A well-known local bus driver, Mr McKinnon was the guest of honour at a special function in Nowra on Saturday, which acted as a mini reunion for some of the area’s longest serving bus drivers.

Fellow Million Mile Man, Les Jennings was there, as was the next generation of drivers Ross Stuart and John Kennedy and Craig Solomon who also worked with Mr McKinnon for a number of years.

“It’s great to see these blokes,” Mr McKinnon said.

The only downside being another stalwart of the bus industry, Alan Dent, of Huskisson was unable to attend.

Mr McKinnon grew up in Cambewarra and at age 14 took up an apprenticeship, riding a pushbike the five miles to Nowra each day.

On completing his apprenticeship he worked for Kennedy’s Bus Service for three to four years.

During that time he drove a young Ray Kennedy to school, who would in later life manage Pioneer Motor Service, where Sam would work.

Mr McKinnon worked for Bartlett’s Bus Service before joining Pioneer in around 1955.

In 1960 he joined with Austen Henry, of Nowra, who was the Esso agent and owned cattle trucks. Mr McKinnon also owned his own truck before rejoining Pioneer as a mechanic/spare driver in 1965.

By 1968 he was back driving full time, something he would continue until his retirement.

His regular run was down the South Coast to Bega and Eden.

At the time Pioneer boasted one Ford and three International coaches, which each averaged around 70,000 miles a year.

The company purchased three Dennings coaches, with Sam and fellow regular drivers, Les Jennings and Harry “Rookie” Smith, claiming their favourites, and continued to drive them until the Sydney service began in 1987.

When the business celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1979, Sam had driven a million miles for the company.

He, Les and Harry were described as the Million Mile Men. By the end of his career Sam had no idea of how many miles or kilometers he had driven.

As well as carrying passengers, Pioneer also carried freight, picking up and transporting freight from the railway, delivering it along the coast, as well as other items including newspapers.

Over the years he encountered dirt roads, had to use ferries to cross rivers, had his route blocked by floods, the odd mechanical problem, even a broken windscreen when a passing motorist threw an egg at his coach.

On a whole he said most of his passengers were courteous.

He said the secret good bus driver was simple.

“Be patient and don’t be rude to people,” he said.

Not bad advice for life as well he agreed.

However, he did laugh about “a  chap” who he “put off” his bus just out of Moruya.

“The chap got on the bus at Moruya with a lady friend and they started abusing each other,” he said “it got pretty offensive and I told the chap if they didn’t stop I’d put them off.

“The chap said he’d fight me, so I stopped the bus. He walked down and I opened the door and let him go first. When he stepped out the coach, I slammed the door and drove off.”

He certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humour, cracking a number of jokes and even recited the alphabet backwards.

Incredibly, he only gave up his driver’s licence three years ago and he and his wife Ann are just short of 70 years marriage

There were plenty of stories shared by a group of drivers who among them have covered multi-million kilometres.

Les Jennings, now 90, started with Hope Bartlett as an “office boy” before being old enough to gain his licence.

“You had to be 21 back then,” he said.

“I got a job at 15,  I was just in third year at high school.

“You had to be good at maths, as you had to add up all the ticket prices in pounds, shillings and pence and also had to have a neat hand, as you had to handwrite the the tickets.”

He was there for four years before the business was sold to Rio Motors, where he remained for 16 years before moving to Pioneer Motor Service, where he stayed for 31 years.

Ross Stuart, 80, drove buses for 38 years and during that time notched up “a couple of million miles”.

He started Stuart’s Coaches with is father Ron in 1969.

Ross started taking tours to Central Australia in 1972 and over the years has done literally hundreds of tours to the area, ranging from two-week jaunts to six-week adventures.

“We first started taking school groups out there and then it just evolved into big tours,” he said

Such was his contribution to promoting that area, he was inducted into the Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs.

“I couldn’t count how many times we have toured out there, it would be hundreds,” he said.

He continued driving until 2007 when he retired.

And what did he and his wife Mary do?

Converted a bus into a motorhome and “went travelling.”

“When you take tours you are busy looking after your passengers - it can be up to 40 or more each time - you don’t often get a chance to see a lot yourself,” he said.

“People come back from a day out in a town and say ‘Have you seen this?’  ‘Did you see that?’

Quite often I’d say ‘No’ as we didn't get a chance

“So we went traveling and went to see the things we missed out on. We could stay as long as we wanted in a town or pull out as soon as we wanted,” he laughed.

John Kennedy, 66, has been around buses virtually all of his life.

His father, Lyndon, started Kennedys Bus and Coach in 1935 after buying the business off Harry Smith.

After completing his mechanical apprenticeship, John started work at Stuart’s Coaches.

He joined Ross taking the tours to Central Australia.

“He really taught me how to drive,” he said.

After four years he joined Pioneer Motor Service as a mechanic, working with Sam, Les and “Rookie”, a  connection that lasted just one month short of 20 years.

“Working with Sam, Les and Rookie was a great experience,” he said.

He then moved to Kennedy’s Tours and has been there ever since and is now managing director.

Craig Solomon, considered to be a “youngster” among the group, drove buses for Pioneer between 1978 and ’87, saying it was a “wonderful experience” to work with some of the “greats” of the industry.

And of course over the years most of the drivers have also undertaken the local school runs.

The area recently bid farewell to other long-time bus company owner and driver with the death of Bill Gill.