The Sydney Bus Museum was first established in 1986 in Tempe before closing in 2009 for relocation to the inner-west.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-08/sydney-bus-museum-reopens/7700194

http://www.sydneybusmuseum.info/#!collection/cy5c

Sydney Bus Museum
Old Leichhardt Tramshed
25 Derbyshire Road
Leichhardt NSW

I remember going to school on either the Leyland Royal Tigers or the double decker Atlanteans, just before the era of the Blue Mercedes. With no air conditioning in those days the driver would leave the front doors open on stinking hot summer days - something they can't do now with traction interlocks installed on modern buses.

I used to travel to work on an Atlantean when it was first introduced. Drivers at Brookvale Depot went on a protracted strike or work ban over the one-man-operation aspect of it.

There was a periscope arrangement above the driver's seat whereby he/she was supposed to be able to keep an eye on the goings-on upstairs.

There was also an upstairs seat count display system operated by switches under two of the steps. It was often, if not always, wrong with people skipping steps or kids deliberately operating the switches in the reverse order.

Upstairs on double deckers was the smoking section. I don't know how non-smokers survived the trip.

I remember the mirror above the driver's cabin. He'd bark at us when we'd try blocking it in order to play up. Being out of one's seat on the top floor was a no-no. One day the double deckers just disappeared, slowly replaced by the Mercs with their whining automatic gearboxes.

Life as a school kid was rough on the single deckers too. The conductor would go off her nut if she tripped over our bags and that reminds me of another oddity of the time, male staff wore blue uniforms and females wore green and the uniforms were more formal than they are now.

When I was quite young I was fascinated by the huge handbrake levers some of the buses had before later models came fitted with air-powered handbrakes. The driver would almost twist his spine trying to pull the lever up. Even with the hydrostatic transmissions, a hill start would have been a challenge.

The old Albion and Leyland double deckers used to struggle up Spit Rd towards Mosman when fully loaded. The bus would grind almost to a stop half way up the steep hill when the driver crashed down from 2nd gear into 1st, and it would sometimes roll backwards a little. Any car driver familiar with the hill would know to keep a fair distance behind those buses.

I've seen modern blue double deckers back in service on routes that travel the M2. Not sure which company runs them.

Really dirty diesel engines in the 1960s, but the Trolley buses were clean, they still run Trolley buses in Russia.

I've seen modern blue double deckers back in service on routes that travel the M2. Not sure which company runs them.

Hillsbus runs those and Forest Bus Lines runs a few on the North Shore. Any that are painted in the STA livery (white and sky blue) are on government contract routes and are purchased by the government for the private operators.

The NSW Government is buying more of these for the peak routes as they hold more people than bendy buses.

The old Albion and Leyland double deckers used to struggle up Spit Rd towards Mosman when fully loaded.

I was on an Albion the day that George Street got closed down. It struggled big-time with half the seats filled, understandable considering the bus is probably 60 years old and they only had a top speed of about 50km/h when new.

I can't say I will miss the buses on George Street though. I previous employment I'd get the train from North Sydney to Wynyard and then get on the L20 bus to go home. On a fair day at around 16:30 it would take 45 minutes to go from Wynyard to Druitt Street alongside the Town Hall. With the buses gone the trams will have a much better run and they won't be competing with idiotic cab drivers for space that doesn't exist.