Yellow_Coach

Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company

Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company

American manufacturer of passenger buses (1923-1943)

The Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company (informally Yellow Coach) was an early manufacturer of passenger buses in the United States. Between 1923 and 1943, Yellow Coach built transit buses, electric-powered trolley buses, and parlor coaches.

Quick Facts Company type, Industry ...

Founded in Chicago in 1923 by John D. Hertz as a subsidiary of his Yellow Cab Company, the company was renamed "Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company" in 1925 when General Motors (GM) purchased a majority stake. After GM completely acquired the company in 1943, it was merged with GM's truck division to form the GM Truck & Coach Division.

The car rental subsidiary (known both as Hertz Drivurself Corp and Yellow Drive-It-Yourself) was purchased back by John Hertz in 1953 through The Omnibus Corporation and floated the following year as The Hertz Corporation.

History

John D. Hertz and associates began acquiring smaller Chicago-area companies involved in bus-building in 1922,[1] and soon assembled a manufacturing site covering four square blocks.[2] Yellow Coach Manufacturing Co was formally established in 1923 as a subsidiary of Hertz's Yellow Cab Company,[3] and sold 207 buses in its first year.[2]

George J. Rackham, whose career had commenced with the London General Omnibus Company after the First World War, spent the years 1922–1926 in the U.S., and recognised the advantage of low swept chassis frame for bus development while employed by Yellow. It is likely that he was recruited by Hertz to help start up the bus building business. In 1926, he returned to England to join Leyland Motors as Chief Engineer and was responsible for the groundbreaking Titan and Tiger models.[4]

General Motors purchased a controlling stake in the company in 1925 and changed the name to the Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Company, and relocated production to Pontiac West Assembly in Pontiac, Michigan.[5] Within the transit industry, the company continued to be called simply Yellow Coach.[6]

In the 1930s, Yellow Coach produced best-selling models for the rapidly expanding urban transit and intercity bus businesses. (In 1935, national intercity bus ridership climbed 50% to 651,999,000 passengers, surpassing the volume of passengers carried by the Class I railroads for the first time.[7] ) Yellow Coach played a significant role in the transition from electric streetcars (operating on rails, powered by overhead wires) to transit companys' use of gasoline- or diesel-powered buses operating on rubber wheels (changing from solid wheels to pneumatic tires).[6] For Greyhound Lines, the largest operator of intercity bus service, Yellow Coach developed distinctive streamlined models which introduced a high floor, underfloor luggage storage, a flat front, air conditioning, and a diesel engine, supplying more than 1,250 buses during Greyhounds' years of fastest growth.[8]

GM purchased the company outright in 1943, merging it into their GM Truck Division to form GM Truck & Coach Division.[3] Although GM continued with the Yellow Coach T-series and P-series product lines, the Yellow Coach badge gave way to the GM Coach or just GM nameplate in 1944. Widespread production of Yellow Coach designs—including certain ZIS buses produced in the Soviet Union—continued until 1959. Limited production of the two remaining small-capacity "Old Look" models (3101/3102 and 3501/3502) would continue until 1969.[9] GMC badges did not appear until 1968.

Car rental - Hertz Drivurself Corp/Yellow Drive-It-Yourself

The company owned a subsidiary, known as either Hertz 'Drivurself Corp' or 'Yellow Drive-It-Yourself' which was sold with Yellow Coach to General Motors and eventually purchased back by Hertz in 1953 with The Omnibus Corporation[10] which was then renamed The Hertz Corporation the following year.[11]

Models produced

Letter series (1923–1936)

Yellow started its model designation at the end of the alphabet and worked forward. Initially four types were offered:

  • Z type single-deck bus or coach
  • Z type double-deck bus
  • Y type coach
  • X type bus or coach.

All were conventional front-engine design vehicles powered by Yellow Knight I4 sleeve-valve gasoline engines, or a General Electric gas-electric hybrid unless noted otherwise. The Knight engine was connected to the rear wheels by a mechanical drive shaft. In gas-electric models, a gasoline engine in front supplied electric power to two large electric motors mounted on the rear axle.[12]

A postcard image (c. 1930) of a Yellow Coach Model Z-250 depicted in the livery of Eastern Greyhound Lines (similar photo)
Front view of a Yellow Coach Model Z-250
A restored Yellow Coach Model Z built for the Fifth Avenue Coach Co.
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700-series (1931–1939)

Model 718 (NYPL Collection))
700-series Greyhound Super Coach (1938 photo) (side view)

In 1931, Yellow Coach introduced its 700 series buses, featuring one of the first bus designs to mount the engine in the rear.[1] Mounting the engine in the rear represented a significant innovation,[1][13] reducing mechanical losses, noise, and weight of a long drive shaft and exhaust running between a front engine and the rear drive and tailpipe.[14] Bus manufacturers in Germany and the United Kingdom would not perfect rear-engine models until the 1950s.[13][15] Customers did not always prefer rear-engined designs, noting that front engines were easier to access, and placed engine noise and vibration away from passengers and sometimes outside the coach body.[1] Eventually, the 700 series included both front- and rear-engined models.

In 1934, Dwight Austin, patent-holder on an innovative rear-drive system, was hired by Yellow Coach and soon developed new models in the 700-series with transverse engines and a “V” angle drive. The V-drive and other innovations introduced in the 700 series would become long-lasting standards: air conditioning, diesel engines, a flat front, a high passenger floor (with luggage beneath), and unibody construction. The V-drive would be GM's standard configuration until the 1980s.[16]

Best-selling transit buses: Models 718 and 728

Notable 700-series versions include models 718 and 728 which were developed for use as urban transit. Model 718 sold 426 units to large transit operators in New York and Los Angeles, becoming the most popular transit bus of the early 1930s. Later model 728 sold 1,189 units to transit operators across 9 variants produced in the late 1930s.[17] Both were exclusively rear-engined.

Greyhound (intercity) buses: Models 719 and 743

For Greyhound Lines, an operator of intercity bus service, Yellow Coach developed model 719 in 1936 which introduced the high floor, underfloor luggage storage, a flat front and streamlined styling. In 1937, model 719 was revised to become model 743 and introduced air conditioning and a diesel engine. Models 719 and 743 were both branded as the Super Coach by Greyhound, and sales were effectively limited to Greyhound and its affiliates. Greyhound Lines purchased all 1,256 units of model 743 produced between 1937 and 1939.[17][16]

700 Series production details

All models are 96-inch (2.4 m) wide single-deck buses, except as noted.[18]

More information Model, Built ...

1200-series (1938–1940)

The Model 1200 series was launched in 1938 with the re-designation of Model 739 as Model 1203 for Public Service Corporation. The 6-model series name ended when three were given new P-series names, and another was given a T-series name.[23]

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By 1940, Model 1200 series designs were renamed into either the T- or P-series. The new model designations indicated type, fuel, propulsion (for transit) or customer (for parlor), seating capacity, and version number. (The first was -01, the second, -02, and so on.)[23]

T-series (1940–1942)

All "T"-series models were urban transit buses. The model designation consisted of two or three letters followed by four numbers. These gave a basic description of the type of bus:

More information Type, Fuel ...

All models were rear-engined except the 21xx and 24xx series.

P-series (1939–1944)

The "P" indicated that, as parlor coaches, the P-series was primarily designed for the seated comfort of intercity bus passengers.[23] All models are 96-inch (2.4 m) wide rear-engine parlor coaches.[29][30][31]

More information Type, Fuel ...
More information Model, Built ...

GM and GMC

In 1944, General Motors completed its acquisition and merger of Yellow Coach. The T-Series and P-Series production and series numbering continued under the GM and GMC bus brands, along with other variants such as B-Series school buses and S-Series suburban buses. Yellow Coach designs would continue to be widely produced until 1959, when GM introduced its New Look models. The last Yellow Coach design ceased production in 1969.[9]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Roess, Roger P.; Sansone, Gene (2012). The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 254. ISBN 9783642304842. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  2. [2]
    Black, Edwin (2007). Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives. Macmillan. ISBN 9780312359089. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  3. [3]
    Luke, William (2001). Yellow Coach Buses 1923 Through 1943: Photo Archive. p. 8. ISBN 1-58388-054-2.
  4. [4]
    Townsin, Alan A. and Senior John A. (1979). The Best of British Buses No.1 Leyland Titans 1927-42. Glossop: Transport Publishing Company. p. 7. ISBN 9780903839563.Townsin, Alan A. (1994). Blue Triangle: Alan Townsin Looks at AEC Buses. Glossop: Venture Publications. p. 59. ISBN 189843204X.
  5. [5]
    "Yellow Taxicab..."
  6. [6]
    Post, Robert C. (2007). Urban Mass Transit: The Life Story of a Technology. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313339165. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  7. [7]
    "Transport: Greyhound's Litter". Time. 10 August 1936. Retrieved 11 April 2014. Class I railroads of the U. S. carried 445,995,000 passengers in 1935. Last week, the National Association of Motor Bus Operators announced that non-local bus lines had beaten this mark by carrying 651,999,000 passengers in 1935. An increase of almost 50% over 1934, it was the first time busses had handled more traffic than their biggest rivals.
  8. [8]
    "Transport: Greyhound's Litter". Time. 10 August 1936. Retrieved 11 April 2014. To keep pace with this new business, the largest U. S. bus line, Greyhound Corp., last week whelped the first 25 of a litter of 305 new busses, completely outmoding present standard equipment.
  9. [9]
    "Ohio Museum of Transportation - GM/Yellow Coach Old-Look Transit Production Lists". www.omot.org. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  10. [10]
    "John Daniel Hertz".
  11. [11]
    "Hertz History". In 1953, the Hertz properties were bought from GMC by the Omnibus Corporation, which divested itself of its bus interests and concentrated solely on car and truck renting and leasing. A year later, a new name was taken—The Hertz Corporation—and it was listed for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange.
  12. [12]
    "Yellow Coach Part 1, Yellow Coach Mfg. Co., Yellow Truck and Coach, Yellow Bus, Greyhound Bus, Silversides, GMC Truck, CCKW, DUKW, General Motors - CoachBuilt.com". www.coachbuilt.com. Retrieved 28 March 2018. starting in 1925 two additional long-wheelbase Z-series coaches were constructed ...a General-Electric-sourced hybrid gas-electric drive system, where a gasoline engine powered two large electric motors located at the rear of the coach.
  13. [13]
    "A Century of Transport - Front to Back; A Rear-engined Revolution". www.wythall.org.uk. Transport Museum Wythall (UK). Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  14. [14]
    "Choosing the best bus body style for your build". Buslandia. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  15. [15]
    "Buses after the merger: the long road to the rear-mounted engine | marsMediaSite". marsMediaSite. Daimler AG (Germany). Retrieved 28 March 2018. The first bus with a rear-mounted engine debuts in 1951
  16. [16]
    Rothacker, David. "Greyhound Buses Through the Years; Part 1" (PDF). Rothacker Reviews. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  17. [17]
    "Yellow Coach Part 2, Yellow Coach Mfg. Co., Yellow Truck and Coach, Yellow Bus, Greyhound Bus, Silversides, GMC Truck, CCKW, DUKW, General Motors - CoachBuilt.com". www.coachbuilt.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018. Between 1934 and 1937, 426 Model 718 coaches were produced; 366 to New York for use by Omnibus Corp./Fifth Ave. Coach and its affiliates, and 43 to the west coast for use by the Los Angeles Railway, Los Angeles Motor Coach and Pacific Electric companies....1,256 Yellow Coach Model 743s were constructed through 1939 when it was replaced by the new PD/PG- and PDG/PGG-3701 Silversides.
  18. [18]
    "Yellow Coach 700 series coaches". GM Engineering Standards Coach Descriptions. The Ohio Museum of Transportation. 7 January 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2002.
  19. [19]
    Johnson, Gary (1985). "1934 Yellow 717". Model Coach News (51). Lynnfield, MA: 5–10.
  20. [20]
    Johnson, Gary (1983). "1934 Yellow Coach 718". Model Coach News (41). Lynnfield, MA: 6–8.
  21. [21]
    Johnson, Gary (1987). "Yellow Coach 742". Model Coach News (59). Lynnfield, MA: 3–8.
  22. [22]
    "Yellow Coach Part 2, Yellow Coach Mfg. Co., Yellow Truck and Coach, Yellow Bus, Greyhound Bus, Silversides, GMC Truck, CCKW, DUKW, General Motors - CoachBuilt.com". www.coachbuilt.com. Retrieved 22 March 2018. Through a number of significant updates and modifications Dwight Austin's Model 719 coach evolved into the diesel-powered, air-conditioned Greyhound Super Coaches of the late thirties and 40s....1,256 Yellow Coach Model 743s were constructed through 1939
  23. [23]
    "Yellow Coach Part 2, Yellow Coach Mfg. Co., Yellow Truck and Coach, Yellow Bus, Greyhound Bus, Silversides, GMC Truck, CCKW, DUKW, General Motors - CoachBuilt.com". www.coachbuilt.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  24. [24]
    "Yellow Coach Part 2, Yellow Coach Mfg. Co., Yellow Truck and Coach, Yellow Bus, Greyhound Bus, Silversides, GMC Truck, CCKW, DUKW, General Motors - CoachBuilt.com". www.coachbuilt.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018. Model 1203, the first of the series, was a re-designation of the 27-passenger Model 739 built expressly for the Public Service Corp. of New Jersey.
  25. [25]
    Lafreniere, Kevin (11 October 2010). "Yellow Coach 1204". Canadian Public Transit Discussion Board > Wiki. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  26. [26]
    Schultz, Russell E. (June 1980). A Milwaukee Transport Era: The Trackless Trolley Years. Interurbans Special. Vol. 74. Glendale, CA: Interurbans. pp. 29, 30, 112, 117. ISBN 0-916374-43-2.
  27. [27]
    Johnson, Gary (March–April 1983). "Prewar Yellow Cruiserettes". Model Coach News (39). Lynnfield, MA: 7–10.
  28. [28]
    Johnson, Gary (1992). "1939 Yellow Coach 1210 parlor coach". Model Coach News (69). Lynnfield, MA: 5–6.
  29. [29]
    "2XXX Series Parlor Coaches". GM Engineering Standards Coach Descriptions. The Ohio Museum of Transportation. 7 January 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2002.
  30. [30]
    "3XXX Series Parlor Coaches". GM Engineering Standards Coach Descriptions. The Ohio Museum of Transportation. 7 January 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2002.
  31. [31]
    "4XXX Series Parlor Coaches". GM Engineering Standards Coach Descriptions. The Ohio Museum of Transportation. 7 January 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2002.

Bibliography

  • Luke, William A. (2001). Yellow Coach Buses - 1923–1943 Photo Archive, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-054-2
  • Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2004). Highway Buses of the 20th Century, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-121-2
  • Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2005). City Transit Buses of the 20th Century, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-146-8
  • McKane, John H. & Squier, Gerald L. (2006). Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-167-0
  • Plachno, Larry (2002). Greyhound Buses Through the Years - Part I, Polo, Il: National Bus Trader Magazine, November, 2002
  • Stauss, Ed (1988). The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses, Woodland Hills, CA: Stauss Publications. ISBN 0-9619830-0-0
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