A very unique bus operated by La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux.
This
bus belongs to La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux (The
Society of 40 Men and 8 Horses), the World War I honor society of the
American Legion. The name of the organization is taken from the train cars
used to haul soldiers to the front line in World War I, and that's why they
chose a railroad theme for their bus. It was patterned after the Green Bay
Route's FA-1 locos and built by the GB&W and members of Forty et Eight.
The view on the right is from a postcard produced in the 1950's. The back of the postcard says: "This is the official locomotive of the Brown County 40 et 8. It is an exact replica of the G.B. and Western diesel, built in 1957, and the only one of its kind in the nation."
I was in Green Bay for a Packers game in November 1999 and came across the bus while roaming the parking lot before the game. My friends and I were invited in the bus to have a closer look. The interior was immaculate! I took the photo below that day. That's Lambeau Field behind the bus. A very cool thing to come across in Green Bay in 1999!
The bus is now at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay.
- For a background on La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux, visit their web page. There is a Forty & Eight boxcar in the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin.
- A postcard image of the GB&W's FA-1s.
