History of Greyhound Buses and Terminals – Part 1

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

In the beginning, lavatories had a sign that said: "Do not use while in Station."  They also had them in trains. Can you guess why? 

See some of the earliest Greyhound passenger buses and terminals.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the birthplace of Greyhound.  See their original route map.

You'll never guess what kind of dog the owner of Greyhound had. 😊

Armrests in the original buses folded down into seats for standees.

Learn how and when Yellow Coach buses (and hence GM buses) came into play.

Learn why earlier buses had bars in the windows like prison buses.

See scenes from the movie that made Greyhound famous.  "It happened one night."

Learn why buses had scheduled stops at least every two hours for about 15 - 20 minutes in the early days.

Learn when buses first had underfloor storage.

Mother Nature supplied Air Conditioning in the early days.

Flight Attendant's used to be aboard some buses.

In the 1939 New York World's Fair, the Greyhound Silverside was revealed.

Passengers used to get dressed up to ride buses.  Now...anything goes.

During WW-2, many old buses were brought back into service to transport military personnel.  This is when Greyhound made gobs of money.

In 1987, Greyhound and Trailways became one company.

The new MCI MC-12 buses entered into service.

In some stations, Gordon Pillow Services had pillows for sale for your Greyhound ride.

In the 1930s, Greyhound had their own stores.

This is a video by Robert Redden. Subscribe to our channel to be the first to be notified as we upload weekly bus videos.


https://youtu.be/xMx2hWPEkdA

[CrabbyMilton]

I have it on my to watch list. As far as the "potty" question is concerned. I would imagine that early buses and train coaches had no waste tanks. So the waste would go straight to the ground.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I have it on my to watch list. As far as the "potty" question is concerned. I would imagine that early buses and train coaches had no waste tanks. So the waste would go straight to the ground.

We have a winner!!!  Yes, it dropped down on the ground or in the case of the railroads onto the track.  Saves having to empty the tanks on a regular basis.   

This is a bit different from the GM Motorhomes that pumped the waste into the Exhaust Manufold to burn up while traveling down the road. 

[CrabbyMilton]

Thank You Gary. I had a friend many years ago telling me that he was on a train and had too much to drink. So he went to the rest room to puke then saw the rail bed speeding by under the toilet which made him puke some more.
Simpler times before the EPA came into existence.
I would imagine the smell of diesel mixing with human waste in the exhaust manifold was interesting.