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'Ye Old Fare Boxes and Change Carriers'

 
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Sun May 27, 2007 6:54 pm    Post subject: 'Ye Old Fare Boxes and Change Carriers' Reply with quote

Here is another in a series of essays that I had first presented at BTN and would like to reprise for the record;

‘Ye Old Fare Boxes and Change Carriers’.

You youngsters may not remember but bus drivers in the days of yore actually made change and ‘hand cranked’ coins through their fare boxes along with coordinating transfers, shifting gears, opening and closing doors and, with all of this, managing to steer the bus in the right direction (usually!).

For decades Green Bus Lines used a model ‘D’ ‘Johnson’ manual fare box (pictured below) which was affixed to a post at the dashboard in close proximity to the driver’s seat. These machines (which dated originally from 1909) were considered to be the ‘DC3’s’ of their ilk and were so rugged, well built and precise that they virtually never needed repair.

Passengers would drop coins at the top of the box which the operator could see zigzagging down a shoot to a set of trap doors. Once enough coins accumulated at the doors the driver would then push a lever to send them to a counting mechanism. In the case of manual operation the driver would hand crank the coins through the counter and scoop them out from a hopper at the bottom of the box (NYCTS used the same machine but modified to crank electrically).

For more information on the model ‘D’ accompanied by some very interesting pictures go to; www.johnsonfarebox.com and scroll to The Story of the Johnson Fare Box Company.

At sometime in the late fifties Green Line decided to go modern with the purchase of the all new ‘Grant Electro-farer’. The Electro-farer, which stood on its own special stanchion, resembled a pinball machine with a large viewing window and a maize that the coins had to travel down to be sorted into its ‘built in’ change carrier below (actually, it looked and sounded more like Robbie the Robot from the movie ‘Forbidden Planet’ – at least this writer thought so). Each denomination of coin would make a different tone of chime and the drivers became so accustomed to these sounds that they could focus more of their attention to driving as fares were being collected.

I mentioned the fact that the Electro-farer had its own ‘built in’ change carrier. This convenience signaled the end of the era in which drivers had to carry their own change makers.

The most common change carriers of the day were also manufactured by Johnson (see picture below) and usually had one tube each for quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies (they were considered to be a starter set and were just about the same as the Good Humor drivers used to carry).

But then there were the more sophisticated models manufactured by the McGill Company. The McGill machines (and that’s what they were) came in ‘modular’ form and could be custom constructed to meet any change vending need. You started with the two ends (each with a belt hook) and then added what tubes you required. There were drivers that had as many as eight sections.

The most unique feature of the McGill was the fact that you could adjust the delivery system up to five coins at a time (in other words, when the fare was thirteen cents and a passenger needed change for a nickel you could adjust the machine to flip out five pennies at once. These adjustable devices came in very handy as the fares began to increase from a nickel to seven cents, to a dime, to thirteen cents and so on.

Now I think you can see that years ago driving a bus wasn’t quite as easy as it looked!

Mr. Linsky
"The Green Hornet"






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Cyberider




Joined: 27 Apr 2007
Posts: 501
Location: Tempe, AZ

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the old days, the driver had more work to do driving the bus and all the mechanical things involved in doing so. However, the customers were more civilized in those days and he didn't have to worry about being robbed, beaten, or the other things that seem to be prevalent in modern society. I remember the Johnson fareboxes and the driver's making change fondly. Those were the good old days. Too bad we can't live that way now.
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2007 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cyberider wrote:
In the old days, the driver had more work to do driving the bus and all the mechanical things involved in doing so. However, the customers were more civilized in those days and he didn't have to worry about being robbed, beaten, or the other things that seem to be prevalent in modern society. I remember the Johnson fareboxes and the driver's making change fondly. Those were the good old days. Too bad we can't live that way now.


Cyberider,

How right you are. In the entire time that I was associated with Green Bus Lines I never remember any assault on a driver!

Once in a while you might get a rowdy couple of kids or, on the late shifts, a drunk or two but that was the extent of it and, even those minor incidences always seemed to end up peacefully.

I can imagine what must go through driver's minds today as they take to the wheel wondering if they will make it through their shifts in one piece!

That's really a shame and a sad commentary on society today.

I'm happy that I only had the nicest memories during my time behind the wheel!

Mr. Linsky
"The Green Hornet"
etc.

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