail my connection, subject to available space.
As always we try and be as accurate as possible based on information at hand. Nevertheless, there a better enthusiasts than I going back decades and also current folk who will find corrections. Feel free to contact us and we can add it into our errata for the book. There is an errata section in this website.
GBNF 7
Government and Municipal Buses of Australia
This pictorial history covers all the Australian States and Territory government operators and also the municipal buses operated in various States.
This volume also lists the previous private operators absorbed or purchased by cities such as Perth, Adelaide and Sydney.
Private operation tenderers, in more recent times, seems to be the trend where contractors operate the vehicles whilst the Government maintains ownership of the asset and routes. This enables management companies to be swapped over if the current contractor isn’t successful with the next tender process.
Defence, Police, Emergency Services, Education and various Commissions are also detailed.
The Government sector invests huge money into supporting the Australian bus and coach industry, in particular the body builders.
It deserves its own volume as a very important element in our local industry.
Here are a few “sneak views” of some of the various Government operators such as Brisbane City Council and STA Adelaide.
In addition, not seen here will be Defence, Police and other Government Departments and Councils who have purchased buses.
The book is 596 pages and covers various personalities, stories and chassis and body detail in the limited 3 line space available.
GBNF 6
NSW Regional Buses
This book is intended to cover the balance of New South Wales (NSW) regional operators. It is based on a 2001 Bus and Coach Association (BCA) members list and map with one addition, the Upper Hunter Valley separated from the earlier Newcastle list. Brunswick Valley branch of the BCA has been merged with the Tweed Byron branch to make the numbers up.
This was my “home turf” as a NSW based bus chassis salesman for Saab Scania Australia, Ansair, MAN Automotive and back to Scania Australia. I enjoyed this job for over 30 years and made many long lasting relationships where customers became friends instead of just a commercial relationship. I’ll try and explain this through the various captions.
I’d also like to pay tribute to the many earlier bus salesman who made their mark within the Industry. Ron Ferguson (R.M Campbell) who sold numerous Austin and Leyland chassis. Pat O’Dea and John Porter who promoted the Bedford and Volvo brands in NSW (Suttons), Les Atkins and Sam Trovato with PMC, Dave Woodward from Volvo Bus Australia and Michael Robinson who was more associated with Mercedes Benz. Not forgetting my work colleague for over 40 years (18 of those at Scania) John Allen who, to me, was the most successful Scania salesman in NSW.
When you create a book like this, it gives you a chance to reflect. The most vivid reflection is the amount of aboriginal place names the NSW towns are named after. For the overseas reader, this is part of our culture and pride in the country that we were born in.
This book is chaptered into alphabetical listing for the BusNSW branch and then alphabetically listed by Company or surname.
This book has over 640 bus operators, over 70 chassis types, over 300 chassis models and over 115 bodybuilders listed in the index.
A comprehensive indexed reference book.
864 pages on high quality gloss paper - Soft ($135) covers. Postage for a single 2 kg book will be $15.00. All prices are in Australian Dollars.
Full Colour 215mm x 155mm
GBNF 5
The Lost Liveries of Melbourne's Route Buses
"Gone but not Forgotten - Lost Liveries of Melbourne's Route Buses" is a valuable and informative resource that will preserve the richness of the Victorian bus industry in perpetuity.
This book perfectly illustrates the story of the Victorian bus industry as an exemplar of commitment to staff, to community, to public safety, to private enterprise and family businesses.
From humble beginnings post World War One, through rapid growth in the 1950’s, stoushes with the State Government in the 1980’s and 1990’s and today, to the inevitable operator consolidation that we see of late, Tony Finneran has masterfully crafted this historical pictorial account that crystalises the contribution many bus families have made to residents and visitors alike over generations.
Tony’s book is sure to be enjoyed.
Each photo is a record of a place and time in Melbourne's bus transport history, mostly they are full colour on heavy gloss paper stock. Each vehicle lists its age the body builder and the chassis. There are stories of the Bus and Coach Industry included with the photos and the book is fully referenced with over 130 operators listed.
A comprehensive indexed reference book.
400 pages on high quality gloss paper
Full Colour 215mm x 155mm
Over 130 different bus operators and over 110 different chassis/bodies.
Reprints are available for $120 for soft cover
GBNF 4
Australia's Long Distance Bus
This book is a comprehensive pictorial record of the role of express buses and coaches from the times before universal car owner ship to the time of cheap airfares.
Over 150 Express operators are covered with photos from the 1930s to today. The definition of express service is around 3 hrs timetabled travel or longer with limited stops.
$10 from each book will be donated to the National Stroke Foundation.
Over 340 pages on high quality gloss paper.
Book Size: 215mm x 155mm (just over A5)
Reprinted 2020 - $120 plus postage $15.00 in Australia only
Australia's Touring Coaches
This book is a comprehensive pictorial record of touring coaches from all over Australia which have been used as the backbone of the tourism industry.
The book starts with National operators and then state by state alphabetically. It is also fully indexed with over 10 pages of cross-referencing for operators, makes models and chassis. New to this book is an index of the personalities who have contributed to Australia's strong coach industry.
$10 from each book will be donated to the National Stroke Foundation.
Over 540 pages
Book Size: 215mm x 155mm (just over A5)
Reprinted 2020 - $145 plus postage -
GBNF 3
Australia's All Over Advertising
Buses and Coaches
This book is a pictorial record of buses and coaches from all over Australia which have been used as Over Advertising Bus and Coaches. Private and Government Vehicles promoting products, services, retailers and government initiatives. The ads include the very old painted ads right up to recent digital wrap buses.
This book was co-authored with Ray Boddenberg.
$10 from each book will be donated to the National Stroke Foundation and Vietnam Veterans and Peacekeeper Association (Central Coast).
Book Size: 215mm x 155mm (just over A5)
GBNF 2
GBNF 1
Lost Liveries of Sydney's Route Buses
In 2010 the NSW Government decided that all bus companies who provide route and school services under Metropolitan and Outer Metropolitan Bus System Contracts must be liveried in the new Transport for NSW blue and white chevron Warartah livery. This will be brought in gradually with new buses first then older buses on major refurbishments.
In a few years there will be no independently liveried government contracted route buses in Sydney.
Foreword by Minister for Tranport the Hon. Gladys Berejiklian
"Buses have been an iconic part of Sydney’s public transport network for decades. Tony’s book takes readers through a history of what buses looked like and how that changed over time."
Book Size: 215mm x 155mm (just over A5) Third Reprint - $85 plus postage $15.00 in Australia
$10 from the sale of each book goes to the National Stroke Foundation.