Puzzle #1752 - Pickwick Nite Coach

Otto Puzzell · October 14, 2010, 04:11:37 AM

Please, respond below and share your knowledge of what this is.

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Also, please be sure to check out our other puzzles, and, please post a puzzle of your own if you'd like - the more, the merrier.

Thanks!

Otto Puzzell · October 21, 2010, 11:56:22 AM

The bus is leaving.

woodinsight · October 21, 2010, 12:05:06 PM

This is the Pickwick 'Nite Coach" Alsacia sleeper coach of 1929

Carnut · October 21, 2010, 12:14:52 PM

And I naively thought I'd catch this one!
Actually I have it as 1928 (launched in August of that year) before entering service with Pickwick Stages System.
Fabulous idea with 13 sleeping compartments for 26 people, en-suite bathrooms for all and kitchen for hot food.
Then along came the aeroplane to spoil everything.
This was the first of 4 different models before it went pear-shaped.

woodinsight · October 21, 2010, 12:43:33 PM

I have two more photos of a Pickwick Nite Coach taken in Los Angeles in 1932.

This one differs from the puzzle in that its' rear compartment appears to have been removed and the ground clearance is greater.

It was operated by Pacific Greyhound when the photo was taken.

grobmotorix · October 21, 2010, 01:07:31 PM

After some digging I´ve found those on my HD:

woodinsight · October 21, 2010, 01:11:34 PM

Wow!
Thanks Grob.
They all seem to differ in one way or another.

Carnut · October 21, 2010, 01:58:13 PM

Quote from: woodinsight on October 21, 2010, 01:11:34 PM
Wow!
Thanks Grob.
They all seem to differ in one way or another.

These are the later versions; they appeared gradually more modern with each new iteration (4 in total, although some claim 5; there is no evidence anywhere of a fifth).
Only the very first one (the puzzle photo and named as you rightly say Alsacia after Pickwick owner Charles F. Wren's eldest daughter) had the flat part at the rear; all the others had either a 'fastback' or full upper deck. The theme of naming after Wren's daughters continued when the second NiteCoach was named Gladys after the younger of his two daughters and having then run out of names No. 3 was named Morpheus after the Greek god of dreams and sleep; strangely the name of the fourth and final coach has been lost to posterity.

fnqvmuch · October 22, 2010, 07:34:58 PM

(see also '38 Phutney-Creech Land Yacht)

pguillem · October 22, 2010, 08:40:52 PM

Is this one the Morpheus ?

Carnut · October 23, 2010, 02:09:10 PM

I believe this is the sequence:

woodinsight · October 23, 2010, 03:18:53 PM

That's superb Carnut.
I guess the photos I posted earlier were of Morpheus.

Are you also a bus/coach expert/fan?

Carnut · October 23, 2010, 06:20:29 PM

Quote from: woodinsight on October 23, 2010, 03:18:53 PM
That's superb Carnut.
I guess the photos I posted earlier were of Morpheus.

Are you also a bus/coach expert/fan?

Yes, they've always fascinated me although I wouldn't claim to be an expert!
I have a large collection of bus models; how sad is that?!

woodinsight · October 24, 2010, 12:39:17 AM

Interesting!
I have a large collection of bus & coach photographs and was wondering whether anyone was interested before I post some.
They range from 1920s to 1970s and cover the world.

Ray B. · October 24, 2010, 05:05:59 AM

If they are as fascinating as this amazing Dickensian machine, please don't hesitate to post some more.
Thanks to Otto for making me discover this one, and to the others for filling up the story.

Otto Puzzell · October 24, 2010, 08:08:57 AM

Quote from: woodinsight on October 24, 2010, 12:39:17 AM
Interesting!
I have a large collection of bus & coach photographs and was wondering whether anyone was interested before I post some.
They range from 1920s to 1970s and cover the world.

Perhaps you could post some of them as puzzles?

grobmotorix · October 24, 2010, 09:05:00 AM

I´m not that much interested in commercial vehicles, but I´d also welcome unusual experiments like that, of course.

woodinsight · October 24, 2010, 02:40:42 PM

Yes I'll post some of the more interesting ones as puzzles.
Some coachbuilders who built car bodies also built coach bodies - I'm working on a group puzzle along those lines.
I also have many early American bus/coach photos - not just the vehicles but the locations - that may be of interest to our friends across the pond.

Paul Jaray · October 26, 2010, 10:05:56 AM

few more:

Carnut · October 26, 2010, 10:41:32 AM

They claim it's a "Pickwick" motor and I have read that the engine was their own make, but I understood it actually had a Sterling Petrel 6-cylinder petrol engine with Brown-Lipe transmission.

I think it's highly unlikely that they actually made their own engine, but more likely branded the Sterling as their own!

grobmotorix · March 10, 2011, 03:21:02 PM

Another Coach. But I do have no additional information about this photo...

Carnut · March 11, 2011, 04:33:20 AM

That one looks like Morpheus.
Here's another picture of Gladys:

grobmotorix · March 30, 2012, 02:35:57 PM

The 1929 bus again:

grobmotorix · November 12, 2014, 01:10:37 PM

A rare rear view:

grobmotorix · October 24, 2015, 06:35:09 AM

A rare front shot of the 1929 Pickwick bus:

News:

Puzzle #1752 - Pickwick Nite Coach