BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

GREEN BUS LINES, THE MACK YEARS

This is another in a series of essays that were first presented at BusTalk.Net by this writer and are being reprised here for the record.

The origins of the Mack bus began in a carriage shop along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn at the turn of the century (their premiere offering being a sightseer that ran around Prospect Park as early as 1902). With thirteen seats it was among the first motorized ‘public’ conveyances on record.

While Mack became successful enough in both truck and bus making to move to larger facilities in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1905 (where they still turn out some of the best trucks in the world), they never forgot their roots and concentrated bus sales in the northeast and particularly New York City. Both Green Bus Lines, and the East Side and Comprehensive Omnibus Corporations were among their biggest prewar customers.

Green Line’s first and largest ever order for new buses (which coincided with the acquisition of their Manhattan franchises in 1933) were forty-six 28 seat Macks (a combination of 6BC3S's and 4AB3S's) of engine forward design numbered G401 through G446. Included with this order was number G447 which also had 28 seats and was their one and only model 6CL3S (this was a box like ‘cab over engine’ design that you had difficulty in deciding which way it was traveling).

1934 saw the only order for twenty five model 34B8 Brockways (similar in design to the ‘BC’ Macks). However, with strong competition from the Mack, Yellow, Twin, Brill and White companies Brockway ceased bus manufacture early on to concentrate on their popular truck lines.

It was back to Mack in 1935 with an order for thirty five 30 seat model 6CX3S’s with front and center ‘accordion’ doors and were the last Macks to have front engines of any type. You could say that this order was almost custom made for Green Line because Mack only produced fifty CX’s in total. These buses were numbered G501 to G535 and at thirty feet in length were most useful along routes with narrow streets and difficult turns. There were complaints from mechanics concerning problems in servicing the C.O.E. engine design and from drivers suffering heat prostration in summer months but the CX’s in general stood up well.

1937 saw the opening of the ‘CT’ era. The CT was the first truly modern 37 seat transit bus with a rounded roof, rear mounted engine and under seat heating. These were also the first Green Line buses to see the elimination of the ‘G’ before the bus number. The CT’s were notably underpowered and struggled with heavy loads especially on hilly terrain. Mack did little to improve the engines due to the fact that production of the CT design had been scheduled to end in 1938 and the engineering department was busy preparing to introduce the ‘CM’ and ‘CO’ models.

For 1937, thirty five model 6CT3S’s were delivered numbered 601 to 635 . The company inherited another thirty 'CT's' (#101 to 130) with the acquisition of the Manhattan and Queens Bus Corporation (Q60) in 1943.
For 1938 an additional thirty five model CT-3G’s reached the property and were numbered 701 to 735. The CT-3G’s differed only slightly and mainly in engine performance.

1939 and 1940 brought the even more modern and improved model CM-3G’s to Green Line numbered 801 to 825 and 850 to 859 respectively. The CM-3G’s were the most popular prewar Macks with 1625 produced between 1939 through 1943. Of special interest was the air actuated clutch which eliminated the clutch pedal and provided extremely smooth shifts.
All Green Line 800’s were decorated in special 39/40 Worlds Fair livery and featured the familiar Trylon and Perisphere logos.

World War II curtailed delivery of new equipment but a contract for the first thirty-five post war models was signed with Mack. However, a crippling labor dispute closed down production for nearly six months in 1946 and the order was lost to GM which, in turn, started Green Bus Lines, the GM Years!

Photos of most of the models described above may be seen at my BTlll photo gallery; http://gallery.bustalk.info/profile.php?uid=7

Mr. Linsky
"The Green Hornet"
Operator, Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jmaica, New York

[Cyberider]

Great info, Mr. Linsky! Wish I could have experienced "The Mack Years" but there weren't any where I lived.

[Q65A]

Well done, Mr. L!
According to John Montville's history of Mack Trucks (titled "Mack: A Living Legend of The Highways"): "Mack bus sales during 1937 reached nearly 1,000, and by 1939 there were over 800 Mack buses in operation in the New York Territory alone. The New York World's Fair of 1939-1940 was the spur to many local bus operators to add new vehicles to their fleets in anticipation of the huge crowds which would be descending upon the fair grounds."

[Mr. Linsky]