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Southwestern Greyhound's Railbuses/SWG history/Pickwick
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What was remarkable, was that a maximum with double occupancy was only 26 passengers...and was served by a crew of three...driver, porter, and cook...
The fares must have been pretty steep to make the operation profitable, and I would imagine close to, or even higher than riding in a Pullman train, which would have been much more comfortable and faster...

On the other hand, the daytime 'duplex' 53 seats would be real profitable, once the initial expense of purchase was accounted for...
I don't know how they would carry baggage for a full 53 seat load...
Something the 81 seat Van Hool of today is burdened with....
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

traildriver wrote:
What was remarkable, was that a maximum with double occupancy was only 26 passengers...and was served by a crew of three...driver, porter, and cook...
The fares must have been pretty steep to make the operation profitable, and I would imagine close to, or even higher than riding in a Pullman train, which would have been much more comfortable and faster...

On the other hand, the daytime 'duplex' 53 seats would be real profitable, once the initial expense of purchase was accounted for...
I don't know how they would carry baggage for a full 53 seat load...
Something the 81 seat Van Hool of today is burdened with....


traildriver:

Agreed.

I've read that riding via "Nite Coach" would have been either close to or higher in fare to a Pullman; recall, also, most folks, back then, were still reeling from the Depression, and would, of course, opt for the cheapest mode of travel possible.

Recall, also, the old "day coaches" of that era.

IMHO, though quite novel for the day, the "Nite Coach" for all of its innovations, could not even begin to compete with Pullman travel.

Then again, look at the evil times that awaited Pullmans, by the later 1950's and 1960's, as the bottom was rapidly dropping out from underneath the rail passenger network.......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 11:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Speaking of Pullmans, read here of the elegant, bygone "Brighton Belle", the world's only "All-Electric Pullman".......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Belle
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

More here on the preservation efforts for the magnificent, elegant "Brighton Belle".......

www.brightonbelle.com
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really can't see the market for those Nite Coaches....like you stated, it was used mainly during the Depression, and except for very few, no one would spend for such an extravagance. Also, the roads during that era were much slower than the interstates and turnpikes of today. I could see if they ran somwhere where there was no railroad service, but all of the routes described in the various links ran on busy mainline routes....

Perhaps they were run as a 'halo operation', just for the prestige of the company....
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

traildriver:

Agreed all the way.

During the Depression, most folk could BARELY scrape up the CHEAPEST bus/rail fares; the fares to travel on the "Nite Coach" must have been astronomically high to the majority of the Depression-weary public.

On a related note, also, look at the fares on the PAN AMERICAN "Clipper" Flying Boats in the 1930's; these fares were conducive only to a traveling public that were VERY well-heeled (such as stockbrokers, businessmen, etc.)

Even during the heyday of the "Nite Coach", I think that there were those who so the concept as but a brief "flash in the pan" (despite its many innovations) and would, soon enough, vanish from the scene.....

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just thinking......

Even in the unlikely event that "Nite Coach" sleeper service was re-instated after the War, it would not (IMHO) have lasted all that long.

A number of postwar developments would have spelled doom for revived "Nite Coaches", including:

1: More luxurious postwar sleeping cars on the rails.

2: The tremendous growth in air travel, as airliners became bigger and more powerful.

3: The increased use of private automobiles.

With the exception of the "SCENICRUISER", highway buses of the postwar era were of a much more "conventional" sort, as compared to the flamboyant "Nite Coach".......

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 22, 2024 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Recalling former " Hound haunts" down Texas way............

https://www.roadarch.com/bus/tx.html

["DALLAS"]
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