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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida
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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2022 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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In 1961, PD-4104's were the most prevalent type. But the new 4106 was rapidly joining the fleet as well. And of course, on the thru expresses to northern points, the Scenicruiser's ruled. There were probably still some older 4103's and maybe even some old Silversides, not sure.
Tamiami Trailways also had a terminal of their own in Fort Lauderdale, and also operated mostly GM's. Eagles had not yet been adapted by most eastern Trailway's carrier's, but there might have been some VistaLiner's on pool trips...not sure on that one. Could have been some ACF's still around, as well. |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2022 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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traildriver:
You're the man......thank you!
Just recalled a brief scene in "Where The Boys Are", near the end of the film, where Dolores Hart tells Yvette Mimeux (referring to their trip back north):
"Hey, we'll take the bus together. We'll have a great trip, you wait and see!"
The following is from: TRAILWAYS BUSES" (William A. Luke:
"......Tamiami Trail Tours began in 1924, but discontinued as an operating company in the early 1930's......."
".......it came back in 1935 with routes mainly on Florida's west coast. By 1971, it had routes through most of Florida, and also, some service in Georgia as far as Atlanta........"
".......Tamiami became a Trailways company in 1940. In 1962, Tamiami Trailways began adding GM PD-4106 buses to its fleet......"
"NYO"
["Ft. Lauderdale"] |
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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 9:16 am Post subject: |
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traildriver wrote: | https://cw42.tripod.com/subdirectory/TTT-T2971_4106_Jax-route.jpg |
traildriver:
Link does not work; I just get a small box reading:
"Image hosted by Tripod"
"NYO" |
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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2022 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote: | traildriver wrote: | https://cw42.tripod.com/subdirectory/TTT-T2971_4106_Jax-route.jpg |
traildriver:
Link does not work; I just get a small box reading:
"Image hosted by Tripod"
"NYO" |
Sorry about that...that 'angelfire' has always been a poor site to work with, unfortunately... |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2022 12:01 am Post subject: |
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traildriver wrote: | NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote: | traildriver wrote: | https://cw42.tripod.com/subdirectory/TTT-T2971_4106_Jax-route.jpg |
traildriver:
Link does not work; I just get a small box reading:
"Image hosted by Tripod"
"NYO" |
Sorry about that...that 'angelfire' has always been a poor site to work with, unfortunately... |
traildriver:
Tell me about it.
Thanks, anyway!
"NYO" |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 12:30 am Post subject: |
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It would be quite interesting indeed to see a comparison of GREYHOUND routes from 1962 and 2022; it goes without saying, that, in the course of six decades, many GREYHOUND routes have long since been truncated or eliminated entirely.
Back in 1962, "The Hound" was still very much "The King Of The Road", with rival CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS no slouch in the bus business, by any means.
The iconic SCENICRUISERS and 4104's then dominated the fleet; older model buses were still in service as well, in many areas.
It was also an exciting time, as the stage was being set for the debut of the sleek new 4106.
The "Gold Stripe" era was also in the wings........ahhh, all seemed so bright and optimistic for "The Hound", six decades ago.
No one could have ever predicted what tremendous changes were in store for GREYHOUND, several decades into the future.....
"NYO"
["ATLANTIC GREYHOUND"] |
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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 7:00 am Post subject: |
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The 4106’s started production and started joining the fleet in 1961, a year earlier.
1962 turned out to be somewhat of a pivotal year in the history of The Greyhound Corporation, as that was the year under the leadership of Frederick W Ackerman that they acquired San Francisco based Boothe Leasing Corporation, a large industrial leasing and finance company. It financed things like ships, off-shore oil drilling platforms, jet airliners (was the second largest non-airline owner of them), mining equipment, etc. This was significant because it was the first time the Corporation diversified into holdings not directly related to the core busline business. Later on this trend rapidly expanded under the leadership of Gerald Trautman, especially with the acquisition of Armour-Dial, elevating The Greyhound Corporation to number 28 in size on the Fortune 500 list.
So like other companies, notably the ill-fated Penn Central, the company drained the transportation assets, and plowed them into other more profitable businesses, eventually divesting the core transportation business.
And….the rest is history 😕 |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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traildriver:
As always, appreciate your input.
Yes, GREYHOUND was becoming more and more a "diverse" conglomerate, further and further distancing itself from the intercity bus sector, upon which its empire was built.
Even though we hear so much on how deeply airlines cut into the long-distance rail networks in the 1960's, we also, of course, know that the rise of travel via airliners (especially jets) was cutting into both GREYHOUND's and TRAILWAY's revenues.
It was, clearly, only a matter of time before it all collapsed into near-oblivion......
"NYO:
["EASTERN GREYHOUND LINES"] |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 11:44 am Post subject: |
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IMHO, both the 4104 and 4106, back in the day, were "wallflowers", so to speak, when compared to all the hoopla and glitz associated with the SCENICRUISER, and, later, the EAGLE.
I've long felt that both the 4104 and 4106 have long been underrated, so to speak; maybe they were not "glamorous" coaches like the stately SCENICRUISER and the flamboyant EAGLE, but they MORE than "stepped up to the plate", so to speak, and not only faithfully served both GREYHOUND and TRAILWAYS for many years (not to mention other highway carriers), but also, were versatile enough to find themselves operated by suburban bus companies, establishing themselves well in both charter and long-haul commuter runs.
Back in the very early days of NJT bus operations (early 1980's), I was indeed lucky enough to ride (many times) aboard both 4104's and 4106's, on the former ORANGE & BLACK's rush-hour "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS".
FINE buses, to be sure.....every inch classics!
"NYO"
["LINCOLN LIMITED"] |
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traildriver
Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2022 7:36 pm Post subject: |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote: | IMHO, both the 4104 and 4106, back in the day, were "wallflowers", so to speak, when compared to all the hoopla and glitz associated with the SCENICRUISER, and, later, the EAGLE.
I've long felt that both the 4104 and 4106 have long been underrated, so to speak; maybe they were not "glamorous" coaches like the stately SCENICRUISER and the flamboyant EAGLE, but they MORE than "stepped up to the plate", so to speak, and not only faithfully served both GREYHOUND and TRAILWAYS for many years (not to mention other highway carriers), but also, were versatile enough to find themselves operated by suburban bus companies, establishing themselves well in both charter and long-haul commuter runs.
Back in the very early days of NJT bus operations (early 1980's), I was indeed lucky enough to ride (many times) aboard both 4104's and 4106's, on the former ORANGE & BLACK's rush-hour "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS".
FINE buses, to be sure.....every inch classics!
"NYO"
["LINCOLN LIMITED"] |
I must take exception to your characterization of the PD-4104 as a "wallflower"...
First of all, the 4104 was introduced a year before the Scenicruiser, and its radical new look, with the large slanted picture windows, as well as its air-ride suspension, and its modern interior was such a contrast with the 4103, that people loved it at first sight, and they all wanted to ride on it.
The "Highway Traveler", in Greyhound speak, was also chosen to introduce the extra fare, luxury "Golden Greyhound" service, (their answer to Trailways "Five Star Luxury Service". Operated principally by Southeastern Greyhound and Florida Greyhound Lines in the mid-50's, these luxury liners boasted wide two and one seating, a hostess on board, serving snacks and beverages on the prestigious Cincinnati to Miami limited run.
SEG and Florida Motor Lines had previously used ACF-Brill IC-41's on this run.
Back in 1957, Greyhound put one of these on display at Pennsylvania Greyhound Terminal in New York. Like I did 3 years previously to tour the new Scenicruiser, I dragged my mother down to join the long line to tour it, and receive lots of promotional goodies.
The next bus to rate this type of operation in Greyhounds history, was in the MC-8 "Americruiser" in the early seventies for the extra fare "Bus Plus" service between New York, Boston, and Washington.
Meanwhile, most of the eastern Trailways carrier's used the 4104, and later 4106 for their Five Star Luxury Service. It wasn't until the mid to late sixties that the Golden Eagle, displaced the GM's in the east, with the exception of American Buslines, acquired by Continental Trailways much earlier... |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2022 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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traildriver:
Appreciate, as always, your always-valuable input.
IMHO, The SCENICRUISER was indeed a "stunner" in that it was a "bi-level" bus, which, of course, at the time, was a quite novel concept.
I should also have noted that the 4104 was the FIRST GM highway coach to feature the forward-slanting windows that, also, were used on the SCENICRUISER, among other GM products.
In toy versions, while 4104-inspired tin buses were commonplace, the SCENICRUISER was, clearly, the most "iconic" of the postwar tin toy buses from Japan.
The smallest I have is almost flat in contour, and is about 3" long (probably sold for 19 cents at any five-and-ten!)
The largest are close to 2' in length (these came in both friction and battery versions)
I always dubbed the "Buffalo" as the "Scenicruiser Jr."; like the 4104 and 4106, look at how many later worked in both charter and long-haul commuter services.
Again, appreciate your opinions and input......
"NYO"
["HIGHWAY TRAVELER"] |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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Just a thought......
If GREYHOUND had continued buying GM buses before the manufacturer pulled out of the bus market, it would have been interesting to see what GM-built GREYHOUND buses might have looked like, through the 1970's, and into the 1980's..........
"NYO"
["PACIFIC GREYHOUND"] |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 22686 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2022 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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GREYHOUND to "Noo Awlins", circa 1947-1951.....
In the classic play/film, "A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE", Stanley gives sister-in-law Blanche a bus ticket back home (Laurel)
Stanley (to Stella): "Back to Laurel! On The Greyhound!"
The play premiered in 1947, and the film, a few years later.
Am wondering if there were then "direct through routes" to New Orleans from either New York or Chicago (what terminal did GREYHOUND use then? (in New Orleans)
Back then, the IC-41's would have been the most recent additions to the GREYHOUND fleet, along with the last SILVERSIDES (PD-4151) |
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