Snell '54 Owns Partnership In Two Bus Lines Near Here

Peter C. Snell '54 completed the driver assignment sheet for the next day, threw on his overcoat, and stepped out of his Milford, Mass. office into one of his waiting buses.

The new owner of the Johnson Bus Lines nodded to the driver, then settled back into a seat behind his employee to await the hour and a half ride back toward Boston and Dunster House.

For Snell this trip marked the end of another day of office administration at his second co-owned bus line.

Actually, official sanction for the transfer of the line to Snell and his partner, George Sage, a senior at Babson Institute, has not yet been received from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. But Snell expects confirmation any time.

Snell Already Owns Other Line

He and Sage are already operating the smaller, three vehicle Englander Coach Lines, out in Greenfield, Mass., and had no trouble getting the state's sanction for that transfer over a year ago.

The two have a general manager in charge of the 23 drivers, six mechanics, and two secretaries at Johnson, but Snell climbs into one of his 19 buses and heads for Milford every afternoon to supervise the company's book work.

"Buses have always held an attraction for me," he admits. "I really enjoy riding on them, and besides, the trip to Milford and back gives me a chance to see how everything is going."

So far Snell says things have been doing "Quite well." He expects Johnson to gross $250,000 this year, and plans to have the line completely paid for within four years. The line operates over a 100 mile route between Milford, Boston, Woonsocket, R.I., and Framingham, Mass.

Became Interested at Deerfiled

Snell and Sage were schoolmates at Beerfield when they became interested in Englander. After a strike threatened to close the line down, the two bought it as a preliminary to their latest acquisition, and have been making money with it ever since.

Despite his better than 40 hours a week out in Milford, Snell says he still gets his college work done. "After all, this bus business is only a hobby," he explains.