I was looking at an ad for Walthers new intercity bus station and thought it would make a nice addition to my layout. I was wondering if it was a common practice for the bus companies to locate their stations near railroad depots to make it easier for the passengers to switch transportation or did they view the railroads more as competitors than partners in the trasportation system in which case they might be reluctant to make switching to trains easy. I can’t recall a specific example of a big city bus station adjacent to a major train station.
Since the advent of Amtrak there are many combined rail and bus terminals. I know there were at least a couple in the east in the 60’s.
Yeah, I knew Amtrak uses lots of bus connections but I was more curious about the days when passenger train travel was still popular. I should have been more specific with my question. If that was a common practice, I think that Walthers kit will make a great addition to my layout, right next to their Union Station kit.
That release really got me, after I had converted a downtown market building into a bus station for my little town, The Walther kit is nice looking.
Here’s mine
The forerunner of what is now Greyhound Bus Lines was originally owned by a railroad company until the ICC made them split up.
In the heyday of passenger trains in the U.S., bus terminals would usually be close to the train station so they could share traffic.
In Victorville, CA Amtrack and GreyHound share the same terminal.
So I’m sure it’s common for both to share the same facility.
In Portland, OR, the bus depot is across the street from Union Station.
Released with the Walthers bus depot are a couple of busses. One of the busses are lettered for UP. In “the day” UP operated these bussed between terminals on the west coast. An older bus is pictured at their website - from the '20’s from the look of it - used to take tourists from the station to their hotels. Yes, the railroads utilized buss service a lot before they became strong competitors.[8D]
The bus terminal in downtown Pottsville, PA was directly across the street from the RDG passsenger station. In fact, the bus terminal was built on the exact site of the former PRR passenger station. The RDG station is long gone but the bus terminal continues to serve Capitol Trailways passengers.
I added a small “transit center” to my layout - it’s just a shelter, a pop machine, and a portable toilet. It’s across the street from the commuter station.