Vintage Bus Ride in Sydney, Australia

Once a year there’s a rare opportunity for the people of Sydney to revisit the past. Vintage buses come out to take young and old out for a ride around the city. And it’s for good reason that you don’t see them on the road more often.

[Roy Gould, Sydney Bus and Truck Museum]:
“We’re running approximately 20 vehicles around the city from 73 years of age up to 30 years of age.”

So if the buses are that old, surely they’d break down all the time?

[Roy Gould, Sydney Bus and Truck Museum]:
“We don’t allow them to break down ‘cause I get my hands dirty if they break down and it makes me cranky. No, it’s all in the preparation we start six weeks ahead and each bus is thoroughly serviced, checked for safety, checked that it complies, so that we’re reducing the chances of anything going wrong greatly.”

A lot of care has gone into their restoration. Actually, for a single bus it can take five to six years.

Roy says the size of buses has changed because plenty of food has made us larger over the decades. Looking at them now, the buses from back in the 1930s seem cramped to modern people.

[Roy Gould, Sydney Bus and Truck Museum]:
“The roof on one of these is only 1.8 meters, so if you were a bit tall and wore a hat you were in trouble.”

One passenger commented on the ride, without the modern comfort of air conditioning.

[Brendan McLauchlan, Bus Passenger]:
“It's not that comfortable. I'd hate to do it on a daily basis."

But double-decker buses are a novelty for kids, and they love them.

[Roy Gould, Sydney Bus and Truck Museum]:
“Actually you could leave all the single decks, the bottom decks behind – ‘cause no-one rides in them - all the kids want to go upstairs”.

But being so high up will the double-deckers tip over, if they go ‘round the bend too fast?

[Roy Gould, Sydney Bus and Truck Museum]:
"A lot of people seem to think that the old double-decker buses have got big counter-weights in the bottom so they won't tip over, but they don't have. It's just the way they're constructed. And you can tip'em over to 42 degrees from the vertical before they'll fall over, so they're quite safe to ride in.”

Jumping on and off all day for free, there’s plenty of other buses to see.

[Brendan McLauchlan, Bus Passenger]:
"I'll probably go on some of the others throughout the day."

Sydneysiders will need to enjoy the chance, as rides like this won’t come again for quite a while.

Guy Harvey, NTD, Sydney.