Comments on: Unique Bus of Future to Duplicate Speed of Railroads

By: TimeFlies

TimeFlies — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:52:48 +0000

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?

By: Frank Pittsburgh

Frank Pittsburgh — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:53:44 +0000

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.

By: wormhole

wormhole — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:19:46 +0000

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

By: sonny p fontaine

sonny p fontaine — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:41:20 +0000

didn’t luke buy c3po and r2 near this thing in the original?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:10:00 +0000

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.

By: Stannous

Stannous — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:03:36 +0000

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.

By: Neil Russell

Neil Russell — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:47:46 +0000

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?

By: gzuckier

gzuckier — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:54:04 +0000

wouldn’t it be easier to just move the city to you?

By: albear

albear — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:09:59 +0000

Nuclear powered!

Rick, you’re thinking of the Big Bus? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus actually so was I yesterday.

By: Neil Russell

Neil Russell — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:46:56 +0000

And Thomas Poulter looked at the article way back then and said; “hmmmmmm, wonder how that would work on ice?”

By: Rick Auricchio

Rick Auricchio — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:47:21 +0000

Nuclear powered!

Oh, wait. We hadn’t yet invented that in 1930.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:28:33 +0000

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!

By: jayessell

jayessell — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:39:11 +0000

jmyint… hence my bowling alley remark.
But thanks!

By: jmyint

jmyint — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:33:47 +0000

Perhaps it was the inspiration for this http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074205/

By: jayessell

jayessell — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:49:17 +0000

Myles… Stop? It would have to speed up!

By: Myles

Myles — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:57:54 +0000

The phrase “speed of the railways” made me laugh.

By: Myles

Myles — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:56:53 +0000

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?

By: albear

albear — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:36:04 +0000

It looks like a cruise ship

By: clp

clp — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:14:03 +0000

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.

By: jayessell

jayessell — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:48:44 +0000

What, no bowling alley?

By: Jim Dunn

Jim Dunn — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:14:03 +0000

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!”