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| Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? (307672) | |
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Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by Larry,RedbirdR33 on Sat Oct 10 11:17:55 2015 I was looking at my bus memorabilia and I came across a 1981 schedule for Walters Transit.This company was formally known as the Walters Transit Corporation and their headquarters was at 525 Eleventh Avenue in New York City. The primary service that they operated ran between Brewster and New York City. The city terminal was on West 41st Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue. The route followed the former New York Central Putnam Division more or less. Ten buses left from Brewster on weekdays from 5:10 AM to 7:00 AM. The buses left from West 41st Street from 3:30 PM to 6:45 PM. There was no reverse peak service. On Saturdays there were two buses in each direction, one in the morning and one in the evening. One of these runs was extended to Putnam Lake. The Sunday schedule list one bus in each direction between Putnam Lake and West 41st Street. A second weekend route ran on Saturdays and Sundays between Wassaic State School and West 41st Street, one bus in each direction. These runs were extended to Canaan, Connecticut from May to October. The one way fare between Brewster and New York was $3.90 and a 10 trip book was $27.25. I do not know where the garage was located but it had to be somewhere in the Brewster area. Did anyone ever ride this route ? Larry, RedbirdR33 |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by pragmatist on Sat Oct 10 12:16:40 2015, in response to Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by Larry,RedbirdR33 on Sat Oct 10 11:17:55 2015. Seeing that name again makes me chuckle. I remember my first day of work in the electrical industry, and I must have gotten a hundred warnings about showing up to work on time. The only person with a key was the General Foreman from Yorktown Hts. and his Walters bus broke down. I was there 45 mins early, and sat in the hall for an hour and a half. Of course, that was well before the cell phone era. |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by HART BUS on Sat Oct 10 12:27:03 2015, in response to Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by Larry,RedbirdR33 on Sat Oct 10 11:17:55 2015. Larry, I had seen the bus but being a boy from Queens I didn't know where their territory was. I think that I have a b&w picture of one of their fishbowls in my computer. If I find it I'll send it to you. |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by pragmatist on Sat Oct 10 12:48:22 2015, in response to Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by HART BUS on Sat Oct 10 12:27:03 2015. http://jimmancuso1.tripod.com/thebusterminal/id18.htmlthis link has a short history |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by Joe V on Sat Oct 10 17:30:25 2015, in response to Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by Larry,RedbirdR33 on Sat Oct 10 11:17:55 2015. Didn't they (and Carey) get taken over by Greyhound, and then quickly went to pot ? |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by kcram3500 on Sat Oct 10 18:38:19 2015, in response to Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by Joe V on Sat Oct 10 17:30:25 2015. Yes. Greyhound bought Carey and Walters in either the late 60s or early 70s, and Walters also held the NYC Gray Line franchise at the time. Greyhound sold them to the Schivonne family (owners of Connecticut Limousine) in 1982. Walters was dissolved in 1983, and the Schivonnes later sold the Gray Line franchise to ShortLine, who still holds part of it today. |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by hound on Sun Oct 11 23:58:36 2015, in response to Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by Larry,RedbirdR33 on Sat Oct 10 11:17:55 2015. I worked for Walters,along with Gray Line New York back in the early 70's when I was furloughed from the Hound. I broke in on their NYC-Wassaic run,but never pulled it. They were based out of the Hound (now Michael Quill) Depot. |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by Larry,RedbirdR33 on Tue Oct 13 08:50:07 2015, in response to Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by pragmatist on Sat Oct 10 12:48:22 2015. Alan : It was good hearing from you and the others about Walters Transit. My own memories are limited to seeing the mid-day layups along 41st Street in Manhattan. It was one of those bus companies which served a "niche"market. They replaced the former Putnam Division for about twenty or so years until the commuters either retired or found alternate means of transportation.The weekend service was interesting. It allowed city residents to visit families and friends who may have been in one of several institutions in upstate New York. In addition to the State School at Wassaic and the State Hospital at Wingdale there where many religious retreat houses and seminaries of many faith located their as well.. Larry, RedbirdR33 |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by Dave Wallace on Fri Oct 16 09:50:59 2015, in response to Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by Larry,RedbirdR33 on Sat Oct 10 11:17:55 2015. Walters Transit became a vital link for commuters and weekend visitors to the areas once covered by the Putnam division of the New York Central when the New York Central succeeded in ending passenger service on the Put in 1958.Walters agreement to step up and provide bus service between New York, Brewster, Carmel, Mahopac, Yorktown, Elmsford and intermediate points gave the New York Central an out. They had wanted to end service on the money losing Put for a while. At the outset, service was provided by about 6 runs in each direction. But over time, the number of runs varied and hit as many as 14 in the late 60's. Demand for service was not always there and when Walters ended service, they were back down to 6 runs each way. Equipment ranged from at the outset - old looks, PD4104s and gradually went to PD4106s, New Looks, Buffalos, MC7s, 8s and at the end - MC9s. Additional service was provided seasonally between Fire Island and various points in Manhattan and Queens. And as noted previously, service was also offered to Canaan and Wassaic. The areas that Walters served for commuter services have grown steadily. So the demand for their services should have increased over time. And it did for a while. The problem was that vehicular traffic grew with the population boom that the Hudson Valley has been experiencing since the 60's. Over time, it became increasingly difficult to maintain the schedules. And in fact, the schedules began to allow for even more time to destinations. In short -- the bus became slower. At the same time, rail service on the Harlem line was sped up. And many Walters commuters lived close enough to the Harlem to use it. The line was electrified between North White Plains and Brewster North around 1984 and something like 25 minutes was shaved off on commutes between Brewster and Grand Central. Walter's knew they were in a losing battle and walked away. But the story doesn't quite end there because Mt Kisco Bus service took over Walter's routes the day after Walters shut down. Their service was provided by a hodge podge of coaches dominated by New Looks and Buffalos. Unfortunately, they also began to fail. So a year later, Hudson Valley bus lines replaced them and hung in there for a while. Eventually, the schedule went down to two runs each way per day and at some point - ended. |
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit? |
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Posted by Dave Wallace on Fri Oct 16 14:29:17 2015, in response to Re: Does Anyone Remember Walters Transit?, posted by Dave Wallace on Fri Oct 16 09:50:59 2015. I forgot to mention garage locations for Walters. In the 60's and early 70's, their buses would lay up in Brewster for the morning commute on North Main Street near Prospect Hill Rd.They moved in the late 70's to a garage in Lake Carmel on Route 311. I think it's abandoned now but was a garage for a company called "Bob's Trucking" at some point after Walters closed shop. In the city, Walter's first garage was on Vernon Blvd in LIC. They moved from there to the Manhattan location noted in a previous message some time later. |
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