...Wyatt Olsen 2012 in Review...

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Chicago-to-Calgary - Greyhound

Nope ... You either need to go out to Detroit or out to Seattle. I haven't checked it thoroughly but a connection may be made via Indian Trails at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan but I am thinking it would require a cab ride to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

It's mind boggeling to know you have to travel so far to get across the border now. Bad news for the passenger (like my wife who has a fear of flying).

Regarding Sault Ste. Marie, Greyhound only went as far as Saint Ignace, Michigan and then according to October 2001 Russell's Guide, you paid $40 for a 51 mile trip to Sault Ste. marie, Michigan (plus the border crossing). Going west there was a company that ran between Duluth, Minnesota and Thunder Bay, Ontario, but the name escapes me at this time. The next crossing going west would have been between Fargo, North Dakota and Winnepeg, Manitoba (Jackrabbit ran this run, and after Jefferson got involved ran it, but for reason unknown to me dropped everything north of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Triangle Transportation also ran this route but had no Interline Ticketing agreement).


Next border crossing would have been Coutts, Alberta ans Sweetgrass, Montana. This has some interesting history and I will return to it.

The next two border crossings would be Spokane, Washington and Creston or Yahk, British Columbia (I think it was Yahk), and Wenatchee, Washington and Osoyoos, British Columbia. Both of these routes were run by Empire Trailways (NOT to be confused with Empire Trailways in New York, no affiliation what-so-ever).

The Seattle, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia was run by Greyhound as well as Western Trailways, and later Quick Shuttle added service. During the strike of the 90's Greyhound Lines Canada ran this schedule for a short while.

Regarding Coutts/Sweetgrass ... Originaly Northland Greyhound ran this route out of Great Falls, Montana and perhaps to Lethbridge or Calgary, Alberta. South oot of Great Falla Greyhound had servive to Salt Lake City, Utah. For reasons I do not know Intermountain Transportation acquired this route but at the border, there was a change of busses with Greyhound Lines Canada, no through service. Intermountain went belly-up in the early 1990's and this was acquired by Rimrock Stages/Trailways.

A lot of ridership on the run were people traveling between Canada and las Vegas, neveada. it is my understanding Rimrock and Greyhound Canada canceled this run because of low ridership due to lower fares on the airlines. Rimrock Trailways continues to run south out of Great Falls and Greyhound Canada continues service to Lethbridge, Alberta

If anyone has any further anformation about Intarmountain Transportation Company it may worth a post. 

Thanks!

Published by Wyatt Olsen

_Greyhound Mishap _ Bangor _

No one hurt in Greyhound bus mishap — Bangor — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine

........" Bus Driver's Digest "........

             
                                     December 02, 2012  by Robert Moore

            I just learned that our local Casa Grande, Arizona  Greyhound stop almost became yet another scheduled stop that would be in the "No Longer Serviced" schedule column.  The only thing that saved it was the owner of the Chevron station on the corner of Arizona State Route 287 (Pinal Avenue) and Florence Boulevard, who agreed to take on the local Greyhound bus stop ticketing and baggage handling concession from its long time former location, whose lease had expired, and was not able to be renewed due to the sale of the building where the bus stop had been for nearly 30 years, just one block from the historic Southern Pacific train depot, built in 1939.

   Illegal immigrants broke into the fenced-off train depot, which had been set aside for a ground-up restoration; they built a fire inside, which got out of control and spread, collapsed the old roof and quickly destroyed the entire building. The Art Deco, Santa Fe styled depot was already on the Register of National Historic Places. The illegal immigrants were caught fleeing the building shortly after the fire had spread and completely engulfed the structure. It was a total loss. The 1939 depot had replaced the original train depot, which was built in the mid 1800s, when Casa Grande was known as "Terminal", and the small desert town was the end of the Southern Pacific's line, hence its name.

   Now, the buses stop in Casa Grande twice a day, one each going east and west, next to the fuel pumps under the Chevron station's canopy. It's the best we can do at this time. This location is just a couple of blocks away from the former bus stop site on Sacaton Street, just off of Main Street, near Florence Boulevard in Old Town Casa Grande.

   It is anyone's guess how long this scheduled stop in Casa Grande will survive. Coolidge, Arizona lost its Greyhound and Trailways stops years ago. Without the Casa Grande location, the nearest Greyhound bus stop is in Tucson to the east, or Mesa, Arizona, to the north, both about an hour's drive away from Casa Grande. Casa Grande is the only scheduled stop for Greyhound in all of Pinal County. This is pretty sad in my view, especially with it being 2012. The only other bus service Greyhound offers near me is the CoachLink bus service that is directly tied to AMTRAK east-west passenger train service at Maricopa, Arizona, along the Union Pacific's southern route across Arizona.  AMTRAK does not currently service the city of Phoenix directly. It once did service Phoenix Union Station downtown, along with the once-separate Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe/Burlington Northern Railway (ATSF/BNSF).  How time has changed everything!

    Click on the links below to access the images. The photo is of the westbound daily afternoon bus stopped at Casa Grande, headed toward Phoenix from Tucson, El Paso and points east. The bus pulled out just after I took this photo.  The video clip shows the bus pulling out onto northbound Pinal Avenue. The loud 'noise'  in the video is from a junky old Ford Ranger with no muffler being started near me, as I shot the video clip of Greyhound  'neoclassic'-painted MCI D4500 #6488's on-time scheduled departure toward Phoenix.  -MC-7 Rusty

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 Published by Wyatt Olsen