Over the years, I have met many history-minded people who have specialized in advancing the history of their particular interest. One of my dear friends from my St. Anthony Trenton New Jersey years was the late Leland "Leon" Buker. Lee, along with my HHS '51 classmate John Hoschek were both THE historians when it came to mass transit. I know not what happened to John Hoschek's collection, which as I recall concentrated on bus photos and articles. Thankfully, the Buker family saw to it that Lee's remarkable collection will be preserved for the ages.
From the years of the trolley, to Rankin Johnson's Trenton Transit, Lee Buker kept a remarkable series of scrapbooks which reveal an incredible amount of local history as it relates to the city of Trenton and its mass transit program dating back to the 19th and into the 20th century. Lee spent his career as a Trenton Transit bus driver, and probably knew more about the streets of Trenton than most local residents. I have set up a special folder in the Hamilton Library Local History Database entitled, "TROLLEYS-LELAND BUKER COLLECTION.) It will take some time to digitize some of the incredible photos in his collection. We in Hamilton and Trenton should be very grateful to the Buker family for making sure Lee's lifetime collection will be shared by those interested in Trenton, Hamilton, and Mercer County transit history.
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