BusTalk

[Dieseljim]

If anyone remembers the old dearly departed Crystal Beach,Ontario amusement park that closed for good in 1989 after101 years, a trip over from Buffalo on the hourly Canada Coach Lines bus was as much a part of the experience as the park itself was. Those TDM4515s assigned to the run were like stepping aboard a time machine in a way. That 6-71 Detroit Diesel and the driver's prowess at shifting gears were something to behold. Three buses and drivers held down this run throughout the day and no two buses were quite the same. On the trip over, one would get a 4515 with standard low back transit style seating and on the return trip, get one with high back reclining seats, since about half these buses had standard transit seating, the other half the high back seats. Most were equipped with the red flashing lights so they could do double duty as school buses when needed. All had the right style drop sash windows and the transit seats were similar to seats found in school buses of the period. Once in awhile Canada Coach Lines would slip in a borrowedTDH 4512 from Hamilton Street Railway or a GM "new look" 4517 from the Street Railway as well, usually as a second section, since as late as the 1970s, the Canada Coach buses for Crystal Beach would fill up on some schedules and a second bus and driver called to make up a second section, and CCL used whatever was handy for that purpose, even if it meant borrowing a bus or two from its parent company, the Hamilton Street Railway, which still ran electric buses in the City of Hamilton at that late date. Even after the boat, Canadiana tied up for the last time in the mid 1950s, I believe the charm of Canada Coach Lines buses made up for what I had missed out on, since the boats were before my time. It was just as well that the service was eventually discontinued as the park started going downhill by the time the 1980s rolled around. The 1700 series of TDM4515s had all been retired by then and I cannot help but wonder if at least one has been preserved. This type of bus deserves it.At least CCL left enough timetables behind to remember that friendly bus line by. BTW, Canada Coach Lines is the subject of a staple bound booklet I have written on one of the two Canadian bus lines directly serving Buffalo. The other being Gray Coach Lines.