It took decades, but a vital part of Queensland bus industry history has been returned to the McCafferty family
A memorable part of McCafferty’s history as a family operator has been returned to its home base in Toowoomba.
It arrived at the end of a remarkable journey, stretching more than seven decades, that rolled out alongside the ups and downs of Queensland’s bus industry itself.
That it is finally being returned, at the behest of the Queensland Omnibus and Coach Society (QOCS), is a fitting outcome for one of Queensland’s oldest buses.
When the old Bedford bus was returned, Tony McCafferty of McCafferty’s Coaches could breathe a deep sigh of relief after many years.
“I can sleep much easier at night now,” he told ABC.
The McCafferty bus’s journey started in 1938 when the chassis was dispatched from England to Australia and served the Toowoomba community for more than four decades before being purchased by Alastair Grant of Sunshine Coast Coaches for his museum.
Tony’s father and founder of McCafferty’s Jack McCafferty had endured ill health in 1994 and his future was uncertain after many operations. Being aware of Jack’s situation, Tony secretly purchased the Bedford Bus from Alastair Grant’s widow Beverly and had it painted in the original colours from the early 1940s.
On Jack’s 82nd birthday on March 11, 1996, Tony told Jack to come out of his office for a photo beside a bus at the coach loading bay. Jack reluctantly obliged and Tony ran around the corner street where the Bedford was hidden from view and then drove it into the loading bay in front of Jack.
“I’ll never forget the expression on his face when that old bus came around the corner,” Tony says. “He thought he was dreaming when he saw the bus.”
Tony stepped out and handed the keys to Jack as a birthday present. On the day, Tony also organised a gathering on the day for former employees of the early days of McCafferty’s to re-enact the bus’s first service on April 1, 1940 from Toowoomba city to Rangeville.
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After arriving at Picnic Point, Rangeville, all on board were then driven by Tony to the railway refreshments dining room, which was restored in the period décor, and enjoyed a menu from the ’40s.
Sadly, Jack passed away in 1999 and the bus was used for promotional purposes and housed in the Toowoomba workshop until Tony purchased Greyhound/Pioneer from its receivers in 2000.
The bus was then placed in McCafferty’s/Greyhound workshop at Eagle Farm Brisbane for the next three years before Tony accepted an offer from the ANZ Bank to form a new company and involve the bank and a co-investor as shareholders.
At the time of this deal the old Bedford was included in the asset sale agreement between the old and new company. Tony was unaware of this as it was the private property of Jack and after his passing was left to his wife Lorna in his estate.
This anomaly was presented to the ANZ and co-investor who owned Greyhound, but they refused to return the bus. Later efforts were made by the Mayor of Toowoomba Di Thorley to have the bus returned to Lorna McCafferty and be placed in the Cobb & Co Museum Toowoomba, with this request also denied with the threat of legal action.
Finally, the bus was sold to a consortium involving Tony’s family and many of his business associates who were happy to pass ownership of the bus to QOCS. It’s now been placed on display at Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport and will ultimately be housed in QOCS’s new museum.
“I am grateful for the support from all the caring people in the bus industry which has been so essential in the development of Australia over the years,” Tony says.