Yellow Coach

The Yellow Coach Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1923 as a subsidiary of the Yellow Cab Company by John D. Hertz and was an early player in bus manufacturing in the United States.

G.J. Rackham, whose career had commenced with the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) after the First World War spent four years in the USA from 1922 to 1926 and recognised the advantage of low swept chassis frame for bus development whilst employed by Yellow Coach in Chicago. It is likely that he was 'headhunted' 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.

General Motors became a majority owner of the company in 1925 and changed the name to the Yellow Truck & Coach Manufacturing Company. In 1943 General Motors purchased the company outright and folded it into the GM Truck Division to form the GM Truck & Coach Division. Although GM continued with the Yellow Coach product line, the Yellow Coach badge gave way to the GM nameplate in 1944.

Models produced

Z-model buses (1923-1936)

*Z-29 - 29 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*Z-63 - front-engine double-decker open-top transit bus
*Z-66 - front-engine double-decker semi-enclosed transit bus
*Z-67 - front-engine double-decker open-top transit bus
*Z-A-199 - front-engine double-decker transit bus
*Z-AAAM - front-engine double-decker open-top transit bus
*Z-AL-265 - front-engine transit "All Service Vehicle" (combination bus/trolleybus)
*Z-AQ-273
*Z-BI-610 - 32 passenger, front engine parlor coach
*Z-BP-620 - 38 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*Z-BR-602 - 62 passenger, front-engine double-decker transit bus
*Z-C-201 - 66 passenger, front-engine double-decker transit bus
*Z-CT-843
*Z-E-203 - front-engine double-decker open-top transit bus
*ZBQ-621 - front-engine double-decker gas-electric powered transit bus
*Z-200/Z-230 - front-engine double-decker open-top transit bus
*Z-230-W-8 - 33 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*Z-225 - front-engine parlor coach
*Z-250 - 33-passenger, front-engine parlor coach
*Z-240 - front-engine transit bus
*Z-255 - 33 passenger, front-engine parlor coach

Y-model buses (1924-1932)

*Y-29 - 29 passenger, front-engine parlor coach
*Y-Z-227
*Y-Z-229
*Y-O-254
*Y-U-316

X-model buses (1924-1928)

*X-21 - 17-21 passenger, front-engine parlor coach

W-model buses (1928-1935)

*W-21 - 18-21 passenger, front-engine transit or parlor coach

U-model buses (1928-1935)

*U-16 - 16 passenger, front-engine transit or parlor coach
*U-29 - 29 passenger, front-engine transit or parlor coach

V-model buses (1930-1936)

*V-29 - 29 passenger, front-engine parlor coach
*V-225 - front-engine transit bus
*V-A-634 - front-engine parlor coach
*VR-819 - front-engine parlor coach

700-series buses (1934-1937)

*700
*701 - 40 passenger, transit trolleybus
*702
*704 - 40 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*706 - "Queen Mary" - 72 passenger, 'straight-in' rear-engine double-decker prototype transit bus (one only built)
*709 - 18 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*711 - 28 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*715 - 21 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*716 - 23 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*717
*718 - rear-engine transit bus
*719 - rear-engine parlor coach
*720 "Queen Mary" - 72 passenger, rear-engine double-decker transit bus
*722 - 20 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*724 - 28 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*725 - 32 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*727 - 36 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*728 - 32 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*729 - rear-engine transit "All Service Vehicle" (combination bus/trollybus)
*731 - rear-engine transit bus
*732 - rear-engine parlor coach
*733 - front-engine transit bus
*734 - rear-engine suburban bus
*735 - rear-engine double-decker transit bus
*736 - rear-engine diesel-powered bus
*738 - rear-engine small parlor coach
*739 - rear-engine small transit bus
*740 - rear-engine transit bus
*741 - rear-engine gas-electric powered transit bus
*742 - rear-engine suburban bus
*743 - rear-engine parlor coach
*744 - 36 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*745 - rear-engine sleeper coach
*746 - rear-engine diesel-electric powered transit bus

1200-series buses (1938-1940)

*1203 - transit bus
*1204 - transit bus
*1209 "Cruiserette" - 25 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*1210 "Cruiserette" - parlor coach

T-series transit buses (1940-1942)

*TG-2101 - 21 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*TG-2102 - 21 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*TG-2105 - 21 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*TD-2401/TG-2401 - 24 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*TG-2402 - 24 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*TG-2405 - 24 passenger, front-engine transit bus
*TD-2501/TDE-2501 - 25 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*TD-2502 - 25 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*TD-2701/TG-2701 - 27 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-2705/TG-2705 - 27 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TG-2706 - 27 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-3201/TG-3201 - 32 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-3205/TG-3205 - 32 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-3601/TG-3601 - 36 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-3602/TG-3602 - 36 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TG-3603 - 36 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-3605/TG-3605 - 36 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-3606/TG-3606 - 36 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-4001/TDE-4001/TG-4001 - 40 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TDE-4002 - 40 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-4005/TDE-4005/TG-4005 - 40 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-4006 - 40 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TC-4501 - 45 passenger, rear-engine transit bus
*TD-4502/TG-4502 - 45 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-4503 - 45 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-4505/TG-4505 - 45 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus
*TD-5401 - 54 passenger, rear-engine "old-look" transit bus

P-series parlor coaches (1940-1944)

*PG-2501 - 25 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*PG-2502 - 25 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*PG-2503 - 25 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*PG-2504 - 25 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*PD-2901/PG-2901 "Cruiserette" - 29 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*PG-2902 "Cruiserette" - 29 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach
*PDG-3701/PGG-3701 "Silversides" - 37 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach (built for Greyhound Lines)
*PDA-3701 - 37 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach (built during WWII)
*PG-3701 - 37 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach (built during WWII)
*PDG-4101/PGG-4101 "Silversides" - 41 passenger, rear-engine parlor coach (built for Greyhound Lines)

ee also

* GM Truck & Coach Division
* GM "old-look" transit bus
* Transit bus
* Coach (vehicle) - parlor coach
* Trolleybus
* Toronto Transportation Commission - large purchaser of Yellow Coach buses
* Hamilton Street Railway - large purchaser of Yellow Coach buses
* Chicago Motor Coach - large purchaser of Yellow Coach buses
* Chicago Surface Lines - large purchaser of Yellow Coach buses

References

*Stauss, Ed (1988). "The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses", Woodland Hills, CA: Stauss Publications. ISBN 0-9619830-0-0
*Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2005). "City Transit Buses of the 20th Century", Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-146-8
*Luke, William A. & Metler, Linda L. (2004). "Highway Buses of the 20th Century", Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-121-2
*Luke, William A. (2001). Yellow Coach Buses - 1923-1943 Photo Archive, Hudson, WI: Iconografix. ISBN 1-58388-054-2
*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). " [http://www.busmag.com/PDF/Greyh1.pdf Greyhound Buses Through the Years - Part I] ", Polo, Il: National Bus Trader Magazine, November, 2002
* [http://www.omot.org Ohio Museum of Transportation] , "omot.org", retrieved on 2006-12-22
* [http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/y/yellow_coach/yellow_coach.htm Coachbuilt.com - Yellow Coach] , "coachbuilt.com", retrieved on 2006-12-23
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgtitle_tree.cfm?level=1&title_id=297549 New York Public Library - Photographs of General Motors and Chrysler car and truck models, 1902-1938] , "nypl.org", retrieved on 2006-12-23
* [http://www.coachinfo.com/index.html Coach Information Network] , "coachinfo.com", retrieved on 2006-12-23

External links

* [http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/g/gm/gm.htm Coachbuilt - Yellow Coach]
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgtitle_tree.cfm?level=1&title_id=297549 Photographs of General Motors and Chrysler car and truck models, 1902-1938]
* [http://www.omot.org/roster/GMOldLookList/index.html List of production figures for Yellow/GM "old-look" buses]