35 Ford

Apologies everyone. I mistakenly referred to the image of the Fageol coach and the Hudson as a White and Hudson. US made Fageol vehicles were used on the Jenolan Caves run from the early days of motorised road transport. One photo, of the four men standing in front of the coach, is outside Caves House at Jenolan. One coach obviously came to grief near the Grand Arch at the Caves. 58L-Y8 mentioned Flxible bodies. A Flxible bodied Ansair coach with a British Leyland Tiger chassis operated by Pioneer Tours was involved in a fatal accident on the Jenolan Caves Road in 1962. Given the dangerous nature of the last part of the road down to the Caves, known as the Five Mile, it's a wonder they're weren't more serious accidents. That part of the road is currently closed after our disastrous bushfires of December 2019-January 2020 which burned out an area the size of Wales. The fires were followed in February 2020 by torrential rains which caused lots of rock falls and landslides. A flash flood swept down behind Caves House causing considerable damage and resulting in massive silting of the famous Blue Lake which is important habitat for our endangered monotreme (egg-laying mammal) the platypus (see photo).

35Ford Thank you Old28 and 58L-Y8 for great information. That photo of the White with the Hudson behind it is wonderful. You can access my published article on the history of motorised road and rail transport to Jenolan Caves in Blue Mountains History Journal Issue 9 at http://bluemountainsheritage.com.au/journals/ My handle 35Ford comes from the car I learned to drive on, a 1935 Ford model 48 De Luxe Fordor touring sedan which my late father purchased new in December 1935. It was the only car my father ever owned. I took it over in 1970 and in 1984 it went to Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. My father did keep driving until about 1990 but in a 1970 Ford Fairmont XW Station Wagon with 302 cu.in. motor, a car which my sister owned until only a few years ago. The 35 Ford featured in bus and taxi ads for the museum's exhibition Auto Obsession. Information on the car can be found at https://collection.maas.museum/object/213364 It's currently stored at the Museums Discovery Centre at Castle Hill and is on occasional display. I hope you enjoy the links.

Hi Steve The term was originally char-a-bancs (it should have a grave accent over the middle 'a') and originated in France in the 19th century It literally means 'carriage with benches' and early examples were horse-drawn. The term char-a-banc was commonly used in Britain and Australia for motorised versions in the early 20th century although some early examples with several rows of seats and drop-down sides e.g. some on Milnes Daimler, Panhard et Levassor and De Dion Bouton chassis were called wagonettes. Wikipedia suggests char-a-banc was pronounced 'sharrabang' in colloquial British English. Later, closed versions in the 1930s to 1950s had up to six rows of seats each with a separate door and were known as 'parlour cars'. Several Australian cities had coach-building companies who built parlour cars on imported chassis. I 've attached a photo of one. 35 Ford

Hi Craig The tour company Day's, who ordered the vehicle from Smith and Waddington, was the subject of an inquiry in the 1930s into a monopoly because they had the sole contract for tourist services with the NSW Tourist Bureau and they certainly did run tours to Jenolan. Kind regards 35 Ford

Hi Craig Many thanks for that very useful additional information. The vehicle in the photo does appear to be the 15 passenger White char-a-banc that Smith & Waddington made for N L Day of Coogee who used it on the Jenolan Caves and Royal National Park tourist runs? I just got that information from the Powerhouse Museum collection database which has an album of photos of vehicles constructed by Smith & Waddington and includes another photo of the same vehicle without driver and passengers. Here's the link https://collection.maas.museum/object/571869 Kind regards 35 Ford

Hi 58L-Y8 I hope you and yours are keeping safe In Dalton. Our daughter lives in NYC and we don't know when we're going to see her again. COVID-19 is having new spikes in Australia although our numbers are still very low but one of our states has gone back into lock-down, with strict curfews. Many thanks for your help with the ID of the char-a-banc. I'd like to acknowledge your assistance in my article if you agree to provide your name but I understand if you wish it to remain confidential. Kind regards 35 Ford

I would appreciate help in identifying the make and model year of the charabanc in this photo dated circa 1925 in Sydney, Australia.

Hi PaulRHD29NZ Many thanks -much appreciated. 35 Ford

Hi 58L-Y8 Many thanks - much appreciated. 35 Ford

I am a Sydney, Australia based historic preservation practitioner researching the history of motorised tourist transport from the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, to Jenolan Caves, Australia's most famous system of limestone caves. From the time the first cars, an 8HP De Dion and a 6HP Liberia drove to the caves in 1903, motorised transport rapidly replaced the horse-drawn vehicles that had previously conveyed tourists on the sometimes perilous journey to Jenolan. Entrepreneurs in the upper Blue Mountains towns competed for the tourist trade, their drivers meeting passengers on the trains that brought them up the steep grades of the railway line from Sydney. Early favourites with the tour operators were Milnes Daimlers, Tipo Zero Fiats, Italas, Stoewers and Cadillacs but they then switched to Chandler, Hudson Super Six and Nash cars. Many of these had extended chassis and char-a-banc bodies so they could carry more passengers. In the 1930s and '40s some operators also used 'parlour coaches' which were built in Australia on imported chassis by Dodge, Ford, etc. A tour operator based in Adelaide, South Australia, built parlour coaches with names like 'Miss Transalia', which were fitted with aircraft-style seats and had multiple passenger doors on the kerb or 'near' side (in Australia our vehicles are right-hand drive). I have attached an image of Miss Transalia which conveyed passengers on the 2,500 mile round trip from Adelaide to the eastern states including Jenolan Caves. I have also attached a photo of tour cars lined up at Katoomba, one of the major Blue Mountains towns from which tourists were conveyed to Jenolan Caves. I am hoping that someone might be able to confirm that the four outer cars in this image are Hudson Super Six models and the three larger vehicles in the centre are Chandlers. Any comments on the likely models would be much appreciated.