A-B-M Coach Lines

[system improver]

Any info on this company would be welcomed.

[Denv12]

I drove the Mitsubishi,Its a beautiful vehicle to drive.
I also drove a Denning bodied ? I think there were 2 and a Denning mono or Denair.Errol used to drive that.

The company was situated on Main North Road Blair Athol.It was owned by Errol Case.They had several buses and coaches.

They had a 12.2 metre Denning Denair about a 1979/80 vintage.Nice looking coach too.There were at least 2 Bedfords,the Denning bodied Albion,the mitsubishi and the Bedford in your photos.I cant remember what else they had.

The company was sold at some point sometime around late 1980s or early 1990s.The depot was at Regency Park.

[busrider]

Perhaps the historic fleet list for ABM might help a little bit: http://fleetlists.busaustralia.com/sa.php?search=ABM

[Bedford-29]

Another A.B.M coach from the pass.Picture from the Leon Batman collection.
http://www.busaustralia.com/gallery/dis ... ?pos=-7574

[system improver]

Here is a photo taken by Bruce Tilley in 1964. It shows a Freighter Lawton Monobus on the Mannum route. I wonder who the operator was at the time.

[burrumbus]

Case purchased the business from a relative of his .Case ,I am fairly sure HE sold the business to Merv Brokenshire of Valley Coachlines,Maitland ,S..A.

[burrumbus]

This info comes from a Truck and Bus Transport article about a long serving ABM driver,Laurie Wegener who commenced with the company aged 22 in 1970.
The proprietor at this time was Joe Chaplin,who had had the business for a considerable period.
It operated a return daily Mannum-Birdwood-Adelaide route service with a Federal bus.This was replaced by a Bedford YRQ ,then by the pictured VFL 488 Bedford YMT3/Custom Coaches.I think there were also several school contracts based at Birdwood High School which were operated until the recent tendering exercise.They also did a volume of charter work in the Adelaide metro area.
Chaplin sold the business to Gordon Weeks in about 1972.Gordon's nephew Errol Case(E.J & R.H.Case-off the above photos)purchased the business in 1986.Case sold to Merv Brokenshire of Valley Coachlines,Maitland in the mid 1990s.
Hope this helps.

[Denv12]

Thank you for the new information.

[burrumbus]

Thanks Denv 12.No worries at all.
The livery on the 2 pictured buses was the livery of M.E.Duffy and Sons,Grose Vale,N.S.W., from where VFL 488 Bedford/CC was purchased.

[Denv12]

Thanks again,burrumbus.

I worked for ABM when Errol Case owned the company.His depot was on Main North Road Blair Athol at the time.Thats was around 1988 at the time.His livery was simple and appealing.I remember Laurie,Bert Dinich and Bert's wife Mavis.I knew Bert From Associated Tourist Service and we worked at Across Australia Coachlines in 1986

[burrumbus]

Thanks Denv 12.When you worked at ABM was the work at the business just the services I described above? Were there any school runs in the Adelaide metro area.I realise from the article I found they did a fair bit of charter in Adelaide.Thanks in advance.

[Denv12]

Glad to help.

They did do school runs at the time.I did one of them on a few occasions.I dont know how many there were.

They did the Adelaide-Birdwood-Mannum service plus local charter and tours and a few school runs.Errol was a great boss.

There was a woman who worked there at the time.Her name was Roma.She had been with the company with the previous owner.

[Denv12]

Thanks Denv 12.When you worked at ABM was the work at the business just the services I described above? Were there any school runs in the Adelaide metro area.I realise from the article I found they did a fair bit of charter in Adelaide.Thanks in advance.

The business was based at Main North Road Blair Athol.They did some school runs.They had the service that Laurie drove between Adelaide-Birdwood-Mannum in the custom coach bedford.There was one school run that was around the Woodville areas in Adelaide including Woodville,Woodville Gardens,etc.I drove that at the time in a Denning bodied Albion They did a lot of charter work.They also had the Orroroo to Adelaide bus service.At that time Mavis Dinich drove that in a Denning bodied Albion single axle bus.I think her husband Bert might have driven that too.They were both from Lobethal and he was ex Graebers and Associated Tourist Service.

Was the Mitsubishi a Mee bodied bus or a Melba? Whatever it was it was a beautiful vehicle to drive.I'm not surprised that those buses made a great motorhomes.

[Lt. Commander Data]

I drove the Mitsubishi,Its a beautiful vehicle to drive.

'Tis a shame that it is fugly though

[Denv12]

I drove the Mitsubishi,Its a beautiful vehicle to drive.

'Tis a shame that it is fugly though

It was a but ugly.They had the right idea though.I would have thought they might have tried to de-ugly the design at some point.

[system improver]

...Was the Mitsubishi a Mee bodied bus or a Melba?..

Yes. Melba was the later name for Mee.

[Denv12]

...Was the Mitsubishi a Mee bodied bus or a Melba?..

Yes. Melba was the later name for Mee.

Thank you.T
I remember their ads.They even built their own 40ft coaches.Never saw any though.

I started a specific topic catering for the builder:

http://www.busaustralia.com/forum/viewt ... 48&t=78301

[tsdrmi]

It has been interesting reading some of the posts on this thread. I was a passenger of ABM coaches who lived at Birdwood - my brothers and I used to catch the coach to and from Adelaide to school in Adelaide every day. We knew Laurie very well - actually, I stayed at his place a couple of times at Mannum - he was a great mate and if anyone knows his whereabouts, it'd be nice to touch base with him again. Of course, that was probably 30 years ago now...

[loungeman76]

Unfortunately when I was at the former Central Bus Station on the Thursday before Easter, either 2002 or 2003, the evening service to Mannum was a Toyota Coaster. It was a pretty sad sight to see such a small bus being used on a long distance service like that.