BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

Pictured below is fleet number 4094 - a 1946 White Motor Company Model 798 and one of 125 (4011 to 4135) delivered to the City of Detroit Department of Street Railways in the spring of that year.

Detroit Street Railway (known more familiarly as 'DSR') has served the Detroit metropolitan area as a public trust since before the turn of the twentieth century and was a pioneer in rubber wheeled transportation as far back as the mid teens.

Never to be accused of partiality in its choice of equipment, the company selected their buses to meet the needs of each unique situation with fleets not only of Whites but Twin Coaches, Macks, GM's and even Fords for routes of least volume.

The 44 passenger amidships engined # 4094 is seen crossing Monroe Street as it makes its way north on Woodward Avenue and is signed for Southfield on the Hamilton Line.

Photo courtesy of the S. Sycko photo collection.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[timecruncher]

Louisville had a sizeable number of these coaches, gasoline-powered, and purchased to replace streetcars on the heavy 4th Street route. I don't have any photos, but I recall riding on them.

LRwy had quite a bit of trouble with the trannies in the "big Whites," as they were known. Finally, they locked them into a torque-drive, and they were relegated to tripper service due to high maintenance and fuel costs. 25 new GM 5103's were delivered at the end of 1950 and early 1951 to take over base service on 4th Street.

The big Whites disappeared during major service reductions in the late fifties.

timecruncher

[RailBus63]

Boston had some White 788's that made it into the MBTA era, complete with the circle 'T' logo.

[Mr. Linsky]

Here's another page from the White brochure that I had added to 'The Great Race' thread that might interest you.

I never knew they were called 'Underslungs'!

Enjoy,

Mr. 'L'

[Hankg42]

I never realized that DeCamp was ever based in Staten Island (as seen on the above brochure). I always thought they were based in New Jersey (at least in my lifetime). I remember seeing lots of them in the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

[Mr. Linsky]

H.G.,

I saw that myself and wondered because I also always thought De Camp to be a Jersey outfit but figured that maybe they had shops or some kind of depot in Staten Island as well.

However, if you look through the very comprehensive history of the company at the URL (below), there is absolutely no mention of any Staten Island connection.

It could be that White made a mistake - they actually had no customers on the Island because Staten Island Coach, the major carrier, was devout ACF at the time.

That's all I can tell you.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

http://www.decamp.com/about.htm

[Hankg42]

[fishbowl]

Sorry, but I don't have anything smart to say about the White. The CTA ran them on Archer Ave. in Chicago when I was a kid, but I never rode one. I remember two things about the exterior:
1. The overhang above the windshield coupled with the upward curving lower sill made the front look angry.
2. The rear end had more vents than any bus I'd ever seen before. I mean, how hot did those engines run?!?



(Told you I had nothing to say.)

[Mr. Linsky]

F.B.,

You're right about the 798 windshields but not for the same reason that I disliked them - with such a narrow scope of vision it would have given me claustrophobia had I been behind the wheel!

I can't account for the amount of rear venting except to say that it may have had to do with the fact that the engine was mounted amidships under the floor which, in of itself, created problems with fume leaks into the passenger compartment just as the ACF's did.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[fishbowl]