BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

In the top photo taken at Philadelphia's Frankfort Depot in April of 1978, we see a 1955 GM Coach Model TDH 5106 and one of very nearly 500 originally purchased in that year by a Trustee for the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The name the bus has been dubbed with in its second life as a Fire Equipment vehicle for PTA's successor Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is 'Spirit of 76' (I am uncertain as to whether it referred to America's 200th. birthday or to the Philadelphia 76er's basketball team - or maybe even both!).

The second photo, which was taken at the Wyoming Depot in March of 1981, may be of the same bus in different livery but with the rear door sealed and the '76' I.D. changed to FD-1.

Surplus buses have often been used in fire service with New York City being no exception as can be seen in the guise of a 1948 GM Coach Model TDH 5101 in the lowest frame (the question of whether this bus eventually became part of the MTA's preserved fleet and renumbered in honor of Ralph Kramden cannot be answered by this writer unless its serial number can be ascertained).

SEPTA photos from the collection of Joe Testagrose and New York City's from BusTalk Gallery.

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

[RailBus63]

For some reason, I'm hearing Elton John's 'Philadelphia Freedom' in my head now!