In the months since bus enthusiast Peter Kane’s passing, the industry has found many ways to honour his legacy as a wonderful bus photographer and admirer
In March this year, the Australian bus and coach industry was left saddened by the news of the passing of bus enthusiast Peter Kane.
As a former long-standing member, committee member and president of the Bus and Coach Society of Victoria (BCSV), Kane’s reputation as a well-liked bus enthusiast and industry member was quickly forged.
In late March, Kane unfortunately lost his battle with cancer, resulting in an outpouring of tributes to Kane from friends and fellow BCSV members.
One of these was current BCVS president Geoff Foster, who sent through to ABC a heartfelt tribute to his friend.
“Peter Kane was my friend and I was proud to call him that,” Foster told ABC. “While I know relatively little of his early life, I knew him well for the past 40 years and travelled much of Australia with him during that time.”
Despite their close bond, Foster would meet Kane’s twin brother Mick first when he joined a fortnightly bus slide night group in the early 1980s. A year or two later, Peter, who was then working in magazine distribution, followed his keen interest in buses and came along to the group.
“They were an interesting pair who could either be in very happy mode or what we referred to as Grumpy Kane mode,” Foster says. “Depending on the month’s choice of hairstyle and facial hair, it was sometimes easy to tell them apart and other times less so.”
Foster’s friendship with Kane blossomed in 1984, when Kane joined Foster on the drive up to Sydney for the annual bus and coach show. It became the first of many trips that the pair went on together over the next few decades. Highlights included a trip to the Northern Territory in 1989 and other bus hunting journeys all over Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.
“During this time, Peter also became active in the Bus and Coach Society, serving on the committee in various positions, including as treasurer from 1992 to 1994 and as president in 2000,” Foster says. “Our most memorable trip away was when we travelled to Sydney for the Olympics, doing it the hard way – four weeks via Adelaide, Uluru Mount Isa, Cairns and then down the coast.”
In the midst of these trips, Pete had joined Mick as a Ventura driver while also becoming a keen photographer and bus enthusiast. When Facebook groups of bus photos started, Kane became a prolific poster.
“In recent years, Peter developed his own special thing,” Foster says. “He adopted two bridges across the Monash Freeway from which he could spend part of the morning or afternoon doing bus and truck photography.
“On several occasions he was approached by the police, who were concerned he might be about to jump!”
Kane’s persistence was immortalised last year when a passing Google Street View car captured Kane hanging around one of the bridges.
In addition to all of the tributes surfacing for Kane and his commitment to the bus industry, Foster and the BCSV conducted their own special celebration of Kane’s life. On operator Nuline Charter’s 25th anniversary tour run by the BCSV in late April, the group visited his bridge at Atkinson Street, Oakleigh, running along the freeway to allow Mick Kane to recreate Pete’s photo position on the bridge.
Foster wants the BCSV to continue Kane’s honour, calling for all bus enthusiasts to join them online to celebrate Kane’s many wonderful photos and legacy in the industry.
“Peter’s last few months were very sad for his family and friends,” Foster says. “I shall miss him greatly, both as a colleague and as a friend.”