I don't see why people bitch about Greyhound (pun semi-intended). It costs half as much as an Amtrak train through the northeastern United States, which is Amtrak's bread and butter route. Outside of that area, it's many times more cheaper. Every bus I've been on (quite a few) has been decently clean, and you get used to the smell of the toilets quickly. If you've got time to spare but not money, I recommend Greyhound as a means of travel.
Greyhounds are a large, (tall and thin) shorthaired dog breed. They are an ancient breed and are often associated with royalty. They can be seen in Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as more (as in last several hundred years) recent oil paintings. They are thought to have been breed for their group hunting skills. They hunt by sight, rather than smell and rely on speed to run the prey down and the force of the group to complete the kill.
In more recent history greyhounds have been breed for dog racing. They are the fastest breed of dogs and can sprint at 45 miles per hour. They are useful for racing for only a short period of their relatively long life and are destroyed when their racing career is over unless rescued. This has resulted in a number of greyhound adoption programs.
Surprisingly, they make wonderful pets; even after spending their formative years in racing. Despite their speed and hunting skills they enjoy the company of people. They are what I call a "leaning dog". They crave body contact and will frequently lean against their owner. They have very little body fat and must be protected from the cold with appropriate clothing. They require less exercise than most large dogs and appear to be like a lion in this aspect. They do a sprint then rest for 2 days. Greyhounds can live happily in a smaller house/yard than most large breeds as long as they are taken out for walks and run several times a week.
Presumably, the greyhound bus company wishes to be associated with the speed, attractiveness and lofty nature of the dog breed. Good luck! I have never seen an attractive Greyhound bus station. Recently I had cause to pick up a passenger in downtown Charlottesville, VA. The station was a tiny 1 square block island of ugliness in the midst of the downtown fall beauty of the city. It was hilarious, as if a hidden line marked off lovely "Charlottesville" and over here we have the ugly "bus station".
Usually, a Greyhound who has been raised in a racing kennel is trained from birth to the age of about eighteen months. At this time, the Greyhound competes in it's first professional race, called the maiden race. The dog is given six chances to place fourth or higher. After the sixth race there are two possible outcomes for the dog.
Should everything gone well, and the dog placed, then it will be moved to what is called Grade J, which is for dogs that have just won a maiden. The Greyhound will continue to race, and depending on how well it does, it will move into other grades, ranging from D to A. Typically, a good racer will ascend the ranks, but then as it ages and slows down, descend them again. The difference in speed between a Grade A and a Grade D dog can be as little as 3/4 of a second.
The other scenario is that the dog either didn't place in any of it's maiden races or it just isn't a good racer. While speed is certainly essential, it is not the only important thing in a race. A dog must be agile and flexible in order to dodge the other dogs it is racing with. It must have the ability to keep an eye on the lure, and at the same time also on the dogs around it, in case it should bump into one. This often results in bad injuries and, of course, slows everyone in the race down. A good racer must have good endurance, for if a dog leaps out of the starting box full force, it may very well come in last in the race.
Should a dog be missing one or more of these vital racing talents, and did not win or place any of its maiden races, it is either "retired" and put up for adoption, or it is euthanized, or killed. So it is interesting to think that in fact every one of the dogs on the track is not racing to win. They are very literally running for their lives.
Thanks to "Adopting the Racing Greyhound" by Cynthia A. Branigan for some of the information used here
Greyhound, currently the only national intercity bus operator in the United States, traces its history to the Mesaba Transportation Company, an operation of Carl Wickman, who owned a 7-seat Hupmobile and charged 15 cents one-way or 25 cents round trip for trips between Alice and Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914.
Within a few years, Wickman had expanded his system and began buying up other small bus lines; meanwhile, another Minnesota man, Orville Caesar, was doing the same thing. In 1922, Wickman and Caesar merged their bus empire into the Motor Transit Corporation.
At the time, one of the most common intercity buses on the road was the 28-seat Safety Coach. Long, skinny, and painted gray, it was popularly called "the greyhound." Motor Transit allied with two West Coast bus lines in 1926, officially becoming the Northland Transportation Corporation, but unofficially becoming known as "the Greyhound Lines," using a running greyhound as its logo to capitalize on the nickname of the bus model. In 1930, the company's name became the Greyhound Corporation.
During the Great Depression, Greyhound manages to survive by selling off some subsidiary lines, and through such promotions as product placement in the movie "It Happened One Night" and status as the official transportation company of Chicago's 1933 World's Fair.
Ridership boomed during World War II due to gasoline rationing and other restrictions on use of private automobiles. Once the war ended, ridership declined, mainly due to competition from cars and airplanes, although travel times dropped throughout the 1950s and 1960s thanks to improved roads. Greyhound also introduced its famous, distinctive-looking split-level Scenicruiser bus in 1954, and introduced the advertising slogan "leave the driving to us" in 1956.
In 1970, the Greyhound Corporation bought the Armour-Dial Corporation and began to concentrate more on making potted meat and soap than running buses. 17 years later, in 1987, what was by then known as the Dial Corporation spun off the United States portion of its bus system into a new company, Greyhound Lines, which proceeded to buy its chief competitor, Trailways. Three years later, Greyhound's unionized drivers struck, leading Greyhound Lines to file for bankruptcy. The Chapter 11 reorganization goes through in 1991, and the strike is finally settled in 1993.
In 1999, Greyhound Lines was acquired by Canadian transportation holding company Laidlaw, which had acquired Greyhound Canada from the Dial Corporation two years earlier.
Sources:
Grey"hound` (?), n. [OE. graihund, greihound, greahund, grihond, Icel. greyhundr; grey greyhound + hundr dog; cf. AS. grIghund. The origin of the first syllable is unknown.]
A slender, graceful breed of dogs, remarkable for keen sight and swiftness. It is one of the oldest varieties known, and is figured on the Egyptian monuments. [Written also grayhound.]
© Webster 1913
Grey"hound`, n.
A swift steamer, esp. an ocean steamer.
printable version chaos
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