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Scenicruiser/Eagle production years
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22281
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 4:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Magnificence.....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/autohistorian/5073817488

(courtesy: Alden Jewell)
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 12:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:
Celluloid trivia:

......Cary Grant also boards one in the classic "NORTH BY NORTHWEST" .

The Scenicruiser seen in "NORTH BY NORTHWEST", interestingly, shows "INDIANAPOLIS" displayed on the destination curtain; this sign was created by the film studio.

The bus itself was K-2334; the scene was was filmed in East Bakersfield, California, but was supposed to depict a desolate crossroads in Indiana.

As was noted in "GREYHOUND SCENICRUISER" (McNally/Rayman), "....a western coach would not have had 'Indianapolis' readily available on the destination sign...."

"NYO"


Now you're talking about my all-time favorite movie...I've seen it so many times, I know most of the lines... Smile
Grant's character, Roger Thornhill, was actually getting off the Scenicruiser, at "Prairie Stop, Highway 41"...He talked to a stranger across the road that was waiting to get on a northbound bus, A Flxible Visicoach, painted green.
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

traildriver:

ANY film in which features Cary Grant AND vintage buses is AAAA++++++ with yours truly!! Wink

CG also starred in "A Touch Of Mink" (1963), with the always bubbly and vivacious Doris Day, which featured a brief scene shot at the old GREYHOUND terminal opposite Penn Station (4104's, here!); I had mentioned this film earlier in this discussion.

AFAIK, the first Hollywood flick to truly feature GREYHOUND was the 1934 comedy hit, "It Happened One Night", starring the lovely Claudette Colbert and the dashing Clark Gable; this classic film really allows us to see GREYHOUND as it was in the mid-1930's, when big, beefy, brawny, front-engined 'Hounds ruled the GREYHOUND fleet (YOU had to be a TOUGH guy yourself, to handle those massive brutes, in an era shy of both automatic transmissions and power steering!)

The deep-throated, gutsy growl of those early 'Hounds in that now-classic film remind me well of the old ACF-BRILL C-44 coaches that Mom and I used to ride on the old #22 DE CAMP line from JSQ, out to visit my aunt and uncle, who then lived in West Orange, well over 50 years ago......sweet, sweet music, indeed! Very Happy

I have a DVD that features several vintage GREYHOUND "short subjects", from the late 1940's through the 50's......man, oh, man, to go back to the halcyon days of SILVERSIDES and SCENICRUISERS, if only for a day....(!!) Shocked

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:39 pm; edited 3 times in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 1:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In 1967's Don Knotts "THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT", we get to see our favorite former ex-Mayberry deputy boarding a SCENICRUISER (as his character had a massive phobia of flying, he clearly felt much safer aboard a GREYHOUND!) Wink

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_306398-GMC-PD-4501.html

(courtesy: imcdb.org)
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2017 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I might add that while 1954 to 1956 is only 2 years long, the production of the Scenicruiser did not end at the beginning of 1956 so they were built in 1954, 1955 and 1956 making that 3 years
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Steve Carras



Age: 63
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:41 pm    Post subject: Scenicruiser/Eagle production years Reply with quote

Whew! Finally logged back in.

Of course, besides the 2 4v71's being replaced with then-new 8v71, Greyhound's silvery masterpieces got re-transmissions, with the 3 spd. and 2 spd.differential replaced by a a standard 4-speed double clutch manual just like the others.

I've read that the buses didn't have jake brakes, tachometer, or FUEL gauge..Very interesting (and likely, as I also read another's site on his own sitll-manual but motorhome converted Double Clutching, on a 4104, no clutch brakes. NOt only epitomizing the Hound then, but remaining a classic, and of course some are still used as was, as poer my comment, just not in service.
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Steve Carras



Age: 63
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 5:42 pm    Post subject: Scenicruiser/Eagle production years Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:
traildriver:

ANY film in which features Cary Grant AND vintage buses is AAAA++++++ with yours truly!! Wink

CG also starred in "A Touch Of Mink" (1963), with Doris Day, which featured a brief scene shot at the old GREYHOUND terminal opposite Penn Station (4104's, here!); I had mentioned this film earlier in this discussion.

AFAIK, the first Hollywood flick to truly feature GREYHOUND was the 1934 comedy hit, "It Happened One Night", starring the lovely Claudette Colbert and the dashing Clark Gable; this classic film really allows us to see GREYHOUND as it was in the mid-1930's, when big, beefy, brawny, front-engined 'Hounds ruled the GREYHOUND fleet (YOU had to be a TOUGH guy yourself, to handle those massive brutes, in an era shy of both automatic transmissions and power steering!)

The deep-throated, gutsy growl of those early 'Hounds in that film remind me well of the old ACF-BRILL coaches that Mom and I Used to ride on the old #22 DE CAMP line from JSQ, out to visit my aunt and uncle, who then lived in West Orange, well over 50 years ago......sweet, sweet music, indeed! Very Happy

I have a DVD that features several vintage GREYHOUND "short subjects", from the late 1940's through the 50's......man, oh, man, to go back to the halcyon days of SILVERSIDES and SCENICRUISERS, if only for a day....(!!) Shocked

"NYO"


Agreed on ALL of your comments!@
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John Roth



Age: 72
Joined: 06 Jul 2013
Posts: 49
Location: Pasadena Md

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great job by all. I may not post often but I love to learn from this group.


John
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John Roth



Age: 72
Joined: 06 Jul 2013
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Location: Pasadena Md

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great job by all. I may not post often but I love to learn from this group.


John
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22281
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steve:

I see we think alike.....great minds usually do! Wink

Discussing the legendary SCENICRUISER can indeed take on epic proportions; after all, this was NOT just any "ordinary bus", by ANY means! Shocked

In the outstanding book "GREYHOUND SCENICRUISER" (McNally/Rayman) there is such a tremendous wealth of SCENICRUISER stats that I had not previously known.

A number of years ago, I was able to nab an operating manual for the 4501-R; the section of the transmissions has three headings:

UPSHIFTING

DOWNSHIFTING

REVERSING

One of the notes also states:"....double-clutching is recommended when shifting gears.....

No doubt about it.....GREYHOUND drivers had to be well-coordinated........
Wink

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:10 pm; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22281
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

John Roth wrote:
Great job by all. I may not post often but I love to learn from this group.


John


John:

Great to see you posting again here! Wink

We ALL learn from each other here; that's what makes this forum so much of a great pleasure.

I know I have certainly learned QUITE a bit on New York City bus operations here, courtesy of some QUITE experienced "old hands here"! Very Happy

I also like to think that I also provide historical trivia on bygone New Jersey operations that some of the New York guys might not have known about.

Learning new (and old!) "bus stuff" here is what makes this board such a pleasure......... Wink

"NYO"

BTW: Sure hope you post more often.......please be sure to fill us in on any Baltimore-area transit news you might think is interesting to share with us here...... Wink


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

All:

When GREYHOUND was beginning to rebuild the SCENICRUISER, the company experimented with CUMMINS, MERCEDES-BENZ, and CUMMINS engines, before deciding that the 8V-71 would be the replacement engine for the 987 SCENICRUISERS then in operation.

It is also interesting to note that EASTERN GREYHOUND LINES was among the very few GREYHOUND divisions to utilize tachographs; back in the 50's, this was required by New Jersey state law..........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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Joined: 18 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another interesting rebuilt SCENICRUISER note was that the bus could be started in extremely cold weather by means of either a cold weather-starting fluid, or capsules (these latter were used only if the outside temperature was below zero)

To use these capsules, the driver would raise the cup on the blower intake manifold, and then force them down onto the pointed tube in the cup.

Then, the capsules would be squeezed dry, removed and safely discarded; after the spring-loaded cover snapped tightly shut, the engine would then be started in the usual manner.

Not at all surprisingly, these "starter capsules" were both HIGHLY flammable and toxic.....

"NYO"
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is what I know. The Scenicruiser was a great looking bus but it was flawed and Greyhound was not happy with GM. GM had also developed the prototype of the first modern bus but since Greyhound did not want it then nobody could. This was called the Golden Chariot, for the gold anodizing used during the war for there was a shortage of raw materials. It was a 40 foot bus which looked like the GM 35 foot bus only it was built taller so the baggage compartment would have lots of room. The driver sat as high as the passengers unlike today's buses. It too had the flawed engine and drive train that the Scenicruiser had so no bus operators wanted it. Trailways actually gave GM a check for the first bus but GM gave it back. Trailways turned to a German bus maker to build it's Eagles. Trailways used the engines from Germany but when the 8V-71 became available that is the engines that they used. Cummins was not even a good engine at the time. Not for a bus anyway. Then the German company sold the bus manufacturing tooling to Trailways and so they began to build their own buses. Then the manufacturing was moved to America.
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
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Location: America

PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:
Steve:

I see we think alike.....great minds usually do! Wink

Discussing the legendary SCENICRUISER can indeed take on epic proportions; after all, this was NOT just any "ordinary bus", by ANY means! Shocked

In the outstanding book "GREYHOUND SCENICRUISER" (McNally/Rayman) there is such a tremendous wealth of SCENICRUISER stats that I had not previously known.

A number of years ago, I was able to nab an operating manual for the 4501-R; the section of the transmissions has three headings:

UPSHIFTING

DOWNSHIFTING

REVERSING

One of the notes also states:"....double-clutching is recommended when shifting gears.....

No doubt about it.....GREYHOUND drivers had to be well-coordinated........
Wink

"NYO"


Double clutching is more of having a rhythm. You step on the clutch and take your foot of the throttle, shift into neutral, then take your foot off the clutch. Then as the engine reaches a slower speed you step on the clutch again and shift into the next gear.
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