Plane by Day, Bus by Night by Larry Plachno Photos from NBT Archives unless otherwise indicated One of the reasons behind the development of the Pickwick Nite Coach was to transport airline passengers in comfort at night when the airlines did not fly. This example was one of a group built in later 1928 with several modifications from the original Alsacia. The most obvious change was to extend the roofline to the back of the coach as well as the different front grille and vents.
T
he April, 2021 issue of NATIONAL BUS TRADER contained an article on the 1917 Pickwick Packard converted bus that is now preserved at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania. In that article, we mentioned a little bit about Pickwick Stages and how a major factor in developing their Nite Coach was to transport aviation passengers in comfort at night when the planes did not fly. Since then, we have received several questions from readers asking for more details on this. Hence, we decided to move ahead with this article.
While the Greyhound Scenicruiser normally ranks as the top iconic coach in the industry, I would guess that the Pickwick Nite Coach ranks in the top five. While nowhere near as successful as the Scenicruiser, the Nite Coach was not only unique but fostered the start of the integral construction method. The background behind the Nite Coach and its intended use is easily one of the more interesting stories of the early bus industry. It includes the rise of Pickwick from a single line to the largest bus company and its sale. It also includes some early avi24 • National Bus Trader / October, 2021
ation history and how the saying “fly by night airline” originated. Unfortunately, much of this story was impacted by Black Tuesday and the stock market crash that fostered the Great Depression.
As you probably have already guessed, much of this takes place 90 or more years ago. Your editor ended up climbing a ladder to the highest shelf in the archives to find some old aviation timetables from the 1920s. Parts of one of them will be included in this article. Our plan is to explain the background behind Pickwick Stages leading up to the development of the Nite Coach, then explain how aviation developed in the late 1920s, and finally show how the Nite Coach was intended to work with commercial aviation at that time. As we shall see, it is a great story but unfortunately does not have a happy ending. The Pickwick Stages Saga
Pickwick Stages has an interesting history. The company started with one route and eventually grew into being the largest
intercity bus operator in the United States. An emphasis on operating higher class buses prompted Pickwick to do their own bus assembly and manufacturing. Eventually, the company began moving toward aviation and building upscale buses that could be used in the aviation industry.
It all started in 1912 when Herbert L. Pattison and A. L. Hayes began running an automobile on a 155-mile route between San Diego and El Centro, California. This was two years before Greyhound would be founded in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914. Running the route was at least a little bit of a challenge because of the primitive and unpaved roads in those early years. Credit is due to Pattison and Hayes for picking a route that had no direct rail service. The logical but round-about rail route involved going north to Los Angeles and then changing trains there and going back southeast to El Centro. The other alternative involved a difficult detour through Mexico. The company got its name from the fact that its buses originated from curbside in front of the Pickwick Theater in San Diego.
