Getting Around Town We would like to tell you about how students and teachers got around in the 1940's. Until 1929, there was an Albany Hudson Railroad that went from Albany to the city of Rensselaer to East Greenbush. There was also a ferry, which went from Albany to Rensselaer. By the time the school was built the railroad was replaced by a bus route. The teachers rode their bikes, went in their cars, or walked to get to school. The students got to school by riding school buses, walked, rode their bikes, or had their parents drive them.
The first East Greenbush school bus belonged to Howard L. Goff. It was his own station wagon, which was called a woody. It could bring only 10 kindergartners! Today there are now 93 buses in this district! What an improvement! Today, the buses are much bigger then the buses back then. In the 1940' s the buses couldn't always go to the students' houses, so the students had to walk to a corner or wherever the bus could pick them up. The bus garage for the buses back then is our Ford Dealers now! Prices back then were very cheap! Gas was only 32 cents a gallon!
We interviewed Miss Emery who told us they needed coupons for gas during the war. When Mr. Mac Arevey would pick her up after school, in his 1945 Buick, she would give him coupons so he could get gas. When he didn't pick her up she rode the bus to Troy and it was only 5 cents. Mrs. Emery married Mr. MacArevey who was a soldier in the world.
We found out from Mr. Mac Arevey that there was a special ferry during the war that took cars owned by soldiers. They took these cars to the countries where the soldiers were fighting. The cars were held underneath in the basement of the ferry. The Albany Hudson Railway is going under a farm country bridge.
The Albany Hudson Railway went up route 20 or rt. 4. There was also a trolley that went from Rensselaer to Kinderhook Lake. Today you can still see the tracks from the trolley. The adults mostly used the trolley. When the trolley ended in 1929 the buses started taking the trolleys place.
Another way to get around was a car. Today we still have cars but they're not built the way they used to be. Back then the cars were made out of wood on the sides! The cars were Beetles, Chryslers, Fords. Some of the cars had flat fronts and narrow backs (that only depends what kind of car it is).
Another way to get around was the bicycle. That was one of the most popular ways to get around. Today the bicycle is not one of the most popular ways to get around. The bicycle back then had two kinds of designs. One was very narrow with no speeds. Another had balloon tires, which were very big and wide. Boys and girls would sometimes hitchhike. They would just hold their thumb up and a truck would come by. The kids would hop on the back of the truck and tell the driver where to go. The children would sometimes do that, even in winter.
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