Gas powered stage, I need to determine the year and make

[Parts Mike]

[m-mman]

A bunch of old men on an organized trip.  They stop and get out for a photo, but the two ladies stay in the car……? 
The man third from the right is wearing some ribbons.  
Could this be a group from the GAR? 
Grand Army of the Republic.  Civil War veterans…….

[3macboys]

I did a Google search of the company name of Forest Hill and Auburn Stage thinking the search might give some info and this was the first picture to pop up:

 

 

It is from the Lincoln Highway Association https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/ca/traveler/2000-09/motor_coach.html . 

Commercial transportation between Auburn and Foresthill, 20 miles apart, was furnished by horsedrawn stage in the 1800s and early 1900s. In the late 1910s or early 1920s the change was made to a motor-powered bus line. The road from Foresthill met the Lincoln Highway at the junction of the present Lincoln Way and Foresthill Ave. The stage would then use the Lincoln Highway for approximately two miles to the center of Auburn, which would become known as "Old Town." The service was known as the Forest Hill and Auburn Stage. Note the spelling of "Forest Hill" as two words on the topside of the motor stage. (Photo courtesy of Clyde Hammond)

 

Maybe an inaugural tour with the new motor vehicles?  But no info to ID the bus.  

[edinmass]

Someone send a PM to Grimy to see if he recognizes the GAR guys……..his memory is still sharp, and most certainly knew them back in the Vicksburg campaign. 😎

Edited December 27, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Grimy]

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

Someone send a PM to Grimey to see if he recognizes the GAR guys……..his memory is still sharp, and most certainly knew them back in the Vicksburg campaign. 😎

Ed, you are a true piece of work.....putting me in a box where if I don't recognize them, my memory is failing and I'm ready for the glue farm.....wish I had time tonight to gin up something like my cuzzin Theophilus Schwartzenheimer of East Axxhole, Massachusetts--but I need my beauty sleep as you will be the first to approve.

[58L-Y8]

Here's a better look:

[pont35cpe]

2 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Here's a better look:

 

Are the two in long coats, the drivers?

[Layden B]

Cadillac???

[8E45E]

On 12/26/2022 at 6:28 PM, m-mman said:

A bunch of old men on an organized trip.  They stop and get out for a photo, but the two ladies stay in the car……? 

They deserve to sit in the car, after standing on their feet making lunch for all those men!!

 

Craig

[dibarlaw]

Looks to be a 1915 or 1916 Buick Truck/Depot Hack.

[nzcarnerd]

Buick C-4 if 1915 or D-4 if 1916, a two-years only model which used the same 221 cid ohv four cylinder engine as Buick's larger Model 35/36 cars.  Built on a 122" wb chassis and available as either a pickup or a bare chassis. 1915 production 645, 1916 production 1152 for domestic sales and 1347 for export. I suspect many of the export ones became WW1 ambulances. Several found their way to NZ but it would appear they were not built with right hand drive.

 

The ambulance appeared at some local events 20 or 30 years ago but I have not seen it since.

 

 

There is a 1915 C-4 in this photo taken in Nelson, NZ, in 1915. Note that everything else has right hand drive.

 

 

[Larry Schramm]

The first truck is a 1916 D-4 truck because it does not have a crank attached to the front of the truck.  1916 Buick trucks had an electric starter.  This truck was originally a hearse from out in Texas and maybe Oklahoma.  Changed to a depot hack years ago.  Last time I knew the truck was in York, Pa.

 

The truck in the black & white picture from NZ is a 1915 C-4 because it has a crank on the front of the truck.  1915 Buick trucks did not have electric start.  They only had a generator.

Edited December 28, 2022 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[jp1gt]

I used to live there. That was one of the few flat places to stop. the stage must have been geared REAL low.

[Larry Schramm]

9 hours ago, jp1gt said:

I used to live there. That was one of the few flat places to stop. the stage must have been geared REAL low.

 

First gear or even second gear is more than adequate to go up hills depending on grade.

 

The city of Auburn Calif fire department bid out for new fire trucks in about 1914 with the requirement that the truck would go up a particular hill in the city loaded. The Buick truck was the winner of the contest and they bought three of them.

Edited December 29, 2022 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)