Watsons Bus Company - Woodenbong

This is a historic listing of vehicles owned and operated by Watsons Bus Company - Woodenbong.

J Watson and Sons Pty Ltd was purchased by Matnik Investments Pty Ltd on 2 November 2020, trading as Watsons Bus Company. Matnik Investments Pty Ltd also trades as Tinonee Bus Company, which was taken over on 1 July 2015 - see separate fleetlist.


The Watson family owned a bus and trucking business in Woodenbong since 1948. It was in that year when J Watson decided to sell the family farm, located 15kms out of Woodenbong, and purchase the local school bus company that operated between local towns and on a commercial route to Kyogle. The business consisted of four buses: a 1938 Reo (2LM), a 1948 Reo (20CHS) (Shuttlewood body), a 1946 Reo (20BHS), and a 1942 Mack thought to be an EH. The Mack chassis was fitted with the very first steel body to have been manufactured by Watts.

After the Reo and Mack buses were withdrawn, the decision was made to standardise on one chassis. Two Bedford OBs and four Bedford SBs, as well as an AVAS model were operated. Watsons switched to Leyland chassis after Bedfords became hard to procure and then to Hinos when Leylands were no longer available. A noteworthy vehicle in the fleet was a 1964 AEC Reliance with bodywork by local Brisbane builder Watt Brothers. It was withdrawn from the fleet in the late-1990s, with Les Watson's son Bruce planning to turn it into a mobile home and circumnavigate Australia with it. J Watson & Son was a three-generation family business. Started by J Watson, the company passed down to Les Watson and more recently to Bruce Watson, until J Watson & Son Pty Ltd was sold in November 2020. Previous Acc Nos 23350 and 9008


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Acknowledgments: Most of this historical information comes from an informative article on Watson's in Australasian Bus and Coach magazine Vol 12, No 5, January 18,2000 pp.22-24.