DuMont Telecruiser Model B, Number 101
aka
"The Golden Telecruiser"
This is the way we found this DuMont Telecruiser, parked near downtown Dallas. It's "Model B, Serial Number 101" built on a 1949 Flxible coach. The folks at Dallas's Sixth Floor Museum let us know about its presence. It is thought to have been used during part of the ABC TV/WFAA coverage of the Kennedy Assassination. Even if it wasn't, there is a lot of Dallas history to it. It was used by WFAA-TV well into the early 1970's.
We purchased it from the estate of Edward Terry, of Dallas, who purchased it at auction from A.H. Belo Corp, parent company of WFAA. That makes us the third owner. (Perhaps the fourth owner, since Belo purchased the bus when they acquired Channel 8 in 1950). Mr. Terry intended to turn it into a motor home, but never got that far. It seems he used it as a traveling store, visiting numerous flea markets with it. To his credit, Mr. Terry saved most of the electronics that came with the bus. We are still missing quite a lot, but the equipment we got from Mrs. Terry is certainly a good start to restoring this to a working black and white TV Mobile Unit. That is our goal.
The Air Conditioner Comes Off!
Click on a thumbnail for a larger picture. Shown in the picture is my friend John Morgan, who brought the fork lift and his skills to help with this project.
I've made the decision to remove the very ugly air conditioner and exposed duct work that graces the roof of DuMont Telecruiser. It is turning out to be a HUGE task. Everything is screwed together, including screws on the blind underside of the ducts. It is then lead soldered together, caulked and covered with yet another piece of metal flashing that is pop riveted and caulked. The interior of the ducts have about 2" of stiff insulation which makes things even more difficult (and dirty). There is a screw or pop rivet about every inch and a half, everywhere you look. Keep in mind that this air conditioning system was constructed in the days when power screwdrivers weren't available. All the screws are straight slot sheet metal type screws. And there are TONS of them. Say what else you want, but there is a tremendous amount of labor and craftsmanship involved in this really ugly appendage.
They sure don't build them like that anymore. It took an entire day with two people working (with a fork lift) to get the actual air conditioner and one piece of duct work removed.
It took a second day of struggling and sweating to get the whole thing removed. It sure looks a lot better! Even though it was slow going, we felt like we really got something accomplished. Neither of us fell off the bus, nobody needed a tourniquet, and neither of us went to the Emergency Room!!Click Here for more "topless" pictures.
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