Foxton96
Newmans Starlighter No. 397 (SY1676) at the Wellington terminus
Newmans Starlighter 1994 Volvo B12 snapped at the Wellington Railway Station terminus after arrival from Auckland.
Photo scanned from The Omnibus Bulletin, July 1997.
The Volvo B12 chassis first appeared in New Zealand in 1993 bringing a new era of high-powered coach chassis with a wide variety of features to enhance their safety, economy and reliability in service.
During 1995 two identical Volvo B12 Newmans/lntercity coaches entered service on the Wellington-Auckland route service. Each vehicle made the 1400 kilometre round trip every 24 hours, covering 450,000 kilometres annually. Safety on winter roads is enhanced by the drive axle differential lock which improved traction.
Regular drivers were: Ian Bruce, Peter Guppwell, Wayne Harding, Ian Moore, Les Payne, Ken Piriaka and Peter Walker.
CARJAM DETAILS:
Make: 1994 VOLVO
Model:B12FL 6X2
VIN: YV3R2FL11RA001319
Plate: SY1676
Engine No: D122FL*097*221544
Seats: 52
CC rating: 12,000cc
Plates History:
AER866 – 30 August 2001
XG4351 – 7 August 1998
SY1676 – 26 October 1994
www.businfo.nz/index.php?R=12704
Operator - Nimon & Sons Ltd - Hawkes Bay
Depot - Hastings
Fleet Number - 34
Registration - AER866
Chassis Type - Volvo B12
Chassis No. - YV3R2FL11RA001319
Body Manufacturer - Designline
Body Date - 1994
Seating Codes - C51D
Notes - ex (397) AER866, XG4351, SY1676, Ritchies Transport Holdings Ltd.
Livery - AOA for Magpies
OVERNIGHTING
By OBserver
lt is 1955 hours, and the Starlighter pulls out of Auckland's Skytower Terminal, on the joint Newmans/lntercity run to Wellington. We're 5 minutes late getting away, due mainly to the late arrival of the service from Wellington - it had rained in the late afternoon, and the inevitable had happened - the Auckland roading network had stopped, due mainly to a number of minor crashes.
It's quickly onto the Southern Motorway and our Volvo coach is making easy work of maintaining 100km/hr but we arc soon off and onto the back streets of Otahuhu, eventually arriving at the local bus terminal, where we pick a couple more passengers. I'm beginning to feel ancient - the bus is carrying a reasonable load, mainly of young people - perhaps my age group are meant to fly.
Back on the motorway, we quickly leave it again for the call to the Cityline Depot at Papakura. Sudden braking - an indecisive wally in an off roader swoops away into the local Warehouse store. From Papakura we follow the Great South Road to Drury, where we rejoin the motorway for the run over the Bombays. As we travel the Great South Road I see in my mind eye Reo's and Diamond T's, Bedfords and Hudsons - this section of the route is largely the same as it was when the buses and coaches of Edwards Motors, Flexmans and all the other pioneering operators ran their services south from Auckland to serve destinations both near and far. The drivers of those times would be hard pressed even to imagine the changes that have occurred since their day.
We're over the hills and run through the new Pokeno Bypass - traffics much lighter now, and we are in darkness, punctuated by the lights of northbound vehicles. The lights of the Service Centre at Mercer appear as we run through the site of the former railway station - it was once so far from Auckland that it had its own refreshment rooms - any ghosts from those times now must dodge the streams of traffic on State Highway 1.
Into the service centre, and the coach takes on a substantial load of fuel - the driver asks passengers not to leave the bus, but some wander over to the shop.
Actually the driver seems a chatty son - but not to us passengers - he has two cell phones, and spends considerable time while driving talking on one or the other. In fact the driver speaks to his passengers only twice more on the journey - giving advice as to how long we are to stop at Wairakei and Bulls.
Into Huntly and down the Main Street to the local Intercity agent. A car pulls up behind - its a prospective passenger who tried to get on at Otahuhu. He's not on the driver's manifest, but has a booking reference and says he has talked to someone at Newmans who confirmed he should be. After some discussion the driver decides he can come with us - the passenger is booked to catch the Picton ferry at 0930, and the issue of a ticket can be worked out later - good decision but I'm thinking its a pity he didn't resolve it at Otahuhu via his cell phones - would have saved the passenger's parents a hurried drive south.
South of Huntly the highway parallels the railway, and we are soon running alongside a southbound freight. The sound of DX loco full out fills the coach, but we're over the Hopullopu overbridgc, and pull ahead of the train.
Te Rapa, making the northern outskirts of Hamilton, is marked by a giant illuminated Christmas tree - its that time of the year. Into the motel strip and our first fellow traveller leaves us. The Hamilton Bus Station is largely deserted bar the inevitable skateboarders and a small group waiting to board our service. The smokers rush off to grab a few puffs but many of my fellow travellers make a dash for adjacent Burger King They arc asking about loos - Odd I think to myself, this vehicle has a toilet on hoard I lind out later - having made my way down the aisle to the rear, that it's locked - the tank is lull as the vehicle was not serviced between arriving in Auckland and setting out on its return trip. Oh dear, I wish the driver had told us, and I too would have joined the rush lor the loos.
Doors closed and we're 0ff - no we're not - there's always a straggler - this time a smoker grabbing a desperate last puff before getting back on. Cambridge as some minor excitement - red and blue flashing lights ahead - the constables are chatting to the driver of a car. Settle back into the scat and - sulphur dioxide - must have dozed, because we arc drilling into Rotorua. A young woman leaves the coach and walks off, dwarfed by her pack - looks barely old enough to be at high school - and we are southbound again towards Taupo.
Downchanging and sodium lights - its the Wairakei truck stop. The yard is full of line haul units, some swapping trailers, others changing drivers. Our driver announces a 20 minute break - its his mandatory rest break he says - funny, could have sworn he needed at least ]0 minutes -oh well. Its not tropical, and I'm not hungry - but I dash for the loo. That attended to, its back to my corner on the bus and try to find someway of arranging my body so it will sleep.
It must have worked, because the apart from noticing fellow travellers coming and going at Taupo, Turangi and Waiouru, its suddenly Bulls - 0400 - coach leaves again at 0430. Again there's a rush for the loos, and some hardy souls head into the service area to grab food and drink. I sit in the coach, listening to the sound of trucks roaring through the town - it seems incredibly noisy, and I'm thankful for my quiet city house.
Dawn is upon us as we run through Palmerston North, then on to Levin via the back road past Massey University. At Levin we park on the opposite side of the road to the much discussed temporary bus shelter - a number of passengers - travelling light without bags leave us here It six am and a sudden slowing - a family of ducks are making their way across the road - I wonder if this is a usual occurrence - like kids heading tor school - between Waikanae and Paraparaumu we are pacing another Tranzrail freight - it doesn't look like the same one we passed earlier in the journey, but 1 wonder how the truckles can compete - one man driving and about 70 containers behind him, compared to the two on a B train - yes, I know that there are other costs, but this isn't the only train on the line tonight, and those other costs are spread across 24 hours of trains
Bright sunshine, and the traffic is getting heavier, but we are ahead of the morning rush hour into the capital. Soon its Wellington Station, grab the pack and ride a trolleybus home to start the days work.
An interesting experience, but I would have felt better if our driver had talked a little more to his passengers and lot less to whoever was on the other end of his cell phone calls - I'm of the view - perhaps purely selfish, but I like living - that driving a B12 with a load of passengers in a stream of traffic dominated by 44 tonne combinations requires full concentration, and not making gear changes and steering one handed. - The Omnibus Bulletin, January 1998.
Newmans Starlighter No. 397 (SY1676) at the Wellington terminus
Newmans Starlighter 1994 Volvo B12 snapped at the Wellington Railway Station terminus after arrival from Auckland.
Photo scanned from The Omnibus Bulletin, July 1997.
The Volvo B12 chassis first appeared in New Zealand in 1993 bringing a new era of high-powered coach chassis with a wide variety of features to enhance their safety, economy and reliability in service.
During 1995 two identical Volvo B12 Newmans/lntercity coaches entered service on the Wellington-Auckland route service. Each vehicle made the 1400 kilometre round trip every 24 hours, covering 450,000 kilometres annually. Safety on winter roads is enhanced by the drive axle differential lock which improved traction.
Regular drivers were: Ian Bruce, Peter Guppwell, Wayne Harding, Ian Moore, Les Payne, Ken Piriaka and Peter Walker.
CARJAM DETAILS:
Make: 1994 VOLVO
Model:B12FL 6X2
VIN: YV3R2FL11RA001319
Plate: SY1676
Engine No: D122FL*097*221544
Seats: 52
CC rating: 12,000cc
Plates History:
AER866 – 30 August 2001
XG4351 – 7 August 1998
SY1676 – 26 October 1994
www.businfo.nz/index.php?R=12704
Operator - Nimon & Sons Ltd - Hawkes Bay
Depot - Hastings
Fleet Number - 34
Registration - AER866
Chassis Type - Volvo B12
Chassis No. - YV3R2FL11RA001319
Body Manufacturer - Designline
Body Date - 1994
Seating Codes - C51D
Notes - ex (397) AER866, XG4351, SY1676, Ritchies Transport Holdings Ltd.
Livery - AOA for Magpies
OVERNIGHTING
By OBserver
lt is 1955 hours, and the Starlighter pulls out of Auckland's Skytower Terminal, on the joint Newmans/lntercity run to Wellington. We're 5 minutes late getting away, due mainly to the late arrival of the service from Wellington - it had rained in the late afternoon, and the inevitable had happened - the Auckland roading network had stopped, due mainly to a number of minor crashes.
It's quickly onto the Southern Motorway and our Volvo coach is making easy work of maintaining 100km/hr but we arc soon off and onto the back streets of Otahuhu, eventually arriving at the local bus terminal, where we pick a couple more passengers. I'm beginning to feel ancient - the bus is carrying a reasonable load, mainly of young people - perhaps my age group are meant to fly.
Back on the motorway, we quickly leave it again for the call to the Cityline Depot at Papakura. Sudden braking - an indecisive wally in an off roader swoops away into the local Warehouse store. From Papakura we follow the Great South Road to Drury, where we rejoin the motorway for the run over the Bombays. As we travel the Great South Road I see in my mind eye Reo's and Diamond T's, Bedfords and Hudsons - this section of the route is largely the same as it was when the buses and coaches of Edwards Motors, Flexmans and all the other pioneering operators ran their services south from Auckland to serve destinations both near and far. The drivers of those times would be hard pressed even to imagine the changes that have occurred since their day.
We're over the hills and run through the new Pokeno Bypass - traffics much lighter now, and we are in darkness, punctuated by the lights of northbound vehicles. The lights of the Service Centre at Mercer appear as we run through the site of the former railway station - it was once so far from Auckland that it had its own refreshment rooms - any ghosts from those times now must dodge the streams of traffic on State Highway 1.
Into the service centre, and the coach takes on a substantial load of fuel - the driver asks passengers not to leave the bus, but some wander over to the shop.
Actually the driver seems a chatty son - but not to us passengers - he has two cell phones, and spends considerable time while driving talking on one or the other. In fact the driver speaks to his passengers only twice more on the journey - giving advice as to how long we are to stop at Wairakei and Bulls.
Into Huntly and down the Main Street to the local Intercity agent. A car pulls up behind - its a prospective passenger who tried to get on at Otahuhu. He's not on the driver's manifest, but has a booking reference and says he has talked to someone at Newmans who confirmed he should be. After some discussion the driver decides he can come with us - the passenger is booked to catch the Picton ferry at 0930, and the issue of a ticket can be worked out later - good decision but I'm thinking its a pity he didn't resolve it at Otahuhu via his cell phones - would have saved the passenger's parents a hurried drive south.
South of Huntly the highway parallels the railway, and we are soon running alongside a southbound freight. The sound of DX loco full out fills the coach, but we're over the Hopullopu overbridgc, and pull ahead of the train.
Te Rapa, making the northern outskirts of Hamilton, is marked by a giant illuminated Christmas tree - its that time of the year. Into the motel strip and our first fellow traveller leaves us. The Hamilton Bus Station is largely deserted bar the inevitable skateboarders and a small group waiting to board our service. The smokers rush off to grab a few puffs but many of my fellow travellers make a dash for adjacent Burger King They arc asking about loos - Odd I think to myself, this vehicle has a toilet on hoard I lind out later - having made my way down the aisle to the rear, that it's locked - the tank is lull as the vehicle was not serviced between arriving in Auckland and setting out on its return trip. Oh dear, I wish the driver had told us, and I too would have joined the rush lor the loos.
Doors closed and we're 0ff - no we're not - there's always a straggler - this time a smoker grabbing a desperate last puff before getting back on. Cambridge as some minor excitement - red and blue flashing lights ahead - the constables are chatting to the driver of a car. Settle back into the scat and - sulphur dioxide - must have dozed, because we arc drilling into Rotorua. A young woman leaves the coach and walks off, dwarfed by her pack - looks barely old enough to be at high school - and we are southbound again towards Taupo.
Downchanging and sodium lights - its the Wairakei truck stop. The yard is full of line haul units, some swapping trailers, others changing drivers. Our driver announces a 20 minute break - its his mandatory rest break he says - funny, could have sworn he needed at least ]0 minutes -oh well. Its not tropical, and I'm not hungry - but I dash for the loo. That attended to, its back to my corner on the bus and try to find someway of arranging my body so it will sleep.
It must have worked, because the apart from noticing fellow travellers coming and going at Taupo, Turangi and Waiouru, its suddenly Bulls - 0400 - coach leaves again at 0430. Again there's a rush for the loos, and some hardy souls head into the service area to grab food and drink. I sit in the coach, listening to the sound of trucks roaring through the town - it seems incredibly noisy, and I'm thankful for my quiet city house.
Dawn is upon us as we run through Palmerston North, then on to Levin via the back road past Massey University. At Levin we park on the opposite side of the road to the much discussed temporary bus shelter - a number of passengers - travelling light without bags leave us here It six am and a sudden slowing - a family of ducks are making their way across the road - I wonder if this is a usual occurrence - like kids heading tor school - between Waikanae and Paraparaumu we are pacing another Tranzrail freight - it doesn't look like the same one we passed earlier in the journey, but 1 wonder how the truckles can compete - one man driving and about 70 containers behind him, compared to the two on a B train - yes, I know that there are other costs, but this isn't the only train on the line tonight, and those other costs are spread across 24 hours of trains
Bright sunshine, and the traffic is getting heavier, but we are ahead of the morning rush hour into the capital. Soon its Wellington Station, grab the pack and ride a trolleybus home to start the days work.
An interesting experience, but I would have felt better if our driver had talked a little more to his passengers and lot less to whoever was on the other end of his cell phone calls - I'm of the view - perhaps purely selfish, but I like living - that driving a B12 with a load of passengers in a stream of traffic dominated by 44 tonne combinations requires full concentration, and not making gear changes and steering one handed. - The Omnibus Bulletin, January 1998.