Last weekend Radioinfo shared a story about an email received with the sender saying, “Found Your Bus”. We’ve received some warming responses about the 2MC Fun Bus, and an introduction to Albert who drove from Sydney to London.
Firstly a reminder of the 2MC Fun Bus that was found atop Lunatic Lookout in Lightning Ridge, nearly 700kms from its glory days home on the NSW Coast. The person who sent me the pictures email hails from Port Macquarie, met her hubby there and had been been on the fun bus once or twice. A friend from those days said, when she shared the above picture:
“Lucky you got off the bus when you did!”
Wayne Clouten, a former studio manager and later PD of 2KM and 2MC remembered the bus well.
He said:
“In the early 1980’s the bus was a focal point of the stations promotions and outside broadcasts. It was very colourful in its heyday and developed/maintained in conjunction with a local car dealer. It was used pretty much every weekend particularly for summer beach concerts and OBs such as the annual pub-with-no-beer festival near Macksville.”
He and the original sender both thought someone must have been living in the fun bus at some stage, due to its modifications.
I got further details on the actual bus from Grahame Hannell who also worked in radio at 2WS and 2UE from the 70s through the 90s. Before that he’d had his own wonderful life experiences on a similar bus called Albert.
Grahame said:
“The bus would have been in the service of the Sydney Transport service then known as D G T (Dept Gov Transport) prior to becoming retired & ending up with 2MC. The brand of the bus is an AEC & would have been built around late 40’s to early 50’s.
In October 1968 a bunch of friends & I travelled on an old Sydney bus (rego 2004) from Sydney to London taking 5 months to complete the journey (main picture).
We travelled to Perth, shipped the bus to Calcutta & then proceeded on to France before shipping the bus to Dover in the UK & driving up to London, ending the trip in February ‘69. The bus was a 1947 Albion which we gave it the nickname of Albert. The guy who owned the bus continued to do trips between London & India before returning with the bus to Australia in 2012. It was sold to a guy who owns the Rabbit Trap Hotel in Albert NSW.
A lot of these old buses have an after life once the Government have finished with them & Albert & the 2MC fun bus were some of them. You can still head to Albert to see Albert the bus. Outside the pub there is a giant Rabbit Trap mounted over the entrance.”
Albert, in Orange
With thanks to everyone who assisted with the bus sleuthing. As Albert is a mere 400kms from me, I too might need a road trip. My map tells me I get to follow The Bogan Way for a significant portion, and something about that makes me very happy indeed.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.