0 In the Shop: Fageol Safety Coach Update

by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

We're slowly making progress on stabilizing the Fageol Safety Coach that once carried passengers into Mt. McKinley National Park. We have it in the carpentry shop at the Fountainhead Development corporate office in south Fairbanks, rather than at our shop in the museum. Below are some comparison photos taken on January 7 and March 29.

Brad recently drilled out all the corroded screws from the multiple door pieces and window frames. Pete has been busy building a new floor and a framework to support the sides and top. He is a MASTER at woodworking, and it's been impressive to watch his progress.

Most of the sheet metal was in good enough shape to reuse, which is remarkable considering that the coach was parked outside unprotected for many decades. With the exception of the wood and a new top, most of the the bus will remain original. 

We have finish trim parts on order and the top material is en route, so we are pretty much on schedule to have the coach to display at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge this summer. 

Many thanks to Pete for his great work!

Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying right here at Wedgewood Resort. 

Detail: In the Shop: Fageol Safety Coach Update

0 Fageol Coach Update

by Willy Vinton
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

We finally started working on the ca. 1924 Fageol safety coach that belonged to the Mt. McKinley Tourist and Transportation Company. This once-upscale coach carried tourists on sight-seeing excursions in what is now Denali National Park. After the Park ended MMTTC's concession, the Fageol was brought to Fairbanks and parked outside where it set deteriorating for over seven decades. You can read more about it here. 

Last fall, we rescued what's left of the Fageol and moved it into the carpentry shop at Fountainhead Development. Last week Brad, Pete, and I began the task of pulling off all the remains of the body to evaluate what was left.  We found very few surprises. Most of the wood was pretty well rotted away, but the aluminum sheeting was still in decent condition. The roof is long gone.

We don't plan to restore the coach to its former glory. Instead, we are going to turn it into a historical exhibit that will be displayed outside the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. The Lodge is situated near the entrance to Denali National Park, and it will be nice to return this artifact to its original "territory."

The Fageol's interior and mechanical components will be left as is for now, but we will restore/rebuild the side panels and top. Stay tuned for progress reports.

Detail: Fageol Coach Update

0 A Fageol Safety Coach is Rescued

by Nancy DeWitt
© Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum

Earlier this year Frances Erickson, daughter of Alaska automotive pioneer Robert Sheldon, loaned me some of her family photos to scan. Among them was this one of a most unusual-looking bus, resembling a stretched-out limousine. Frances recalled that Bobby used it to transport tourists into Mt. McKinley National Park and that it was very upscale and dependable. 

Naturally, I was curious as to what kind of bus this was. I found a second photo of it in Snapshots from the Past: A Roadside History of Denali National Park and Preserve, and it clearly showed the name “Fageol” on the radiator. Thus began some internet research, which led me to John Fageol (pronounced “fadgl,” rhymes with “fragile”), a descendent of one of the brothers who founded Fageol Motors Co. in Oakland, CA. John identified it as a ca. 1924+ Fageol “Intercity” Safety Coach with a cast aluminum cowling and Gruss shocks in front. It had a seating capacity of 22 and a wheelbase of 218 inches. Each bench seat had its own door, disappearing wide window, interior light, and adjustable side and ceiling vents. A “parlor” model carried movable wicker chairs, attached to the floor by suction cups. One of these can be seen at the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, PA.

It turns out the Fageol Safety Coach, the first bus built from the ground up, was quite revolutionary. Until its introduction in 1921, most buses were built on stiff-riding truck chassis, and their poor ride quality, high centers of gravity, and low-performance engines made them unsatisfactory for transit use. Fageol coaches had a double-drop frame and underslung axles, which lowered the floor to 21 inches above the ground and an overall height of just 76 inches. Power was initially supplied by a Hall-Scott single overhead cam 4-cylinder engine designed by Fageol. Each one came equipped with all-weather tread cord tires, with duals on the rear. An extra-wide tread of 72 inches between the wheels provided extra stability on turns. Beginning in 1923, Fageols were equipped with air brakes, the first use of such on a motor coach. The interior was heated by hot water from the engine, run through pipes along the floor.

Frances told me that Bobby and his partners were forced by the Park Service to close their transportation concession in 1941, and the bus was sold to the Alaska Railroad. The ARR brought it to Fairbanks, where it sat rotting in a lot on Davis Road. When I mentioned this to Willy, he said, “I remember seeing it there!” In fact, a number of people in Fairbanks remembered seeing it, but no one seemed to know of its history. Willy and I went by the lot Frances described, but it was fenced and we could see no sign of the old coach. Willy left a note on the gate, and several months later he finally heard from the owner.

Not only was the Fageol still there, but owner Diane Dawson said she would donate it to the museum! I had assumed it was black, but red paint is still present on the aluminum panels. The distinctive ventilation louvres on top of the hood—a key Fageol design feature—are intact. The Hall-Scott  engine (#44) and Brown-Lipe 4-speed gearbox with an overdrive top gear are still under the hood. The high-grade leather seats are long gone, except for some seat frames. Much of the wooden framework has rotted and the side panels have collapsed. The running board, which sits just 16 inches above the ground, is still fairly intact.

Around 2,500 Fageol Safety Coaches were built, and there are only five known survivors in addition to this one. Clearly, ours is in bad shape, but a rare artifact like this deserves to be saved. We moved it to the Fountainhead Development headquarters earlier this month, and will work to stabilize and preserve its remains, rather than try to restore it.

The Fageol buses manufactured for Safety Coach Lines of Muskegon, Michigan, were nicknamed "greyhounds" because of their gray paint and sleek appearance. One legend says this inspired the name of what became America’s most well-known bus line. 

Who would have thought an old rusty bus could be so interesting?

Sources:

 Calloway, Dick. “Fageol: A Higher Standard.” Wheels of Time (American Truck Historical Society), July/August 2013.

“Fageol Motors Co., Fageol Truck and Coach Co., Fageol Motors Co. of Ohio.“ Retrieved on 5 September 2014 from http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/f/fageol/fageol.htm

Herman, Gene. “ The Fageol Safety Coach: A Breakthrough in Bus Design.” The Old Motor, 15 January 2014. Retrieved on 5 September 2014 from theoldmotor.com /?p=111779

Juneau, Bud. “Safety Coach: Fageol’s Innovative, Trendsetting Coach of 1927.” Special Interest Autos, September/October 2001.

Coming to Fairbanks to see the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and other area attractions? Support the museum by staying right here at Wedgewood Resort. All guests receive half-price admission to the museum!

Detail: A Fageol Safety Coach is Rescued