BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

Pictured below somewhere in the suburban environs of the nation's capital in 1957 is fleet number 3136 - a 1953 GM Coach Model TGH-3102 and one of 57 like models numbered from 3100 to 3156 inherited from Capital Transit Company and operating for its successor D.C. Transit of Washington, D.C.

Built upon steel frames and chassis unlike their heavy duty cousins, the little 3102's featured a 270 cubic inch Chevrolet truck engine coupled with a beefed up version of the same 'Dual Range HydraMatic' transmission used on Cadillac and Oldsmobile models.

In lieu of a more costly Thermo-Matic heating and ventilation system, a forced air heater/defroster unit was located in the dashboard with fresh air available to it from a small intake under the windshield similar to the system used on GM's suburbans.

While the popular 3102 broke no production records with only 1605 manufactured, it did take first place as the longest running model in Yellow/GM history being available from the beginning of 1953 to the end of 1963.

D.C. found these diminutive buses to be most reliable on short low volume suburban feeder routes and downtown loop operations and ordered another seventeen in 1958.

Of note on # 3136 are brackets - one to each side of the destination sign - to mount school bus signs and a strange tube like device protruding next to the passenger side tow hook over the front bumper.

Photo thanks to Bruce K. of eBay.

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