Silverside or Silversides. Which is the correct terminology?

DoubleEagle · November 30, 2019, 11:39:31 AM

Quote from: luvrbus on November 30, 2019, 08:47:39 AM

The Eagles were a Trailways thing for identifying the class of service offered back then I was told,and carried over when Trailways starting manufacturing their own buses hence came the name Eagle as we know today

That might not be correct. The 4103 was produced in 1951 & 1952. The first prototypes of the Golden & Silver Eagles weren't started until 1955 & 1956. I think liberties were taken by some 4103 operators to jazz up their buses with Eagle parts later on.

luvrbus · November 30, 2019, 03:26:47 PM

Trailways started bus service in 1928 and through the years they had 3 service class , the standard,the silver and the golden .I have a old photo of a Trailways Beck that has the Eagle on the side taken in the 40's I 'll see if I can scan it for you later

DoubleEagle · November 30, 2019, 05:00:27 PM

That would explain the origin of the idea for the Eagle design, but the emblem on that 4103 looked identical to the Silver Eagle circle that was on the Model 01's. The original emblems for those old Trailways buses would be very interesting to see. Yet another interesting bit of history for the Eagle.

DoubleEagle · November 30, 2019, 07:20:33 PM

Cliff, I have not found any reference to silver or golden service with older Trailways operators, but I did find this 1946 photo of an American Bus Lines ACF Brill with a emblem on the side that really looks like the precursor to the Silver Eagle metal emblem. I can't tell if it is metal or painted on, but in the circle it says "American Bus Lines". It may very well be the inspiration for the Eagle emblem. It still looks like the emblem on the 4103 is an actual one from an Eagle added by the restorer.

luvrbus · December 01, 2019, 05:12:18 AM

Old Norris at the Eagle factory is the one that gave me the history lesson and he was up on the history,all I know for sure is only the Trailways buses had the Eagle on the sides when it left the factory you couldn't even buy those from Eagle back then

DoubleEagle · December 01, 2019, 08:51:11 AM

Was Norris both at the Eagle plant and at Jefferson? Is he still with us? He would be a person who could reveal a lot of things. I really regret not asking him more questions when I had the chance.

luvrbus · December 01, 2019, 09:40:08 AM

Quote from: DoubleEagle on December 01, 2019, 08:51:11 AM
Was Norris both at the Eagle plant and at Jefferson? Is he still with us? He would be a person who could reveal a lot of things. I really regret not asking him more questions when I had the chance.

Same ole Norris,I haven't spoken with him for 3 years but the last time I did he was still puffing on 2 packs a day and drinking beer enjoying his retirement,a lot of the old Eagle employees are on FB like Tony and Daniel but no Norris

pd4501-771 · December 02, 2019, 07:47:30 PM

I believe the Henry J on the Wiki-page belongs to a collector in the Netherlands. "International Bus Collectors club" was Bob Redden's former deal I think. Yes, the Eagle has been added at some point.

luvrbus · December 03, 2019, 06:01:23 AM

The Eagle with wings were a American Bus Line trademark all their buses used it,when American joined the Trailways group they adopted the trade mark,in Bus World there is a photo of a 4103 restored by American that has those.Daniel a long time employee of Eagle gave us a history lesson on F/B about the American Bus Line Eagles on the side,in this case the Eagle came before the bus

lostagain · December 03, 2019, 07:01:04 AM

Weren't Eagle buses first built in Belgium and imported to the US and Canada? Did the Eagle name come with them? Or was it assigned once they started being built in the US? This whole Eagle brand name is now confusing me. I am just a lowly MCI guy...

JC

chessie4905 · December 03, 2019, 07:12:13 AM

Probably adopted the name to encourage sales here. I remember the first ones. They were odd looking.

luvrbus · December 03, 2019, 07:41:56 AM

The Eagles were designed by the US carriers in the Trailways network ,GM would not sell Trailways a 40 ft bus and Greyhound owned MCI so they went after GM using a manufacture in Germany to manufacture the Eagle,they were made by 4 different manufactures at different locations in Europe Bus and Car of Belgium was the 2nd manufacture,Setra of Germany was the 1st manufacture the design was owned by Trailways before moving to the US,Not a clear photo but here is the Eagle on Continental Trailways Flx in service

chessie4905 · December 03, 2019, 09:58:59 AM

http://eaglesinternational.net/eagle-history

https://phoenixcoachglobal.com/history-eagle-coach/

I think GM may have offered Trailways a coach. It , most likely have been the 40 foot model that was gold anodized. PD4901 Golden Chariot. It also looked plainer than a Scenicruiser by comparison. By then the Scenicruiser issues were known, especially the dual engine setup. It appears Trailways passed on it.

chessie4905 · December 03, 2019, 10:11:01 AM

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/bus-stop-classic/bus-stop-classic-1954-gm-4901-the-golden-chariot/

According to Eagle history, the Eagle name and emblem came from acquisition by Trailways of American Bus Lines, that was using it on their coaches.

DoubleEagle · December 03, 2019, 02:26:24 PM

Attached are pictures from 1946 showing an American Bus Lines ACF Brill with their Eagle logo, and a timetable that shows the emblem more clearly. It is not the same as used on the Eagle's later, but it is definitely the basis for the design. It was used on whatever brand American had, including the PD 4103. I think it would be safe to say that the GM PD 4103 shown on Wikipedia has a Silver Eagle emblem from an Eagle instead of the original one from American Bus Lines (if that was an American Bus Lines vehicle originally).