Mercedes O305G #1594

1594 was the second to last Mercedes artic built to operate on the Adelaide O Bahn and served the entirety of its career at St Agnes Bus depot. In 2011 and 2012 it was last seen on the Noarlunga and then Gawler rail replacement services before it was retired. It never saw service on the second round of Noarlunga train subs in 2013. It was initially one of the candidates for preservation by two BPASA members who looked at it for joint ownership, however at the time it was not financially viable and was left in the Morphettville yard where it remained for another almost 7 years.

With the joyous return of 1549 to Adelaide after making the long trek across the Nullabor from Perth in August 2019, it was minutes to midnight for the final few scrapped Mercedes buses at Morphettville with the retirement of the Sl202 diesels and for the upcoming retirement of the Midis. 1594 had been flagged to go to Perth but was never collected. Towards the end of 2019 the Mercedes fleet were being towed to the scrap yard with black X’s painted on the rear. Prior to Christmas 2019, 1594 was the last lone merc sitting in the yard waiting to be collected for preservation. With 3 wheels missing, more weight from dirt and a roof covered in black tree sap, the bus made a very slow trip home one 46 degree afternoon only being able to manage about 45km/h with a jammed up accelerator.

“The Phoenix” as it has been nicknamed, has come along way with some minor restoration improvements needed on the interior and with some external repairs/refurbishment. The bus very soon after it was purchased was returned to its BUSWAY livery to reflect the TransAdelaide era of operation as 1549 will reflect the STA era. In the 90s after some accidents on the BUSWAY, the Mercedes fleet were fitted with their iconic dome lights, but also some dayglo warning stripes, which 1594 also now wears, with the historically accurate yellow and black combination it wore in service (opposed to orange, green, pink and red variants trialled on other units).

2019 was certainly the year of the merc, as prior to this 1540 was the only preserved example of an Adelaide O Bahn bus. Within the space of a few months in 2019, 3 more mercs joined the BPASA preservation movement and now we have 4 Mercedes buses all currently under restoration into the Busway livery.