BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls_Transit_Terminal

["TO ALL BUSES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulated_bus

Recall that, in the late 1930s and 1940s, experimental articulated buses were, indeed, QUITE unorthodox for the time.

In 1937, the BTC (Baltimore) operated one lone TWIN COACH articulated, dubbed "The Queen Mary" (#1019), which ran until just after WW2.

Known as the "Super Twin Coach", this huge, four-axle bus sat 58 passengers; this bus also had a hinge between the two sections.

Unlike most articulated buses, it did not bend horizontally, making it difficult for the bus to round corners...........

"NYO"

["BTC"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further:

After the WAR, TWIN COACH again "dabbled" with articulated buses.

Debuting just after the War, these "new generation" Super Twin Coaches* had two diesel engines, mounted under the floor behind the front axle.

Interestingly, the articulated section could only bend vertically.,

Omaha's transit agency purchased 15 of these early articulateds; one trolley bus version was also built, which later operated in Chicago and San Francisco.......

*In 1949, TWIN built one "Super Twin" articulated as an "HPO" (Highway Post Office"), a model "58-D6".

Sources say that this unique USPS bus operated only in California........

"NYO"

["HIGHWAY POST OFFICE"]

["O T Co"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Information on Highway Post Office buses (the last route operated in 1974).........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Post_Office

["US MAIL HIGHWAY POST OFFICE SERVICE"]

[Cyberider]

Twin was a pretty innovative company with some interesting products. They sold a lot of buses in Chicago and San Francisco but not so successful elsewhere. Perhaps they had the market in some other places like Omaha too.

I was familiar with RPO's but less so with HPO's. PE had a few cars dedicated to that purpose.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

I've had in my collection (since my long-ago childhood days!) a tin friction "US MAIL BUS", one of the rarest buses in my collection (it is now over 60 years old!)

In Great Britain, at least through the 1960s, buses (coaches) still carried mail in the more rural areas ("exchanging the mails" involved the coach drivers exchanging mail pouches during stop-overs en route)

In DC, into the 1950s, pouch mail from Glen Echo and Cabin John were carried aboard PCCs and then, at a location nearer downtown, transferred to USPS trucks.

This unique practice was the last operation in the country where streetcars carried mail........

["30 FRIENDSHIP HTS"]

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here is an excellent page (w/vintage photos!) on Highway Post Office buses; check out the beautifully-restored 1941 WHITE 798!

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/mail-by-rail/highway-post-office-buses

["WHITE"]

[Cyberider]

Thanks, NYO. I didn't know these buses were such a common sight as stated. I'd never seen one! Maybe I wasn't in the right place, as usual.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Post Office bus trivia........

In 1950, FLXIBLE joined with a number of other bus builders to build special buses ("HPOs") for mail service.

FLXIBLE built at least 11 of these buses in 1950, using the basic "CLIPPER" body.

However, these unique buses had higher roofs than their conventional cousins, as USPS men would be standing up en route, sorting mail as they would in an RPO.

A photo of one of these buses can be found in "FLXIBLE INTERCITY BUSES" (William A. Luke)................

"NYO"

["X-1092"]

[Cyberider]

Thanks for the info, NYO. Unfortunately, I don't have that book, though I thought about acquiring it a number of times. I guess I can picture a tall Clipper!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[Cyberider]

NYO,

Those Clippers were kind of "futuristic" looking. Haven't seen one in ages except in YouTube videos. I think the early ones used a Buick Straight Eight engine.

Communications have always been important to me as I've been an amateur radio operator since 1963.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A most UNORTHODOX "bus" indeed was the rare "BRUCK"........

https://explorenorth.com/library/bus/coachways-bruck.html

https://transpressnz.blogspot.com/2013/09/great-northern-railway-bus.html