BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Regarding my mention of the SCENICRUISER(s?) purchased by DOMENICO.......

Long ago, on either the old STRAYHOUND site (or, the now-gone Scenicruiser.com) I can remember seeing a few photos of a SCENICRUISER operating for DOMENICO (early 70's?)

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recall, also, "SADDLE RIVER TOURS" (Wallington, NJ) operated at least one SCENICRUISER (#548); sadly, this classic bus was destroyed by an arson fire in 1984.

"NYO"

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Any info on the SCENICRUISER(s) once owned by DOMENICO?

Wondering also if the company ever purchased any other second-hand buses (GREYHOUND or TRAILWAYS).....

"NYO"

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

As usual, I do appreciate your sharing just the info I needed....thank you!

Used SCENICRUISERS, at least at the onset, were quite popular with charter operators, including:

SEYMOUR CHARTER BUS LINES

AMERICAN TOURS

IMPERIAL

NATIONAL BUS SERVICE

TROPICAL ADVENTURES CHARTERS

MANS BUS RENTAL (charter) SERVICE

MICHAUD BUS LINES

"NYO"

["PD-4501"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's an SCENICRUISER operating a charter run for "IMPERIAL", looking quite sharp.....

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/531213718545333015/

["CHARTER"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This SCENICRUISER is seen here operating for the "STARVED ROCK BUS LINES" (INTERESTING company name, for certain!)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/352617845810892200/

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The HIGHLY-DISTINCTIVE (indeed!) "SULTANA TM-40" was NOT your "average" Scenicruiser, by ANY means!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/702491241869053687/

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

VERY interesting variety of vintage coaches here, including the eye-catching "SULTANA TM-40".......enjoy!

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/bus-stop-classic/bus-stop-classics-sultana-tm-40-sp-southern-sceniccruiser/

["ESPECIAL"]

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Funny, I was also thinking the same thing.

Recall, also, that, before rebuilding, the illuminated GREYHOUND dog on the nose (these must have looked cool at night!) being replaced with a solid aluminum "puppy plate"........

"NYO"

["EXPLORE OUR AMAZING AMERICA-GO GREYHOUND!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

......was just watching a DVD I have that features the 1963 "March On Washington", and listening to the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King.

MUCH footage is devoted to the massive bus caravans; the types of buses (old and new) would be mind-boggling to today's bus historians, for certain!

YELLOW 743's

SILVERSIDES

ACF-BRILL IC-41's

PD-4103's

PD-4104's

PD-4106's

AEROCOACHES

Old Looks (transit and suburbans)

Fishbowls (" ")

GREYHOUND and TRAILWAYS were both well represented, as was PSNJ.

A LARGE number of DC TRANSIT buses (WHITES) were also in sizeable numbers.

One Fishbowl was operated by the BALTIMORE & Annapolis Railroad.

One piece of footage had a "group captain" passing out tickets to the passengers aboard a suburban Fishbowl, bound for DC.

The bus (#2001) was clearly a NJ bus, as it had a "tach" next to the driver, and an overhead sign reading:

"PLEASE DO NOT STAND IN FRONT OF THE WHITE LINE OR CROWD GATE" (recall, the "crowd gates" were required on New Jersey buses for decades)

It is quite sobering, indeed, when you realize that the older people seen in this footage have long since passed on, and the younger ones would now be in their 80's, at least.

Of course, it is also sad to think that all of the classic, handsome buses seen rolling along were long ago turned into scrap.

Footage also features trains arriving at Union Station, behind majestic, hulking, bell-clanging GG-1's.

How well-dressed all the folks were, way back then, a far cry from today!

Of course, hearing Dr. King's powerful words speaking to the vast multitudes is truly soul-stirring....STILL quite profound and eloquent today, sixty years later......

"NYO"

["CHARTERED"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

.....it IS sobering when one considers that virtually every bus company involved in transporting folks to and from the March On Washington in 1963, has long since passed into history.

GREYHOUND still survives, but, as we all know, is but a shadow of its former self.

Sad also, is that most of the good folks who attended the March (including the bus drivers themselves), have now all passed on to their rewards; the younger people (then in their 20's) would, today be in the 80's.

Time, indeed, marches on.......

"NYO"

["SPECIAL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Don't forget, both GREYHOUND and TRAILWAYS buses were used on the often-dangerous "Freedom Rides" of the 1960's.

Recall the frighting, terrifying photos of the GREYHOUND 4104 that was attacked and set ablaze by racist mobs (the bus was on a "Freedom Ride" charter) in Anniston, Alabama, back in 1961.

The photos and footage of that burning nus, even today, still send shivers up my spine....truly gruesome and horrific.

These now-iconic "Freedom Rides" were primarily the project of the Congress Of Racial Equality ("CORE")

It would be interesting to learn just how many GREYHOUND and TRAILWAYS buses were used on these trips.

Too, due to the great risks involved on these runs, I wonder if CORE had to pay some sort of extra "disaster insurance", in the chartering of buses?

Hard to believe that this is now over six decades ago; the young people (as well as the bus drivers) indeed had both courage and guts.....

"NYO"