BusTalk

Hart Bus · Age: 74 Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 1150

I saw this photo up for sale on E-bay and never heard of the manufacturer.
The seller has several other photos up for sale intimating that there once was a manufacturer by the name of Calister Bros.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Monarch-Model-TT-20-Callister-Bros-Nassau-Bus-NY-8x10_W0QQitemZ370196424568QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item56316d2778&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A200

If the link doesn't work - go to Ebay> Collectiibles > Transportation > Buses & Taxis and scroll down to a listing expiring on 5/9/09 at 19:01 PDT.

I am not the seller nor have any interest in bidding on the item, just a healthy curiousity that I hope Mr. Linsky can solve.

ECA

HwyHaulier · Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 932 Location: Harford County, MD

Hart Bus -

And it was not a pre WWII ACF because...? I've checked around, and so far, can't get a line on Monarch or Callister Bros....

That's not to say it didn't happen. Whoever assigned the description label had to have had something in mind before stating it...

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

ripta42 · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 11:06 am Post subject:

Here's another one. "1930s. Callister Bros, Queens Village NY, manufacturer. Company record photo."

Universal Auto Bus Service #8

ripta42 · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 11:08 am Post subject:

Central Avenue #81

"'Monarch' TT20 built by Callister Brothers Inc., Queens Village, N.Y. 20-24 passengers, can be mounted on various chassis. Above body is on Ford V8 bus chassis."

ripta42 · Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 11:17 am Post subject:

There's a photo of the Callister factory on page 62 ofOld Queens, N.Y. in Early Photographs by Vincent Seyfried and William Asadorian.

"Thomas Callister's wagon works, founded in 1853, was the biggest indusry in Queens Village, turning out farm wagons for all the local farmers. In later years, Callister went in for automobiles and built a modern showroom in 1926."

Further information from Sam Berliner's Long Island history pages suggest the building presently at 215-20 Jamaica Avenue was the third and final Callister Bros. building.

HwyHaulier · Joined: 16 Dec 2007 Posts: 932 Location: Harford County, MD

ripta42 -

Many Thanks for your marvelous reserch on the point! Who wudda' known?

In the era, many of the builders had little choice but to emulate designs of this kind. Amazing what is out there, if one digs around enough...
Callister Brothers Inc., Queens Village, N.Y. is deserving of an entry on exhaustive source at Coachbuilt Encyclopedia, www.coachbuilt.com

BTW. The same point get especially vexing on West Coast builds. Seems the skill sets to build coaches long widely understood. One would
swear, at one time or another, near everyone built custom bodies in their L.A. Basin back yards!

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

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 2:00 am Post subject:

ECA,

I think most of your questions have been answered on these buses by other members.

I had heard of Calister Brothers on Long Island but I was unaware that they built buses for Nassau Bus Lines - very interesting to say the least!

Pictured below is # 44 with their main office listed as Hewlett, LI, and I would say that the photo was taken in the mid to late thirties.

The 'Hewlett' is what really interests me because I never knew that they had an office in the five towns.

Believe it or not, Nassau Bus Lines ranks up there with Fifth Avenue Coach in terms of how far back they go and, in this case, it would be 1912 when they first gained permits to operate from Lynbrook to Ostend Baths at Beach 19th. Street in Far Rockaway.

Once the first Atlantic Beach Bridge was opened in 1927, their route was extended to the Long Island Rail Road station in Long Beach.

When I was a kid (and I was a kid at one time), I used to travel by Nassau Bus from our summer home in Atlantic Beach to either Far Rockaway or Long Beach.

In those days they operated Union Body Ford Transits and had already become associated with Rockville Centre Bus Corporation (RVC #110 which eventually went to Nassau Bus is also shown below).

Hope this fills in some of the blanks.

RVC photo thanks to my friend Joe Scully.

WCA