BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Gentlemen:

Does anyone here know when the last of these classic buses operated in revenue service in the US?

In my area of NJ, I know the last WHITES (Hudson County Boulevard) ran about 1967/68; likewise the ACF-Brills of INTER-CITY.

I remember the ACF-Brills of DE CAMP lasting well into the 60's also.

Scranton (PA) used WHITES until very late in the game (early 70's).

Any info appreciated.....

"NYO"

[Mr. Linsky]

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629,

You might also think about D.C. Transit's Whites which were among the last to be manufactured by the company in the mid fifties.

I'm certain that they got at least ten years or more out of them.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[RailBus63]

According to the Motor Coach Age article about Scranton, the private Scranton Transit Co. system used Whites right up until a strike shut down operations in November 1971. Service never resumed and was replaced the following year by the public County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS) which acquired a fleet of second-hand TDH-4512's from TNJ to begin operations.

Boston's White buses lasted long enough into the MBTA era to get the circle (T) logo, but were among the buses replaced by the authority's big order of 300 GMC New Look buses in 1966-67.

Jim D.

[Mr. Linsky]

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629,

Here's a D.C. Transit White Motor Company Model 1144 built in 1949 still seen in active service on the streets of the nation's capital in mid 1965 (and, by the looks of it, I would say that it wasn't done yet!).

One thing that operators always said about these buses was that they took a licking and kept on ticking!

Photo courtesy of '4509bus' and is available at eBay as item # 350936319708.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Mr. "L"/All:

Thanks for your input; Mr. "L": that classic DC White reminds of simliar buses rostered by the old NHBL, which ran right by our old Union City apartment house, back in the 60's.

The oldest of thier Whites were Model 798's, if my memory serves me correctly.

Many eons ago, I also remember the ACF-Brills operated by the SOMERSET; they looked particulary handsome in that striking maroon paint "THE BLUE STAR ROUTE".

Speaking of Brills, the C-44 suburbans that were rostered by INTER-CITY ("The Brown Bus With The Orange Band") were also quite handsome; these also ran on Hudson Boulevard on the old #97, out of Journal Square.

Well into the 60's, I also remember the company running Whites.......aaahh, the memories!

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

......just now reminded of the oddball-looking REO coaches that once ran on Jersey City's Lafayette & Greenville, many moons ago.

Like the Brills and the Whites, they were QUITE distinctive; these buses indeed stood out from the more familiar GMC's........

"NYO"

[Mr. Linsky]

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629,

What you probably remember is something akin to what is pictured below in the guise of a 1945 31 passenger Reo Model 96-HTD operating for the Danforth Bus Company of Toronto.

Up until now I've avoided photos of Reo Buses because I never considered them to be a real bus (more like a glorified school bus) and I was not alone because to my knowledge only one company in the city ever operated two of the same model shown and that was North Shore Bus Company - interestingly, when the city took over North Shore in 1947 they immediately sent the Reos to the Department of Public Works to become maintenance cars.

Photo from the James V. Salmon Collection at the Toronto Public Library.

Many regards for the season,

Mr. 'L'

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Mr. "L":

Yep!

That's JUST what I remember, tooling about the teeming streets of Jersey City, long, long ago!

That huge "grill" surrounding the destination sign always intrigued me!

"No frills" buses, to be sure, they reminded me somewhat of the FORD transits; small buses that made no pretensions of being sleek or stylish......just hard workin' city buses!

Man, it's all so long ago, now.

Thanks, also, for posting that great "ol' timey" view!

"NYO"

[MBTA Lynn]

I remember riding a REO that Michaud Bus Lines in Salem, Massachusetts used on their belt line route in Salem. That has to be over 50 years ago.

[John Roth]

ACF Brills were last seen in Baltimore in 1967. I rode many of them to school in those days. I actually liked them.

John

[JimmiB]

Here's another REO shown on 12th Street in Lebanon,PA, operated by the former Lebanon Auto Bus Co.

This was posted on another thread on here by Mr. "L"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

JimmiB:

Talk about an OLD bus!

An OLDIE but a GOODIE, for sure!

Aahhhh, for the days when buses were colorful and didn't resemble giant mutated insect larvae or rubber-tired shoe boxes!

Thanks for finding this one!

"NYO"