The Story of Leyland Tiger Bus CT.053

Articles

Dec 30 2023 Updated December 30, 2023

The VTCM Team

9 min read

Pictured here at Hamilton Workshops on 23rd May, 1990 nearing the end of its towing career. Photo by Graeme Knappick

No. 2734 was completed by Commonwealth Engineering, on August 26th, 1953, and was originally built to be included in an order of Leyland OPSU1/1 Tiger buses for the Department of Transport, back in the early 1950’s. It entered service at the Enfield bus depot in Sydney, on September 24th, 1953, but only lasted there a short period before being moved to the Brookvale depot in April, 1954, and then to Burwood in 1955 for a very brief stint before being transferred to Kingsgrove in October, 1955.

Photo of Bus 2734 which was used to manufacture the tow truck. Seen here at Hamilton Bus Depot prior to withdrawal from service. Photo supplied by Alan Routh

With the impending closure of the Northside tram lines, No. 2734 was sent to Willoughby on June 20th, 1958, where it stayed until January, 1960. It was passed back to Brookvale and Enfield within a couple of months, and finally made the long trek north to Hamilton, Newcastle, on October 14th, 1960. It was withdrawn from service in early 1977.

At that time, the Public Transport Commission were planning to replace thei