This iconic bus operated in the city of Ipswich for over three decades. The vehicle’s story begins in England in 1957 when the petrol-engine chassis was exported to Australia for bodying. Renowned Queensland body builder, Watt Bros, outshopped a 41-passenger body in July 1959 to the order of Pioneer Bus Service proprietor, Jack McDonald. At the time, Bedford buses of this kind were the mainstay of most bus fleets in Australia. Aside from being one of the oldest Queensland buses in existence today, its historical significance also includes wooden-frame body construction (when most other vehicle were steel-framed at the time) and being one of the last Watt Bros “Clipper” style bodies produced by that firm.
The McDonald family’s 50 year involvement with the Pioneer buses started in December 1948 when a four-way partnership of Jack McDonald, Stewart McDonald, Tom Hastings, and Alfred Tyler purchased the Pioneer Motor Garage with a fleet of nine buses from Bill Wilson, Alan Wilson and Esther Weir for £24,073. Over the ensuing years, Jack McDonald acquired the remaining partnership interests to become the sole proprietor. Jack was joined in the family business by his three sons Alec, Bob and Norm McDonald. The family business was carried on by the three McDonald brothers until August 1998 when it was sold to Wally Horwood’s Southern Cross Transit. During those five decades, the McDonald family safely transported multiple generations of residents in the northern suburbs of Ipswich including Brassall, Karalee, Mount Crosby, Pine Mountain, and Tivoli.
The Bedford bus was first registered NIE-429 on 16 July 1959 and was assigned fleet number 5. It was regularly driven by Alec McDonald on the Mount Crosby run and was affectionately nicknamed “The Tank” by local residents whose transport needs relied upon access to the flood prone Mount Crosby Road at Colleges Crossing on the Brisbane River. The vehicle operated in the Pioneer fleet for over three decades until it was retired from revenue service and retained for preservation by the McDonald family for many years.
This remained the case until 2018 when the vehicle was sold by David McDonald (son of Alec McDonald) to Neville Purtill of Deniliquin, New South Wales, where it was publicly displayed inside their transport museum called “The Depot”. After 6 years in his collection, Neville Purtill graciously agreed to return the vehicle ‘home’ to Queensland and it was acquired by QOCS in April 2024.
