Unique Bus of Future to Duplicate Speed of Railroads (Jun, 1930)
Filed under: Automotive, Impractical — @ 11:59 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1930
| Buy on Ebay
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1930
| Buy on Ebay
Where exactly would you drive this?
Unique Bus of Future to Duplicate Speed of Railroads
RECENT developments in everything that moves has caused many flights of imagination. Thus the fancy conjures up a bus to keep pace with other transportation. The bus between New York and San Francisco will be equipped with airplanes for trips not on the regular schedule. For diversion, billiard rooms, swimming pool, dancing floor and a bridle path would be available. The pilot would be “enthroned” over his engines, with the radio above. Space for autos would be afforded by the deck.
Do you ever get the feeling that maybe the Modern Mechanix people just had fun making up stuff? Just sat around the office going, “Hey, what if we told them somebody was planning a bus the size of a small city, complete with landing strip!”
“Jenkins, you’re killing me! That’s too good.”
“Wait, wait. Let’s make it even crazier. How about, oh, I don’t know, a swimming pool?”
“And a bridle path! Let’s do it!”
Comment by Jim Dunn — March 27, 2008 @ 6:14 am
What, no bowling alley?
Comment by jayessell — March 27, 2008 @ 7:48 am
At the time the cross country highway system could barely support cars. Going by the scale of people and cars, this thing is way over 50 feet wide, 50 feet tall and 200 feet long. (probably double) Even if you were to build the “bus” can you imagine the size of the roads and bridges it would take to support it? I looked to see if this was the April fools edition.
Comment by clp — March 27, 2008 @ 8:14 am
It looks like a cruise ship
Comment by albear — March 27, 2008 @ 8:36 am
I want to see a pilot land or take off from that thing. The cars at the end shouldn’t be a problem, nor the guardrails on the sides…Does the bus at least stop while you are trying to land?
Comment by Myles — March 27, 2008 @ 8:56 am
The phrase “speed of the railways” made me laugh.
Comment by Myles — March 27, 2008 @ 8:57 am
Myles… Stop? It would have to speed up!
Comment by jayessell — March 27, 2008 @ 10:49 am
Perhaps it was the inspiration for this http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074205/
Comment by jmyint — March 27, 2008 @ 11:33 am
jmyint… hence my bowling alley remark.
But thanks!
Comment by jayessell — March 27, 2008 @ 11:39 am
The fanny thing is that everything published in that “modern Mechanics” way looks false…
…even the new in the cover, actually almost real, because at that time the French launched the Sourcouf, the first submarine with battleship sized guns and capable of carrying one seaplane…
Sometimes even Modern Mechanics is close to the truth!
Comment by Carlos — March 27, 2008 @ 1:28 pm
Nuclear powered!
Oh, wait. We hadn’t yet invented that in 1930.
Comment by Rick Auricchio — March 27, 2008 @ 2:47 pm
And Thomas Poulter looked at the article way back then and said; “hmmmmmm, wonder how that would work on ice?”
Comment by Neil Russell — March 27, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
Nuclear powered!
Rick, you’re thinking of the Big Bus? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus actually so was I yesterday.
Comment by albear — March 28, 2008 @ 10:09 am
wouldn’t it be easier to just move the city to you?
Comment by gzuckier — March 28, 2008 @ 10:54 am
They were apparently expecting Mack to make the running gear for the bus, utilizing some really big headlights too. Judging from the front end and tires, the dimensions appear to be of a normal-size vehicle with the lilliputian people added in for fun. I wonder if there’s a real drawing of a Mack chassis someplace that could bust out the bus?
Comment by Neil Russell — March 28, 2008 @ 11:47 am
After seeing the unusually high number of comments I went back today for a closer look-
Like many, I too immediately thought of ‘The Big Bus’ and laughed at jsl’s obscure bowling alley reference.
Notice the extendible side wheels just in front of the rear wheels? I guess to stabilize you when you’re driving off-road.
Comment by Stannous — March 28, 2008 @ 12:03 pm
It also reminds me of these:
http://blog.modernmechanix.com.....-of-cargo/
http://blog.modernmechanix.com.....uise-ship/
Both of which we thought were ridiculously large, but I think that this was supposed to be even bigger.
Comment by Charlie — March 28, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
didn’t luke buy c3po and r2 near this thing in the original?
Comment by sonny p fontaine — March 28, 2008 @ 5:41 pm
Those planes have three (small) vertical prop’s so they can take offf like helicopters!
i sometimes had dreams like this, then i stopped eating spicey food before bedtime
Comment by wormhole — May 26, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
This painting was done by Mr. William Vogel of Pittsburgh. When I was a child, he had a studio in the basement of our apartment building at 3625 Liberty Avenue. The actual name of the painting is: “A Busman’s Dream of 1960″ It hung in a bar called the Brass Rail on Smithfield Street in Downtown Pittsburgh until the late 1970s when the place was torn down.
I don’t know whether he painted the picture for the magazine or that they picked it up from someone else.
I am thrilled to see this, because I have told people about the picture and never had an image to show exactly how bizarre it was.
Comment by Frank Pittsburgh — October 15, 2008 @ 3:53 pm
Wow! The pilot has a sort of ship’s rudder to steer with! I guess that “with the radio above” means that MM foresaw CB-radio on trucks?
Comment by TimeFlies — January 8, 2009 @ 6:52 am