Boston Elevated Ry. 1508

White Motor Company began business in 1900 building automobiles. White manufactured buses between the 1930s and 1953. Its best known bus was the model 706 national park bus produced in the 1930s and still in use at Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks. White began producing the 700 series transit buses in 1937. These transit buses had a 12 cylinder, under-floor, “pancake,” gasoline engine noted for snappy acceleration. In 1946, White devised an oil clutch and synchronized transmission which made it easier for the driver to shift gears. Transit systems in cities such as Washington, Cleveland, San Francisco and Boston (including the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway) used White transit buses. Between 1938 and 1947, the Boston Elevated Railway acquired a fleet of White model 788 buses, numbered between 1500 and 1599. Nos. 1508 and 1509 came in 1946. They filled gaps in the numbering series left vacant after the Office of Defense Transportation had requisitioned the original Nos. 1508 and 1509 during the war. The second Nos. 1508 and 1509 had White’s newer transmission design. After the Metropolitan Transit Authority acquired the BERy in 1947, the MTA acquired another 25 White model 788s, numbered 2800 – 2824. No. 1508 spent its entire life based at the Somerville garage where in ran in Somerville and Cambridge. The MTA put No. 1508 into storage in 1963. No. 1508 remained on the property when the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority assumed ownership in 1964. The MBTA retired all its remaining White buses in 1966 when its bus fleet became entirely diesel powered. At that time, Seashore purchased No. 2824 while Alan Pommer bought No. 1508. In 1989, Alan Pommer donated No. 1508 to Seashore, joining MTA No. 2824. During 1990-1994, Seashore did extensive restoration work on No. 1508. Work included repainting the bus in its original Boston Elevated paint scheme of cream, red and orange. It is the only Boston Elevated bus at Seashore.