Mammoth,
My information was for the state of Victoria and applies to the Volvo "Bendy Buses" that run between Southern Cross Railway Station and Tullamarine Airport.  These ones (or the original ones anyway) had trailers that DID NOT follow in the wheel tracks of the prime mover. 

I got my Heavy Combination (Semi trailer) licence some time in the 1980's or 1990's when the Victorian Government said that from a certain date, a system of graduated licences would apply, whereby you had to get a light ridged licence and after (I think) six months, a Medium ridged licence, six months later a Heavy ridged licence and later a Semi trailer one.  I thought to hell with that, and I took lessons with a truck driving school (in the boss's time) and got my HC licence before the graduated system came in. At that time, I was told that it did not cover "Bendy buses" but things may have changed.
 

Horse trucks used in thoroughbred racing and for longer distance stud work were usually side load so the horses faced forward or to the rear. Up to 3 across the truck, with adjustable partitions for those uncomfortable in a single space and mares with foals.
Horses travelled best lower to the road, so rigid trucks had the chassis stepped forward and rear of the drive axle. Diff inverted and springs underslung to keep the tail shaft lower. Last allowed in Victoria early 1980’s. 
Usually 6 horses, all facing forward with attendants seats ahead of them. Mostly timber inside to keep noise down, much like a stable.
Some were built on UK bus chassis like AEC Regal and even Scanias tried. Others built up on chassis by Norlings with bus type bodies by Cooks.
Late 1970’s on saw semi floats being built for 9, 10, 11, 12 and even 15 horses. Legal trailer lengths dictated their configurations. Some had a few horses across the truck, and the 15 had 3 over the turntable with a folding ramp. The 12 had 3 up over the trailer axles. Oddly, best spot for nervy horses as they could see up to 6 others, rode on air bags with least swing when cornering. The trailer frames were built on similar lines to machinery floats. Thinking was they would outlast the prime movers with few mods  needed to update the unit.
Short WB single drive cab over prime movers used, like Scania, MAN, Volvo, IH, KW etc. Meant the driver got the worst ride on secondary and worse roads.
Many horse trucks are rear load with them standing across the truck, or even better herringbone style.
Extreme care needed with braking and gear shifts.
Stock horses, Polo Ponies etc the best to carry as they are often put in cattle crates.
Dig out some old pic’s to put up, sorry don’t have a lot more.
Thanks for your interest.

 

Horse transport co’s started building semi floats late 1970’s. Had to use an “approved” coupling, as passengers carried. Holland BRQRTT from memory.
Wonder what was used on the older buses shown.
Old school trainers were sceptical at first, but soon saw their horses travelled much better than in the old rigid floats.

And dont forget Nairns big semi buses from the late 30s

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nairn_Transport_...0to%20their%20design .


Paul

Thought I would start a dedicated thread.

First the WIKI story

 History
An early trailer bus was designed in Amsterdam in the 1920s as bus designs got longer. As a solution to possible grounding hazards on humped bridges, three prototypes were built in 1924, but proved to be problematic, and later converted to rigid bodies in 1927.[1]

During World War II and in the immediate post-war years, trailer buses were turned to as a simple and economical way of providing bus transport to replace worn out conventional bus fleets. The semi-trailers were basic and uncomfortable, but each could carry more passengers than an ordinary single-decker bus, and nearly as many as a double-decker bus. In India BEST of Mumbai and BMTC of Bangalore had double-decker trailer buses in its fleet during the 1970s and 1980s.[2]

In Australia, 123 semi-trailer type buses were built from 1939. Large purchasers included Parramatta-Ryde Bus Service and Rover Coaches.[3] A 1947 semi-trailer coupled with an American-built 1943 White M3A1 tractor is preserved at the Sydney Bus Museum in Sydney. The Sydney exhibit was the last trailer bus used in NSW, withdrawn in 1977.[4]

Trailer buses were also used in Perth, Western Australia by several private bus companies from 1943 onwards, including Metro Buses (formerly Metropolitan Omnibus), Pioneer Omnibus and Scarborough Bus Services. The units were bodied by various different companies, including Boltons, Campbell & Mannix and Motor Body Builders, a subsidiary of Scarborough Bus Services. From 1958 onwards, many trailer buses passed to the state-owned Metropolitan Transport Trust as the private operators were bought by the Western Australian Government. A number were also purchased by the Western Australian Government Railways from 1945 to 1948, with the trailer bodies built by Fowler Constructions and Campbell & Mannix.[3]

In 1948, ten British-built[5] trailer buses saw service as a staff canteens for London Transport (in country green livery)[6] with one passing to the Cobham Bus Museum in 1972.

A large order for 1,175 buses from the Dutch Railways for buses from Crossley included an order for 250 trailer buses, each to carry 52 seated and 28 standing passengers.[7] The tractor units were delivered as short Crossley DD42s, and these were matched in the Netherlands with DAF built trailer chassis fitted with bus bodies.

From 1967 to 1968 the Indian city of Mumbai had double decker trailer buses with seating capacity of 100 passengers, run by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport company. The city of Kolkata and Bengaluru also had such buses.[8]

In the late 1980s, a Mexican-built trailer bus was in test service in the Los Angeles / Orange County area of California. In the 1990s, Orange County Transportation Authority used it on two express routes. The trailer buses were known as Superbuses.[9]

Custom motor/trailer units manufactured by Orion Bus Industries were used from 1985 to 2012 on the Niagara Parks Commission People Mover route in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In Greece trailer buses are still, often used for tours, usually in small villages. Trailer Buses are also used in some kids' attractions.[10]

Obsolescence
As early as the mid-1940s, trailer buses began to quickly fall out of favour for a variety of factors:[11]

The length of trailer buses made them difficult to negotiate sharp turns at narrow street corners;
Each trailer bus normally required a two-person crew, with the driver in the tractor and the conductor in the semi-trailer;
The perceived danger of a passenger-laden semi-trailer dislodging from its tractor while under way has led to many jurisdictions in the United States, Canada and Australia restricting or prohibiting trailer buses.
Trailer buses saw service until at least 1984 in South Africa,[12] possibly due to the rugged terrain in its remote areas, and the availability of specialist bus builders as opposed to truck dealers and basic body builders.

Trailer buses are still in service in Cuba, where they were introduced under the nickname of "camellos" ("camels", from the twin-humped shape of the trailers) during the Special Period after the fall of the Soviet Union. As of 2008, the trailer buses were being gradually retired from service in Havana, replaced by Chinese-made buses.[13]

Nonetheless, the Munich transit authority ordered a batch of trailer buses from Solaris with deliveries starting in 2013. The buses were intended for service on the city's busiest routes. The advantages of such buses were the ability to attach or detach the trailer depending on demand, spaciousness and flexibility.[14]

Not the pics ,but I recall two of the White semi trailer busses waiting at the Deagon station to take people from the train over the Hornibrook bridge to the peninsula......... they were originally built for the War Production Board in WW2. About 20 years ago Dale Barnard had one of the prime movers for sale .

There was a big discussion and photos on this vehicle  a few years back under Bus or maybe semi trailer bus


This looks like a sister bus

 


This might be it 1945 White

 
 

Looks like a (Watts body?) BCC Daimler, that's been butchered. 
Was the front of a semi trailer bus, servicing Murwillumba to Brisbane. The driver must've been a ledgend.
I don't think anything apart from the cab was Daimler, Inter perhaps?

A trailer load of ammonium nitrate emulsion — a material used in mine site blasting — was scuttled by its driver after one of the wheels caught fire near Cosmo Newbury — about 1,000 kilometres east of Perth.

The driver was able to decouple his truck and drive a safe distance before the flaming semi-trailer exploded.

The explosion occurred about 12pm on October 24, blasting a hole into the road about 1.5 metres deep and sending a cloud of hazardous smoke into the air.

Burning debris from the explosion was also sent flying into nearby bushland, causing several small spot fires.

A contractor at the nearby Gruyere gold mining operation, who did not want to be named, said the blast was strong enough to be felt by workers at the mine.

"The blast shock wave was felt throughout the mine site buildings 40 kilometres away," he said.

"They ran out to see what went wrong and saw a huge white smoke ammonium cloud up in the air."

The trailer load of ammonium nitrate was on its way to the Gruyere mine, 200 kilometres north-east of Laverton in WA's Great Victoria Desert

Vic Rhodes wrote:

ElectricDreams wrote:

Putting that aside I have some perimeters I have to work within, one of them is the overall length of the vehicle has a maximum length of 14.5m, and a GCV (Gross Combined Mass) of 45.5T using HML (Higher Mass Limit) management. .

You may need to get some Professional Advice Regarding the above Weight & Length...!!

I very much Doubt that being That Heavy & that Short will comply with the Bridge Formula..

www.nhvr.gov.au/road-access/performance-...ad-and-bridge-access

Thanks Vic, will have to read that a few times to let it sink in. I once enquired about a new PBS trailer, with lifting axels, with volume for HML and it all got too hard for the manufacturer. Seems what's promoted, verse the rules, and one's wants don't mesh so well.

Its funny ol world up here. The road used mostly by heavy vehicles is rated to 19m B doubles but we are not allowed to use them, and fair enough. Its windy, narrow, and steep, all at once in places and often wet. Let alone the traffic being on the wrong side of the road or tourist doing u turns on blind corners. Council has put 14.5m length restriction vie DA's on some water family run business's, though international ones get whatever length is needed. Private contractors bringing up earth moving gear, or road repair, houses, or the council tip truck are usually 19m or run dogs. No dogs though for us water types. On this approved road we have a large rock on a blind corner so trucks and the school busses have to cross the double whites to negotiate. Council, Transport Dept, police all know about it but meh. The locals heritage listed the road some time ago in an attempt to stop process pretty much, but it sure stopped enthusiasm to do anything with the road.
Some DA's require a court to change, others the council. Water cartage gets blamed for most gripes particularly wrecking the road, but damage is often on the uphill side which we run empty, and pot holes appear as soon as it rains where trucks don't go. Our business is approved for X volume per week, so we get given heaps of body trucks to use and a hand full of semis. Then when one wants to change it all to semi's for all the right practical reasons with no increase in volume, you get accused of being greedy and sneaky. I can go on and on, but plenty of hate up here unfortunately.

If the ET comes off it won't be about being quieter, cleaner, or more efficient, rather just the greedy bastard making even more money. As a good friend of mine always said, funny ol world.....

Brad wrote:

hayseed

Given the paint Colour I reckon it originally belonged to the Sydney County Council... BISTBC

Spot on I'd say. Repainted a few times in probably the same colour, top coat a bit faded.

Thanks for this, it gave me some clues to research. I thought it odd that "Energy Australia" being an electricity generator and retailer would have this kind of trailer. As it happens:

Sydney County Council 1935 to 1991 (oddly named as they were formed to produce electricity and operate the network (distribution). This was abolissh and NSW Gov formed:
Sydney Electricity 1991 - 1996 , there were various megers with other entities and in 1996 renamed:
Energy Australia 1996 - 2011 (?)
2010 Energy Australia sold the retail business and naming rights to TRU Energy
2011 former Energy Australia business renamed to Ausgrid (i.e. includes distribution and other assets remaining after sale of EA retail)
2012 TRU Energy renamed to Energy Australia

click Sydney County Council (wiki)

Actually not oddly named at all/ NSW had many County Council as Electricity Distributors and suppliers, I did my apprenticeship at one, Southern Mitchell County Council, there were many other County Councils including Ophir, Shortland, Illawarra etc
Paul

hayseed

Given the paint Colour I reckon it originally belonged to the Sydney County Council... BISTBC

Spot on I'd say. Repainted a few times in probably the same colour, top coat a bit faded.

Thanks for this, it gave me some clues to research. I thought it odd that "Energy Australia" being an electricity generator and retailer would have this kind of trailer. As it happens:

Sydney County Council 1935 to 1991 (oddly named as they were formed to produce electricity and operate the network (distribution). This was abolissh and NSW Gov formed:
Sydney Electricity 1991 - 1996 , there were various megers with other entities and in 1996 renamed:
Energy Australia 1996 - 2011 (?)
2010 Energy Australia sold the retail business and naming rights to TRU Energy
2011 former Energy Australia business renamed to Ausgrid (i.e. includes distribution and other assets remaining after sale of EA retail)
2012 TRU Energy renamed to Energy Australia

click Sydney County Council (wiki)

As far as the Iraq trucks, I've attached scans of the fascinating story from "The Marmon Heritage". There were initially 4 TH-320-6 6x6's built for the pipeline in 1932, powered by Hercules HXB gas engines. Following this the famous Nairn Coach was ordered by the Nairn Brothers, along with a 20 ton semi trailer freight truck. These were both model TH-315's, one a 4x4 for the freighter and one a 6x6 for the coach, both powered by the new Hercules DHXB diesel.

My guess is that more pipeline trucks followed over the years, but that is not mentioned.

Joseph Bishop arrived in Melbourne during the goldrushes, ultimately establishing a coach building business at Beechworth, which was later transferred to Euroa. The family moved to Melbourne in the late 1880s, where one son became the proprietor of the trade journal 'The Australasian Coachbuilder and Saddler'. The collection consists of family photographs and photographs used to illustrate 'The Australasian Coachbuilder and Saddler'. This photograph shows a car attached to an animal trailer, loaded with two horses and taken outside a large brick building. The name on the side of the trailer is "C.C. Perkins. Culoo. Belka."
Inscription: Written in ink on verso: "Semi-trailer body fitted to a Ford V-8 Utility. The tray part of the utility is made removable to allow for turntable on semi-trailer. This outfit can be converted to either unit in 5 minutes."