The New Menards Bus - A 1950s Era Flxible

[Firelock76]

I've seen Bob's revue of the bus flat.  It's impressive, but I wish they'd do one with the old grey n' white Public Service of New Jersey bus, I'm sure they'd move a lot of 'em in that part of the country.

Everyone who remembers them is a nostalgic for the old Public Service "Flxible" buses, God alone knows why, they stank!  Last place you wanted to be was behind one in traffic, but hey, nostalgia knows no logic.  I'd get one!

Palisades Amusement Park even worked it into a radio ad I remember...

"It's no trouble, it's no fuss, (clap-clap) take a PUBLIC SERVICE BUS!"

Public Service is really great, they drop you right off at the gate!"

[M636C]

The Flxible (for some reason they left out the "e" in the name) was a rear engined high floor passenger coach for long distance services. For its time, the early 1950s, it was an ultra modern vehicle distinguished by the rounded contours and the large air scoop for the rear engine.

My first school faced a main highway (I never had to cross it fortunately) and I remember seeing these in blue with silver fluting heading north. The forward angled windows were a distinctive feature. These were called "Clippers", reflecting the name of the fast sailing ships that carried tea from China, and used by Pan Amercan as the prefix name for their aircraft even before WW II until the end of their operation.

The Menards model represents one later in life modified as a mobile home. The two air conditioner packages were not available when these were running in service, so the windows had to open for ventilation.

Last Friday evening I was driving up to a railfan gathering on the weekend where two steam locomotives were running. In the dark, I drew up to a large vehicle that appeared to have old pattern marker lights on the rear. As I drew closer I thought "that looks like an old Flxible bus - it must be a trick of the light". But as I got closer, it was indeed an old Flxible converted to a mobile home, like The Menards model. It was painted red and silver, like the Santa Fe Trailways model reviewed in the blog. But as I drew alongside the cab, it had the compass decal of its original owner below the driver's window. The licence plate read "FLXBLE" (missing the "i" as well to fit to six digits).

I think one of these appears in Alfred Hitchcock's movie North by Northwest, as a bus that passes Cary Grant at "Prairie Stop" just before he is attacked by the crop dusting aircraft.

But the bus is correct for the very late steam era, and should be of interest even to those who take such details seriously.

Peter