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Other
items of interest ...
Shek O Bus Terminus - updated February 2021 |
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Other
items of interest ...
Shek O Bus Terminus - updated February 2021 |
| This page was created following the release, in March 2005, of a model of a China Motor Bus Guy Arab Mk V double-deck bus with a diorama of Shek O Bus Terminus. The page has been updated several times since then, with the addition of numerous photographs spanning the life of the bus terminus and recording the various bus types using the terminus during this time. | |||||||||||||||
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| Above photograph courtesy and copyright
of Andrew Suddaby 367 Association. This photograph is believed to have
been taken in 1958 and
shows the terminus in pristine condition. I am grateful Andrew Suddaby for
allowing me to share this photograph
and also to the website "Gwulo:
Old Hong Hong", where I came across the photograph, for
their assistance. The site
features over 30,000 pages about
old Hong Kong and I would strongly recommend you take a look.
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| This photograph dates from a little later - 2020 in fact and is the re-issued model of the terminus (see below). | |||||||||||||||
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| This
is a photograph of the Best Choose China Motor (CMB) Bus Guy
Arab Mk V
with the diorama (02046S). Following the creation of this
page, regular contributor Donald MacRae kindly sent me a
couple of photos he
took at the terminus in October 1995. These show China Motor Bus
Leyland
Victory Mk 2 LV138 leaving the terminus and heading back to Shau Kei
Wan
on Route 9.
Having visited Shek O myself in November 2002, it prompted me to look out the photos l took. The Guy Arabs of CMB had gone, as had the company itself! Plenty of low floor buses of New World First Bus were in evidence, these being short (10.3 metre) Dennis Tridents with a low-height Duple Metsec body, some of which were a only a few months old when photographed. |
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| Photographs courtesy and copyright of John G Lidstone. | |||||||||||||||
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John is renowned for his huge
collection of transport photographs and his Flickr
site contains almost 100,000 photographs, so well worth a
look.
The above photographs are taken from his albums, CMB Snapshot 1983 and CMB Snapshot 1985. |
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October 1995 Photographs courtesy and copyright of Donald MacRae. Donald has a superb collection of bus photographs, totalling over 80,000 on his SmugMug site, so well worth a look. |
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November 2002 |
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| Following the above
appeal, Winston
Lau and Dave Rogers were both very quick off the mark, sending
me the
above photographs
which capture the
terminus building extremely well. Winston's photo (left)
shows CMB Leyland
Victory LV131 just arriving whilst Dave's, taken in March 2002, shows
NWFB
Trident 3321. Photographs courtesy and
copyright of Winston
Lau and Dave Rogers.
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| A further visit on 25th November 2009 saw me arrive on Trident 3340 and leave on 3331. Clear blue skies were evident and the beach idyllic! | |||||||||||||||
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| My thanks to David Howlett, not only for sending me this photograph taken on 12th November 2013, but also for advising that the terminus had received a higher historical status. | |||||||||||||||
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| The following is the article that appeared in the South China Morning post on 11th September 2013 | |||||||||||||||
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A 58-year-old bus terminus that was in a Hollywood movie scene will get a higher historical status, government heritage advisers have decided. The terminus, which was featured in Steven Soderbergh's 2011 film Contagion starring Matt Damon and Jude Law, was built in Shek O in 1955 by the now-defunct China Motor Bus, which operated routes on Hong Kong Island. It was used as a watchman's quarters and garage. The two-storey privately owned building was one of the few non-residential architectural examples still standing in the Southern District, the Antiquities Advisory Board noted at its meeting yesterday. A lower grade-three status had been initially proposed, but many on the 23-member board, as well as Shek O residents, believed it merited a higher rating. "The building was constructed in a very unique cantilevered style. The assessment panel has decided to upgrade it from grade three to grade two," board chairman Andrew Lam Siu-lo said as he announced the majority decision. "The grading reflects the special merits of higher architectural and heritage value." The terminus, which sits on government land, is known for its large cantilevered balcony, mono-pitched flat roof and art-deco lettering on the fascia. The board concluded the building was designed in a unique Bauhaus style of architecture, which promotes clean, modern lines and functionality. A changing room previously occupied the upper floor, with an office on the lower floor. Drivers of CMB, which once held a monopoly on Hong Kong Island bus routes, used the building as a rest area after long trips into Shek O. He said the board endorsed the conversion of old buildings for new uses as long as mitigation measures were put in place to safeguard architectural, design and heritage values This
article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Bus
terminus gets heritage upgrade on 11 September 2013
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| New World First Bus 3846 ADL 'facelift'
Enviro400 seen here in October 2019 undergoing route training. Photograph courtesy and copyright of Filmnbus |
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| UPDATE - July 2020 | |||||||||||||||
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In early May 2020 I was contacted by Emily Verla Bovino, an Art History
Professor based in Hong Kong, who was researching the bus terminus and
who had come across my site in doing so. She was interested in the
diorama of the terminus released by Best Choose back in 2005. After an
exchange of e-mails, and a Skype conversation, and more emails, the
finished article was published online in PIN-UP magazine
on 9th July 2020 (see below). Thanks to Philip Chan, who had
similar conversations with Emily, and whose photographs of the diorama
were published, along with Donald MacRae and Dave Rogers for allowing
the use of their photographs in the article.
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 Following the release by Tiny of their
two unlicensed Citybus ADL Enviro400s in June 2020, Singson Wong posted
a photograph
of one of these models placed on the diorama where
previously the
China Motor Bus Guy Arab Mk V had rested.
Singson was then kind enough to take a selection of photographs of the diorama and these are featured below.
All above photographs courtesy and
copyright of Singson Wong
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In late
August 2020, Hong Kong model bus retailer Network Shuttle listed the
model of the terminus, without a bus, on it's website. Having ordered
one, it arrived in early September. The only difference I can spot
between that issued back in 2005 and this one is the use of etched
metal railings on this model, whereas the original appears to have
tubular style railings that were possibly plastic. |
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| A present day photograph of the
terminus - courtesy and copyright of Charles Lai October 2020 |
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| Displaying
'Happy New Year' on it's destination screen is New World First
Bus ADL Enviro400 3849. The wearing of masks confirms the ongoing presence of the Covid-19 epidemic. Courtesy and copyright of Terence Tong 19th February 2021 |
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