Yes the Gasometer frame work is still there as it is Heritaage listed however the tank is long gone.
Clarrie was very proud of the presentation of his fleet and those yellow wheels are well known. When he came back into running a service to Toowoomba and Charleville he looked at putting alloys onto the Volvo's he was running, once I got him the price of the rims studs and nuts he decided against the whole idea.
Absolutely wonderful to see these old dears again. Gerry Pearce's coach NML among them. Sad when Transpic closed and we couldn't see them anymore.
Thanks Len.
Alan Holmes of Maryborough (Holmes Coaches) used to have two of Clarries old coaches for school and charter work in the late 70's / and 80's. both were left in Clarries blue colours and yellow rims. I can remember the later one a 1974? (I think) 2 axle Denning Mono with a 6V71, I had been lucky enough to have had a drive of this, on one or two occassions. The earlier one was probably built in the late 60's and had an earlier style body, it was sold to one of Alans drivers in 1983, who turned it into a motorhome. The 74 Mono was parked up on a property outside Maryborough in 1990 when Alan closed his business, it would probably still be there today. I though I had some photos but, they have escaped me at this point of time. If anyone has photos of these coaches, please post them, it would be good to see them again.
Admin: These photos are owned by Car177 - they were posted here in good faith unaware that he was the owner.
Here's more of Clarrie's girls
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I well remember when I was driving with Ansett Pioneer in Cairns, driving along the dual carriageway near Edmonton heading into Cairns in a Tourmaster and one of Clarrie's GBW Internationals pulled up beside me and the driver waved at me, I let him pass me and I tailed him... I just basked in the thunderous aural delight of the two stroke Detroit just outside of the drivers window...all the way into the Lake Street coach park - I pulled up behind him and got out and he had as bigger smile on his face as I had ... turned out he was doing the same as I was, all the way from Tully, just sitting behind me and sucking up the sound (an orchestra of turbo supercharged pistons and exhaust note - spine tingling!!!
dominodc122 wrote:...and on the 8th day (with a turnaround in Mt Isa) God created Skenners
Reminds me of this lot, written on the back of a dunny door. ( Saw plenty of them over the years, after eating roadhouse slop )
In six days God created the world and all that is on it, on the seventh day he rested, then on the eighth day he created his most marvellous creation of all - a Harley Davidson.
Some very dry wit had add this extra bit.
Yeh, and on the ninth and tenth day, he was still trying to start the 'effin' thing.
I wonder where that "Ode to the Eagle" came from?
Was obviously from Inside with alot of local knowledge and naming identities.
When Clarrie did go out west for the last time, I had more involvement with him then with his worn out Greyhound Volvo Volgrens, gearboxes and motors aplenty. A mate visited my part of the dealership workshop at Rocklea one night and next day went & saw Clarrie about entering the industry, landed a job straight away driving for him (and still steering now) turnaround Toowoomba.
Previously he was a Driving Examiner and reckoned brakes were obviously an optional accessory on the old Denning, said it was good having the slope at Minden range coming east. Because that is the first Clarries' favourite used to slow down after coming down the Tollbar road out of Toowoomba.
I have been informed it was the Ops Manager, who was a bit of a larakin as well (apparently there were quite a few of those at Skenners and some of the drivers I met on my travels were the funniest blokes with the driest sense of humour - used to have me in stitches at some of the roadhouse meal breaks
Many thanks for the Skennars memories! I worked for Clarrie on two different occasions and have fond memories of the man and his company. Not to mention Audrey or MISS TEES as I was sternly told! She wasn't a bad old bat after all when you got to know her, but simply a business woman in a male-dominated industry. I have lots of stories I can tell if you are interested in hearing them. The "Ode To The Eagle" was great to read and very accurate. I remember when the first tri-axle was delivered, OAP-296, and it sat brand new in Clarrie's shed for weeks waiting for a toilet seat. I remember the embossed white vinyl head rest covers with "Skennars - Wings Across Queensland" logo. And who could ever forget the "Au Revoir" above the door on leaving. I'm sure that every person who bought a coach from Clarrie left it there!
A man with more stories than me would be Bob Warren who owns Topline Tours these days. If Bob isn't already on the forum I'll see if he has the time to join. I always hoped that somebody would compile a book one day on the history of the bus and coach industry in Queensland at least while most of the reliable sources are still alive. So many stories! Here's one that Bob Warren told me:
Skennars coach arrives at Barry Parade from out west and haughty country dowager wishes to make a complaint, and is duly attended to by MISS TEES. She tells MISS TEES that the driver stopped at a roadside fruit stall and bought some fruit using money from the fare cash box! MISS TEES is alert straight away: "You have done well to report this. This is just the type of thing that is costing this company money!" It was decided that, so as not to involve the passenger personally, she would stand near the freight office door and nod to Audrey, sorry, MISS TEES, when the driver walked through. Then MISS TEES could nail the culprit.
The driver duly walked through, the passenger duly nodded, and MISS TEES duly exploded. "You stupid woman, that's Mr Skennar"!
Have heard that fare box story before from John Brooks many years ago, he could tell a story or two, but he left out what Miss Tees had said.
Would be good to see a Clipper photo will keep the eyes peeled.
Last edited by Maladjusted on Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Me again!
I remember one day waiting to talk to Clarrie while he sat at his dingy little desk in the workshop on the telephone. I think the conversation was about one of the girls at the coach office as he said in his measured tones "Now now Audrey, don't be childish!". At that point I discreetly slipped away. If you look at the photo of PFD at Doggett Street, you will see one of the old gold coast coaches in the background minus windows. Clarrie gave me the body as I had dreams of starting a transport museum at the time. I think it was NOU but don't quote me. He wanted the chassis back as he wanted to build a new body on it. It wasn't NNJ as that went to Jacobi's at Strathpine and it wasn't NQB as that went to a private buyer at Clayfield. I should know the rego off by heart but I'll dig out the photos and post them for all to see. It ended it's days on the fire dump at Brisbane Airport. I also bought one of the ex-TAA airport buses from Clarrie as I was in Rainbow Bay Surf Life Saving Club and we needed a bigger bus. I swapped it later for the rusty old Tweed Bowls Club ex-Cobb & Co Denning (#21 I think) which I later sold to a guy at Kholo for a mobile home. The ex-TAA bus later went to a Surfers Paradise motel and I haven't seen it since. They were based on the old Ford R192 chassis. I also worked for Cobb & Co at the workshops at Salisbury for quite a while.
I remember the Skennars clippers well. One of them had just been re-trimmed in brown vinyl when I was working there. I also remember the Colonial Coachways PLC-018 Denning which was rebuilt mechanically, bodily, and re-trimmed and sent down NSW way. My favourite was the GBW triaxle NPV. The lower windowline just looked so hot. The ugliest coach and orphan was PPK, the Athol Hedges bodied coach. As if it wasn't the ugly duckling, it was made worse by using it as the model for the coach mural on the side of the Barry Parade coach terminal. The painting was skewed so badly that it looked like it had been hit by a bus!
I got rid of all my photos to the Transport Researchers Group in Brisbane (I don't know if they still exist) but I still do have some photos that I will post. I think I still have all my old negatives which is thousands of photos of the fleets of Skennars, Cobb & Co, Haidleys, Greyhound, and many others. I also recently bought an old Ansett Roadlines clipper timetable if anybody would like copies of it.
Does anyone remember Col Payne who always did the Noosa run in PYM? So many young guys salivated over the exhaust note of that coach! I don't know if it still sounded the same after they converted it later to a triaxle.
More memories shortly!
Many thanks
Allan
Hi guys!
I'm not worried about that copyright rubbish or getting any credits. I'm really happy that my photos have been able to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. In fact, I don't really see why people get so precious about being credited for a photo or wanting copyright (unless somebody wants to make money out of it). The New York Times is not about to offer you the position of chief photographer based on the photos you took in 1972 of the Leyland with the faulty destination scroll!
Seriously, I'm more embarassed that I didn't even recognise my own photos! When I looked at them, I thought 'if I was going to photograph that coach, that's how I would have done it'. A few of them rang some old bells in my head all the same. Feel free to use any of my photos or negatives you may come across, with or without credit to me. I really regret not having a better interest in photography before anything else. A better quality camera would have been great!
By the way, do we have a Cobb & Co or Continental Coachlines forum/photos anywhere, and if so, where do I look? I have lots of Cobb & Co stories to tell especially. My best mate in Sydney is a Chief Driver Trainer for the STA and also does the bus recoveries with their tow truck. I'll see if I can get him involved though he's not terribly computer literate. You should see his 'bus room' under his house! At least hundreds of photo albums and memorabilia all meticulously indexed.
Great to have you on the forum Allan. (Chalk up another ex 'coachie' with some memories...and images ... to share.
I had the pleasure of driving some of 'Clarries ex Girls' when with Coachtrans and the GBWs will always have a 'special place' in my memories.
Cant wait to see your images and recollections (see 'Stories from behind the wheel' on the 'General Transport Discussion' thread, as this is where us old 'Busies' and 'Coachies' like to regale our memories to all who are interested)
Cheers and 'Welcome Aboard'
Chris Lind (dominodc122)
Last edited by dominodc122 on Sun Jul 14, 2013 1:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hi Allan, Gerry Pearce mentioned the chap you spoke about, Col Paine and PYM. PYM later did our Toowoomba run with Bob McKenzie behind the wheel for many years. We are having a Depot Wake for the Noosa Depot which has closed down after 30 years.It is on 17th August 2013 at the Tewantin Noosa Bowls Club.If you want to contact Gerry or myself please do so.Regards Len Barty.
A a look back at Skennar's
