Vintage bus rides, extended tram museum hours and Kurnell Village Fair all part of shire heritage festival
A vintage Leyland bus, which was withdrawn from government service 38 years ago, will give free rides on Saturday April 17 for the Sutherland Shire Citizens' Heritage Festival.
The month-long festival will kick off with the special bus tours between heritage sites and the Sydney Tramway Museum holding an Open Day on Saturday, as well as its normal Sunday operations.
Other features of the first weekend of the festival include the opening of Hazelhurst Cottage from 10am to 3pm on Saturday, with guided tours.
On Sunday, the Kurnell Village Fair will be held in Marton Park from 10am to 4pm.
The Sydney Tramway Museum at Loftus will open for an additional day on Saturday April 17 as part of the festival, meaning it will be open all weekend. Picture: supplied
Sydney Bus Museum is providing the vintage bus for the shuttle service on Saturday.
The bus will run every from 10am to 3pm, linking the following stops in a 25-minute round trip:
- Sydney Tramway Museum at Loftus - Display of trams and tram-rides.
- Brinsley's Joinery at Sutherland - Heritage wood-working machinery and demonstrations.
- Hazelhurst Gallery at Gymea - Art Gallery displays, activities and guided tours.
- South Village at Kirrawee - Kirrawee Brick Pit Historic Display.
The first service will leave the tramway museum at 10am, reach Brinsley's at 10.05am, Hazelhurst at 10.15am, South Village at 10.20am and arrive back at the museum at 10.25am.
Subsequent trips will follow the same timetable pattern.
Sydney Bus Museum says the Leyland ERT Underfloor (the diesel engine was mounted beneath the floor) 3131 bus was among 350 buses purchased to replace Sydney's tramway system.
The 3131 entered service in early 1959, initially from Enfield depot where it ran Cabarita / Mortlake - Burwood - Ashfield services. It later served at Brookvale, Willoughby, North Sydney, Burwood, Kingsgrove and Tempe depots.
The bus was withdrawn from government service in 1983, by which stage it had been painted in the Public Transport Commission blue and white livery, and was purchased for preservation by a group of enthusiasts who had repainted its original green and cream.