Dr. D.B. “Doc” Rushing
© Copyright, 2009, 2022, Duncan Bryant Rushing
Preface
The New England Greyhound Lines was a regional operating company of the Greyhound Lines.
Contents
Introduction
Origin
Eastern GL of New York
Eastern GL of New England
Development of the New England GL
Through-coaches on Through-routes
Meeting Other Greyhound Companies
Merger into the Pennsylvania GL
Beyond the NEGL, the PennGL, and the EGL
Conclusion
Very Special Articles
Related Articles
Bibliography
Introduction
The New England Greyhound Lines (NEGL), an intercity highway-coach carrier, was a regional operating company of the Greyhound Lines (GL). It was based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and it existed from 1939 until -60, when it became a part of the new second Eastern Greyhound Lines (EGL).
Origin
In 1937 The Greyhound Corporation (with an uppercase T because the word the was an integral part of the official name), the original parent umbrella Greyhound firm, formed the New England Greyhound Lines as a subsidiary (not a division but rather a subsidiary) of The Greyhound Corporation. [If you wish, please read my article about divisions and subsidiaries of corporations and the differences between them.]
The purpose of the new firm was to take over three routes of the New England Transportation (NET) Company plus two subsidiaries of the NET Company – the Berkshire Motor Coach Lines and the Victoria Coach Lines, two discount-price carriers which NET had previously bought (not later than 1932) – along with the Quaker Stages and the Old Colony Coach Lines, two firms unrelated to each other.
Because of a delay in receiving approval from the federal Interstate Commerce Commission, the NEGL did not start running until 1939.
The NET Company was the bus subsidiary of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford (NYNH&H) Railroad, commonly known as the New Haven (NH) Railroad.
In turn the railway firm bought a one-half interest in the New England GL.
Eastern GL of New York
Already, however, Greyhound had made its first presence in New England in 1930, by forming the Eastern GL of New York (the EGL of New York), as a subsidiary of the undenominated main first Eastern GL, upon buying and taking over the Colonial Motor Coach Corporation. [More about the EGL of New York is available below, in the next section, and more about the Colonial firm (and its purchase) is available in my article about the Central GL.]
[The main Eastern GL had come into existence in the previous year, 1929, as a holding company (rather than an operating company), to own a number of Greyhound subsidiaries, both existing ones and future ones, to the east of Chicago – other than the Pennsylvania GL, in which the Pennsylvania Railroad soon bought a large but minority interest.]
The EGL of New York ran in part between Albany, New York, and Boston, via Pittsfield, Springfield, and Worcester, all the last four in Massachusetts, along the entire width of the Bay State.
Eastern GL of New England
In 1930 The Greyhound Corporation, the parent umbrella firm, during a time of its rapid growth, formed another subsidiary, named as the Eastern GL of New England (the EGL of New England), separate and different from the similarly named EGL of New York, then placed it under the undenominated main Eastern GL (a holding company) – along with three other regional operating subsidiaries (the EGL of Ohio, the EGL of New York, and the EGL of Michigan).
In that same year, 1930, the new EGL of New England (separate and different from the EGL of New York) started running, on two intercity routes bought from the Gray Line of Boston (a part of the famous sightseeing organization) – two routes between Boston and New York City – the inland route, via Worcester and Springfield (both in Massachusetts) and Hartford and New Haven (both in Connecticut) – and the shoreline route, via Providence (in Rhode Island) and New London and New Haven (both in Connecticut).
{In 1935 the main first Eastern GL plus three subsidiaries (the EGL of Ohio, the EGL of New York, and the EGL of Michigan) became renamed respectively as the second Central GL (CGL), the CGL of Ohio, the CGL of New York, and the CGL of Michigan, whereas the EGL of New England, due to its eastern location, continued to use its same name. The purpose of the multipart renaming was to attach the name Central to those subsidiaries, in the Midwest and the Northeast, in an area which coincided with the territory of a major railway company, the New York Central (NYC) System, one in which Greyhound transferred a minority non-voting interest to the NYC System. The Greyhound executives wished for those subsidiaries to bear a name (Central) which would suggest the kinship with the related railway firm (New York Central), as in the case of the neighboring Pennsylvania GL and the Pennsylvania Railroad. [The EGL of New England ran completely outside the service area of the NYC System.]}
Then in the next year, 1936, The Greyhound Corporation began to eliminate its multiple (and often complex) intermediate holding companies (between the parent umbrella firm and the operating subsidiaries). The purpose of those steps was to avoid a hugely increased federal income tax on the undistributed earnings of corporate subsidiaries (in part as a result of a legislative socioeconomic motive to make more cash available to the public during the Great Depression). The tax increase took place under the infamous federal Revenue Act of 1936, which the Congress of the US had passed (and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had signed) as a means by which to cause or force a simplification of complicated corporate structures in the public-utility industries (including the transport industries). Changes in the federal laws soon allowed transport companies to return to the use of holding companies with their subsidiary corporations; however, Greyhound continued using mostly divisions, although it did use also a few subsidiaries. [More about divisions, subsidiaries, and the differences between them is available in my separate article on that subject.]
On 01 January 1936 The Greyhound Corporation, in anticipation of the forthcoming new statute, the parent Greyhound firm, previously a holding company rather than an operating company, taking its first step, merged the EGL of New England (formerly a subsidiary) into itself (as a division).
That action – as a part of the tax strategy – caused the parent firm, The Greyhound Corporation, to become not only a holding company but also an operating company – with its own ICC-MC number (1515). [Later Greyhound kept and continued using also the MC numbers 1501 and 1511, which other subsidiaries had obtained from the ICC.]
During 1936 Greyhound continued to merge most of the regional operating subsidiaries into itself as divisions.
Development of the New England GL
While waiting for the mandatory approval (for the investment, the acquisitions, and the mergers pertaining to the New England GL) of the federal Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), the EGL of New England (in operation since 1930) and the New England Transportation Company began to coördinate their scheduled trips (between Boston and New York City) with each other. Each company began to accept the tickets of the other.
In 1939 the ICC announced its decision to allow the proposed actions, and the two companies (the NEGL and the NET Company) moved forward by carrying out their plans.
The New England GL bought three routes from the NET Company:
the shoreline route between Boston and New York City via Providence, New London, and New Haven;
the one between New Haven and Willimantic via Northford, Middletown, and Marlborough, all five in Connecticut;
and the one between New York City and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, via Danbury, New Milford, and Torrington, all the last three in Connecticut.
The NEGL bought also two subsidiaries of the NET Company – the Berkshire Motor Coach Lines and the Victoria Coach Lines, each of which had run between Boston and New York City on an inland route via Hartford.
The NEGL further bought two other properties – the Quaker Stages and the Old Colony Coach Lines. The Quaker firm had run between Boston and Bangor (in Maine) via Portsmouth (in New Hampshire) and Portland and Augusta (both in Maine) and between Portland and Belfast (also both in Maine). The Old Colony firm had run not only between Boston and New York City but also between Boston and Saint Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, just across the border from Calais (in Maine) via Portsmouth (in New Hampshire) and Portland, Augusta, and Bangor (all three in Maine).
[After those route purchases by the NEGL, Berkshire, Victoria, Quaker, and Old Colony all ceased to exist, although the NET Company continued to operate on several other routes, albeit on shorter ones, in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, until 1958, when it too went out of business, after it sold all its remaining routes. The line between Worcester and Providence went to the Johnson Bus Line, which the Short Line bought in 1963. All the other NET lines radiating from Providence went directly to the Short Line.]
The Greyhound Corporation, the parent firm, promptly transferred all the new routes north of Boston (to Portsmouth, Portland, Belfast, Augusta, Bangor, and Saint Stephen) from the NEGL to the EGL of New England, which still ran also several trips each day between Boston and New York City alongside the NEGL in an atypical arrangement.
In 1940, however, Greyhound transferred to the NEGL the remaining trips of the EGL of New England between Boston and New York City, thus leaving the NEGL as the sole Greyhound firm running between those two cities.
Still, though, the EGL of New England continued to run its routes north of Boston.
The NEGL then made several minor purchases and sales of routes during the following years.
On the last day of October 1950 The Greyhound Corporation bought back the one-half interest of the New Haven Railroad in the New England GL.
Then, on the last day of December 1950, the parent firm merged the EGL of New England into the NEGL.
Thus ended the EGL of New England.
In 1953 Greyhound bought (and placed into the New England GL) the International Coach Lines (ICL), based in Rumford, Maine, which ran between two points in Canada – Montréal, Québec, and Saint John, New Brunswick – along a route mostly through northern New England in the US – via Stanhope (in Québec); Norton (in Vermont); Colebrook, Lancaster, and Gorham (all three in New Hampshire); Rumford, Bangor, Lincoln, and Calais (all four in Maine); and Saint Stephen (in New Brunswick).
After that purchase the NEGL received five new MCI Courier 95-D coaches, which the ICL had already ordered, but which had not yet become delivered before the merger of the ICL into the NEGL.
Thus The Greyhound Corporation, through the NEGL as a wholly owned subsidiary, acquired and began to operate its first MCI coaches in the USA.
[The Motor Coach Industries (MCI), Limited, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in one of the three “prairie provinces” of Canada (Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba), north of North Dakota and Minnesota, was then a Canadian coach builder and was then a subsidiary of one of the Greyhound carriers in Canada.]
[In 1948 the Western Canadian Greyhound Lines, Limited, had bought the MCI as the supplier of its coaches for its operations in Canada and for sale to others; in -58 The Greyhound Corporation, the parent firm in the US, bought a controlling interest in the MCI, thus taking an important step toward again developing its own source for its future equipment in the US (as well as in Canada), and thus turning away from the GMC Truck and Coach (T&C) Division of the General Motors (GM) Corporation. For more information please see a discussion, starting with the section about “Trouble between Greyhound and GM” – and continuing with the section about “Governmental Intervention” – in my article entitled “The Scenicruiser.”]
Through-coaches on Through-routes
The New England GL ran a large number of through-coaches along its own routes, including those between New York City and Boston, New York City and Portland, New York City and Bangor, New York City and Saint Stephen, and Montréal and Saint John.
However, the NEGL took part in only a few pooled interline through-routes in coöperation with other operating companies – those between Boston and both Richmond and Norfolk, both in Virginia, both with the Pennsylvania GL and the Richmond GL, and between New York City and both Bennington and Burlington, both in Vermont, with the Vermont Transit Company, in which The Greyhound Corporation then owned a minority interest.
Meeting Other Greyhound Companies
In Boston the New England GL met the CGL of New York and the EGL of New England, and in New York City it met the second Central GL and the Pennsylvania GL.
Merger into the Pennsylvania GL
In 1955, during a time of consolidation, Greyhound merged the New England GL into the newly enlarged Pennsylvania GL, which then became redesignated as the Eastern Division of The Greyhound Corporation, known also as the second Eastern GL (EGL), the first of four huge new divisions (along with Southern, Western, and yet another Central).
[In the previous year, 1954, Greyhound had already merged the Capitol GL and the second Central GL into the Pennsylvania GL.]
Thus ended both the New England GL and the Pennsylvania GL, and thus began the second Eastern GL.
Beyond the NEGL, the PennGL, and the EGL
Later, about 1969, The Greyhound Corporation reorganized again, into just two humongous divisions, named as the Greyhound Lines East (GLE) and the Greyhound Lines West (GLW); even later, about 1975, it eliminated those two divisions, thus leaving a single gargantuan undivided nationwide fleet and a likewise undivided nationwide management and administrative organization.
[More about the continuing history of the GLI (up to 2022) is available in my article entitled “Greyhound Lines after WW2.”]
Conclusion
The New England GL made a major, significant, and lasting contribution to the present Greyhound route network.
Very Special Articles
Please check also my very special cornerstone articles at this website:
“Northland Greyhound Lines” (NGL): It tells not only the history of the NGL but also the origin and the early years of the overall Greyhound Lines, starting in 1914 in Hibbing, Minnesota. [The people and the events involved in the early part of the story of the NGL are the same people and events involved also in the origin and the early development of the larger Greyhound empire (including its many divisions and subsidiaries).]
“Greyhound Lines after WW2”: It describes:
the major mergers and consolidations (1948-75);
the changes in leadership at the top;
the move from Chicago to Phoenix (in 1971);
the sales of the Greyhound Lines, Inc. (GLI, in 1987, 1999, 2007, and 2021);
the purchase (in 1987) of the Trailways, Inc. (TWI, previously known as the Continental Trailways) and the merger of the TWI into the GLI;
the sad and regrettable deterioration in the level of service of the formerly great and formerly respected (but now utterly disgraced and discredited) Greyhound Lines;
and the latest development of Greyhound under the ownership of FlixMobility (a German firm) and under the oversight of Flix North America (with a recent Turkish immigrant as the chief executive).
“The Scenicruiser”: It covers the background, conception, evolution, development, design, creation, production, rebuilding, repowering, and operation of the GM PD-4501, the famous, beloved, unmatched, and iconic Scenicruiser (an exclusive coach built for Greyhound alone, which served in the fleet from 1954 until about 1975).
“Growing Up at Greyhound”: It tells about my growing up at Greyhound — as the title says — while my father worked as a longtime (37-year) coach operator for the Greyhound Lines, starting in 1940.
Related Articles
Please see also my articles about the Atlantic Greyhound Lines, the Capitol Greyhound Lines, the Central Greyhound Lines, the Dixie Greyhound Lines, the Florida Greyhound Lines, the Great Lakes Greyhound Lines, the Illinois Greyhound Lines, the Northland Greyhound Lines, the Northwest Greyhound Lines, the Ohio Greyhound Lines, the Overland Greyhound Lines, the Pacific Greyhound Lines, the Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, the Pickwick-Greyhound Lines, the Richmond Greyhound Lines, the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, the Southwestern Greyhound Lines, the Teche Greyhound Lines, the Valley Greyhound Lines, The Greyhound Corporation, the Greyhound Lines after WW2, the Tennessee Coach Company, and the Scenicruiser.
Bibliography
Grams, Brian, and Donald Bain, Greyhound Canada. Calgary: Kishorn Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-919487-71-8.
Jackson, Carlton, Hounds of the Road. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 1984. ISBN 0-87972-207-3.
Meier, Albert, and John Hoschek, Over the Road. Upper Montclair: Motor Bus Society, 1975. No ISBN (because of the age of the book).
Motor Coach Age, ISSN 0739-117X, a publication of the Motor Bus Society, various issues, especially these:
December 1978;
September 1979;
October 1979;
July 1984;
October-December 1999.
Rushing, Duncan Bryant, Wheels, Water, Words, Wings, and Engines. New Albany: Fidelity Publishers, forthcoming.
Schisgall, Oscar, The Greyhound Story. Chicago: J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Company, 1985. ISBN 0-385-19690-3.
Online schedules and historical data at http://www.greyhound.com.
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Posted at 19:32 EDT, Thursday, 02 June 2022.