As per the title, it has been a rather transcendentally and inherently lengthy period since I last graced this written medium with my blessed keystrokes, however nonetheless I am not back.
There’s not too much to say in terms of 2843’s progress over this time, other than the fact that I have had many an enjoyable evening chugging along through town, enjoying the melodious hum of her planetary gears, or should I say, hub reduction. There have been many great bus memories and conversely, just as many not so fond bus memories, involving poor old 2843 refusing to do certain things that a bus should normally do when asked.
Nonetheless, the precious Mercedes O305 MKIV that is 2843, is currently still enjoying a blissful existence, in the hands of a very attentive and incessantly caring owner, who is doing his best to keep her in full flight as best as he possibly can!
I would show you some photos, however the camera albeit camera phone I took them on has decided to monumentally crap itself for all eternity and thus I have nothing new to show.
But before you all log off in a huff and sigh at how your life is now unfulfilled, as you weren’t able to keep abreast visually of my wonderful road steed’s progress, hold your fire and await the reprieve I am about to grant you all kindly.
Most thankfully, I have some footage to provide your visual appetite, that was graciously captured in the dying months of the last year that was 2012, by a source other than myself.
So without further ado, I shall delay your enjoyment no longer and allow you to behold the tantalisingly fastidious images you shall see to be forthcoming…
Unfortunately though folks, these two photos are all I can provide you for now. But fear not, for soon I shall have a smart-phone once again, which I shall endeavour to cherish in a substantially more respectful and anticipatedly less abusive manner, which will allow me to capture many more images of the trusty steed that is 2843, in its finest glory.
So for now, I must bid you all adieu, however this is not the last hurrah for the 2843 bus blog. I shall be back for another installment, at a time yet to be determined, with more photos and tales for your enjoyment.
Happy bussing y’all!
Cheers,
2843 Driver.
Well it’s been an incredibly considerable amount of time since the last blog update, regardless of the fact that that post itself was overdue. So without further ado, here is my next wonderful instalment to the 2843 Bus Blog!
Much bus tomfoolery has occurred since the last post and I will by no means be able to cover it all. However, suffice to say I will attempt to provide pictures and info. of the best most pertinent parts that I can…
One notable event of recent times was the annual ‘Mercedes O305 Bus Rally’, which was held on Sunday 8th of July 2012.
The turnout for this was quite considerable. In terms of people, there was roughly 30 or 40, extremely keen, diehard bus enthusiasts in attendance. They came from a variety of walks of life, as well as a number of different age brackets. Nonetheless an enjoyable day was had by all!
As for the buses…….*Drum Roll*……..There was a grand total of about 10. This included a variety of buses, ranging from the rudimentary yet eloquent ‘Mark 1’ O305s, right through to a selection of two ‘Mark 4’ O305s, which included that of yours truly. 2843.
Included on the day was an initial jaunt from Strathfield station, where all the fun and games started. It was here that 2843 and its incredible entourage met up with a private company owned and run O305, from Forest Coachlines.
At this point we proceeded to Olympic Park and were joined by the wonderfully restored Sydney Bus Museum’s Mark 1, 1923.
Subsequent to this, both buses went on an appropriately named ‘Busman’s holiday’ of the Olympic Park precinct, prior to setting up shop at the bus parking area adjacent to the former Olympic Stadium.
It was here that the bulk of the other buses arrived from distant and exotic destinations, in order to commence the rally proper.
Featured were a number of Mark 2s and Mark 3s, along with those already mentioned. Some sausages wered consumed and a ‘Macca’s’ run in a Mark 1 was even undertaken.
Shortly thereafter, a convoy run was made out to La Perouse and surrounds, including a quick pit stop at a conveniently placed ‘Mr Whippy’ truck…
Anyway, needless to say I’ve described the day sufficiently in the written format. Thus we shall now move on to the pictorial dictation of events!
Included are also some random shots of 2843 at other times prior to and after the rally….
So it would appear it has been a significantly considerable amount of time since my last posting on here. You may have even suspected that I had dropped off the face of this lovely planet, or even simply just lost interest in the joys of blogging!
However, I can most thankfully assure you that the 2843 Bus Blog is still alive and kicking.
At this point I can hear an extremely audible sigh of relief, rushing over the entire population of Sydney.
Well, ok, I know that not everyone in the world cares reads, or cares about, this blog. However I am doing my utmost best to attract the greatest deal of interest that I possibly can!
At this juncture in fact, I will go so far as to enlist the help of you, my beloved readers…
Feel free to spread around the gospel according to the 2843 Bus Blog! The more patronage this blog gains, the more momentum I’m sure it will gather.
Nonetheless I shall digress at this point. Enough with the airy-fairy clap trap and let’s get to the nitty gritty, with some recent photos of the centrepiece that is, 2843.
As you may now be able to tell, I have recently acquired and installed some destination signs.
To say they were one hell of a job to put into place is an understatement!
Thankfully however, I had the ample assistance of fellow aforementioned blogger, ‘naza’, on hand and this made the whole process a great deal easier…
In other news, I last took the bus for a spin on Saturday morning, after having given her a thorough exterior wash.
I ended up doing a giganticly pointless loop to Riverwood and back, before calling it a day. Gotta say though, it was a mightily enjoyable drive.
Later on I found out that the provider of my newfound destination rolls for 2843, happened to catch a glimpse of me driving the mighty steed through Marrickville that day. I do hope he enjoyed seeing the newly housed signs being put to good use!
This now also brings me to a rather topical point that comes with bus ownership.
It seems that every bus stop I go past, I get at least one desperately gesticulating would-be commuter, who thinks that I’m their local route service bus. I guess the private number plates, lack of a bus driver in uniform, AND the fact that the bus says ‘SPECIAL’, and ‘000’ for the route number must mean diddly squat all to such people. Needless to say it’s a rather amusing spectacle from my point of view!
Furthermore, I have got to point out that I do enjoy the good ole’ ‘bus driver wave’ tradition. Having said that, not all the drivers of buses I pass engage in such pleasantries, however when it does occur it always evokes that mushy, feelgood warm feeling inside…
Anyway I shall start to wrap up this instalment at this point in time. However if you see 2843 and I around town, feel free to give me a wave, or even take a photo and send it in to the blog for posting!
As always, until next time.
2843 Driver.
Welcome back to the 2843 Bus Blog.
It’s been a few days since the first posting, so I thought it was high time I got my fingers into gear and kept up the pace!
A lot has happened in a short space of time with the bus. However, suffice to say 2843 is now registered and ready to roll. That’s the cue for all of you to vacate the roads, cos’ I’m coming through!
Thankfully only a few debacles were encountered during the registration process, albeit I guess the most annoying part is always the cost. It cost just under $2000 for all the relevant registration costs!
Nonetheless, my enthusiasm for my newfound passion has not died out as a result. In fact, myself and my better half have taken 2843 for a spin on a number of occasions now. One of our endeavours was to take the old girl out for a spin on George Street on a Saturday night. Needless to say the gridlocked, incessant traffic made it an experience indeed. This was not helped by the fact I can’t travel in ‘Bus Lanes’, not being registered as a ‘Public Pasenger Vehicle’ or somesuch…
Aside from all that, the condition of 2843 is fairly immaculate at this point in time and will hopefully remain so!
To illustrate my point, I guess it’s fair to now show you some recent piccies of the mighty steed. After all, you have taken the time to read this far down.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed perusing the lovely visuals above!
Until next time,
Happy bussing.
2843 Driver…
G‘day and welcome to my blog.
I’m the proud owner of a bus that recently came out of service with the State Transit Authority of New South Wales, aka, Sydney Buses.
The short, easy road to bus ownership was brought about by the fact a friend of this blogger also owns a similar bus.
In fact, I’ll go one better and spruik his blog just for the hell of it! Check out http://nazabus.blogspot.com.au/
Good stuff, isn’t it?
Anyway, as I was saying, I became extremely inspired to purchase my own piece of history as a result and due to having some time off work, I decided I’d put my efforts towards making the dream a reality! Talk about long sentences?! Sheesh.
After much research on eBay, as well as a myriad of bus company websites and bus sales websites, I was pointed in the right direction by my aforementioned blogspot comrade. This resulted in an inspection of a bus shown in the image below, at a place most definitely ‘in the sticks’, as some would say…
Here we have the star of the show! Ex State Transit Authority of New South Wales, or ‘STA’ for short, Mercedes Benz O305 ‘Mark 4’ bus number 2843.
As you may be able to tell, the trusty steed as shown above was left in a dusty yard for quite some time. However you can sleep easy tonight with the knowledge that she has since been suitably, and most definitely THOROUGHLY, cleaned!
Needless to say therefore, as a result of inspecting the bus, I instantly formed the opinion that I must have it no matter what.
Thankfully the eBay auction went favourably for myself and 2843, as she is known, is now safely in my possession!
Anyway I shall leave it at that for the first post, however expect further instalments very shortly..
Until next time,
Happy bussing!
2843 Driver.
2843busblog 