McVicar's Bus Service

McVicar's Bus Service operated public buses in the south-west suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Most routes operated as radial services out of Bankstown railway station.

McVicar's depot was located at the corner of Joseph and James Streets, Lidcombe, with overflow parking in surrounding streets and on vacant land nearby.

The company was disbanded in 1978 and the routes were taken over by Bankstown Bus Lines and Bankstown-Strathfield Bus Service. Modifications of these routes are currently operated by Veolia Transport NSW.

Company history

McVicar's Bus Service grew to be one of the largest in NSW. It spanned three generations of the McVicar family, operating from 1919 to 1978. The company began when Archibald Robert Brownlow McVicar began a bus service from Lidcombe Station to Berala. McVicar extended his service to Regents Park and gained permission to run from Lidcombe to the Lidcombe State Hospital on Sunday afternoons: there was considerable business for bus operators running to hospitals and cemeteries on Sundays. In 1923 McVicar's once-a-week service to the hospital was expanded to a seven-day frequency. By 1927 McVicar was operating from Bankstown to the Milperra Soldiers' Settlement as well as Picnic Point, East Hills and Panania. In 1930 Arch McVicar's brown-roof buses with cream window pillars, red, panels and McVicar Omnibus Service monogram on the sides began running between Bankstown and Burwood. The McVicar depot was developed at Lidcombe, and in 1935 Arch was joined by his son, Arch McVicar Jnr, as an apprentice mechanic and in that year the first diesel engine bus was acquired for the firm.

World War II saw the firm restricting the number of vehicles to 12 despite the heavy passenger demands operating to and from essential industries, working a daily three-shift operation. By 1950 McVicars had 31 vehicles in daily service and several others in the workshop. The peak period for the private bus industry was said to have been up to the mid-1950s. There were relatively few cars on the roads and bus patronage was high, with timetables drawn up in a way to attract customers rather than economic necessity. However with rising costs from big wage claims and declining patronage to greatly increased car usage, the company this time suffered difficulties though this was partly offset by revenue generated from the school bus services.

In February 1962, Archibald McVicar Snr died at the age of 72. At that time the company's fleet was credited with being one of the largest in the Sydney suburban area. Arch McVicar Jnr and his sister Mavis took over the running of McVicar's Bus Service as joint directors. Mavis had joined the office side of the operation in 1931 after leaving school taking over from Mrs McVicar Snr. She was the mainstay of the company's administration for nearly 40 years.

The family decided to sell the business in 1978 by which time there were 55 buses, mainly AECs and Leylands operating on nine routes.

Routes

Photographs of McVicar's buses

* [http://www.angelfire.com/alt/busandcoachphotogall/metro.html Ken Magor collection] [http://www.angelfire.com/alt/busandcoachphotogall/mcvic1.html Page 1] , [http://www.angelfire.com/alt/busandcoachphotogall/mcvic2.html Page 2] , [http://www.angelfire.com/alt/busandcoachphotogall/mcvic3.html Page 3] , [http://www.angelfire.com/alt/busandcoachphotogall/mcvic4.html Page 4] .

* [http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/ Leon Batman collection] [http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/buses_1/Page0009.html Page 1] , [http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/buses_2/Page0009.html Page 2] , [http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/buses_2/Page0010.html Page 3] , [http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/buses_2/Page0011.html Page 4] , [http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/buses_2/Page0012.html Page 5] , [http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/buses_3/Page0002.html Page 6] .

Other links

* [http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=141955 Technical drawing of McVicar's bus held by Powerhouse Museum]

ee also

* Buses in Sydney