Skip to main content

In late July 1946, Henry J. Kaiser himself introduced this bus, painted in Santa Fe Trailways livery, billed as “the bus of the future.” It could carry 63 passengers (at a time when a typical bus carried only 37 passengers), ran on Torsilastic suspension and featured swivel-chair seats, built-in lavatories and 40 inches of legroom (versus 35 in typical contemporary buses). Over the next few days, Henry J. mentioned possibly building the bus in Spokane, Washington; Bristol, Pennsylvania; and Portland, Oregon. Don

Kaiserarticulated_02_resized

Attachments

Images (1)
  • Kaiserarticulated_02_resized
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Yes Tiffany, wouldn't you love to travel in that bus. I would. Wouldn't it be amazing to make a private coach out of something like that. Don

In 1946 Kaiser built a 60-foot articulated over-the-road coach was constructed as a speculation and operated between Los Angeles and San Francisco by Santa Fe Trail Transportation Co., a member of the National Trailways association. The body was constructed of a magnesium-aluminum alloy. A 6-cylinder Cummins diesel engine was mounted beneath the floor of the forward section, with a separate air-conditioning unit under the floor in the rear. There was space for 378 cubic feet of baggage in under¬floor compartments. Suspension was the so-called “Torsilastic” system of rubber bonded between the walls of concentric tubes, a design pioneered by Twin Coach and later used by Flxible and Bus & Car (on the Silver Eagle). The pilot was never duplicated; it operated in regular service until 1951.

The Kaiser Bus was a contract job between Kaiser Engineers and the Santa Fe Railroad.  Like other western train lines, Santa Fe used busses to connect various areas rather than run regular train service between the cities.  Busses were cheaper to operate on the low volume lines.  They went into service during 1946-47.

As far as is known, all the busses were scrapped during the 1950′s.  Their heavy % content of magnesium helped enhance their salvage value.

There is some disagreement as to whether just one or up to six were built. The bus ended its life in Trailways livery, until 1951.

 

 

Kaiser-bus-1946-side-1015x1024

Attachments

Images (1)
  • Kaiser-bus-1946-side-1015x1024
Originally Posted by Breezinup:
 
Originally Posted by RickO:
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:

I really want a model of it.  I mean, with a Torsilastic suspension - Oh My!

So......whats stopping you Lee? Just make it!

And then subject it to some kind of test.

 

This is really a nifty looking bus - very post-War, science fictiony look to it - can't you just see a drawing of it on the cover of some late '40s Popular Mechanics with a headline like "Future Travelers Will Go Coast to Coast on Luxury Buses in Two Days"

 

I would love to model it, but scratch building it would be a pain, I imagine.  If I can find something to bash, maybe get a couple of Corgi models to play with, it might be an idea.  Making it run on 'Streets would be nice, too.  Then I could test how well it goes around tight corners. 

 

I think modern three-axle articulated buses are not derivatives of this Kaiser bus but simply newly engineered while using that good idea.  The Torsilastic (torsion bars of course) was used on a lot of buses including many Trailways used in the '50s.  I think most modern three-axle articulated buses use a different type since they are mostly urban and have the "kneeling" feature.

Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×