GGT

OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BUS FANS NorCalNorCal ExpressExpress The First

Winter 2011 Issue 08 this issue

County Transit-First 18 months P.1

4th Anniversary Excursion P.2

Bus is a Four Letter Word P.11

Asian Vacation P.14

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#6642 a 1951 GM TDH3612 still in San Jose City In the late 1960's, efforts to create a publicly Northern California Lines (SJCL) "fruit salad" colors working the owned transit system centered in San Jose, former SJCL route 5 enroute to the terminus at Bus Fans CA failed twice when the Santa Clara County 17th & Hedding Streets. The destination sign still Est. January 2007 voters turned down proposals in 1969 and reads 17th & Rosa with Rosa being the name of

again in 1970. the street before it was changed to Hedding. Jim Husing Collection Website www.norcalbusfans.com Availability of state gasoline tax money resulted in passage of a third referendum was to provide a reasonable standard of bus service to the County with the meager Contact Us creating the Santa Clara County Transit District (SCCTD) in November 1972. San aging bus fleet acquired. [email protected] Jose City Lines operating 54 buses on seven local routes was to form the core of the new The cost to the County's taxpayers for acquiring the rolling stock, routes, and system. Peerless Stages contributed eight NorCal Express some assets of the three companies was aging buses and seven suburban Is the official newsletter of the reported to have been in the neighborhood Northern California Bus Fans and is routes. Palo Alto Transit Lines at the of three million dollars. published bi-monthly and County's northern border provided ten buses distributed free of charge. and five local routes. Palo Alto Transit Lines THE BEGINNING FLEET buses were owned by the City of Palo Alto, Editor: Richard Silagi but operated by Peninsula Charter Lines in San Jose City Lines (SJCL) fleet turned over Contributors: Jim Husing, East Palo Alto. to the SCCTD consisted of; Andy Smith, Arnold Bedak, Peto Ho, ten 1948 GM TDH4507's (6501-6510), how- Michael Strauch, Ty Angel The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors ever 6505 was determined to not be oper- were to oversee the bus operation with able and never saw service for the District, James T. Pott picked to be the District's To subscribe to this e-newsletter, two 1959 GM TDH4512's (6511-6512), five just send an e-mail with your name assistant executive officer of the new bus 1960 GM TDH4517's (6513-6517), five and e-mail address to: operation. Pott's background had been in 1962 GM TDH4517's (6518-6522), five [email protected] Public Works with the County. The immediate challenge for the bus operation (Continued on page 5)

NorCal Express Winter 2011

newsletter. If you would like to submit an article for an From the Editor’s Desk upcoming issue, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Also, while we may be called the Northern California bus fans, we Happy Anniversary to the NorCal Bus Fans! Last month we have members from all over who have varied interest. The celebrated our fourth anniversary. I would like to take the articles do not have to be about California. I am open to opportunity to thank all the members who together help just about anything as long as it has to do with buses or make this a fun group to belong to. Hopefully as time transit. progresses we never lose sight of the original vision for this group and that was simply to have fun with buses. If we I would also like to thank Ty Angel for stepping up to the are not having fun, we are doing something wrong. plate and taking the initiative to plan our next

excursion. Ty has been working with Alan Fong on a I am very pleased that several people responded to my Sacramento excursion. Visits to several properties are in plea for articles for the newsletter. This issue features two the works and more info on the trip will be posted on the of those articles, one by Arnold Bedak about his love affair NorCal Bus Fans e-mail group and on the excursion page of with Muni Macks and the other by Peter Ho about his visit the website as the details are finalized. The trip is to Asia last summer. A few other people have articles in the scheduled for April 23rd, 2011, so mark your calendars and works for future issues as well. For those of you who have stay tuned for more details. already stepped up and offered to help, thank you very much. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. The more people we have submitting articles, the more variety we Richard Silagi will have which will make for a more interesting

After meeting up at BART we headed for San Francisco. Our first 4th Anniversary Excursion by Richard Silagi stop of the day was San Francisco Muni’s new “Metro East” light rail facility. NorCal member Cam Beach, who is currently on the The NorCal Bus Fans celebrated their fourth anniversary by having SFMTA board of directors, had arranged for a tour of the facility an excursion to San Francisco on January 22, 2011. Once again the for us. The highlight of the visit was getting chance to see the weather gods were on our side and provided us with another newly restored car #1 which was Muni’s first street car when it absolute gorgeous day even though it was the middle of winter. started service back in 1912. The car was restored in preparation for Muni’s 100th Anniversary celebration in 2012. The car is The excursion started at the El Cerrito del Norte BART station in gorgeous and looks brand new. Richmond. Since I do not keep really accurate attendance records, I cannot say for sure but I think this was the largest excursion for After the tour we all boarded the buses and headed to the area of us so far with about forty three attendees and seven buses! Buses AT&T Park for a photo session with the buses and then lunch at the in attendance were Steve Souza’s PD4106, Josh Thurman’s many nearby restaurants. We took about an hour break for lunch. ex-TriMet new look, Ty Angel’s ex-San Diego Transit Some also used this time to visit the nearby Caltrain station as well Fishbowl, Charles Williams’ Crown school bus and Terry Thatcher’s as getting photos of buses and streetcars in the area. ex- Fishbowl. Tony Marquart also joined us with his ex-SF Muni bicentennial Fishbowl for a portion of the trip After lunch we all boarded the buses and headed for the new in the morning. Temporary Transbay Terminal facility. On the way we passed by

www.norcalbusfans.com Page 2 NorCal Express Winter 2011 the remains of the old Transbay Terminal. While at the Temporary Transbay Terminal, many we spent a fair amount of time photographing and videotaping the buses that were coming and going. Some people also boarded Josh Thurman’s bus for a quick visit to the Market Street Railway store/museum a few blocks away to do a little bit of shopping.

Next we headed east across the Bay Bridge to Treasure Island. We made a stop in front of the old Pan American Airways seaplane terminal on the island for some photos. People also took this opportunity to ride on some of the different buses on short trips around the island.

Once again I think it is safe for me to say that everyone had a good time. I cannot thank the bus owners enough for bringing out their buses for us to enjoy. Also I would like to thank everyone for being generous in their donations to help pay for fuel. While it is very difficult to cover all of the fuel cost when we have this many buses, what was collected was definitely able to ease the burden on the bus owners.

Starting out the excursion on the streets of Richmond. Richard Silagi Thank you again to everyone who helped make this another successful excursion.

Cruising down Mission Street past what remains of the old Transbay (Above) Breda LRV being service on a hydraulic lift inside the Metro East Terminal. Michael Strauch maintenance facility. Richard Silagi

(Below) Newly restored Muni car #1 being inspected by the NorCal Bus Fans inside one of the service bays at Metro East. Michael Strauch

Four of our groups buses lined up at the new loading bays at the Temporary Transbay Terminal. Michael Strauch

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(Above) Josh Thurman’s Flxible at the Transbay Terminal. Richard Silagi

(Right) Buses lined up in front of the old Pan American Airways seaplane terminal on Treasure Island. Michael Strauch

At the end of the day, the buses lined up for one last photo session with the new Bay Bridge construction in the background. Richard Silagi

DON’T FORGET TO VISIT

THE NORCAL BUS FANS PHOTO ARCHIVES!

The archives currently has over 8,000 photos of buses from over 500 different bus companies from 34 states plus Canada and Mexico!

Thanks to the generosity of our members who are willing to share their collections, this archive is growing all the time.

If you have not yet checked it out, just go to our website at www.norcalbusfans.com and click on the photo archives.

www.norcalbusfans.com Page 4 NorCal Express Winter 2011

Early January 1973 two ex-SJCL TDH4517's and an ex-Peerless Stages TDH4506 at the garage on San Carlos Street in San Jose. Jim Husing Collection

(Continued from page 1) 1967 GM TDH4519's (6523-6527), five 1946 GM TDH3609's (6604, 6616-6619), four 1947 GM TDH3610's (6623, 6628- 6630), four 1951 GM TDH3612's (6641-6644), and eight 1965 GM TDH3501's (3501-3508).

The Peerless buses were a mixture of Yellow Coach TD4505's and GM TD4506's built in the early to mid- 1940's. They were numbered 259, 260, 265-267, 280, 281, and 285. San Jose City Lines TDH4517's at the yard at San Carlos and Sunol The Palo Alto buses were GM TGH3102's numbered 260- streets prior to the takeover by the Santa Clara County Transit 268 and one TGH3501 numbered 269. District. Jim Husing Collection

The bus fleet would operate out of the old San Jose City Lines garage on San Carlos Street at Sunol Street in San

Ex-Peerless Stages 285 and 267 both GM 4506 models at the San Jose garage on March 24, 1973 after being renumbered 85 and 67 and sporting new SCCTD logos. Jack Perry

Ex-Peerless Stages 260 renumbered to 60 still in Peerless colors, A former San Jose City Lines maintenance worker affixing the new but with SCCTD logos at the San Carlos Street garage. 60 would be stylized CT logo to the front of one of the ex-SJCL buses. Jack Perry out of service by June 1973 and sold in September 1973. Jim Husing Collection

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Jose which at one time in the early 20th century had been a streetcar barn. AC Transit headquartered in Oakland, CA was contracted to manage the merged operations for the first year, while the District built up its own management staff. A uniform labor contract gave wage increases ranging from 97 cents to $1.40 an hour to operators com- ing from the predecessor companies.

There was a conflict in the fleet numbers between the Peerless and Palo Alto buses as some of the buses from each company were numbered in the 260 series. So the decision was made to drop the number 2 from the first digit of the Peerless buses giving the acquired buses a two digit fleet number. The Palo Alto buses kept their original fleet numbers as did the San Jose City Lines buses. There were Ex-Palo Alto Transit Lines 1963 GM TGH3102 still in its former no fueling facilities for gasoline buses at the San Carlos owner's livery in February 1973. Jim Husing Collection Street garage as all of the acquired buses were diesel except for the Palo Alto buses. Those buses had to be fueled at the end of the run at local gas stations. Also those buses had a long "deadhead" to and from their routes in Palo Alto from the garage in San Jose. These buses typically used surface streets to get to Palo Alto as they were geared too low for freeway speeds.

ROUTES

SJCL had seven local routes numbered 1-7. These routes operated primarily within the City limits with the exception of the 1 route which terminated at the western end in the #6629 a 1947 GM TDH3610 working the former SJCL route 2 still City of Santa Clara. The Peerless routes were also in fruit salad colors, but with freshly painted white wheels. numbered 1-8 with there being no 7 route. These routes John McKane which were suburban in nature on several of them provided commute service from downtown San Jose to the town of Los Gatos via the cities of Campbell and Saratoga. One of the Peerless routes provided service to the east foothills of San Jose from downtown and another was a route from downtown San Jose to Los Altos. The Palo Alto routes also were numbered 1-6 with there being no 4 route. The Palo Alto routes were mainly feeder routes to the Palo Alto train depot with connections along the San Francisco/San Jose train corridor. The obvious conflict in route numbers was solved by the SJCL routes numbers remaining un- changed. The Peerless routes received a number 1 in front of their routes became 11-18 for SCCTD with no 17 route. The Palo Alto routes had a number 3 added to the #6512 a 1959 GM TDH4512 at the San Carlos Street garage. 6512 route number so their routes became 31-36 with no 34 was the last TDH4512s built with serial number 3263. It has been preserved by the Santa Clara County Transit. Jim Husing Collection route.

Working the former SJCL route 1 is 6521 a 1962 GM TDH4517 still Newly painted 3504 a 1965 GM TDH3501 in March 1973. Jack Perry in its SJCL colors, March 1973. Jim Husing Collection

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AC Transit supervisor Don Myers removing the registration from one of the first five 1947 GM TDH4507's being delivered to the new Santa Clara County Transit District. With him is William Blair from the AC Transit staff. Jim Husing Collection

Ex-AC Transit 1837 is one of the first five buses to be delivered to the SCCTD. The author rode this bus on Transit Lines 81A line from Oakland to San Lorenzo back in the early 1960's. Jack Perry Initially the acquired buses worked the same routes they had worked prior to the merger so the SJCL buses stayed on the old San Jose routes and the Peerless and Palo Alto buses were assigned to their former routes.

An all white paint scheme was chosen with a blue and orange dip stripe on the sides, front and rear of the buses was chosen as the initial livery. A stylized CT logo signifying County Transit was placed on the front, sides and rear of the buses. Santa Clara County Transit District in black letters was printed on the rear of the buses just below the rear windows.

The first day of service for the new SCCTD was January 1, 1973. All of the acquired buses were given a fresh coat of white paint to the wheels. First day of service and for several months afterwards the buses operated in their old color schemes, but with the CT logos. The first bus to be painted into the new paint scheme was ex-SJCL TDH3501 Former AC Transit 1712 enroute to Foothill College via Los Altos on number 3502. the interim 42 route on July 5, 1973. Jack Perry

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1947 GM 1777 working the 5 line enroute to 17th & Hedding Streets crossing the railroad tracks at San Carlos and Sunol near the former 1852 at the San Jose garage awaiting its next assignment which SJCL garage on March 24, 1973. Note the dip stripes in the front of would more than likely be on the interim 42 line where it was often the bus go lower and through the headlights as opposed to other seen. Photo December 1973 by Frank Lichtanski painted buses. Five different local commercial painters were used and the buses all had slight differences in the paint schemes of the stripes and the shade of white used for the body. Jack Perry

6643 at its downtown San Jose terminal on the 4 line in August ‘73. Jack Perry

#6604 was one of the TD3609's transferred to the new Transit District and is shown laying over on the former SJCL route 2 in April 1974. The orange dip stipe is slightly wider than the blue stripe and the white is more of an "egg shell" or off white. Later painted buses had this paint scheme as opposed to the pure white and dips stripes of the same width on the earlier painted buses. Jim Husing Collection

An evaluation of the acquired buses mechanically determined that many of them were in need of engine overhauls and other upgrades. To do the necessary repairs to the aging fleet acquired, it was obvious to management that additional buses would be needed. Also the Board of Directors wanted to cover more areas of the County than 1945 GM TDH4506 working the former Peerless Stages 8 line which the routes acquired provided. ran between downtown San Jose and Los Altos with extended school trippers to St. Francis High School in Mountain View. The 8 line be- At the time the waiting period to acquire new buses was came SCCTD's 18 line with a variation of that line designated 18A several months if not longer and the SCCTD needed some which is shown on the destination sign. Jack Perry additional equipment immediately to replace worn out Peerless buses and perform needed repairs on the rest of the acquired fleet.

AC Transit management knew that there was some out of service 1947 GM TDH4507's that had been retired from the AC Transit fleet and were sitting in their reserve fleet. It was decided by SCCTD management to buy 15 of the ex-AC Transit 4507's after an appraiser, Dave Carson of Downey, CA informed the District that the buses ranged from above average to very good condition. Based on this appraisal it was decided to initially buy 15 of the buses at $1900.00 each. The first five of the 15 buses from AC Transit with AC Transit fleet numbers of 1777, 1800, 1809, 1814, and 1837 were delivered to SCCTD in early March 1973. Ten Former SJCL 6518 in downtown San Jose waiting to head south to Gilroy on the 46 line in October 1974. Kenneth Jenkins

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The last built TDH4512 captured on film in March 1974. Frank Lichtanski. TDH3610 enroute to the west San Jose city limits via Park Ave on the 7 line. Jim Husing Collection

1800 shown working the 1 line in October 1973 while enroute to Santa Clara was one of the first five ex-AC Transit 4507's delivered to SCCTD. Jim Husing Collection more would follow shortly after these. An additional three more ex-AC Transit 4507's were bought shortly after the delivery of the first 15 bringing the number to 18 ex-AC Transit buses acquired. In addition to the first five deliv- ered ex-ACT 4507's 1703, 1709, 1712, 1717, 1720, 1734, 1735, 1774, 1778, 1788, 1799, 1815, and 1852 joined the SCCTD fleet. The ex-ACT buses kept their original ACT fleet numbers. These 18 buses had originally been bought new in 1947 by Key System Transit Lines which was the operator of the transit system prior to AC Transit. TD3609 in downtown San Jose headed to southwest San Jose on the With these "new" buses in the SCCTD fleet, management former SJCL route 2. Jim Husing Collection was able to retire all but three of the acquired Peerless buses. 65-67 1946 GM TDH4506's were kept with the other 4505's and 4506's being retired which were all stick shifts and didn't fit into the District's fleet. The three TDH4506's kept were originally new to Pacific Electric in southern California in 1945.

With the 18 acquired AC Transit buses, management

(Right) #6514 a former SJCL TDH4517 is enroute to Cabrillo Ave in Santa Clara on the former SJCL route 1. Under SJCL operation route 1 destination signs for SANTA CLARA read via Main Street if they were terminating at Cabrillo Ave and via Lexington if the terminal was at Kaiser Hospital. Usually the trips were alternating between each destination. Under SCCTD management the Cabrillo run was designated 1-A and the Kaiser Hospital run was designated just route 1. On the return trips to San Jose the destination sign read either 1-LINDA VISTA or the short turn around 1-KING ROAD. Photo April 1974 by Frank Lichtanski

www.norcalbusfans.com NorCal Express Winter 2011 introduced six new "interim" routes on July 2, 1973. These interim routes would provide service to several of the cities within Santa Clara County that had either no bus service or limited bus service provided by Greyhound Lines between San Francisco and San Jose. The interim routes were numbered 41-46. Route 41 provided service between Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale and Westgate Shopping Center in San Jose. Normally two ex-SJCL "fishbowls" were assigned to this route. The 42 route had two buses assigned to it and provided service between Santa Clara's Kaiser Hospital and Foothill College in Los Alto Hills on a meandering route that went through Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Los Altos. Initially ex-ACT 4507's, 1712 and 1799 held down base service on this route with ex-ACT 4507, 1852 also seeing service on this route. The 43 route was a neighborhood route with one 6521 at the San Jose yard in December 1973 showing the later bus assigned servicing Mountain View. Typically an variation of the paint scheme with a wider orange stripe and the ex-SJCL model 3501 was assigned to this route. The 44 different size of the fleet numbers 521 as opposed to the 6. route ran between the Valley Fair Shopping Center in west Apparently when the fleet numbers were applied there was only the San Jose and Saratoga and Los Gatos. Route 45 provided 6 in the correct size so a smaller 5, 2, and 1 was applied to new service to BART in Fremont from downtown San Jose complete the fleet number. Jim Husing with normally an ex-SJCL fishbowl assigned. Route 46 provided minimal service with one bus assigned between Gilroy and downtown San Jose servicing IBM in south San Jose and the towns of Morgan Hill and San Martin in south Santa Clara County. Basically the headway for this one bus was service every three hours on the route. On April 1, 1974 an additional interim route was added, route 47 with service between the northern San Jose district of Alviso and the Santa Clara Kaiser Hospital. One bus was assigned to this route and it normally was an ex-SJCL TDH4517.

I rode regularly the 42 route from my home in Santa Clara to my job in Mountain View when the route was first started. I usually rode the schedule that ex-ACT 4507 number 1799 was assigned. Service on this route was every 60 minutes. There was no evening or weekend service on any of the interim routes 41-47. 6516 a 1960 GM TDH4517 is believed to have been the first of the ex-SJCL fishbowls painted in the new paint scheme. Shown here in This early beginning for the SCCTD would experience many March 1973 enroute to King Road on the former SJCL 1 line with the growing pains and decisions that would turnout to have old white on black destination sign. The newly adopted SCCTD adverse consequences such as the ill fated dial-a-ride destination signs would have yellow lettering with a blue service, propane powered buses that had a tendency to background. John McKane catch on fire, several changes in management, and the introduction of an entirely new route system. It would also mean the end of route service by Greyhound Lines between San Francisco and San Jose along the commute route which serviced much of the main artery, the El Camino Real. There would also be several name changes for the SCCTD in the future. All of these changing events are something for a future story. But the first 18 months were historic in Santa Clara County and provided the foundation for what is the current transit operation in the County.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The information for this story was from several sources to include the December 1974 issue of Motor Coach Age, the Author’s memory, several news articles, internal SCCTD memos, and rosters by Jack Perry who was once on the SCCTD advisory committee.

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Bus is a four letter word.

MACK!MACK! Mack memories by Arnold Bedak

Muni Mack #2569 (Wings) at Seacliff Dr and El Camino in February Having been born in January 1957, and growing up in the 1974. Franck Lichtanski Photo Richmond district of San Francisco, my interest in San Francisco Muni started with buses. Streetcar service to the those days, and we did not see very many Blacks. There Richmond had ended a month prior, and by the age I was seemed to be a nice mix of Black and White drivers, and in able to remember public transportation, the tracks were fact, a few years later, there was a light skinned Black gone and buses ruled the streets. The buses in service at woman driver. She was a sweetheart, and I can still picture the time were Whites and Macks. Whites did not run often her to this day! My Mom always let me or my brother put the on the lines I was familiar with, and so here began my coins in the fare box, and it was fun to watch them find their attraction and passion for the Muni Mack C-49DT’s. way down into the cash box. Sometimes the coins would jam, and the driver would bang the box to get the coins to MEET THE MACKS move. If we were going to the doctor, we needed transfers

These buses were leased from Mack, and delivered to SF to catch the 1 California at 33rd and Geary, but if we were going to visit Dad or going to 450 Sutter, then we would ride Muni between 1955 and 1960. There was a total of four hundred and fifty buses and were numbered 2100-2199, the 38 all the way downtown.

2200-2269, 2300-2369, 2500-2569, and 2600-2669. One hundred and forty six were painted into the “simplified” The ride downtown was about a half an hour expansion of livery in 1963. my world. As a kid, my world was as big as I could ride on my bike. To the Beach, Golden Gate, and Lincoln parks. We

My earliest recollection of riding the Muni was around five rarely rode past 25th Ave. unless we were in Golden Gate years old. My dad worked downtown at 312 Sutter Street, and mom was a stay-at-home mom who didn’t drive. We lived on 35th Avenue between Balboa and Anza. The 38 Geary was our line of choice, since the closest stop was at 35th and Balboa. Waiting for the bus was always exciting for me because of the anticipation of its arrival and the ride itself. Riding in the family car was one thing, but getting on the bus, WOW! We could spot the bus coming up Balboa over the crest at about 40th Ave. “Here comes the bus!” As it drew closer, the sound of the diesel engine and hydraulics were quite intimidating. Having a friendly operator was a plus! I can recall one driver who always asked me if I liked Batman or Superman.

Another interesting aspect was my exposure to Black people. The Richmond district was not well integrated in www.norcalbusfans.com Page 11 NorCal Express Winter 2011

Park. I loved to look out the window and see the changing looked. Some had round turn signals and flat wheel hubs, of neighborhoods and the increase of larger buildings as we (2100-2269) and some had arrow turn signals and raised crossed Van Ness into the downtown area. Watching the wheel hubs (2300-2669). The one major difference that interactions on the bus was very interesting as well, men really got me curious was that some buses were "STRIPED." offering seats to women, standing and reading the What's with the stripe? And so the journey continues... newspaper, kids listening to transistor radios with earphones, and giving up my seat to an older passenger. I remember the inside of the Mack being slightly dark, not A SIMPLIFIED JOURNEY well lit. The seats were leather and padded, sometimes the It became my personal challenge to figure out what was the back seats had been slashed, and you could see the logic behind having some buses with the stripe and some stuffing and horsehair. Reading the ads was always fun, not. Forty years later, I would find out that it was “Wings vs. and I think helped in our learning experience. My brother Simplified livery,” but for then, my designation was “Good” and I would fight to ring the bell! bus. Not that there were any bad buses! So, were the good

buses only odd or even numbered, 2100s, what? The only way I could work it out was to write down fleet numbers, and so I did. I carried a little notepad everywhere I went. While I was on traffic duty, riding my bike, in the car with my parents, everywhere. I even had my brother on the lookout. I noticed that certain bus lines had the same numbered buses running that line everyday, so I knew I would have to expand my search beyond my neighborhood, 2 Clement, 18 Sloat, 28 Nineteenth, 31 Balboa, and 38 Geary. Interesting however, the 28 line still ran a couple of Whites. Up until then, I had only seen Whites on the 39 Coit, the “baby” Whites. I found the Whites to be quite strange compared to the Macks, and their numbering, 00228, what was that about? After a short period of time, I discovered that the striping was random, but I would continue to record fleet numbers just to see how many different ones I could see. My Dad would often shop at the Akron store on North Point, and I would go over to the bus terminal (Kirkland) a few blocks away. There, more revelations occurred. How many actual Macks were there? How could I find out? What I Polo Fields 1967 - Arnold Bedak, Second from left (SF Progress) noticed at Kirkland was is that there were no high-numbered buses! They had to be somewhere else; I had seen some on other lines. But how high were the numbers? One day on a field trip to the Cow Palace, which by the way were always on Mack 2500s with the school lights, (another discovery), sitting at a bus stop, 2101 and 2191, both with stripes! I believe at that time on the 29 Visitacion. My Dad, coming from Eastern Europe was a big soccer fan. He would attend soccer matches every Sunday at Balboa Park. Once, while playing around in the area, I could see the Geneva Barn from

A Mack outbound on the 38 Geary passing the Balboa Theater, shortly after passing the author’s crossing post at 36th and Balboa Street. Arnold Bedak Collection

In the 4th grade at Lafayette Elementary School, I became a member of the Safety Patrol, a traffic boy. I was assigned to the corner of 36th and Balboa. Quite quickly I realized that this was prime bus viewing territory. At this point, my fascination went to the next level. The inbound and outbound 38 Geary crossed my intersection, and I was out there three times a day.

Then I started to notice something about the outside of the Muni Macks at the Geneva/Ocean yard. Arnold Bedak Collection bus. The were differences in the way some of the buses www.norcalbusfans.com Page 12 NorCal Express Winter 2011 across the street. “There must be buses there too!” I it was one of two vault buses. 2629 was the other. So after thought. I managed to sneak across to check it out and tallying as many buses as possible, I continued my walk. was amazed by the quantity of Macks that were parked Looking back on this adventure, I’m wondering how many there. Out came the notepad! I found 2199, so I knew that twelve year olds would do this, or be allowed to for that was the highest 2100, but couldn’t find anything higher matter? than 69 in any of the other ranges. Was there another car barn? Maybe… BACK IN THE SUMMMER OF ‘69 THE BAR MITZVAH WALK We had heard the rumors, but finally, we saw the real thing. I started Bar Mitzvah lessons ahead of my January 1970 There were “new kids on the block!” I was folding celebration in early 1969. I had just entered seventh grade newspapers (S.F. Examiner) on my corner, 33rd and Balboa, at Presidio Junior HS. Every Wednesday, I would go to and a red and yellow bus pulled up. What was this? A Temple Sherith Israel, which was at California and Webster. The 2 Clement took me to 6th Ave. There I transferred to the 55 Sacramento. The 55 always ran low numbered 2600s, and they being the newer Macks (1960), seemed to be in the best shape.

#2600 after fresh paint in the “simplified” livery. Phil Hom Collection

One Saturday morning in early 1969 I had a lesson, so I took my usual route. I used my bus card, and got a transfer, and was on my way. Mayor Alioto welcomes the new GMC buses in 1969. A Bedak Collection However, on my return, the driver informed me that my bus card was different bus, a different color, and new drivers uniforms! My not valid on Saturdays, and that I green and cream world was coming to an end? Yes, slowly needed to pay. I didn’t have any but surely. The mix of Macks and GMCs (Jimmys) became money, so I got off. I decided that I very noticeable. The older Macks, 2100s and 2200s started would walk home! I walked up to disappear, and as I got a little older and more involved California St. to Presidio Ave. I with school, so did my interest in the buses. I still observed remembered that there was a car numbering and livery changes, but not as passionately as I barn there, but it was trolleys. Oh had done with the Macks. I didn’t know if I had really com- well, there were striped trolleys as pleted any lists, as I never really knew the parameters of well! When I got there however, I what I was searching for, unlike the checklist that came with found some Macks as well. 2622 was an interesting bus… baseball cards. Until…… why did it look like it was reinforced? It wasn’t striped (at the time), but definitely different. I would later find out that THANK YOU INTERNET!

Around 2005, I decided to play around on Google, and see what came up on a Muni Mack search. Well, that is how I have gotten to where we are today. My first inquiry was an email to Cable Car Mike. He directed me to Peter Ehrlich’s SF Muni History group. He told me that a lot of transit buffs and ex-operators were in the group, but be careful, some of them think bus is a four-letter word! Ha Ha. After joining the group, a lot of questions I had as kid were being answered. I found pictures, rosters, and stories about the Macks. The rosters have confirmed my childhood notes, and enlightened me on what I couldn’t determine. Books like “Inside Muni,” and “Tours of Discovery, have given me a great history les- son about the Muni in general. I had written a letter to the Mack Co. to see if they had any photos and records of the Macks. They graciously sent me about a dozen copies of 2629 was one of two Macks converted to vault buses. Dave Longa actual Macks before delivery, in the factory being inspected, www.norcalbusfans.com Page 13 NorCal Express Winter 2011 and loaded on freight cars. Included was also a chassis roster which listed the history of the delivery and serial number of each coach. My passion for the Macks has been rekindled, and my new challenge is to collect photos of every Mack, all 450 of them! Not necessarily individually, but to account for all the fleet numbers. I currently have a Facebook group called Muni Macks to which you are welcome to join. If you have photos to contribute, please do!

RESTORE 2230

The Macks were leased to Muni, and so they were returned at the end of their service. As a kid, the rumor was that they were shipped to South America. I believe 2607 was the last Mack to run revenue service until 1980. The only remaining Muni Mack is 2230 in the Muni historical fleet. It was rescued from Arizona and brought back to San Francisco by a small group that wanted to see it restored. As of today, it is sitting uncovered at Muni Metro East. The cost to restore the vehicle is high, and parts may be hard to come by. Due to the present financial state of Muni, and the economy in general, restoring 2230 is not a priority. Perhaps with private money, but we would still need the approval of Muni. I can dream, can’t I ?

To me, bus will always be a four-letter word….MACK!

2230 in storage awaiting restoration. Arnold Bedak

Mack factory photos from the authors collection. www.norcalbusfans.com Page 14 NorCal Express Winter 2011

It’s the beginning of rush hour just outside of Downtown Shanghai. Fares differ between buses with air conditioning and those without; symbolized by “*” next to destination.

Asian Vacation By Peter Ho

During the Summer of 2010, my girlfriend and I took a trip to China to experience the wonders of the Shanghai World expo. During the trip, I had a chance to explore a bit of the transportation system. Traveling abroad gave me the opportunity to do some ‘bus fanning’.

Shanghai The height of evening rush in just outside of Downtown Shanghai. Shanghai is the most populated city in China. Shanghai is Because of worsening congestion, it was sometimes faster to walk a port city that has experienced explosive growth in the than to sit on the bus. Also note the trolley bus wires above. This is past few decades and is a global city, with a cultural blend one of a dwindling number of roadways that have trolley bus service. of Western and Chinese influence.

Transit in Shanghai is extensive and well-used. Over a thousand bus lines cover the city. Fares varied; 25 cents for buses with air conditioning and about ½ that for non-air conditioned buses. Buses were well used but were slow because of heavy traffic. In Shanghai, some of the wider thoroughfares have become jammed expressways. On one occasion, we walked faster than the bus moved.

Newer buses are of the low floor variety with the majority built by Chinese builder Sunwin, a joint venture between Volvo and Shanghai Automotive Industry. The buses had blinds to block out the sun, which was necessary during the hot, humid days during the summertime. Buses are modern and well maintained.

Ultracapacitor Buses The expo theme was ‘Better City, Better Life’. Transporta- tion was no different. Over 70 million people were reported A World Expo shuttle bus getting ready to start service on the to have attended during the span of the event and getting Guozhan shuttle line. These hybrid buses were built under a joint venture with Volvo and Shanghai Automotive. www.norcalbusfans.com Page 15 NorCal Express Winter 2011

Two Shanghai Expo shuttle buses line up to unload passengers at One of the older Dennis Dragon buses in the the end of the line near the Brazilian pavilion. Service was fleet. This company is one of three major franchises that operate frequent; with shuttles leaving every 2 minutes. Because heat and service in the Hong Kong area, with and humidity can make life unbearable, air conditioning and shades being the other two. were a welcome relief.

people into and around the expo without creating gridlock was extremely important.

Transit buses shuttling passengers between venues were mainly hybrid-powered. But there were about 40 buses in service that were Ultracapacitor buses. These buses would build up their charge at stops, using pantographs to ‘quick charge’ their batteries. The bus we rode in was quiet, albeit slow. Top speed was approximately 25 mph. Information showed that these buses can go 3-5 miles be- tween charging stations. Online information shows that some of these Ultracapacitor buses will be used to replace some of the trolleybuses lines in Shanghai.

Hong Kong Hong Kong transit comes in all shapes and sizes. Minibuses serve as feeder service. Buses are painted in green, which operate on fixed routing or red, which is a flexible route With Kowloon in the backdrop, a lineup of Kowloon Motor Buses at that carries passengers in a specified area. waiting to depart from the Star Ferry Terminal in Tsim Shai Chui, a tourist area for the high end shoppers.

Not all buses in Hong Kong were double deckers. Besides the mini buses that ply the neighborhoods, there were a number of single deck MANs that serviced areas in Hong Kong that did not require a One of CityBus’s Olympians loading passengers in Causeway Bay. double deck coach. It’s almost midnight on a weeknight and the line to get on is long. www.norcalbusfans.com Page 16 NorCal Express Winter 2011

Because of it’s British influence, double deckers are very common in Hong Kong. Routes are contracted out to numerous bus companies. Citybus and New World First bus run service out of Hong Kong Island. Buses in Kowloon are run by Kowloon Motor Bus. Service is extensive and heavily used, with high ridership late into the evening.

Double-decker buses are produced by a number of manufacturers; Volvo, Dennis, Neoplans, MANs and Scanias. Because it was our first trip in Hong Kong, getting around by double deck trams, outside of the subway, seemed logical. Operated by Hong Kong Tramways, it has 6 routes running between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan. Like the buses, service is very heavy and frequent, with headways as short as 1.5 minutes on the mainline dur- ing commute times. Most trams had very colorful advertis- Under the bright advertising lights in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong mini ing that made them stand out. We made the best of them bus lays over near the many 7-Elevens we found in the area. The during our stay and with the very hot, humid weather, the red topped buses symbolized flex-route service that operates into a fact that all the windows opened made the ride very scenic specific area. and comfortable.

One stop necessary for fans was 80M, a bus fans’ hobby shop that carries a huge selection of Corgi buses and toys that represent Hong Kong transportation.

Ten days for two large cities in Asia was too short of a time to experience the transit scene. Opportunity in the future will give me the chance to come back.

A light bus ready to depart from the bus bay at one of the shopping malls in Hong Kong. Fares can be paid with cash or with their Octpus card. They’re like the Clipper cards in the Bay Area and the TAP card in Los Angeles area, but their system is more expansive; you can use it to purchase a Slurpee at 7-Eleven pay for groceries.

(Above) A pair of double deck trams near the Star Ferry Terminal Stop. These the cars are not air conditioned, all the windows opened upstairs made the humid Summer bearable.

(Right) Like the cables cars of San Francisco, the double deck trams of Hong Kong were a must ride. They are the only exclusive double deck tram system in the world and are a bargain ride for HK $2 (or about $.30) www.norcalbusfans.com NorCal Express Winter 2011

(Above) Cartoonish figures are very common in Asia. These were safety ads for the Mass Transit Railway system, MTR, operators of the subway system.

(Left) Wherever ads can go, they will put it there, especially if it moves. This tram was promoting Hong Kong tourism.

“Cover Girl” Crown by Richard Silagi

Crown bus historian, Louk Markham, has just completed new a book on the history of the . Last May I had the pleasure of photographing NorCal member Charles Wil- liam’s beautiful Crown #40 along with the Pacific Bus Museum’s Crown #4 for this book project. Charles and I were both pleased when we discovered that his bus would be on the cover of the book. The 128 page book is being published by Iconografix and is scheduled for release on March 15, 2011. It is available for pre-order through Amazon.com for $22.43 (36% off the publishers retail price of $34.95). Not only does this book cover the history of Crown buses but also Crown Fire Trucks as well as other specialty coaches that Crown built.

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