OTAGO HERITAGE BUS SOCIETY INCORPORATED

ABOUT US

The Otago Heritage Bus Society is a non-profit community group who aim to preserve, restore and operate buses and coaches of national or regional significance.  The vehicles are restored, maintained and operated almost entirely by volunteers.

DCT# 194

DCT #194 is Dunedin’s last city owned Leyland and was built by New Zealand Motor Bodies.
DCT #194 entered service in July 1981 and worked its entire life with Dunedin City Transport, which later became council-owned company Citibus Limited, and made its last public run, which was a school route, on 14 October 2010.  194 inspired the creation of the Otago Heritage Bus Society. 194 became our first operational bus for public excursions, community events and private charters. When you step on board you will feel like you have been transformed back to the 1980s, as the previous owners luckily did not update or modernise the interior.  DCT #194 now commemorates and represents the DCT era and reminds us that Dunedin has had an affiliation with Leylands for over 80 years.

DCT# 170

170 entered service with Dunedin City Transport on the 6th of January 1976, and served 17 years on city routes with one major interior and exterior refurbishment. On the 8th April 1993 it was sold to Ritchies who plated over the rear doorway and operated her as school bus No 83.  She was purchased by a Rakaia owner in 2002, registered as a motor caravan and stripped of seats and other fittings. In 2003 she was purchased by a farmer near Methven and laid up. After not having run for nearly a decade, 170′s engine roared into life on the first attempt as soon as fresh batteries were installed. She was purchased, reassembled, serviced and driven to Dunedin by society members in 2012 and has now been fully repainted and re-registered as a passenger endorsed bus once again.  170 is mechanically in very good condition and seems to have done very little work while in Ritchies service.

DCT# 174

174 entered service with Dunedin City Transport on the 6th August 1976 and is similar but not identical to 170. It was re-registered as NM 4902 in 1987 and continued to work for the department until being sold to Ritchies in 1993 and repainted, losing its rear door in the process. It was operated as a school bus until 2003 before being sold and stored on a farm near Methven with 170 and 173. 174 was brought to Dunedin in February 2014. It is painted in the later DCT/early Citibus white/blue and red livery.

DCT# 180

180 ran in Dunedin until 1993 and spent a lot of its time as a charter bus for the Dunedin City Transport.  It was then sold to Newlands in Wellington where it was used as a commuter bus to Johnsonville.  It was extensively refurbished by Newlands.  It was then transferred to the Mana Coachlines fleet, but retained it Newlands livery.  It was sold to Taverners Coachlines and worked as a school bus until breaking down.  The bus lay dormant from 2007.  In late 2014 Taverners Coachlines gifted 180 to the Society.  It returned to Dunedin in December 2014.

MCD #501

Mount Cook Landliner 501 “City of Wellington” is the first of its kind to be built in New Zealand.  This coach rolled off the production line in Christchurch in July 1977 and was initially allocated to be the “show and tell” vehicle of the company and toured the country before it was put to work on the Wellington – Auckland route.
501 retains her 1980s refurbished Mount Cook Landlines interior including 42 comfortable seats and retrofitted air conditioning.  501 is powered by a rear mounted V6 Detroit turbo charged 2-stroke 9.1 litre diesel engine together with a 4-speed Allison automatic transmission and airbag suspension making travel on the road effortless.This coach worked for Mount Cook Landlines, H&H Travel Lines of Invercargill, McDermotts Coach Lines of Winton and Good Time Tours of Christchurch. In May 2012  Philip Riley purchased the coach. It now operates as part of the Society’s heritage bus fleet.

CITIBUS MAN #405

Citibus’s fleet of MAN 23-seater minibuses were introduced to Dunedin streets in June 1990 as the first of their kind in New Zealand. Vehicles were re-branded to incorporate the new ‘Citibus’ name. Since 2000 a majority of the MAN minibuses were transferred to Auckland’s NZBus and Wellington’s Stagecoach Hutt Valley.  The interior of #405 is rather spacious and modern, with seating facing in many different directions.  This style of seating was known as “community seating”. This type of seating was never repeated on any other New Zealand built buses. Baggage compartments for passengers to place shopping were installed for convenience, and a moderately low floor, which was the first step towards the all-low floors of modern buses as we know today. Citibus MAN 405 is the sole remaining representative of the Citibus fleet of MAN still in original condition.

OUR LEYLANDS

Book a private charter today or come along and join us on the Suburban Rumbler at Christmas and Easter.

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