[PRCo] Re: PSSST - WANNA BUY LOUSY PICTURES?

[Harold Geissenheimer]

Greetings

The low 100 series GMC model TDH 3612 came to Community at the
Bridgeville/Sygan Garage.  When Community took over the AlleghenyValley routes,
two of these buses came to the Tarentum Garage (Old West Penn Barn) in 1961.
At the Tarentum Garage, the buses were parked over the tracks once used by
car #832.   So from 1937, street car to Connellsville, then from 1951, bus
at Connellsville, then 1953, bus to Bridgeville, then in 1961, bus back to
Tarentum.  The circle is complete.

All of the buses involved served into the PAT era.  Excellent buses, easy to drive.

The buses were sold to Community to operate the former Blue Ridge-Penn Bus
route to Carnegie and Hickory.  Blue Ridge gace priority in sales to their
former employees.  Dave Brown, CTS President and the drivers were ex-Blue
Ridge.

Community did not repaint these buses, instead they became the Community
paint style which was then used on all future CTS buses.  There was an interesting
twist, CTS purchased 12 GMC TDH 4509 buses from Queens Transit in 1961
for the main line Pgh to New Kensington route.  The Queens paint job used a
slightly\darker orange and had no green stripe,  We added a green stripe, and
PRESTO, almost a
West Penn bus.

Harold Geissenheimer

Fred Schneider wrote:

> I'm very forgetful in my aging condition ... but didn't he  (Bill Gwynn) also
> take the picture at the south end of the Brownsville Juction bridge showing the
> alternate transportation?   While the railfans were out at the requisite photo
> stop on the day after fantrip in 1950, the replacement bus came along.   One or
> two of the railfans actually had the presence of mind to photograph the car and
> a brand spankin' new GM diesel bus side-by-side.   I think Bill might have been
> one of them.  Maybe it meant something to him because he drove them in
> Wheeling.  Sadly there were never many pictures taken of their buses, and the
> bus empire lasted only until June 1953 when declining patronage ended the
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