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.....and leave the driving to us......
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

...back in the mid/late 1960's, my sister-in-law's uncle (who was also my dad's and Your's Truly barber) owned quite a bit of GREYHOUND stock.

I still remember him saving for me the GREYHOUND magazines that went out to shareholders.

I remember some VERY nice 4106 and early MCI photos being within the pages, here and there! Wink

He used to keep the old EMERSON radio on in his shop, tuned to a news station, where he could keep up with the latest GREYHOUND stock prices (recall, this was MANY years before the internet!)

Speaking of GREYHOUND, I recall LINDBERGH MODELS putting out these "mini model" kits, and one of them was a SCENICRUISER (this was the very FIRST kit I ever put together; I think I paid about 59 cents for the kit down at "TRANSFER PAINTS" hardware store on Summit Avenue!)

"MATCHBOX" also came out with a SCENICRUISER about this time; to me, in 2022, it looks more like a "baby BECK"!)Shocked Rolling Eyes

Also from the later 1960's, I also have a few friction plastic SCENICRUISERS (about 11" long), which, again, look more atkin to a "baby Beck" than an actual SCENICRUISER! Wink

It's all so long ago, now........ Rolling Eyes

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Talk about going full circle.........

It was from a humble "Tin Lizzie", that the great GREYHOUND empire sprang.

Indeed, the world's most well-known intercity bus company, today, sadly, it is but a mere whisper of what it once was.

To read into GREYHOUND's rich and colorful history, is, truly, to read of the classic "Great American Success Story".

60-70 years ago, it was far beyond the scope of anyone's imaginations to foresee the day when CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS would be nothing more than a fabled memory, and GREYHOUND's once-sprawling network reduced to a fragment of what it once was, so long ago.

The elderly, retired gentlemen who once proudly piloted those big, sleek and majestic GREYHOUND buses, so many decades ago, surely must look at what remains today, and reflect with thankfullness that, at least, they can still recall the long-lost days, when "The Hound" was still the undisputed "Top Dog" of America's highways......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Old Greyhound buses never die.......they just fade away....."

One aspect of GREYHOUND I've often thought of, but is seldom, if ever brought up, is the disposition of GREYHOUND buses once they are retired.

Surely some were scrapped, but many others went on to serve out their remaining service years as charter buses, church buses, band buses, etc.

One cannot help but thinking of buses like the ACF-BRILL IC-44's, 4103's, 4104's, 4106's, as well as the early MCI's, and, after retirement what services did they now find themselves performing in?

Reverend Billy Graham purchased a CENTRAL GREYHOUND Scenicruiser and had it shipped to Africa, to be used in one of his Crusades.

Musicians like Arlo Guthrie and James Brown (among many others) also utilized retired SCENICRUISERS.

Interestingly enough, CENTRAL TEXAS TRAILWAYS (Waco) purchased several retired SCENICRUISERS for their fleet......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.....recall, also, on a related note, the custom buses used by celebrities....literally "rolling mansions"...... Wink

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"PREVOST BUSES" (William A. Luke) has an excellent chapter on private and special coaches; to say these buses are far and way removed from "pedestrian" versions of PREVOST coaches is indeed an understatement.

One interesting photo shows a customized PREVOST "Marathon", towing a customized trailer for race car-hauling.

Interesting, also, is when you think of it, the "brass hats" of the railroads years ago once traveled about the country in luxurious and opulent private/parlor cars.

I've never heard of any upper-level GREYHOUND or TRAILWAYS executives ever having a specialized private bus for their own use.

Indeed, it is interesting to imagine what such a bus might have looked like, had one existed...... Wink

"NYO"
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:

Interesting, also, is when you think of it, the "brass hats" of the railroads years ago once traveled about the country in luxurious and opulent private/parlor cars.

I've never heard of any upper-level GREYHOUND or TRAILWAYS executives ever having a specialized private bus for their own use.

Indeed, it is interesting to imagine what such a bus might have looked like, had one existed...... Wink

"NYO"


NYO--Funny you should mention that...
Have you ever heard of the saga of Arthur S. Genet?

Greyhound hired him away from the C&O Ry, and his short tenure almost ruined the company. One of his quirks was to take a Scenicruiser out of revenue service, and outfit it as an "Office Car", and have driver's take him around the country to see various Company properties. After he was replaced by a real bus man, the coach was converted back into revenue service...

http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,810536,00.html

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/greyhound-bus-lines-arthur-s-genet-his-office-on-wheels-news-photo/838339246
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

traildriver:

THANKS for these links: i had totally forgotten about this character!

I have to admit, though, it HAD to be a WONDERFUL feeling indeed to be driven around in your own PRIVATE Scenicruiser! Wink

Then again, I'd MUCH prefer being behind the wheel attired in a natty 1950's-era GREYHOUND uniform! Very Happy

Recall, too, how the front-engined "parlor coaches" of the late 1920's and early 1930's were equipped with "dummy" rear observation platforms, simulating the posh railroad observation cars of that era.

Imagine if these platforms were "for real", and allowed bus passengers to be able to and enjoy the passing scene, making for a real "open air" ride! Wink

Too, recall the delightfully old-fashioned, charming Paris "bullnose" buses that ran through the 1960's, which actually had open rear platforms (used for boarding/debarking), and, which also featured small seats, allowing riders to truly savor the sights of Paree! Smile

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Check out this rare and magnificent 1930's streamlined KENWORTH split-level "Shovelnose"......what a beauty!!!! Wink

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/486740672210574811/
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.......the KENWORTH "shovelnose" coach seen in the previous post was one of eight built in 1937 for WASHINGTON MOTOR COACH.........

"NYO"
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:

Recall, too, how the front-engined "parlor coaches" of the late 1920's and early 1930's were equipped with "dummy" rear observation platforms, simulating the posh railroad observation cars of that era.

Imagine if these platforms were "for real", and allowed bus passengers to be able to and enjoy the passing scene, making for a real "open air" ride! Wink


"NYO"


Because the intercity bus, was the "new kid on the block" back in the early 20th century, and they were trying to capture some traffic from the "old guard" railroad's, they tried to emulate the railroads in different ways in order to make passenger's equate them with their competition, to bolster their image. Hence they borrowed many of the railroad's practices and copied even the trains themselves, in places they could.

As far as open platform's go, I was never a big fan of those, simply because I prefer to see where I am going, as opposed to seeing where I have been...

The bus had a huge advantage over locomotive hauled trains, since passenger's were treated to a view out thru the windshield, something that was not possible on a train until the advent of the post-war vista domes. Those Kenworth's, along with a few other oddball's, were the precursor of the Scenicruiser...
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

traildriver:

Recall, also (early intercity buses emulating the glamour of the railroads) the buses that carried "for display only" open rear platforms also carried railroad-style marker lights at the rear.

It would seem (at least to me) that the SCENICRUISER's ancestor (or, at least, one of them) might have been one of the early deck-and-a-half* FAGEOL "SAFETY COACH" highway coaches, which were used by "AUTO INTERURBAN COMPANY", based out of Spokane.

*These early highway coaches must have seen quite "titanic" in appearance to many who had never seen any type of bus previously.

Speaking of "titanic", see my thread on the "Other Modes" board, "God Bless All Who Sail In Her", which features links, etc. on the "Ship That God Himself Could Not Sink"........

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SEE:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegaso_Z-403

It would seem that the SCENICRUISER easily might have been patterned after the Spanish PEGASO Z-403.

This "SCENICRUISER-style" highway coach utilized a design that went back to 1949; these buses were in production from 1951 (three years before the first SCENICRUISERS entered service) to 1957.......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 11:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Check out this rare 1950's deck-and-a-half "COMMER AVENGER" from "Down Under"...... Wink

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/350999364699104944/
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traildriver




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PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:
traildriver:

Recall, also (early intercity buses emulating the glamour of the railroads) the buses that carried "for display only" open rear platforms also carried railroad-style marker lights at the rear.



"NYO"

Yes…Greyhound’s beautifully restored 1931 Mack, part of their historic collection, is an excellent example. The marker lamps appear like authentic Adlake’s. The rear “platform” does serve a function, however…each half of the rear gate swings away to reveal a spare mounted tire on each side…😉
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

traildriver:

Did a little more research on that Kenworth "Shovelnose" I posted a link to earlier.......

BUILT: 1936 (not 1937, as I had previously read)

BODY: TriCoach

MODEL: C-33

ENGINE: HALL-SCOTT

"NYO"
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