BusTalk

[Hart Bus]

Last night while looking at the MOBT website in anticipation of the Spring Fling 2010 in June, I saw the 1954 Flxible that Harran Coachways donated after their demise.

Both the pictures shown there and the ones I took at the yard on 12/22/07 show MERCED as a destination.

Does anyone know where it is and could possible have a guess as to what company originally had the bus, prior to its acquistion by Harran?

Thanks in advance


Alan Aron

[Mr. Linsky]

ECA,

I think this may be your answer;

Merced /mərˈsɛd/ is the county seat of Merced County, California in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California. As of 2007, the city had a total population of 80,608. Incorporated in 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council-manager government. It is named after the Merced River, which flows nearby.

Merced, known as the "Gateway to Yosemite", is less than two hours by car from Yosemite National Park to the east and to the west is Monterey Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and miles of beaches. The community is served by the rail passenger service Amtrak, a major airline through Merced Regional Airport, and three bus lines. It is approximately 110 miles from Sacramento, 130 miles from San Francisco, and 270 miles from Los Angeles.

In 2005, the city became home to the tenth University of California campus, University of California, Merced (UCM), the first research university built in the U.S. in the 21st century.

Info thanks to University of California at Merced.

Regards,

WCA

[Mr. Linsky]

ECA

Now, about the Harran Flxible;

It's a 1954 Clipper and was in private hands in New York (as can be seen by the license plate in the photo below) until 2006 when it was donated to the MOBT (Museum of Bus Transportation) in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

As to what it origins may be;

This is a long shot but the only 'quantity' operator of these coaches in the New York area was Carey Transportation.

However, by 1954 they were already heavy into GM PD 4104's so it is most unlikely that it was a Carey.

I do understand the the Pacific Bus Museum also has one just like it.

That's about all I can tell you.

Photo borrowed for educational purposes.

Regards,

WCA

[Hart Bus]

WCA:

It is indeed an honor that you are "borrowing" one of my photographs to show here. I double checked the date I took it and it was Dec. 22, 2006, some 8 days after the shutdown of Harran.

While I vividly remember the Green Carey buses on Queens Blvd, I would presume the Flx's ran all over the country. It could have been a Carey that was sold off to another operator.

Since I took the picture late in the afternoon on the 22nd, that would leave only a few days to make the official transfer. The transfer probably took place in early 2007. It's a shame that the NYS vanity plate had to be turned into NYS to cancel the registration and insurance.

ECA

[Mr. Linsky]

ECA,

Sorry about that, but had I known that you took the photo I would have gladly given you the credit (that's why I use the 'borrowed' bit when I don't know or remember where I obtained an image). Again, my apologies.

Yes, Clippers were sold nationwide and were very successful especially with the Buick straight eight Fire Ball engines but Carey was the only operator of a large fleet in the New York metro area (to my knowledge).

In the fuzzy picture below of a Carey Clipper, you will note that the 'washboard panel' under the window belt is only about eighteen inches wide whereas that Harran bus displays almost full washboard sides (which was an option).

Again, my apologies.

Photo courtesy of eBay.

Regards,

WCA

[roymanning2000]

Gents,

I think the Harran bus was originally owned by Utah Parks Transportation Co., a former subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad. The color scheme it wears is that of Glacier Park Transportation Co. The Pacific Bus Museum Flxible came from the same company.

Probably either Utah Parks or Glacier Park was related to the tranportation operator at Yosemite at one time. That would explain the destination sign.

Roy

[Hart Bus]

[ripta42]

[Mr. Linsky]

Michael,

I believe that the 'Airporter' was merely a jazzed up version of a Clipper with more comfortable seats and greater luggage capacity - it would be almost like the difference between a TDH 4509 and an SDM 4509.

All of the 'Clipper' class Flxibles had the same chassis and wheelbases including the 'Visicoach' which was a poor man's version of a Scenicruiser!

Of course, I stand corrected because I'm no expert on Flxibles to start with!

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[timecruncher]

Could it possibly be ex-Yosemite Transportation?

timecruncher

[ripta42]

YES