1982 Denning DenAir

Looselion, I heard Rex had a bus with a motor at the front, and one at the rear they used on Brisbane to Sydney, if the motor at the front played up, they flipped the diff over and ran it on the rear motor. Is this one a myth?

My Grandfather had a similar one to Rex's first one, looks like Rex's had been converted to rear engine.

Looselion, I heard Rex had a bus with a motor at the front, and one at the rear they used on Brisbane to Sydney, if the motor at the front played up, they flipped the diff over and ran it on the rear motor. Is this one a myth?

It's partially true bigcam. In around 1952 Rex put his understanding of the advantages of the R/E set-up into practice in the back-yard depot at Coorparoo, Brisbane.

He installed a 3 cyl GM tractor motor in the rear of his then fleet No 3, an ex-Ansett Ansair KS5 International coach. Without removing the front Inter motor he rolled the diff over, installed a new tail-shaft and radiator etc, and did his own interpretation of gearshift linkage which involved extending each selector rod from front to back and crossing them over half-way to retain the shift pattern as much as possible.

The vehicle remained in this twin engined configuration for the shake-down period until he was satisfied it all worked! I can't recall if it ever carried passengers in this form but it wasn't long before he decided it was a goer and then set about full conversion to a rear-engined forward control coach.

The bodywork was removed forward of the frame member to the rear of the passenger door and the necessary work was completed up front eg new forward chassis rails, repositioning steering box and pedal assembly and installing a wider front axle and suspension.

The vehicle was then delivered to Frank Shuttlewood's body works in Sylvan Road, Toowoong, for front re-build. Unfortunately I have no images of the completed coach, but it was quite handsome in appearance and was a complete success, continuing to serve very satisfactorily for a number of years. Never on interstate though, being kept on the O'Reilly's Day Tour service, still as No 3.

I do have a photo of it just prior to delivery to Shuttlewood, which I'll attach here.

Note the gravity feed petrol bowser in a suburban back yard....with bulk storage tank alongside, no less!



And regarding your grandfather's Bedford/Denning it would have been delivered probably in 1962 according to the rego which means it would have been built along the same specs as the original Redline No 22, although in standard cab-over configuration.

Redline did the R/E conversion on those early Bedford and Ford Dennings in-house prior to chassis delivery to the body-works. This expertise came directly from the earlier No 3 exercise, and such in-house conversions continued much later with the many VK41 Vikings.

Earlier in this thread there is a link to the Bus Australia site which I tried and it doesn't work, so here it is again.
www.busaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php...=50347&hilit=redline
I spent a bit of last night checking it out and found it very interesting. Now I've stumbled on who Looselion is, when my father had Glanvilles in the 70's there workshop was the old Redline one at Coorparoo behind the BP, not that I was aware of the history. I've put a pic up of this one earlier in the thread, it was Border Coaches first rear engines Denning, it was also my favourite out of the fleet.

Just one more thing I'd like to mention about Redline which is also unlikely remembered is the substantial charity work that Rex enthusiastically undertook with the resources of the company.

He became an active supporter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society (then the Spastic Childrens' Society of Australia) and its fundraising work via the national Miss Australia Quest. Each year Rex made available a number of front line coaches and drivers (occasionally himself) for the purpose of providing the highest money-raising State quest entrants tour travel from each capital city to attend the final judging and presentation of the Miss Australia and the national Charity Queen. These finals alternated from city to city each year. This became an enormous incentive for girls to raise funds, and provided a reward for many thousands of entrants over the years.
Redline also worked to have all accommodation and meals costs provided at the lowest rates, and paid all such bills, to ensure no cost whatsoever to the charity.

Here's a couple of shots selected from the many over the years.

My apologies bigcam, and I should have declared my interest in the subject of Redline in that I'm Rex's younger son Glenn.

And I believe I have had the pleasure of meeting your grandfather and dad along the way in the past.

To be honest I wasn't aware that Glanvilles moved into the ex-Redline workshop at Coorparoo.

I can understand your liking the behaviour of the pictured Border/Bedford/Denning because there's so much to like about the classic rear engine configuration.

One of my greatest frustrations was the inability of established chassis manufacturers in the post-war period to grasp the reality that many Aussie operators wanted rear engines!

With spec largely suited to Redline's operation, the Albion Viking became largely standard, but had to be converted to R/E configuration. This engineering of many brand new CKD VK41 chassis' was done in the company's West End workshops....only after quite a fight with British Leyland to ensure we retained the integrity of the usual warranties!

It took many years before the penny dropped and they eventually produced the VK43...the R/E factory version, which was under No 115 pictured earlier.

Looselion, great story and pics of Redline.
Cam, great pics and info, I have always taken an interest in Bus/Coach activities.
Jeff

Glenn, this is one of the drivers, Reg Greg, and my grandfather Ken, in front of number 17. Like most vehicles of the era, number 17 got modified, it was a VAM Bedford with a Denning body, origonally repowered with a 6/354 Perkins, then fitted with a V8 510 Perkins, not sure if it got a UD4 inbeteen, the Dad bought it off Border Coaches for Glanvilles, fitted a Rockwell diff, Kirkstall front axle to get full air brakes, and a 6V53 and 5 speed fuller. As far as I know the vehicle is still around fitted out as a motorhome.

What an interesting history that No 17 had. It sounds like after all the different guises she ended up as a very useful coach, with the 6/53 and full air brakes.

We operated a few 6/354 Perkins over the years, but I believe there was just one example of the 8/510 series which didn't set our world on fire!

One satisfying aspect of life was the rugged durability of the Denning bodies, and as you say Cam No 17 is likely still making miles with a new career.

Normally, I don't reply to threads just to say 'What an interesting thread', without adding anything. However, this one stood out for the interesting content: personal, vehicle and photographs. As I have discovered in multiple groups, people who put up significant material do appreciate some feedback; it makes their effort worthwhile, and they will go on and prepare some more. Who would have predicted a link between rebuilt buses and Miss Australia quest?

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor