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'READING BUS COMPANY'
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 1:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If 112 was the one that was converted into a trolley line repair truck, it probably remained in storage in the "old barn" for several more years after it was taken off the roster. I remember an old front engine converted bus sitting in a corner there when I first started. Not long after that it was gone from the property.
Rob, another advertising oddity was the Ford convertible painted on the rear of a couple of buses. It was a painting of the car with a guy and girl, with the female turned around and waving. They replaced the tail lights with working Ford tail lights and painted around it. After the advertising campaign was over, they just repainted the buses and left them with Ford tail lights. I don't think they were ever replaced. I believe the Ford was a 1959.
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Rob




Joined: 02 Dec 2010
Posts: 70

PostPosted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 11:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't say i remember seeing them, but then in 1959, I was four. Maybe I will get lucky and find some more photos in the pile with that configuration. That would make an interesting paint job and "kitbash" in HO.

Other photos so far have included shop workers posing with trolley's and trolly parts in the back ground.
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Judging by the background cars in the attachment, it has to be roughly 1950 that we see fleet # 702 - a 1944 GM Coach Model TG 4007 and one of three likenesses numbered from 700 to 702 purchased by the Reading Bus Company of Reading, Pennsylvania in that war year.

I will have to allow the local experts to identify the location of the photo but I will say that the bus is temporarily signed for the Berkshire Mall in the nearby town of Wyomissing, Pa. (unless it's already in Wyomissing).

# 702 and its siblings were ordered and delivered as gasoline powered but were re-engined to Diesels as soon as they became available after the war.

All three of Reading's TD 4007's also enjoyed post war face lifts including recessed headlamps, GM badges and wings under their windshields, modern directional signals, chromium bumpers and pleasant new cream over red paint jobs.

Photo taken by Paul Dimler and is part of the Flickr Collection of hoteldennis.

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

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Rob




Joined: 02 Dec 2010
Posts: 70

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The photo is definately still in the City of Reading, I can picture the little dinette and the American Bank drive thru in the background, but I am at a loss at this time to pinpoint it on the map. Could that be 5th and Court before they built the new bank?

As for the date, good call on the late 50's Chrysler or maybe a Buick, going to have to look at it again before I call that, but the photo is definately taken in the early 70's. As I recall the Berkshire Mall was built around 1970 to 1972. I got my license in 1970 and graduated in 72 and I don't think the Mall was a cruising destination until after I got out of high school. Before that it was just up and down Penn Street between 5th and 11th. That is also about the same time the Busses showed up in that yellow "cream" over red paint job.

I know Jimmie B is going to nail this all as soon as he sees it, but it is a great shot. As always THANKS for sharing.
Rob
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Rob




Joined: 02 Dec 2010
Posts: 70

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That could maybe even be a Caddie, I would say whatever it is, it is a 59 or 60 model year, probablyleaning toward a GM.
Rob
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Free-transfer



Age: 64
Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 123
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From Wikipedia:
Planning for the mall began in the late 1960s. Sears was announced to be the first major planned tenant in November 1967, to replace its nearby Shillington location which had opened in 1956. Construction got underway in 1968, with an "official" kickoff in November of that year. The mall opened in February 1970, and was the first enclosed shopping mall to open in eastern Pennsylvania outside of the Philadelphia area.

From me:
Anybody else notice the new "International" One-Way and Do Not Enter signs? Looking further down the block, the car in the street looks like a 1970-72 Ford.
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rob,

My error on the approx. date - I meant to say 1960.

The car is absolutely a 59 Buick although it's impossible to tell what model from the view point (could even be an Electra).

Photo courtesy of ClassicRoad.com

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That luncheonette, a popular spot for bus drivers, was on the southwest corner of 5th and Court Sts. I don't know why the bus is there since no bus route used Court St. that I can remember. This may have been a special run to introduce the service. Judging by the temporary Berkshire Mall sign, I assume that this is around the time of the first runs to the mall. That was several months after the mall opened, since they "forgot" to allow for bus service when they built the mall and had to remodel the access roads to allow buses to make the turns!
The reason the luncheonette was a bus driver hangout was the fact that directly across 5th St. was a layover spot for northbound Temple and Laureldale buses. The Buick is parked along the Court St. side of a church. The 5th St. side is a layover spot for southbound buses. Catty corner from the luncheonette is the main Post Office.
On a side note: About 2 years after this photo, I became a cop and this was my regular day shift location. Directing traffic at this intersection. (When I wasn't inside the luncheonette!!)
Some time I'll give you the story of why they went from the grey and silver paint scheme to the red and yellow.


Last edited by JimmiB on Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:08 pm; edited 1 time in total
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rob wrote:
http://gallery.bustalk.info/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pos=0[/url]

Rosie also flashed a photo of RBCo #733 in a Maier's Bakery / Little Miss Sunbeam "wrap" style paint job from 1957. B&W Sad


I was just going through my bus files and came across this. I don't know where I got this from, maybe even on this forum somewhere, but here is the Maier's Sunbeam "loaf of bread" bus at 4th and Penn about 1957.
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Attached is an interesting ad by ACF probably appearing in Bus Transportation Magazine touting the advantages of their 1934 Model H-15-S in the guise of fleet #400 operating in demonstration for the then Reading Street Railway Company of Reading, Pennsylvania.

While the company did buy nine H-13-S's and one additional H-15-S numbered 401 to 410 in the following year, records show that these eleven buses were the only ACF's to have ever appeared on their roster.

The name Reading Street Railway Company, a successor to the Reading Transit street car operation was eventually changed to Reading Bus Company.

Photo part of a two page ad by 4509bus and is up for bid on eBay as item # 370605467231.

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

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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here, in an earlier time and an older paint scheme, we again see fleet # 702 - a 1944 GM Coach Model TG-4007 (serial # 130) and one of three likenesses numbered from 700 to 702 operating for the Reading Bus Company of Reading, Pennsylvania.

# 702 and its siblings were among 325 gasoline powered 4007's that were produced with the permission of the U.S. Office of Defense Transportation (ODT) between late 1944 and early 1945 as fill ins for operators sorely in need of emergency replacements.

Most of these buses including Reading's three were Diesel retrofitted after the war.

# 702, shown with a face lift including recessed headlights, modern directional signals, chromium bumper and stainless steel wings under the windshield, is making its way out west from 10th. Street in downtown Reading to Schuylkill Avenue sometime in the late forties.

Interestingly, the 4007's were still on Reading's active roster as late as 1969.

Photo courtesy of ttcbeat and is up for bid on eBay as item # 400298563155.

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

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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice picture. I would say that no more than 2 or 3 years after that picture was taken I drove that bus on many occasions and it was still a regular bus on the Schuylkill Ave. line. That was one of the bussiest lines at the time, running buses 3 min. apart during rush hours. I was also a regular customer of O.P.O Clothing. More memories!
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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two more Reading/BARTA bus sightings - this time taken in 1973 on special assignment and seen in front of the historic Abraham Lincoln Hotel at Washington and North 5th. Streets in downtown Reading, Pennsylvania.

The lead bus, # 730, is a 1946 GM Coach Model TD 4008 being followed by # 700 - a TG 4007 dating from 1944.

Of note is the 'pit stop' repair of a broken windshield wiper transmission on # 730 evidenced by the external rod stretched from one blade arm to the other - a clever and cheap repair!

Photo by Vintage-Vault75 and is up for bid on eBay as item # 170857944580.

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

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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know how many old looks got the BARTA paint job, but white over silver with a yellow stripe is pretty lame.
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 3:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just purchased some undated photos of Reading and BARTA old looks.

First is TDH 3501, fleet #205, one of six purchased in 1965. I believe this was the first bus to get a BARTA paint scheme. I forgot that these were still on the roster, as Reading Bus stopped using them because of numerous maintainence problems. Mainly because they kept knocking out transmissions.



Next is BARTA #677, a TDH 3714, purchased in 1960. Loved to drive these. They were Reading's first Air Rides. The bus behind it is one of the 700 series, either a 4007 or 4008.



Here are two coaches on Penn Street. 1947 TDH 3207 fleet # 616 being followed by # 72?, a 1946 TDH 4008.



Really makes me feel my age since I would have driven all the buses in these photos!
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