Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 2824

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. This design means that White engines should be serviced from a pit, and the engines were considered to be intricate. 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. After the Metropolitan Transit Authority acquired the BERy in 1947, the MTA acquired another 25 White model 788s, numbered 2800 – 2824. Although the 2800s had the same model number as the 1500s, the 2800s featured an improved engine and a better underframe. At various times, No. 2824 operated out of the Somerville, Fellsway, Albany Street and Arborway garages. The MTA put No. 2824 into storage in 1963. No. 2824 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. Seashore acquired No. 2824 in 1968.