BUS SOCIETY INC.

www.otagoheritagebus.co.nz

MEDIA RELEASE

13 November 2013

Help Us Return Dunedin’s First Trolley Bus DCT #1

The Otago Heritage Bus Society is pleased to announce a community pledge on pledgeme.co.nz a nationwide crowd-funding website yesterday. As you can imagine the expense of transporting a large vehicle that is not operational as it requires restoring can be rather expensive, so our not-for-profit organisation is seeking help from the community.

The pledge will help fund the transportation costs of returning Dunedin’s first trolley bus DCT #1, which left Dunedin in 1966 only after 16 short years of commercial service. DCT #1 apparently made her own way to the North Island under her “own steam” towing a generator. However these days the vehicle is in Wellington and has been de-registered and will require a large amount of overhauling done to be made operational again, but is still a reachable achievement that is able to happen.

Trolley bus DCT #1 is very similar to the one on Glen Road (Trolley Bus #46), however DCT #1 is a little more special as it was the first trolley bus to operate on our streets and is the first trolley bus on the world’s most southern trolley bus network.

Pledges can range from $5 up to any figure in your imagination. Total cost of the relocation is around the $9000 figure. We are also offering some neat rewards too including retro “Bus with a Smile” t-shirts, designed by one of our members and you can even buy the rights to name the vehicle upon the completion of the restoration. Your name (or a name of choice) will then be sign written on the vehicle for all to see.

ABOUT THE PROJECT: The project will be split in to manageable stages: 1. Relocate the vehicle to Dunedin 2. Commission a feasibility study 3. Fundraise and act upon the feasibility study 4. Commission the finished project to the community.

Our organisation hopes to make the vehicle fully operational, so people of Dunedin can relive the experience of what replaced the trams in the 1950’s. However, decisions to make the vehicle operational lie heavily on the outcome of the feasibility study that will be conducted upon the vehicles arrival into our City. Our intentions are not to “stuff and mount” the vehicle, but make it accessible for the community to enjoy.

HERITAGE BUS SOCIETY INC.

ABOUT THE VEHICLE: DCT #1 first operated on 23 December 1950 to the delight of the Christmas shoppers the vehicle was a glimpse into the future of Dunedin’s public transport. DCT #1 was the only Dunedin trolley bus to be built in Wellington under direction and requirements of the Dunedin City Corporation Tramways and built by New Zealand Motor Bodies Limited as a prototype design specifically for Dunedin.

Dunedin’s trolley bus network was commissioned on 23 December 1950 and closed on 31 March 1982 upon the successful and modern additions of the Leyland Leopard diesel buses. The network extended 25 miles and 20 chains and was the world’s most southern trolley bus network. The first route to open was route #6 Queens Gardens to Gardens via Castle Street, followed by route #8 Queens Gardens to Opoho via Castle Street. The total number of trolley buses ordered over the entire life span of the network was 79 with all of them in operation between 1965 and 1966.

These days Dunedin no longer possesses its overhead wire or much of the original infrastructure to operate trolley buses on the streets of Dunedin, however as technology has come great lengths since their demise there are a few other forms of adaptable technology we could apply to the vehicle to make operational again, however we have not ruled out the possibility of erecting an overhead wire for demonstration purposes.

We are very grateful for obtaining a small grant from the ACE Shacklock Charitable Trust to kick-start the DCT#1 project, along with many donations from Society members.

ABOUT OTAGO HERITAGE BUS SOCIETY Otago Heritage Bus Society was founded in 2010 to preserve and restore Dunedin’s public transport history and now operates three restored vehicles (soon to be four) including two urban Dunedin buses that succeeded the trolley buses and a long distance prototype coach from Mount Cook Landlines. All of these vehicles are available for hire throughout the year and are very popular for weddings.

Each year the restored vehicles make an appearance on Christmas Day, Good Friday and Easter Sunday as the Suburban Rumbler – Dunedin’s Public Holiday Bus Service operating along two major Dunedin bus routes.

The PledgeMe URL is: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/1591

ENDS

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