BusTalk

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 4:50 pm Post subject:

traildriver:

This should be of interest........

http://www.esva.net/~rwest/ferries.html

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 4:56 pm Post subject:

See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_May-Lewes_Ferry

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 10:31 pm Post subject:

........autos (and buses!) carried for free on these ferries...... Wink

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown_Ferry

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2459 Location: South Florida

How about this one, for history...incredible!
And...you can still ride her today.... Cool

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_LST-510

https://www.longislandferry.com/Common/Help.aspx?page=fleet

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 9:23 am Post subject:

traildriver:

WOW!!!! Shocked

THANKS for posting these links! Wink

MOST refreshing, indeed, to see historic vessels such as this IN SERVICE, and not being either scuttled or allowed to decay at pierside for decades! Very Happy

"NYO"

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 11:17 pm Post subject:

I always wondered, from my much younger days, why TRAILWAYS had a storefront depot on 32nd Street in Union City (my hometown, from 1957 until 1971), but not in Journal Square (Personally, I cannot recall a TRAILWAYS depot at Journal Square)

However, GREYHOUND had a depot on Sip Avenue in Jersey City well into the 1970's, but no depot in Union City........

"NYO"

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Fri May 29, 2020 11:25 pm Post subject:

Quite awhile back (in another topic on this board) I can recall inquiring just where GREYHOUND had its facilities for bus repair/storage/driver accomodations, etc. in Manhattan (I believe this was on the West Side)

Where did TRAILWAYS have similar facilities? (somewhere in the vicinity of the PABT?)

With TRAILWAYS long gone, and GREYHOUND basically on life support, I would imagine that whatever GREYHOUND facilities are in Manhattan today (do they even exist?) must be quite "scaled down" from what they were, 50-60 years ago......

"NYO"

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2459 Location: South Florida

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2459 Location: South Florida

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 11:19 am Post subject:

traildriver:

Many thanks for taking the time to post this great "in depth" historical info....MOST interesting! Wink

You were indeed fortunate to actually "live those days" on a "first hand" basis; I am sure, when you think back today, you realize how much the "over the road" bus industry has changed in the past 50-odd years.

I well recall the lots in Hoboken; I can remember seeing ACADEMY buses and also GRAY LINE vehicles; a few times, before I retired, I remember seeing GL double-deck tour buses heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

Indeed, I can imagine the impact that the "long-haul" carriers have felt, during the pandemic; I remember reading, weeks ago, of MARTZ shutting down; also, LAKELAND (I believe that LAKELAND has since instituted limited service, with restrictions)

Years ago, there was a site, (I believe was called "Don's Greyhound Bus Memories", or something like that); the issue with that exhaustive site (along with its companion site on TRAILWAYS) was that the photos were in "angelfire" format, which often caused issues with viewers (I was lucky; I never had any issues with the photos, and there were TONS of rare old views, of both buses and stations!)

I also remember there were some really neat 1930's-era photos of the GREYHOUND facility in Long Island City, showing front-engine buses and 743's.........

"NYO"

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2459 Location: South Florida

Talk about the Long Island City facility...I remember towards the end, just prior to the new garage opening in '68...how the driver's loathed having to take a Scenicruiser over there. I believe their contract only gave them an incredible flat 75 cents for that, at the time. They received a decent 15 cents per mile wage on schedule trips then. Which was equivalent to about 9 dollars per hour...not bad for 1967.

Driver's would do almost anything to get out of taking that drive in heavy crosstown and bridge traffic, which could take anywhere from a half hour to two hours.

Needless to say, they were so happy to see that end... Smile

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2459 Location: South Florida

My first job, after leaving high school, was as an office boy (general clerical help), for Greyhound Leasing and Financial Corporation, in 1966, for a couple of months, prior to enlisting in the USAF. I spent spare time poring over the Annual Reports to Stockholder's of the Greyhound Corporation, which had acquired Boothe Leasing, in 1962, the actual subsidiary I worked for. This further enhanced my interest in buses, and I had applied to them, mistakenly thinking it was a 'pipeline' to employment at Greyhound Lines. But I could say that I worked for the same parent organization.

The reason I mentioned that, was because it was located in the office building at 445 Park Avenue, right off 57th Street. Lunchtime, would find me walking along 57th, where I had a fair chance of spotting a Scenicruiser enroute to or from the LIC garage. They were looking good since their recent rebuilding into "Super Scenicruiser's", with their gold Scotchlite stripes gleaming in the sunlight.

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 1:15 pm Post subject:

traildriver:

Might I suggest you publish an autobiography, and entitle it:

"TRAILS OF A TRAILDRIVER" Wink

I'll tell you this; I will be FIRST in line at the book signing! Very Happy

(just make sure you include a LOT of photos!) Wink

It's truly sad that most of the "old hands" (regarding veteran SCENICRUISER drivers, mechanics, etc.) have now since passed on to that big garage in the sky; the experiences they had on the road, the stories they could tell, sadly, for the most part, have also vanished with them. Sad

Something else I've been curious about for quite awhile; back in the day, were there more SCENICRUISERS to be seen in the New York lots, or 4104's/4106's, or, roughly about 50/50?

In "AMERICAN BUSES" (David Jacobs, 1985) there is a photo showing the interior of the TRAILWAYS offices at 625 8th Avenue in Manhattan (there's a NICE model Eagle in this photo as well!) Very Happy

The photos (NICE!) included two buses (a PREVOST and an EAGLE) lettered "SCENIC TRAILS", which was "under the corporate blanket of the TRAILWAYS organization".

Said company ran charters and tours (La Crosse, WI)

Hard to believe that the photos in this book are now at least 35 years old.....how much has changed.....and vanished, since then.......

"NYO"

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 10:57 pm Post subject:

Greyhound drivers of the "Olden Days".........

While watching the 1934 classic comedy earlier, "IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT", and seeing "Hound" drivers in military-style uniforms, got me to thinking of how TOUGH these fellows had to be, to drive a highway coach back in the 1930's.

Manual transmissions, no power steering, no air-conditioning, no super-highways, expressways, freeways, or multi-lane turnpikes.....these drivers had to truly "ROUGH IT"!!!!! Shocked

I'm willing to wager that these early "Hound" drivers indeed got one heckuva workout, every time they piloted their brutish buses from point "A" to "B"! (no need to head to one of the "old school" gyms of that era!) Rolling Eyes

Too, think of all the rest stops/meal stops en route, at little roadside stands and other local establishments; in 1929, the era of the true "modern" GREYHOUND terminal began when the new San Antonio station opened, featuring a novel mezzanine where baggage men loaded luggage directly to the rooftop luggage racks of waiting buses.

Too, think of the times if a bus became disabled (or otherwise stranded) in a more rural area; how far would a driver have to walk to find a telephone to call for assistance?

Yup, without a doubt, the resilient "Hound" drivers of that era were indeed "IRON MEN", in every sense of the word.

Back in the 1960's, surely, there were still older drivers who could still recall the days of front-engine buses, humble roadside stands, and military-style uniforms, which they clearly were proud of......

"NYO"