BusTalk

[HwyHaulier]

Mr 'L' -

Every time I try to get out of Jersey City politics, they keep pulling me back in! The Hon. Frank Hague served as Mayor for thirty (30) years.
There are hints he may have been masterful in working the system. Simply because we see his name - in the photo - it is too much a time
spread. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Hague

Another approach at dates? See the bumper card for "ALL SAINTS BAZAAR"? Note days of week and dates. Compare that with 'web based
Calendars, and we establish it as 1942: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=1942&country=1

..............All part of the service! <G>............. Vern...................

[Q65A]

Autocar and Mack were fierce rivals in the trucking industry (especially for the heavy duty vocational market) but in the bus industry Mack had the upper hand by far.

[buslist]

[Q65A]

Imagine an RTS school bus; wow!

[Mr. Linsky]

Bob,

That is a sight isn't it?

I'm getting credit for the picture somehow and I've never seen that bus before in my life!

Who knows?

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[buslist]

[buslist]

[Mr. Linsky]

The elegant 'Parlor Car' pictured below is fleet # 305 - a 1937 Yellow Coach Model 732 and one of six numbered between 300 and 305 to have been delivered to Harmony Short Line, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in that year.

Inspired by a Public Service Coordinated Transport of New Jersey (PSCT) design and built upon the underpinnings of Yellow's transit model 731, the 31 Passenger, 219 inch wheelbase model 732 boasted a 707 cu. in. gasoline engine mounted transversely at the rear, reclining seats (except for those over the wheel wells), interior baggage racks and a rooftop bin for additional luggage.

Of the 152 732's built between 1936 and 1939, fifty of the first off the production line went to PSCT in a stretched 36 passenger version with the balance spread among many 'mom and pop' operations.

Bus enthusiasts have agreed that the model 732 was one of the best looking Yellows of the period.

About Harmony Short Line;

Perhaps one of the most well known of all transit systems that operated some or all service in Allegheny County, besides Pittsburgh Railways Company, was the Harmony Short Line (HSL).

While the company's roots stretch back well into the era of the trolley car, the buses and their operations that followed in the early twenties lent much to HSL's reputation as a quality transporter.

Today, Harmony Short Line's routes have become part of the Allegheny County Port Authority system.

Photo credit within frame.
Info derived from Antique Motor Coach Assn. of Pa.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

A viewer on another bus channel has asked if the Harmony Short Line Company didn't also have local transit routes in and around the Pittsburgh area.

The answer is yes; Harmony was among a group of independent companies that operated transit in the 'Steel City' before takeover by Allegheny County Port Authority in 1964.

Seen below is fleet # 559 - a 1952 GM Model TDH 3612 and one of ten numbered 550 to 559 to have been delivered to the company in two shipments between 1951 and 1952.

Of note are the factory fog lamps, custom directional signals and the lack of GM's famous wings and emblem under the windshield.

GM Photographic image courtesy of the Motor Bus Society collection.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

Came upon this great spec. sheet marked as GM's Model TG and TGH 3206's but actually for what was produced as TG and TD 3206's between 1945 and 1946 (apparently, engineering released the specifications before they new what they were going to build!).

The 32 passenger 3206 (34 without rear door) was a very popular and a very welcome sight immediately after the war with 850 copies being built (675 Diesels and 175 Gasoline) and all equipped with hydraulics transmissions.

The largest single customer was Public Service Coordinated Transport of Newark, New Jersey with 343 Diesel models.

I think we have all been led to believe that GM Old Looks came in only two widths - a hair less than 96 inches and a hair less than 102 inches (a hair being one quarter of an inch).

But I had read somewhere that there were models at a hair less than 95 inches as can be noted under 'Overall Width (top of wheelhouse)' below.

Notice on the model shown that the rear door is push open and that the side destination sign glass is no larger than the standee panes.

Photo thanks to Bruce K. of eBay.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

Seen posing for the factory photographer at Kent, Ohio is a 1931 Twin Coach Model '20' serial numbered in the 22,000's and being made ready for delivery to the New Haven and Shore Line Railway Company of New Haven, Connecticut.

With a 120 inch wheelbase, a rare all steel body (for the day) and power derived from a single 90 horsepower 'WXO' engine, the little model '20', dubbed a miniature model '40' after it famed big brother, was available as either a single door parlor car as shown or in transit configuration with the rear or exit door just aft of the rear wheels.

101 Models 20's were built between 1931 and 1932 with sizable orders delivered to Pacific Electric, Houston Electric and the Schenectady Railway Company.

About Shore Line;

Shore Line Electric was an interurban traction project that attempted to operate a line in competition with the New Haven Railroad linking New Haven with the eastern Connecticut coast line. However, its operating life was short lived lasting only from September of 1910 to July of 1919.

In early 1923 the company reorganized as the New Haven & Shore Line Railway and resumed trolley service on the New Haven line to the town of Guilford and operated bus service from Guilford to New London via Saybrook and Middletown.

The NH&SL trolley segment of the route was ended completely in late 1929 and replaced by buses.

Photo and basic information thanks to the Motor Bus Society.
Notes on NH&SL history supplied by Bill Young.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

Here's a great shot (upper frame) of Greyhounds prototype Scenicruiser officially known as the GX-2 which was first shown around the country in late 1949.

Of note is the unique use of a set of pantograph style windshield wipers on the rear windows to provide lounging passengers with clear views even in the most inclement weather.

As can be seen in the lower frame, GX-2 was not relegated to the trash heap and, in fact, enjoyed a long life providing comfortable travel accommodations for the Ralph Marterie Orchestra during the height of the 'swing era'.

Some history of the GX-2 thanks to NorCal's Express Newsletter;

Immediately after World War II Greyhound stepped up its efforts to design an all new 'flag ship' for its national fleet and in 1949 introduced its prototype GX-2 Scenicruiser which was fabricated in house by the Greyhound Motors and Supply division.

The GX-2 was another of Raymond Lowey's designs and incorporated many of the desirable and innovative features of Greyhound's famous 'Silversides' model such as high level seating, underfloor parcel and luggage space, and air conditioning. One new feature that the GX-2 boasted was it’s 40 foot length which was not yet legal in many states and for which Greyhound began to actively lobby state officials for an increase in the maximum length restriction from the then 35 feet.

The result became history with the production of 1,001 40 foot long GM PD-4501's beginning in July of 1954 (sans rear wipers!).

Upper frame courtesy of Bruce K. of eBay.
Lower frame from Redden Archives.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

From the pages of a 1982 industry journal we see an ad for the 'New Look Classic' as presented by GM's Diesel Division of London, Ontario, Canada.

Canadian busmen were not enamoured by the so called 'Advanced Design Bus' (ADB) that the U.S. government was promoting in the late 70's as a replacement for the more traditional designs and they especially disliked GM's interim 'RTS' offering.

To appease operators north of the border, GM gave its reliable and time tested 'New Look' model an even newer and more modern look and called it their 'Classic'.

The Classic, which was built only in Canada, was well received not only by Canadian operators but by many in the U.S. market as well.

Built by a succession of manufacturers including GM, MCI and Nova Bus between 1982 and 1997, over 4500 of these unique models were sold with some still on rosters today.

Photo courtesy of eBay.

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

[HwyHaulier]

MR 'L' -

Thanks! And, good to see this item about the CLASSIC...

The History Lesson here is it documents that GMC (State Side) ran out of patience with the evolved, bureaucratic, "...too many cooks..."
nature of the transit bus trades. Surely, the old timers did not welcome anything from "...wet behind the ears..." types, telling GMC how
to build! In the "Old Days" the options were in the Sales Brochures, or it wasn't.

.........................Vern.......................

[Mr. Linsky]

The Twin Coach Company's failure to successfully market its high capacity forty foot long 'Fageoliner' in the early fifties signaled the end of the Kent, Ohio manufacturer's long and storied career in bus building but did allow it the opportunity to concentrate on the expansion of its very lucrative Diesel engine manufacturing and specialty truck making enterprises.

At the same time, the Flxible Corporation, just a few miles down the road in Loudonville, was experiencing the slumping sales of its once hugely popular 'Clipper' line and was ready to try its hand at transit concepts.

In 1953 in what could be called a marriage made in heaven, Twin merged its bus making operations into Flxible at Loudonville and with the luck of whatever, almost immediately received what had to be the largest single order that either company had ever handled.

Pictured below is fleet # 8300 - a 1959 Flxible/Twin Coach Model FT2P-40 and one of eight hundred likenesses numbered from 5500 to 5999, 8000 to 8149 and 8200 to 8349 delivered in increments between 1954 and 1959 to the Chicago Transit Authority of Chicago, Illinois.

The FT2P-40 was a slightly modified version of the Twin designed FL-40 Fageoliner and was fueled by Propane Gas.

In a ten year agreement between Twin and Flxible, all buses Flxible manufactured of Twin design would carry a Flxible/Twin Coach badge under their windshields and on their builder's plates.

By the end of production for Chicago in 1959, Flxible was already busy readying its own challenge to GM's New Look models.

Credit with photo.

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