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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2024 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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Cyberider wrote: | I don't remember if I have any Greyhound and Trailways timetables among my collections but the Phoenix Greyhound terminal was much bigger than the Trailways terminal and I'm sure Greyhound had many more runs than Trailways out of Phoenix.
Good to see traildriver is back. Better a 51-day cruise than a permanent one! |
cyberider:
Agreed!
Am also QUITE glad to see that traildriver is with us again (and doing well!)
One western city most associated with TRAILWAYS was Dallas; this comes as no surprise, as that was where their corporate HQ was located (Jackson Street, atop the bus terminal itself)
In Manhattan, TRAILWAY'S offices were located at 625 8th Avenue.
Speaking of Dallas, in the book I mentioned earlier, "AMERICAN BUSES", it states that a GREYHOUND journey from Dallas to New York took close to 40 hours (this included meal/rest stops.............
"NYO"
["AMERICRUISER"] |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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"Connections".......
Back in the heyday of GREYHOUND and CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS, I'm curious as to what private carriers these companies would have (might have) connected with at Phoenix?
Generally speaking, Arizona is generally not discussed all that often when on the subject of bygone intercity bus travel, back in the day.
In that intense Arizona heat, it had to have been top priority to keep engines from overheating, especially when traveling through arid, desert areas.............
"NYO"
["EXPRESS"] |
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Cyberider
Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 801 Location: Tempe, AZ
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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There were Sun Valley Bus Lines and, if I remember correctly, LTR Bus Lines. I think LTR stood for Las Vegas, Tonopah, and Reno. LTR may have taken over the Sun Valley routes at some point. Sun Valley also provided what was then "suburban" transit between Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa. Sadly, there is nothing suburban about it anymore and it's all handled by Valley Metro. |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 7:22 pm Post subject: |
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Cyberider:
Appreciate the info!
Many areas in North Jersey, which were QUITE suburban in my day, are now small cities.
Areas that were once quite rural, likewise, are now almost totally built over.
Outside of "LAKELAND", not a one of the old suburban bus companies from North Jersey survive today; it's all New Jersey Transit, and the oh-so-boring black and white buses all look more like rolling milk cartoons or giant caterpillars, than any sort of bus.
Not even the SLIGHTEST hint of the "old days" remains........
"NYO"
["RIDE THE RED & TAN LINES"] |
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Cyberider
Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 801 Location: Tempe, AZ
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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If I remember correctly, both Sun Valley and LTR operated out of the Greyhound terminal.
There was a ham radio convention held in Las Vegas each year that I attended a few times and I took the bus in the late 70's and early 80's. I also took the bus frequently between Phoenix and LA in the early and mid 70's through the hot deserts. I don't remember any overheating problems and the buses were nice and cool inside. The buses were GM's and MCI's, all with 8V-71's and 4-speed transmissions. "Music" all the way unless there was an inexperienced driver who didn't know how to shift a "crashbox" transmission. |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2024 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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cyberider:
GREAT memories!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU for sharing!!
The following is from: "OLD LOOK BUSES" (Luke/Metler)..........
"..........in 1952, Sun Valley Bus Company (Phoenix) purchased several TDH-4509s (single-door suburbans)......."
(The a/c units were added in 1964, giving the buses an appearance quite similar to the many that operated in New Jersey into the 1970s)
".......for local services, they rostered six 4512s......."
".....the company started as Valley Transit Lines in the 1940s, including city service in Phoenix......."
"......an intercity route between Phoenix and Las Vegas was also operated......"
".......Greyhound owned the company between 1979 and the late 1980s..........."
"NYO"
["AIR-CONDITIONED"] |
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Cyberider
Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 801 Location: Tempe, AZ
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2024 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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NYO:
The 4509's ran on the Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa route and I rode them many times. They lasted well into the 70's and frequently filled in for SV's New Looks that had a penchant for breaking down. They were sometimes referred to as the "Queen Mary" because they were so stately looking compared to the New Look transits.
SV's operation of Valley Transit was before my time but it seems to me that in the 60"s and early 70's, Valley Transit was owned by Chromealloy or something like that. It was a company that owned bus lines in various cities. This was just before the City of Phoenix took over. Anyway, all of the Phoenix bus lines had a number designation except for Sun Valley which was still a separate entity. There were transfer privileges between them, though, and I still have a couple of transfers with "SV" instead of a number. |
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Cyberider
Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 801 Location: Tempe, AZ
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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Cyberider:
In general, our Fishbowls here were most reliable, although they DID often have issues with climbing hills that were particularly steep.
Way back in the day, WHITES pretty much struggled with steep grades, although the less-excessive grades/hills gave them little problem.
MACKS also pretty much lumbered up grades, but, in my general area, stiff grades were pretty much few and far between.
In my area of New Jersey, the transit buses (the Old Looks/Fishbowls) were automatic transmissions, whereas the suburban models were all either "stick" or ato (hence "TDH"/"TDM")........LOVED the "music" of a GM "shifter", going through its paces!
"NYO"
["RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"] |
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Cyberider
Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 801 Location: Tempe, AZ
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2024 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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NYO:
I don't know what the problem with the SV Fishbowls was. They usually held down the runs in the 70's but if they broke down, then the 4509's came out. They all had automatics. I think they were the 3-speed model. If they got going fast enough, which didn't happen often, they'd shift into high.
Sadly, I missed out on the Macks and the Whites. |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2024 11:48 pm Post subject: |
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Cyberider wrote: | NYO:
I don't know what the problem with the SV Fishbowls was. They usually held down the runs in the 70's but if they broke down, then the 4509's came out. They all had automatics. I think they were the 3-speed model. If they got going fast enough, which didn't happen often, they'd shift into high.
Sadly, I missed out on the Macks and the Whites. |
Cyberider:
In North Jersey, by the later 1960s and 1970s, a number of companies relegated their remaining Old Looks to rush-hour service only.
I well recall, in the later years, when you'd start seeing Old Looks "coming out to play", you knew another rush hour was pending.
One "local" company (their fleet were all suburban models) just a brisk walk from where I have lived for the past 50 years, "ORANGE & BLACK", would relegate their Old Looks to the yard in back of the garage (or, out on the forecourt) while the Fishbowls were treated to indoor storage.
In later years, the Fishbowls themselves found themselves mostly relegated to outdoor storage (after the Old Looks were retired in 1977), as newer buses entered service.
This now long-defunct company (now part of NJT) also rostered MACK suburbans, until about 1966 (VERY handsome buses they were!)
The very last Old Looks in my area ("transits") were retired in 1986 (there weren't many left by this time); the last Fishbowls disappeared about 1998.
Indeed, it was the end of an era, one I still long for.......
"NYO"
["RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"] |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Cyberider
Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 801 Location: Tempe, AZ
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2024 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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NYO,
Yes, I rode the LTR buses several times in the late 70's and early 80's. |
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee
Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 26434 Location: NEW JOISEY
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2024 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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Cyberider wrote: | NYO,
Yes, I rode the LTR buses several times in the late 70's and early 80's. |
Cyberider:
NJT, in the early/mid-1980s, was still operating assorted 4106s, inherited from independent companies they had absorbed, a few years earlier.
Those I often rode ("RIVER ROAD EXPRESS") were ex-PSMJ/ORANGE & BLACK/INTER-CITY.
LOVED the sweet music of those smooth-sounding engines........
"NYO"
["INTER-CITY LINES"] |
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Cyberider
Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 801 Location: Tempe, AZ
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2024 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, the 8V-71's were smooth and sweet. Smoother than the 6V's in the fishbowls. Wish I could hear any of those engines for real except online. I liked the straignt 6-71's in the Old Looks and 4104's and earlier buses too. Those sounds will stay with me until I die even if I never hear them again. |
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