1965 Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster (MTT 591)

Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster — MTT 591

Mtt 591 leyland worldmaster ert1 1 murray and williams sts 3 3 73 Mtt 591 leyland worldmaster ert1 1 restored whiteman pk 27 5 10 Mtt 591 leyland ert1 1 whiteman park sep 2010
At a glance

The vehicle

Year1965
Make / modelLeyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster
Fleet number(s)MTT 591
ManufacturerLeyland Motor Co. Ltd, Lancashire, England
Model/NumberRoyal Tiger, Worldmaster ERT1/1
EngineLeyland EO.600 6 cylinder 9.8 litre diesel 125 bhp, horizontally mounted, centrally under floor
TransmissionFluid wheel with electrically controlled, pneumatically actuated, 4 speed semi-automatic 'Wilson type' epicyclic gearbox
BrakesDrum Type, air operated
SuspensionSemi-elliptical leaf springs
Body: ManufacturerHoward Porter (1936) Pty Ltd, O'Connor WA
Body: Construction2 Door
Body: Seating46 Adults
Length35ft (approx 10.67m)
Width8ft 0ins (approx 2.44m)
Height10ft 3ins (approx 3.12m)
Wheelbase18ft (approx 5.49m)
Unladen Weight8tons 9cwt (approx. 8.59tonnes)
StatusNot recorded in the crawled source — confirm operational/restorable/spares status with BPSWA before publishing.
On the road and in preservation

The story

Bus 591 was one of a batch of 50 two-door bodied Leyland Worldmaster buses (nos 550-599) ordered by Perth's Metropolitan Transport Trust (MTT) and entered passenger service in October 1965. The two-door 46 seater units joined 45 single door 49 seater Worldmaster buses delivered in 1962-63, although the later units had virtually identical appearance to 55 AEC Regal VI two-door buses which were also delivered around 1965 (600-654).

Most of 591's working life with the MTT was spent operating from Depots in East Perth (Causeway), Armadale and Gosnells. Initially, 591 saw service on the intensively patronised routes linking Perth and Fremantle, plus the Subiaco and Victoria Park runs, followed by more general use across Perth's rapidly growing south-eastern suburbs. It was renumbered 1591 in 1986 to make way for deliveries of new Renault buses, but was withdrawn around the end of that year and sold in January 1987 to local charter operator ED & JE Lynn of Bullcreek for further passenger carrying duties.

591's next owner began turning the bus into a mobile home, but seemingly ran out of enthusiasm (or money) for the project and sold the Worldmaster in July 2008 to a local bus enthusiast, who painstakingly restored the bus to a close approximation of its former MTT condition. In November 2009, the Bus Preservation Society of WA bought 591 for occasional public use following further restoration.

Externally, bus 591 wears a colour scheme that is very close to its original 1965 MTT livery, while internally only a few details await further attention to authenticate its appearance.

Mtt 591 leyalnd worldmaster ert1 1 whiteman pk 11 12 10
Mtt 591 leyalnd worldmaster ert1 1 whiteman pk 11 12 10 — caption/credit pending volunteer review
Gallery

Photos

Captions above are auto-derived from the source filenames as a starting point — a volunteer should confirm/replace them with real what/where/year/photographer credits per the Design System's imagery rules.