Esme Clare Prestage (Muddle)

We were delighted to welcome Clare Prestage to the National Transport Museum, where her visit brought with it a wonderful piece of Sydney’s transport history.

In 1972, at just 21 years of age, Clare began her career as a conductress before training to drive one of Sydney’s iconic double decker buses. Based at the Randwick Depot, she spent her career driving routes across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, an experience she recalls with great fondness. “Flat out at 35 miles per hour, the double decker was a treat to drive,” Clare laughed.

During her visit, Clare shared warm memories of her time behind the wheel. She told us how the mischievous children always sat above the driver where they could not be seen, and how passengers in winter quickly learned to choose their seats wisely to avoid being dripped on during the rain.

It was a privilege for the museum team to hear Clare’s stories and to connect her personal history with the very bus now preserved in our collection. Encounters like these remind us that the vehicles in our museum are more than machines. They are carriers of memories, community and shared experiences.

We invite you to visit the National Transport Museum, explore our collection and perhaps even reminisce about your own journeys on these remarkable vehicles. Every bus, tram and car here has a story, and maybe one of them is yours too.