BusTalk Forum Index BusTalk
A Community Discussing Buses and Bus Operations Worldwide!
 
 BusTalk MainBusTalk Main FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups BusTalk GalleriesBusTalk Galleries   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

'Bus Nostalgia'
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 36, 37, 38 ... 45, 46, 47  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    BusTalk Forum Index -> Transit Bus Manufacturers
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 2:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pictured below is fleet number 12 - a 1966 GMC Scenicruiser with an Ansair RE 159 body in a right hand drive configuration operating for Driver's Bus Lines of Mount Wavery, Victoria, Australia.

Number 12 features high back seats, air conditioning and a rather recognizable windshield and destination sign quadrant (very much GM New Look), along with underfloor luggage compartments for Charter operation and jazzy full chromium wheel covers (somehow, they don't look that bad on this bus).

Driver's Coaches purchased # 12 used in 1975 and sold it after only two years to Landmark Tours of Melbourne.

March 31st. 1931 saw the Driver Brothers commence transit operations in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne with two home spun bodies mounted on Pontiac chassis and built the company to its present status as one of the largest tour bus operations on the continent.

Photo and information courtesy of Driver's Bus Lines.

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Talk about railroad cars being built from bus bodies, here's a photo of a train that really takes the cake;

BTW; as yet, I have no idea who built it or where it operated but I'm working on that - any ideas are welcome.

What I can do is give you a good idea of what buses were used to fabricate these cars;

The first two are unquestionably derived from early phase GM Model 4509 transits (in spite of the extra full sashes added at their rear ends) as evidenced by the equal widths of the single passenger windows immediately forward and aft of what was the rear door.

In later production the forward sash was made narrower to accommodate roof strengthening elements to counteract external cracking that was discovered on some of New York City's 500 TDH 4510's (this modification was carried through the balance of 4509's produced as well as all 4511's and 4512's that followed).

It's the third car that really becomes a puzzle; noting that only full sets of windows surround the door, we can establish that it may have been built from a GM TDH 5502 (a special group of 43 foot coaches made exclusively for Chicago) which were the only GM's with an all full window configuration.

However, there is a third full sash at the rear of the car which had to have been added on from parts from another bus.

Notice on the front end of the first car that while the original window was blanked out, a remnant of the rain gutter still remains.

The last of the four cars is too difficult to discern.

All in all, a very interesting study!

Photo courtesy of Bryan Cooper

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 3:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks to AL at GMOldLookBus who has pretty much solved the mystery of the picture above in posting the following information;

"OK here are some facts as I understand them; the photo was taken by Paul Hunnell (as seen credited in the frame) and scanned from a postcard he made from an original slide.

The 2 coaches closest to the camera are most likely from 4512s. Yes the small windows are the same size either side of the center door. But note that beyond the second small window, there are several pairs of windows. As 4509, 10, 11, 12 only had one pair its not just a 45xx body. What we are probably looking at is the front half of 2 4512s joined back to back at that center door. These cars all seem to be custom built as note that the second "coach" has a slightly different window arrangement than the first.

I can also tell you with certainty that the 2 rear coaches were not made from 5502s (of which there were 101 not 100, CTA 500-600, nee CMC same #s), but most likely from the other paired window models that had no single windows, 3612s or 3714s.

So where was this? Mexico was a good guess, the style of the buildings and the vegetation certainly eliminates the American midwest, and indeed there is a very Latin American flavor about it all.

In fact the photo is taken on the Cuban National Railways. Delivery lists show 550 3612s, 100 3714s, and 228 4512s delivered to Havana in the 50s, so there was an ample supply of buses to create these.

Given the embargo of US shipments to Cuba in the 60's it is unlikely that they were 2nd hand from the US (although Canada is possible). And given that the 5502s were not retired until the mid 60s it would be quite a feat of smuggling for there to be remains of a 5502 hiding in there.

There were some other coaches built from GM old looks but they were so modified that its not as obvious as on these.

All in all an interesting "splice" job by the Cuban shop forces, but I bet that they rode like hell on those freight car trucks. The photo was taken in the 70s or 80s, I could ask Paul for a specific date.

The idea of them being built originally as rail cars is not so far fetched as it might seem as the GM Aero Train of the mid 50s utilized 4104 body shells as the basis of its cars.

Fun to watch the speculation, but a really odd and unique rebuild.

Al"


Comment

I do only take exception to Al's remark that the cars could have been built by GM - GM has adapted bus bodies for railway use as can be seen below on the mentioned 1950's experimental Aero Train passenger cars utilizing PD 4104 shells but the quality is a far cry from the 'shoemakers' jobs the Cubans did above!

Photo credit within frame.

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 6:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr 'L' -

Sure would be nice if the photo of the ingenious rebuilds was more crisp and sharp. Can't really discern the markings.

The AEROTRAIN? Alas! Several "trunk lines" had extended road trials on the two sets built. In fact, no one could much
figure an optimal application. In the UPRR view (here) it documents the "dying on the hill" qualities. Reports tell us this
was the case on P R R. Also, a bit of a reputation as "rough rider" cars.

When all was said and done, I suspect like other less than screaming success efforts, G M would neither confirm nor
deny any of it ever happened. The two trains served out working lives in short haul, Chicago commuter runs over the
flat as a pool table, ROCK ISLAND...

IMHO: For the market applications G M envisioned, the better choice was BUDD RDC sets. B & O did this nicely with
its Pittsburgh - Washington - Baltimore - Philadelphia, three car, Daylight Speedliner service...

........................Vern....................
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 3:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been asked as to what extent Mack was involved in the manufacture of Suburban models in the post conventional front engine era beginning circa the mid thirties.

At the time, Mack's concentration was on competing against White, Twin, ACF and Yellow in an all out effort to convert traction lines to buses nationwide and what Suburbans that might have been required by their transit customer were usually farmed out to coach builders for customizing (such was the case with Los Angeles Motor Coach in which ten model CT's were reworked by Crown Coach on the west coast before delivery).

However, Mack did experiment on occasion as can be seen below in a factory photo of a modified 1940 Model CO-3-G and one of three built for Rawding Tours of Boston, Massachusetts.

It appears as though the entire front clip was face lifted with a rarely seen sedan door, the elimination of the front destination sign to allow for a mush larger windshield and full height slide open passenger windows to accommodate viewing from high back seats.

All and all, a very unusual bus from Mack.

Photo courtesy of the Mack Truck Museum.

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks to Tripstop at GMOldLookBus, a better photo of a 1940 Mack Model CO3G Suburban configuration has been found.

In the picture below, we see fleet number 504 in Boston carrying the flag of Gray Line Sightseeing Tours with the familiar glass panels built into its roof.

As coincidence would have it # 504 was owned by Rawding Boston Tours and could well be the bus depicted in my last post in this thread (above).

The 36 passenger Mack Model CO of which 165 were built between 1939 and 1942 was second only in size to the Model CM which was the largest and most popular model of the time.

Photo from the Bob Redden Archive.

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A little more about Rawding Tours (above) and their 1940 Suburban Mack 'CO's;

Enjoy,

Mr. 'L'

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 3:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've covered the Yellow Coach Model TD 4505 earlier in this thread but only in the guise of a standard two door transit configuration.

Pictured below and shown in a later Metropolitan Coach Lines livery is fleet # 2501 - a 1941 Yellow Coach Model TD 4505 and one of thirty-five (2500 to 2534) delivered originally to Pacific Electric Railway Company of Los Angeles, California (Metropolitan was a successor to Pacific Electric).

Of note, of course, are the single door 'suburban' features including 45 high-backed seats on platforms, parcel racks, drop-sash passenger windows which eliminated the standee transoms and a very unusual custom full height sealed sash in place of the standard quarter lens at the rear.

Interestingly, of the 733 TD 4505's manufactured between 1940 and 1941 only 56 had the drop-sash option.

Somewhere along the line, # 2501 was updated with a heavier paired window front bumper and more modern directional signals.

Photo credit within frame.

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bassman



Age: 55
Joined: 24 Dec 2010
Posts: 15
Location: Buffalo, New York

PostPosted: Mon Dec 27, 2010 6:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. Linsky wrote:
Pictured below is a GM ad for the RTS 04 touting a vastly improved Air Conditioning and Heating system.

I believe that the 04 was the last of the GM built RTS's and probably the best but most of you who read this will know much more about that than I do.

All I know is that it seems as though these buses have found a very important niche in the history of transportation. And, in one form or another, will probably break an all time record when you consider that the species, which came upon the scene in 1979, will continue running somewhere for at least another five to ten years!

Long live the RTS!Mr. Linsky
"The Green Hornet"
Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica & Arverne, NY

Actually, it's the RTS-06 that was the last GM-built RTS. TMC and NovaBus picked up the RTS-06 until Millenium Transit rebadged it the RTS Legend.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

'The First All-Steel Flxible Clipper'

Pictured below (upper) is a very early version (circa 1938) Flxible Clipper and, while the negative was accidentally reversed making it appear to be a right hand drive Australian model, it was manufactured in Loudonville, Ohio for U.S. operation (in this case, serving a second life as transportation for a mid-western Christian college.

A little history;

In 1938 Flxible came out with a new 25 passenger clipper that looked visually very similar to the previous years model, but had significant changes when inspected closely.

This was the first Clipper to have an all steel frame that was built as a unit (instead of a body mounted on a frame) and incorporated a rear engine design for its powerful Straight Eight Buick 'Fireball' plant.

The model also featured smooth sides with no distinct fenders. To compensate for the lack of true fenders, early paint designs usually featured a two-color scheme to emulated the look of streamlined wheel housings. You can identify this unit by its flat side walls and a driver's window which is taller than the rectangular passenger windows (as better demonstrated in the lower image).

In 1939, Flxible increased the seating capacity of the clipper to 29 passengers by adding a seventh side window and extending the coach length (and its wheelbase) by 36 inches.

Photos borrowed for educational purposes only.

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


Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Found this interesting ad as seen in 'Bus Transportation' Magazine in 1953 hawking the 'Destinator' roll signs and 'Keystone' lighting products installed on Public Service Coordinated Transport of New Jersey's latest GM equipment.

The real bus in the photo is a 1953 TDM 4512 and sports the custom made Public Service plaque in place of the standard GM wings and logo under the windshield (ala Greyhound) as well as the double bars on the passenger windows behind all four over wheel housing benches as was required in the Garden State.

The light fixtures bring back memories of my seasonal romps behind the wheels of Green Line's buses; on evening and night runs we took the sides of our fists and smacked the center of the globe which worked magically to get a bad light to work.

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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

PostPosted: Mon May 09, 2011 2:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pictured below is fleet number 1684 - a 1937 Mack Model 'CT' and one of ten (1680 to 1689) operating for the Motor Transit Lines subsidiary of the legendary Pacific Electric out of Los Angeles, California.

The Mack 'CT' was a very popular transit model with nearly six-hundred being built between 1935 and 1943 and, of that number, only the ten to Motor Transit were configured to suburban operation with the chassis and frames supplied to Crown Coach of L.A. for completion of the bodies and interiors.

These coaches featured comfortable high back seats, parcel racks and elevated platforms to accommodate four underfloor luggage compartments.

Probably because the CT's were notoriously underpowered their over the road assignments were short lived and they spent most of their years with the company on the Whittier Boulevard route.

Photo courtesy of the Motor Bus Society.

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

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
buron444



Age: 78
Joined: 21 May 2010
Posts: 7
Location: Madrid (Spain)

PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2011 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

buron444 wrote:
Hi. I am a Spaniard just registered in Bus Talk (you can see my (very short) presentation in the corresponding forum).

Recently I was stunned by this picture of a 1958-registered Spanish motorcoach:

(from http://www.camionesclasicos.com/FORO/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=18369 )

I was stunned because this coach body is totally different from any one conceivable in Spain, by then or in any time. I find it to be somehow alike to the Mack MV-620-D Shocked

My question is: Could it be anything of American origin?


By the way, the operating company was La UnĂ­on de Benisa, a well known Eastern Spain operator.

Thanks in advance for any guess.



Just in case somebody was ever interested in this topic (I really guess no).

Actually it is a Leyland Royal Tiger with a Ghia-designed body by Casaro. Like this one:



Therefore, nothing North-American, but British chassis, Italian body and Spanish operator.


Regards.
Jose A. Lopez
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Tue May 10, 2011 11:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I clicked on the link in the photo, and the next post shows a comparison phote of the Mack. While they both have a 'bustle'-back, and 'tailfins', the Mack is easily twice the size of that bus.

I suppose when you build a body on chassis bus, anything is possible....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 8:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jose -

A belated WELCOME to you. Noted the fascinating photo you had earlier posted. All the more interesting a LEYLAND chassis.
Apparently, few ever appeared with US operators. Its DIESEL power plant had a bit of a following. Washington DC, CAPITAL
TRANSIT used the engines, so to replace gasoline motors in its WHITE 1144 coaches...

Latest post up by Mr Linsky is especially intriguing, and depicts CROWN bodies on MACK chassis. And, so, related discussion
about what to call it. In my own conjecture, whatever name used on the REGISTRATION slip is controlling. I'd be inclined to
state these as CROWN coaches. By now, hard to figure who guessed wrong, and the coaches later thought underpowered...

..........................Vern......................
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    BusTalk Forum Index -> Transit Bus Manufacturers All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 36, 37, 38 ... 45, 46, 47  Next
Page 37 of 47

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group