Southeastern Greyhound Lines
Encyclopedia
The Southeastern Greyhound Lines (called also Southeastern, SEG, SEGL, or the SEG Lines), a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Lexington, Kentucky
, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Atlantic Greyhound Lines
, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Southern Division of The Greyhound Corporation (the parent Greyhound firm), called also the Southern Greyhound Lines.
, and a lawyer
of German
and French-Swiss descent, who from the outset served variously as the legal counsel, the general manager
, the vice president
, and (mostly) the president
. [Huguelet had begun his career in transportation by working (for six years, starting at age 15) in several clerical jobs for two railroad companies (at different times), the Southern Railway System and the Atlantic Coast Line
, in and around Charleston and in Charlotte, North Carolina
.]
In 1926, the same year in which Guy Huguelet and his associates in Lexington formed
the Consolidated Coach Corporation, Carl Eric Wickman, Orville Swan Caesar, and their associates in Duluth, Minnesota
, formed the Motor Transit Corporation, which in 1929 was renamed as The Greyhound Corporation.
Consolidated, as the name suggests, began as a result of the acquisition
and combination (that is, consolidation
) of a number of pre-existing small bus companies which extended more-or-less radially
on routes reaching outward from Lexington throughout the Bluegrass State – to Frankfort
and Louisville
(and later onward to Owensboro
and Henderson
and to Evansville in Indiana
), Carrollton
, Madison
(in Indiana), Cincinnati (in Ohio
), Maysville
, Ashland
(and onward for a while to Huntington
in West Virginia
), Paintsville, Pikeville
, Hazard
, Harlan
, Danville
, Richmond
, Berea
, London
, Corbin
(and later beyond to Knoxville in Tennessee
via Williamsburg
in Kentucky and LaFollette in Tennessee), Middlesboro (and later onward to Knoxville on an alternate route via Tazewell
and Maynardville, all three in Tennessee), Somerset
(and later onward to Chattanooga via Oneida
and Dayton
while bypassing Knoxville, all four in Tennessee), Bardstown, Columbia
, Glasgow
, Scottsville
, Burkesville, Tompkinsville
, Paducah
(for a while), and Bowling Green
(and in 1927 onward to Nashville in Tennessee).
and Birmingham
(both in Alabama
), plus a link between Knoxville and Chattanooga (both in East Tennessee).
Among the other acquired bus properties were two related firms in Alabama – the Alabama Bus Company (running from Chattanooga in Tennessee through Birmingham and Montgomery
to Mobile
, the entire length of the "Heart of Dixie") and the Capital Coaches (running from Birmingham through Montgomery to Dothan
), both bought also in 1930.
[In the previous year, 1929, the Old South Coach Lines came into existence to buy a short branch line (with a length of about 59 miles) between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa
(both in Alabama) from the same Alabama Bus Company, then promptly extended about 93 more miles from Tuscaloosa to Meridian
(in Mississippi
); in the next year, 1930, Old South became bought by and merged into the Teche Lines (which in 1934 became renamed as the Teche Greyhound Lines
), thus allowing Teche to complete its route between New Orleans (in Louisiana
) and Birmingham.]
After the CCC began running through Birmingham, it soon started a direct route between Birmingham and Atlanta (in Georgia
) via Anniston
(in Alabama) and Tallapoosa
(in Georgia), as soon as that part of US highway 78 (US-78) became passable or operable.
The SEG Lines also developed extensive local suburban commuter services based in Atlanta, Birmingham, Louisville, and Nashville.
The CCC sought (among other carriers) the "Greyhound Lines of Georgia", a new and relatively small but significant operation, which by that time had become a single-line company (after initial growth and subsequent paring or pruning), on a route between Chattanooga (in Tennessee) and Jacksonville (in Florida) via Atlanta and Macon
(both in Georgia), through the entire length of the Peach State. [In the name of the Greyhound Lines of Georgia, the words "of Georgia" were an integral part of the legal name of the corporate entity, not merely a descriptive phrase.]
That regional Greyhound company in Georgia had started in 1928 as a subsidiary of the Motor Transit Corporation (MTC), the original Greyhound firm, although that subsidiary was then isolated from the rest of the Greyhound empire in that early time in the development of the company's route network – isolated except at its southern end in Jacksonville, which in 1931 the Atlantic Greyhound Lines
(called also Atlantic or AGL), another operating company, also reached from the north and northeast along the East Coast
.
The Greyhound Lines of Georgia was a result of the work of J.C. Steinmetz, whom the officers of the MTC had sent in 1927 to the Southeast to spearhead the growth of Greyhound in that direction and to provide Greyhound with a gateway for the important (that is, potentially lucrative and therefore profitable) passenger traffic between Florida and the populous Midwest.
{In 1929 the Motor Transit Corporation became renamed as The Greyhound Corporation, and in 1930 the company moved its administrative headquarters from Duluth, Minnesota, to Chicago, Illinois, which had begun to emerge as the major gateway for highway travel between the East
and the West
. [The firm had already moved its operating headquarters to Chicago.]}
The Greyhound Corporation renamed the Greyhound Lines of Georgia (running between Chattanooga and Jacksonville) as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines and in 1931 sold it to the Consolidated Coach Corporation, with which it made connections in Atlanta and Chattanooga. Consolidated then began operating the SEG Lines along the route between Chattanooga and Jacksonville, thereby making connections (in Jacksonville and Lake City
) for various points throughout the Sunshine State via the Florida Motor Lines (FML), which in -46 became renamed as the Florida Greyhound Lines
(FGL) and which in 1957 became merged into the Southeastern GL.
Consolidated also made connections in Dothan, Alabama, with the Union Bus Company (not to be confused with the Union Transfer Company based in Nashville), which former Union firm in turn made connections in Tallahassee, Lake City, and Jacksonville with the Florida Motor Lines for points along the Gulf Coast and elsewhere in Florida.
Thus Consolidated connected the Florida market with Greyhound in the Midwest – in Birmingham (and onward to Memphis
, Tulsa, Oklahoma City
, and beyond), in Evansville (and onward to Saint Louis, Kansas City
, Omaha
, Denver, and beyond), in Louisville (and onward to Indianapolis
, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and beyond), and in Cincinnati (and onward to Dayton
, Toledo
, Detroit, Columbus
, Cleveland, Akron
, Youngstown
, and beyond).
Shortly afterward that same year, 1931, with the consent of The Greyhound Corporation, Consolidated began using the name of the Southeastern Greyhound Lines as a brand name, trade name, or service name for its entire operation (not just between Chattanooga and Jacksonville but rather throughout its entire system) and began placing the Greyhound dog, the Greyhound name, and the Greyhound color scheme on all its coaches, and all the drivers and other workers began wearing Greyhound uniforms – even though the legal name of the company continued (albeit temporarily) as the Consolidated Coach Corporation. For that reason (between 1931 and 1936) the coaches bore the names of both Greyhound (in large lettering) and Consolidated (in small sublettering).
In 1936, however, the Consolidated Coach Corporation became renamed as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, Inc. The home office remained in Lexington, and the employees continued as before.
Thus Southeastern became a maverick or atypical Greyhound company, one of only two major affiliates which sometimes have been called the non-Greyhound Greyhound companies.
[The other was the Overland GL, based in Omaha, Nebraska, which had begun as two related carriers – the Union Pacific (UP) Stages, a highway-coach subsidiary of the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad (also based in Omaha), and the Interstate Transit Lines, another such subsidiary jointly owned by the UP Railroad and the Chicago and North Western (C&NW) Railway.]
In 1938 the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, Inc., became listed for trade on the New York Stock Exchange
(the "big board"), as not only the first corporation based in Lexington thus listed but also the first bus-operating company anywhere. [Although The Greyhound Corporation had previously (in 1935) become listed on the big board, that parent firm did not then operate buses at all, for it was still merely a holding company
rather than an operating company, while at first the subsidiaries
and affiliates conducted the operations.]
The SEGL remained under separate ownership (that is, SEG was an independent corporation under independent ownership, not a division or subsidiary of The Greyhound Corporation) until the end of 1950.
[One subtle but significant consequence of the independent status was that the coaches of those two independent companies bore the full names of the Overland Greyhound Lines and the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, whereas, starting about 1935, the coaches of all the captive Greyhound divisions and subsidiaries bore the collective or abbreviated name of the "Greyhound Lines".]
Southeastern about 1944 introduced one clever twist along with its use of the Greyhound dog (especially as applied to the sides of the coaches), possibly in part a response to the "Battle of Britain
" target-like symbol used (during World War II
) with the dogs on the sides of the coaches belonging to the divisions and the subsidiaries of the parent Greyhound firm. The SEGL superimposed the dog onto a compass rose
in a way which emphasized the letters SE (for southeast). That usage continued until the GM Silversides PD-3751 coaches began to arrive (late in 1947) with the standard dogs without the compass roses, and until the last of the 1948 ACF-Brill IC-41 parlor coaches and the last of the 1949 ACF-Brill C-44 suburban coaches arrived with their dogs with the roses on the sides, and until the last of the ACF and ACF-Brill coaches with the compass roses later in due course became repainted without the roses.
(TCC), which was then an independent firm based in Knoxville, and which had begun in 1928.
The State of Tennessee in 1929 issued a joint certificate (of public necessity and convenience) to the TCC and the Union Transfer Company (a predecessor of the Consolidated Coach Corporation and the Southeastern GL) for service between Nashville and Knoxville via Murfreesboro
, Woodbury
, McMinnville
, Sparta
, Crossville
, Rockwood
, and Kingston
along US-70 (later redesignated in part as -70S).
The two carriers – the TCC and the UTC (later the CCC, even later the SEGL) – shared their joint certificate in an unusual way: One carrier ran in one direction on any given scheduled trip, and the other carrier ran in that direction on that same sked the next day, and vice versa. That is, they ran in opposite directions, and they changed directions each day.
That plan continued until 1956, when the TCC joined the Trailways trade association (then named as the National Trailways Bus System). With the approval of the federal Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC), Southeastern took over five of the nine daily skeds in each direction, and the TCC took over the other four skeds each way. [The TCC also started one daily trip each way between Nashville and Knoxville along US-70N via Lebanon
, Carthage
, Cookeville
, and Crossville, joining the Continental Tennessee Lines, another Trailways member company, on that parallel alternate route.
The Hood Coach Lines in November 1934 sold three significant routes to the Consolidated Coach Corporation and the Union Bus Company (acting jointly) – one route between Atlanta and Macon and one between Macon and Jacksonville via Waycross (in Georgia), both going to Consolidated (which in 1936 became renamed as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines) – plus a third route, between Macon and Savannah
(both in Georgia), going to Union (which in 1941 was acquried by and merged into the Southeastern GL) – thereby providing to Consolidated and Union (and therefore later to Greyhound) not only a new route between Macon and Savannah and a parallel alternate route between Atlanta and Macon but also a quicker alternate route between Macon and Jacksonville (about 50 miles shorter than the older route via Valdosta in Georgia and Lake City in Florida).
In 1941 the Southeastern GL acquired additional important and strategic routes by buying two more existing firms in the Deep South – the Dixie Coaches (running from Florence to Mobile via Birmingham and via Tuscaloosa, all four in Alabama) and the Union Bus Company (running from Macon to Savannah and from Jacksonville in Florida to Dothan in Alabama via Lake City, Tallahassee, and Marianna
, all three in Florida).
SEG and Union had become closely affiliated with each other shortly after the routes of the two firms began to intersect in Jacksonville, Lake City, and Dothan – to the extent that the UBC coaches began to appear in the SEG livery, including the dogs, with the names of both the Southeastern Greyhound Lines (in large lettering) and the Union Bus Company (in small sublettering) – and to the extent that the UBC began to operate coaches which SEG provided to the UBC (even new ACF coaches which SEG had bought specifically for the UBC).
[Laddie Hamilton, the former owner of the Dixie Coaches, became the district manager of the SEGL in Tuscaloosa; Clifford (C.G.) Schulz, the former owner of the Union Bus Company, became a vice president and a director
of Southeastern and long continued as such (and eventually became the single largest shareholder
in SEG) and in 1950 became a director of The Greyhound Corporation (in anticipation of the purchase of Southeastern by the parent Greyhound firm).]
Another major acquisition took place late in the life of Southeastern: In 1949 SEG bought the Alaga Coach Lines, which had run between Columbus
(in Georgia) and Panama City
(in Florida) via Dothan (in Alabama). SEG allowed Alaga to continue operating separately as a wholly owned subsidiary of the SEG Lines until the end of 1950, when Alaga became merged into SEG. [Alaga is an acronym for the abbreviation
s of the names of Alabama and Georgia.]
of The Greyhound Corporation, the parent Greyhound firm, after the latter acquired not merely a controlling interest but rather 100 percent of the shares of the capital stock
outstanding in the former.
By that time the SEG Lines met the Atlantic GL to the east, the Florida GL to the southeast, the Teche GL to the southwest, the Dixie GL to the west, and the Capitol GL, the Central GL, the Great Lakes GL
, and the Pennsylvania GL to the north.
and Miami, Toronto and Saint Petersburg, Saint Louis and Nashville, Saint Louis and Miami, Dallas and Knoxville, Dallas and Atlanta, Memphis and Norfolk
, Memphis and Washington, DC, and Memphis and New York City
.
(Teche or TGL) and the Dixie GL
(Dixie or DGL), into the Southeastern GL. The three fleets of the three divisions became combined into a single fleet.
Teche had been based in New Orleans, Louisiana; it ran from New Orleans to Natchez
(in Mississippi), through Hammond
(in Louisiana) to Jackson
(in Mississippi and on the way to Memphis, Saint Louis, and Chicago), through Hattiesburg
and Meridian
(both in Mississippi) to Birmingham (in Alabama), through Mobile and Montgomery (both in Alabama) and Columbus to Atlanta (both in Georgia), through Mobile to Marianna (in Florida and on the way to Tallahassee and the rest of the Sunshine State), and westward through Baton Rouge and Lafayette
to Lake Charles
(all three in Louisiana and on the way to Houston, the rest of Texas
, and the rest of the West), plus along several regional and feeder routes in the southern part of the Pelican State. The TGL met the Dixie GL to the north, the Southwestern GL to the west, and the Atlantic GL and the Southeastern GL to the east.
Dixie had been based in Memphis, Tennessee; it ran from Memphis to Saint Louis (in Missouri), Paducah (in Kentucky), Evansville (in Indiana), Nashville and Chattanooga (both in Tennessee), Columbus
(in Mississippi), Florence and Birmingham (both in Alabama), Jackson and Vicksburg
(both in Mississippi and on the way to New Orleans), and Springfield
and Effingham
(both in Illinois and on the way to Chicago), plus along branch lines to Jonesboro
(in Arkansas) and in West Tennessee. The DGL in 1931 had completed a Greyhound through-route between Chicago and New Orleans, by connecting with other regional companies to the north and to the south. The DGL met the Southeastern GL to the east, the Teche GL to the south, the Southwestern GL to the west, and the Capitol GL
, the Central GL, the Great Lakes GL
, and the Pennsylvania GL to the north.
After that merger the newly expanded SEG Lines served 12 states along 13,227 route-miles of highways – from Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Memphis, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lake Charles – to Savannah and Jacksonville – from the Ohio River
to the Gulf of Mexico
and from the Mississippi River
to the Atlantic Ocean
.
In October 1957 The Greyhound Corporation merged also the Florida Greyhound Lines (FGL), one more neighboring operating company, into the Southeastern GL.
The Florida GL had been based in Jacksonville, Florida; it ran throughout the Sunshine State – from Jacksonville, Lake City, and Tallahassee – through Orlando
, Tampa
, and Saint Petersburg – to Miami and Key West
– especially along the East Coast between Jacksonville and Miami via Saint Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville
, Melbourne
, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Stuart
, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale – including local suburban commuter service from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and to Homestead
(near the tip of the mainland on the Dixie Highway
, US-1, on the way to Key West via the Overseas Highway
. The FGL met the Atlantic GL and the Southeastern GL to the north.
As the next tourist season approached in Washington, the management of the new DC Transit System, which in 1956 had replaced the Capital Transit Company, felt a need to acquire more coaches (as inexpensively as possible) for its charter and sightseeing operations (in addition to its basic city-transit function), partly in anticipation of expanding its tour and charter activities (by competing more aggressively against its rivals).
Thus the managers of the DC Transit System approached Greyhound, carefully selected 10 copies of the 1948 (that is, the youngest) version of the IC-41 parlor coach and bought them (for a total of only $8,000), repainted and refurbished them somewhat in one of its own shops, and put them back to work.
Some of those cars continued to operate in and around Washington well into the 1960s, thereby running almost as many years as they had for the SEG Lines, although not nearly as many miles as before.
(called also Atlantic or AGL), yet another neighboring regional company – thereby forming the third of four huge new divisions, the Southern Division of The Greyhound Corporation (called also the Southern GL), which reached as far to the north as Springfield and Effingham (both in Illinois), Columbus (in Ohio), Pittsburgh (in Pennsylvania), and Washington (in DC, the District of Columbia), as far to the east as the Atlantic Ocean, as far to the south as Miami and Key West, and as far to the west as Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lake Charles.
Thus ended the Southeastern GL and the Atlantic GL, and thus began the Southern GL.
The Atlantic GL had been based in Charleston, West Virginia
; it ran from Charleston throughout the Mountain State, to Cincinnati and Columbus (both in Ohio), Pittsburgh, Washington, through Virginia and the Carolinas, and to Knoxville (in Tennessee), Atlanta, Augusta
, and Savannah (all three in Georgia), and Jacksonville (in Florida). The AGL met the new Eastern GL to the north, the new Central GL to the northwest, and the Southeastern GL to the west and the south – along with the Richmond GL in Washington and in Norfolk and Richmond (both in Virginia). The AGL also ran extensive local suburban commuter service based in its hometown of Charleston, in Portsmouth
(in Ohio), Winston-Salem (in North Carolina
), Sumter
(in South Carolina
), and (in conjunction with the Queen City Coach Company, called also the Queen City Trailways) in Charlotte
(in North Carolina).
When the Southern GL came into existence, the headquarters functions became gradually transferred from Lexington, Kentucky, and Charleston, West Virginia, to Atlanta, Georgia; when the GLE arose, many of those administrative functions became shifted to Cleveland, Ohio; later yet those functions migrated to Chicago, Illinois, then to Phoenix, Arizona
– when (in 1971) The Greyhound Corporation moved its corporate headquarters from Chicago to a new building in Phoenix.
In 1987 The Greyhound Corporation (the original umbrella Greyhound firm), which had become widely diversified far beyond passenger transportation, sold its entire highway-coach operating business (its core bus business) to a new company, named as the Greyhound Lines, Inc., also called GLI, based in Dallas, Texas – a separate, independent, unrelated firm, which was the property of a group of private investors under the promotion of Fred Currey, a former executive of the Continental Trailways (later renamed as the Trailways, Inc., also called TWI, also based in Dallas), which was by far the largest member company in the Trailways trade association (then named as the National Trailways Bus System, now as the Trailways Transportation System
).
Later in 1987 the Greyhound Lines, Inc., the GLI, the new firm based in Dallas, further bought also the Trailways, Inc., the TWI, its largest competitor, and merged it into the GLI.
The lenders
and the other investors of the GLI ousted Fred Currey (as the chief executive officer
) after the firm went into bankruptcy
in 1990.
The GLI has continued to experience difficulties and lackluster performance under a succession of new owners
and new executives
while continuing to reduce its level of service – by hauling fewer passengers aboard fewer coaches on fewer trips along fewer routes with fewer stops in fewer communities in fewer states – and by doing so on fewer days – that is, increasingly operating some trips less often than every day (fewer than seven days per week) – and by using fewer through-coaches, thus requiring passengers to make more transfers (from one coach to another).
After the sale to the GLI, The Greyhound Corporation changed its name to the Greyhound-Dial Corporation, then the Dial Corporation, then the Viad Corporation
. [The contrived name Viad appears to be a curious respelling of the former name Dial – if one scrambles the letters D, I, and A, then turns the V upside down and regards it as the Greek
letter lambda
– Λ – that is, the Greek equivalent of the Roman
or Latin
letter L.]
The website of the Viad Corporation (http://www.viad.com) in September 2008 makes no mention of its corporate history or its past relationship to Greyhound – that is, its origin as The Greyhound Corporation.
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Atlantic Greyhound Lines
Atlantic Greyhound Lines
The Atlantic Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a neighboring operating company, thus forming the Southern Division of The...
, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Southern Division of The Greyhound Corporation (the parent Greyhound firm), called also the Southern Greyhound Lines.
Origin
The Southeastern Greyhound Lines (GL) started in 1926 as the Consolidated Coach Corporation (called also Consolidated, CCC, or the CCC Lines) – with the participation of Guy Alexander Huguelet, a native of Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, and a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and French-Swiss descent, who from the outset served variously as the legal counsel, the general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
, the vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
, and (mostly) the president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
. [Huguelet had begun his career in transportation by working (for six years, starting at age 15) in several clerical jobs for two railroad companies (at different times), the Southern Railway System and the Atlantic Coast Line
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...
, in and around Charleston and in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
.]
In 1926, the same year in which Guy Huguelet and his associates in Lexington formed
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
the Consolidated Coach Corporation, Carl Eric Wickman, Orville Swan Caesar, and their associates in Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
, formed the Motor Transit Corporation, which in 1929 was renamed as The Greyhound Corporation.
Consolidated, as the name suggests, began as a result of the acquisition
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
and combination (that is, consolidation
Consolidation (business)
Consolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group...
) of a number of pre-existing small bus companies which extended more-or-less radially
Radius
In classical geometry, a radius of a circle or sphere is any line segment from its center to its perimeter. By extension, the radius of a circle or sphere is the length of any such segment, which is half the diameter. If the object does not have an obvious center, the term may refer to its...
on routes reaching outward from Lexington throughout the Bluegrass State – to Frankfort
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
and Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
(and later onward to Owensboro
Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...
and Henderson
Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson is a city in Henderson County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. The population was 27,952 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area often referred to as "Kentuckiana", although "Tri-State Area" or "Tri-State" are more...
and to Evansville in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
), Carrollton
Carrollton, Kentucky
Carrollton is a town in Carroll County, Kentucky, at the confluence of the Ohio River and the Kentucky River. Its population was 3,846 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carroll County....
, Madison
Madison, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,004 people, 5,092 households, and 3,085 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,402.9 people per square mile . There were 5,597 housing units at an average density of 654.1 per square mile...
(in Indiana), Cincinnati (in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
), Maysville
Maysville, Kentucky
Maysville is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,993 at the 2000 census, making it the fiftieth largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, northeast of Lexington. It is the principal city of the Maysville...
, Ashland
Ashland, Kentucky
Ashland, formerly known as Poage Settlement, is a city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States, nestled along the banks of the Ohio River. The population was 21,981 at the 2000 census. Ashland is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2000 census, the...
(and onward for a while to Huntington
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
), Paintsville, Pikeville
Pikeville, Kentucky
Pikeville is a city in Pike County, Kentucky. The population was 6,903 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Pike County.-History:On March 25, 1822, the county's government officials decided to build a new county seat named Liberty, one and one-half mile below the mouth of the Russell Fork...
, Hazard
Hazard, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,806 people, 1,946 households, and 1,266 families residing in the city. The population density was 684.6 people per square mile . There were 2,291 housing units at an average density of 326.4 per square mile...
, Harlan
Harlan, Kentucky
Harlan is a city in Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,081 at the 2000 census and was estimated at 1,880 in 2007. It is the county seat of Harlan County.-History:...
, Danville
Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a city in and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,218 at the 2010 census.Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boyle and Lincoln counties....
, Richmond
Richmond, Kentucky
There were 10,795 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.6% were non-families. Of all households, 34.7% were made up of individuals and 8.8% had...
, Berea
Berea, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,851 people, 3,693 households, and 2,426 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,055.4 people per square mile . There were 4,115 housing units at an average density of 440.9 per square mile...
, London
London, Kentucky
-Education:All of the following schools are administered by the Laurel County School District.-Primary schools:* * * * * * * * * * * * -High schools:* * -Colleges:* Laurel Technical College* * -Notable natives:...
, Corbin
Corbin, Kentucky
- Economy :Originally formed by L&N Railroad, rail transport was the backbone of the local economy in the first half of the twentieth century. While the railroad continues to play an important role, the decline of the rail industry in the latter half of the twentieth century, as well as the loss...
(and later beyond to Knoxville in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
via Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,143 people, 1,928 households, and 1,127 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,102.5 people per square mile . There were 2,118 housing units at an average density of 454.0 per square mile...
in Kentucky and LaFollette in Tennessee), Middlesboro (and later onward to Knoxville on an alternate route via Tazewell
Tazewell, Tennessee
Tazewell is a town in Claiborne County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,165 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Claiborne County. The town is named for Henry Tazewell , a U.S. senator from Virginia.-Geography:...
and Maynardville, all three in Tennessee), Somerset
Somerset, Kentucky
The major demographic differences between the city and the micropolitan area relate to income, housing composition and age. The micropolitan area, as compared to the incorporated city, is more suburban in flavor and has a significantly younger housing stock, a higher income, and contains most of...
(and later onward to Chattanooga via Oneida
Oneida, Tennessee
Oneida is a town in Scott County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,615 at the 2000 census.Oneida is known for its proximity to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area...
and Dayton
Dayton, Tennessee
Dayton is a city in Rhea County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,180 at the 2000 census. The Dayton, TN, Urban Cluster, which includes developed areas adjacent to the city and extends south to Graysville, Tennessee, had 9,050 people in 2000...
while bypassing Knoxville, all four in Tennessee), Bardstown, Columbia
Columbia, Kentucky
Columbia is a city in Adair County, Kentucky, United States, just above Russell Creek. The area was settled around 1802 by Daniel Trabue. The post office was opened on April 1, 1806 by John Field, who also ran a local store. The population was 4,014 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of...
, Glasgow
Glasgow, Kentucky
Glasgow is a city in and the county seat of Barren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,200 at the 2000 census. The city is well-known for its annual Scottish Highland Games. In 2007, Barren County was named the number one rural place to live by Progressive Farmer magazine...
, Scottsville
Scottsville, Kentucky
Scottsville is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 4,327 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Scottsville is located at ....
, Burkesville, Tompkinsville
Tompkinsville, Kentucky
Tompkinsville is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,660 at the 2000 census. The city was named after Vice President Daniel D...
, Paducah
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
(for a while), and Bowling Green
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...
(and in 1927 onward to Nashville in Tennessee).
Development
Consolidated spread farther to the south and southeast by buying even more existing bus operations, including in 1930 the Union Transfer Company (UTC), which had begun in -24 in the Volunteer State. Union, based in Nashville, Tennessee, provided the CCC Lines with the routes connecting Nashville with Knoxville, Chattanooga, Hopkinsville (in Kentucky), and FlorenceFlorence, Alabama
Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
and Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
(both in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
), plus a link between Knoxville and Chattanooga (both in East Tennessee).
Among the other acquired bus properties were two related firms in Alabama – the Alabama Bus Company (running from Chattanooga in Tennessee through Birmingham and Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
to Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, the entire length of the "Heart of Dixie") and the Capital Coaches (running from Birmingham through Montgomery to Dothan
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...
), both bought also in 1930.
[In the previous year, 1929, the Old South Coach Lines came into existence to buy a short branch line (with a length of about 59 miles) between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
(both in Alabama) from the same Alabama Bus Company, then promptly extended about 93 more miles from Tuscaloosa to Meridian
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
(in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
); in the next year, 1930, Old South became bought by and merged into the Teche Lines (which in 1934 became renamed as the Teche Greyhound Lines
Teche Greyhound Lines
The Teche Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from 1934 until 1954, when it was merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.[Teche, pronounced as "tesh", is a word of French...
), thus allowing Teche to complete its route between New Orleans (in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
) and Birmingham.]
After the CCC began running through Birmingham, it soon started a direct route between Birmingham and Atlanta (in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
) via Anniston
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
(in Alabama) and Tallapoosa
Tallapoosa, Georgia
Tallapoosa is a city in Haralson County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,789 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tallapoosa, incorporated in 1860, is located in Haralson County, in northwest Georgia, about west of Atlanta, just north of Interstate 20 and east of the Alabama state line...
(in Georgia), as soon as that part of US highway 78 (US-78) became passable or operable.
The SEG Lines also developed extensive local suburban commuter services based in Atlanta, Birmingham, Louisville, and Nashville.
Relationship with Greyhound
From an early date Consolidated operated in conjunction with Greyhound in a cooperative way (with through-ticketing of passengers, through-checking of their baggage, and coordinated connecting schedules, all of which provided advantage to each company along with convenience to their customers).The CCC sought (among other carriers) the "Greyhound Lines of Georgia", a new and relatively small but significant operation, which by that time had become a single-line company (after initial growth and subsequent paring or pruning), on a route between Chattanooga (in Tennessee) and Jacksonville (in Florida) via Atlanta and Macon
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
(both in Georgia), through the entire length of the Peach State. [In the name of the Greyhound Lines of Georgia, the words "of Georgia" were an integral part of the legal name of the corporate entity, not merely a descriptive phrase.]
That regional Greyhound company in Georgia had started in 1928 as a subsidiary of the Motor Transit Corporation (MTC), the original Greyhound firm, although that subsidiary was then isolated from the rest of the Greyhound empire in that early time in the development of the company's route network – isolated except at its southern end in Jacksonville, which in 1931 the Atlantic Greyhound Lines
Atlantic Greyhound Lines
The Atlantic Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a neighboring operating company, thus forming the Southern Division of The...
(called also Atlantic or AGL), another operating company, also reached from the north and northeast along the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
.
The Greyhound Lines of Georgia was a result of the work of J.C. Steinmetz, whom the officers of the MTC had sent in 1927 to the Southeast to spearhead the growth of Greyhound in that direction and to provide Greyhound with a gateway for the important (that is, potentially lucrative and therefore profitable) passenger traffic between Florida and the populous Midwest.
{In 1929 the Motor Transit Corporation became renamed as The Greyhound Corporation, and in 1930 the company moved its administrative headquarters from Duluth, Minnesota, to Chicago, Illinois, which had begun to emerge as the major gateway for highway travel between the East
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
and the West
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. [The firm had already moved its operating headquarters to Chicago.]}
The Greyhound Corporation renamed the Greyhound Lines of Georgia (running between Chattanooga and Jacksonville) as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines and in 1931 sold it to the Consolidated Coach Corporation, with which it made connections in Atlanta and Chattanooga. Consolidated then began operating the SEG Lines along the route between Chattanooga and Jacksonville, thereby making connections (in Jacksonville and Lake City
Lake City, Florida
Lake City is the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, in the United States. In 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 12,614. In addition, it is the Principal City of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is composed of Columbia County, and had an...
) for various points throughout the Sunshine State via the Florida Motor Lines (FML), which in -46 became renamed as the Florida Greyhound Lines
Florida Greyhound Lines
The Florida Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, from 1946 until 1957, when it was merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.-Origin:The immediate predecessor of the Florida...
(FGL) and which in 1957 became merged into the Southeastern GL.
Consolidated also made connections in Dothan, Alabama, with the Union Bus Company (not to be confused with the Union Transfer Company based in Nashville), which former Union firm in turn made connections in Tallahassee, Lake City, and Jacksonville with the Florida Motor Lines for points along the Gulf Coast and elsewhere in Florida.
Thus Consolidated connected the Florida market with Greyhound in the Midwest – in Birmingham (and onward to Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tulsa, Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, and beyond), in Evansville (and onward to Saint Louis, Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Denver, and beyond), in Louisville (and onward to Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and beyond), and in Cincinnati (and onward to Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, Detroit, Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Cleveland, Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
, Youngstown
Youngstown
Youngstown may refer to:A place*Canada**Britannia Youngstown, Edmonton, Alberta**Youngstown, Alberta*United States**Youngstown, Florida**Youngstown, Indiana**Youngstown, New York**Youngstown, Ohio***Youngstown State University...
, and beyond).
A maverick Greyhound affiliate
Through the purchase of the SEGL (in 1931), Consolidated acquired the right to use the Greyhound dog trademark, the Greyhound color scheme (blue and white), and the Greyhound and Southeastern names.Shortly afterward that same year, 1931, with the consent of The Greyhound Corporation, Consolidated began using the name of the Southeastern Greyhound Lines as a brand name, trade name, or service name for its entire operation (not just between Chattanooga and Jacksonville but rather throughout its entire system) and began placing the Greyhound dog, the Greyhound name, and the Greyhound color scheme on all its coaches, and all the drivers and other workers began wearing Greyhound uniforms – even though the legal name of the company continued (albeit temporarily) as the Consolidated Coach Corporation. For that reason (between 1931 and 1936) the coaches bore the names of both Greyhound (in large lettering) and Consolidated (in small sublettering).
In 1936, however, the Consolidated Coach Corporation became renamed as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, Inc. The home office remained in Lexington, and the employees continued as before.
Thus Southeastern became a maverick or atypical Greyhound company, one of only two major affiliates which sometimes have been called the non-Greyhound Greyhound companies.
[The other was the Overland GL, based in Omaha, Nebraska, which had begun as two related carriers – the Union Pacific (UP) Stages, a highway-coach subsidiary of the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad (also based in Omaha), and the Interstate Transit Lines, another such subsidiary jointly owned by the UP Railroad and the Chicago and North Western (C&NW) Railway.]
In 1938 the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, Inc., became listed for trade on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
(the "big board"), as not only the first corporation based in Lexington thus listed but also the first bus-operating company anywhere. [Although The Greyhound Corporation had previously (in 1935) become listed on the big board, that parent firm did not then operate buses at all, for it was still merely a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
rather than an operating company, while at first the subsidiaries
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
and affiliates conducted the operations.]
The SEGL remained under separate ownership (that is, SEG was an independent corporation under independent ownership, not a division or subsidiary of The Greyhound Corporation) until the end of 1950.
[One subtle but significant consequence of the independent status was that the coaches of those two independent companies bore the full names of the Overland Greyhound Lines and the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, whereas, starting about 1935, the coaches of all the captive Greyhound divisions and subsidiaries bore the collective or abbreviated name of the "Greyhound Lines".]
Southeastern about 1944 introduced one clever twist along with its use of the Greyhound dog (especially as applied to the sides of the coaches), possibly in part a response to the "Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
" target-like symbol used (during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) with the dogs on the sides of the coaches belonging to the divisions and the subsidiaries of the parent Greyhound firm. The SEGL superimposed the dog onto a compass rose
Compass rose
A compass rose, sometimes called a windrose, is a figure on a compass, map, nautical chart or monument used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions — North, East, South and West - and their intermediate points. It is also the term for the graduated markings found on the traditional...
in a way which emphasized the letters SE (for southeast). That usage continued until the GM Silversides PD-3751 coaches began to arrive (late in 1947) with the standard dogs without the compass roses, and until the last of the 1948 ACF-Brill IC-41 parlor coaches and the last of the 1949 ACF-Brill C-44 suburban coaches arrived with their dogs with the roses on the sides, and until the last of the ACF and ACF-Brill coaches with the compass roses later in due course became repainted without the roses.
A sharing arrangement
The Southeastern GL cooperated in an unusual arrangement on its scheduled trips between Nashville and Knoxville with another carrier, the Tennessee Coach CompanyTennessee Coach Company
The Tennessee Coach Company was a regional highway-coach carrier, founded in 1928 and based in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It was in operation until 1976, when it became merged into the Continental Tennessee Lines, a subsidiary of the Transcontinental Bus System, called also the Continental Trailways...
(TCC), which was then an independent firm based in Knoxville, and which had begun in 1928.
The State of Tennessee in 1929 issued a joint certificate (of public necessity and convenience) to the TCC and the Union Transfer Company (a predecessor of the Consolidated Coach Corporation and the Southeastern GL) for service between Nashville and Knoxville via Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
, Woodbury
Woodbury, Tennessee
Woodbury is a town in Cannon County, Tennessee, United States. Woodbury is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located apporoximately 50 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. The population was 2,428 at the 2000 census...
, McMinnville
McMinnville, Tennessee
McMinnville is the largest city in and the county seat of Warren County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 13,605 at the 2010 census...
, Sparta
Sparta, Tennessee
Sparta is a city in White County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,599 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of White County. It was the hometown of Lester Flatt of the bluegrass music legends Flatt and Scruggs.-Geography:...
, Crossville
Crossville, Tennessee
Crossville is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 10,795 at the 2010 Census.-Geography:Crossville is located at...
, Rockwood
Rockwood, Tennessee
Rockwood is a city in Roane County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 5,774 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, and Kingston
Kingston, Tennessee
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States, and is adjacent to Watts Bar Lake. Kingston, with a population of 5,264 at the 2000 United States census, is included in the Harriman, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area....
along US-70 (later redesignated in part as -70S).
The two carriers – the TCC and the UTC (later the CCC, even later the SEGL) – shared their joint certificate in an unusual way: One carrier ran in one direction on any given scheduled trip, and the other carrier ran in that direction on that same sked the next day, and vice versa. That is, they ran in opposite directions, and they changed directions each day.
That plan continued until 1956, when the TCC joined the Trailways trade association (then named as the National Trailways Bus System). With the approval of the federal Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
(ICC), Southeastern took over five of the nine daily skeds in each direction, and the TCC took over the other four skeds each way. [The TCC also started one daily trip each way between Nashville and Knoxville along US-70N via Lebanon
Lebanon, Tennessee
Lebanon is a city in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the United States. The population was 20,235 at the 2000 census. It serves as the county seat of Wilson County. Lebanon is located in middle Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Nashville. Local residents have also called it...
, Carthage
Carthage, Tennessee
Carthage is a town in Smith County, Tennessee, United States, and is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,251 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Smith County, and perhaps best known as the hometown of former Vice President Al Gore, and his father,...
, Cookeville
Cookeville, Tennessee
Cookeville is a city in Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 23,923 at the 2000 census. of Cookeville's population was 30,435, and the combined total of those living in Cookeville's in 2010 was 65,014. It is the county seat of Putnam County and home to Tennessee...
, and Crossville, joining the Continental Tennessee Lines, another Trailways member company, on that parallel alternate route.
More acquisitions
Through the years the CCC and the SEGL bought a number of routes and a number of other smaller companies.The Hood Coach Lines in November 1934 sold three significant routes to the Consolidated Coach Corporation and the Union Bus Company (acting jointly) – one route between Atlanta and Macon and one between Macon and Jacksonville via Waycross (in Georgia), both going to Consolidated (which in 1936 became renamed as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines) – plus a third route, between Macon and Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
(both in Georgia), going to Union (which in 1941 was acquried by and merged into the Southeastern GL) – thereby providing to Consolidated and Union (and therefore later to Greyhound) not only a new route between Macon and Savannah and a parallel alternate route between Atlanta and Macon but also a quicker alternate route between Macon and Jacksonville (about 50 miles shorter than the older route via Valdosta in Georgia and Lake City in Florida).
In 1941 the Southeastern GL acquired additional important and strategic routes by buying two more existing firms in the Deep South – the Dixie Coaches (running from Florence to Mobile via Birmingham and via Tuscaloosa, all four in Alabama) and the Union Bus Company (running from Macon to Savannah and from Jacksonville in Florida to Dothan in Alabama via Lake City, Tallahassee, and Marianna
Marianna, Florida
Marianna is a city in Jackson County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,230 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,200 . It is the county seat of Jackson County and is home to Chipola College...
, all three in Florida).
SEG and Union had become closely affiliated with each other shortly after the routes of the two firms began to intersect in Jacksonville, Lake City, and Dothan – to the extent that the UBC coaches began to appear in the SEG livery, including the dogs, with the names of both the Southeastern Greyhound Lines (in large lettering) and the Union Bus Company (in small sublettering) – and to the extent that the UBC began to operate coaches which SEG provided to the UBC (even new ACF coaches which SEG had bought specifically for the UBC).
[Laddie Hamilton, the former owner of the Dixie Coaches, became the district manager of the SEGL in Tuscaloosa; Clifford (C.G.) Schulz, the former owner of the Union Bus Company, became a vice president and a director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of Southeastern and long continued as such (and eventually became the single largest shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
in SEG) and in 1950 became a director of The Greyhound Corporation (in anticipation of the purchase of Southeastern by the parent Greyhound firm).]
Another major acquisition took place late in the life of Southeastern: In 1949 SEG bought the Alaga Coach Lines, which had run between Columbus
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
(in Georgia) and Panama City
Panama City, Florida
-Personal income:The median income for a household in the city was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,830...
(in Florida) via Dothan (in Alabama). SEG allowed Alaga to continue operating separately as a wholly owned subsidiary of the SEG Lines until the end of 1950, when Alaga became merged into SEG. [Alaga is an acronym for the abbreviation
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
s of the names of Alabama and Georgia.]
Purchase by The Greyhound Corporation
On the last day of 1950 the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, Inc., ceased to be an independent entity with its own separate corporate existence, and on the next day (the first day of -51) Southeastern GL became a divisionDivision (business)
A division of a business entity is a portion of that business that operates under a different name. It is the equivalent of a corporation or limited liability company obtaining a fictitious name or "doing business as" certificate and operating a business under that fictitious name...
of The Greyhound Corporation, the parent Greyhound firm, after the latter acquired not merely a controlling interest but rather 100 percent of the shares of the capital stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
outstanding in the former.
By that time the SEG Lines met the Atlantic GL to the east, the Florida GL to the southeast, the Teche GL to the southwest, the Dixie GL to the west, and the Capitol GL, the Central GL, the Great Lakes GL
Great Lakes Greyhound Lines
The Great Lakes Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Detroit, Michigan, USA, from 1941 until 1957, when it merged with the Northland Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Central Division of The Greyhound...
, and the Pennsylvania GL to the north.
Pool (interline) operations
The SEG Lines took part in major interlined through-routes (using pooled equipment in cooperation with other Greyhound companies) – that is, the use of through-coaches on through-routes running through the territories of two or more Greyhound regional operating companies – including those between Chicago and Birmingham, Chicago and Mobile, Chicago and Atlanta, Chicago and Miami, Chicago and Saint Petersburg, Detroit and Nashville, Detroit and Birmingham, Detroit and Mobile, Detroit and New Orleans, Detroit and Atlanta, Detroit and Miami, Detroit and Saint Petersburg, Cleveland and Memphis, Cleveland and New Orleans, Cleveland and Atlanta, Cleveland and Miami, Cleveland and Saint Petersburg, TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Miami, Toronto and Saint Petersburg, Saint Louis and Nashville, Saint Louis and Miami, Dallas and Knoxville, Dallas and Atlanta, Memphis and Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Memphis and Washington, DC, and Memphis and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Mergers into Southeastern GL
In October 1954 The Greyhound Corporation merged two other divisions, two neighboring regional operating companies, the Teche GLTeche Greyhound Lines
The Teche Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from 1934 until 1954, when it was merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.[Teche, pronounced as "tesh", is a word of French...
(Teche or TGL) and the Dixie GL
Dixie Greyhound Lines
The Dixie Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it became merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.- Origin :The Dixie Greyhound Lines began in 1925...
(Dixie or DGL), into the Southeastern GL. The three fleets of the three divisions became combined into a single fleet.
Teche had been based in New Orleans, Louisiana; it ran from New Orleans to Natchez
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
(in Mississippi), through Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
(in Louisiana) to Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
(in Mississippi and on the way to Memphis, Saint Louis, and Chicago), through Hattiesburg
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
and Meridian
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...
(both in Mississippi) to Birmingham (in Alabama), through Mobile and Montgomery (both in Alabama) and Columbus to Atlanta (both in Georgia), through Mobile to Marianna (in Florida and on the way to Tallahassee and the rest of the Sunshine State), and westward through Baton Rouge and Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
to Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
(all three in Louisiana and on the way to Houston, the rest of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and the rest of the West), plus along several regional and feeder routes in the southern part of the Pelican State. The TGL met the Dixie GL to the north, the Southwestern GL to the west, and the Atlantic GL and the Southeastern GL to the east.
Dixie had been based in Memphis, Tennessee; it ran from Memphis to Saint Louis (in Missouri), Paducah (in Kentucky), Evansville (in Indiana), Nashville and Chattanooga (both in Tennessee), Columbus
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States that lies above the Tombigbee River. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of Meridian, south of Tupelo, northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census...
(in Mississippi), Florence and Birmingham (both in Alabama), Jackson and Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
(both in Mississippi and on the way to New Orleans), and Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
and Effingham
Effingham, Illinois
Effingham is a city in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,384 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Effingham County....
(both in Illinois and on the way to Chicago), plus along branch lines to Jonesboro
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro is a city in and one of the two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 US Census, the population of the city was 67,263. A college town, Jonesboro is the largest city in northeastern Arkansas and the fifth most populous city in the state...
(in Arkansas) and in West Tennessee. The DGL in 1931 had completed a Greyhound through-route between Chicago and New Orleans, by connecting with other regional companies to the north and to the south. The DGL met the Southeastern GL to the east, the Teche GL to the south, the Southwestern GL to the west, and the Capitol GL
Capitol Greyhound Lines
The Capitol Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it was merged into the Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.-Development:The Capitol Greyhound Lines came into...
, the Central GL, the Great Lakes GL
Great Lakes Greyhound Lines
The Great Lakes Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Detroit, Michigan, USA, from 1941 until 1957, when it merged with the Northland Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Central Division of The Greyhound...
, and the Pennsylvania GL to the north.
After that merger the newly expanded SEG Lines served 12 states along 13,227 route-miles of highways – from Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Memphis, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lake Charles – to Savannah and Jacksonville – from the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
and from the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
to the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
In October 1957 The Greyhound Corporation merged also the Florida Greyhound Lines (FGL), one more neighboring operating company, into the Southeastern GL.
The Florida GL had been based in Jacksonville, Florida; it ran throughout the Sunshine State – from Jacksonville, Lake City, and Tallahassee – through Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, and Saint Petersburg – to Miami and Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
– especially along the East Coast between Jacksonville and Miami via Saint Augustine, Daytona Beach, Titusville
Titusville, Florida
Titusville is a city in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is the county seat of Brevard County. Nicknamed Space City, USA, Titusville is on the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and the Kennedy Space Center and south-southwest of the Canaveral National Seashore...
, Melbourne
Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of 2009, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 78,323. The municipal area is the second largest by size and by population in the county. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida...
, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Stuart
Stuart, Florida
Stuart is the only incorporated city of Martin County, Florida, on Florida's Treasure Coast. The population was 14,633 at the 2000 census. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 15,964....
, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale – including local suburban commuter service from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and to Homestead
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....
(near the tip of the mainland on the Dixie Highway
Dixie Highway
The Dixie Highway was a United States automobile highway, first planned in 1914 to connect the US Midwest with the Southern United States. It was part of the National Auto Trail system, and grew out of an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final result is better understood as a small network of...
, US-1, on the way to Key West via the Overseas Highway
Overseas Highway
The Overseas Highway is a highway carrying U.S. Route 1 through the Florida Keys. Large parts of it were built on the former right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway. Completed in 1912, the Overseas Railroad was heavily damaged and partially...
. The FGL met the Atlantic GL and the Southeastern GL to the north.
Seeing-eye (or sightseeing) dogs
In 1957, as the second version of the GM PD-4104 replaced and displaced the ACF-Brill IC-41 coaches of the Southeastern GL, Greyhound moved the retired IC-41s to a storage lot at the Greyhound shop on New York Avenue NE in Washington, DC.As the next tourist season approached in Washington, the management of the new DC Transit System, which in 1956 had replaced the Capital Transit Company, felt a need to acquire more coaches (as inexpensively as possible) for its charter and sightseeing operations (in addition to its basic city-transit function), partly in anticipation of expanding its tour and charter activities (by competing more aggressively against its rivals).
Thus the managers of the DC Transit System approached Greyhound, carefully selected 10 copies of the 1948 (that is, the youngest) version of the IC-41 parlor coach and bought them (for a total of only $8,000), repainted and refurbished them somewhat in one of its own shops, and put them back to work.
Some of those cars continued to operate in and around Washington well into the 1960s, thereby running almost as many years as they had for the SEG Lines, although not nearly as many miles as before.
Merger with Atlantic GL
In November 1960, in another round of consolidation, Greyhound further merged the Southeastern GL with – not into but rather with – the Atlantic GLAtlantic Greyhound Lines
The Atlantic Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a neighboring operating company, thus forming the Southern Division of The...
(called also Atlantic or AGL), yet another neighboring regional company – thereby forming the third of four huge new divisions, the Southern Division of The Greyhound Corporation (called also the Southern GL), which reached as far to the north as Springfield and Effingham (both in Illinois), Columbus (in Ohio), Pittsburgh (in Pennsylvania), and Washington (in DC, the District of Columbia), as far to the east as the Atlantic Ocean, as far to the south as Miami and Key West, and as far to the west as Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lake Charles.
Thus ended the Southeastern GL and the Atlantic GL, and thus began the Southern GL.
The Atlantic GL had been based in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
; it ran from Charleston throughout the Mountain State, to Cincinnati and Columbus (both in Ohio), Pittsburgh, Washington, through Virginia and the Carolinas, and to Knoxville (in Tennessee), Atlanta, Augusta
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, and Savannah (all three in Georgia), and Jacksonville (in Florida). The AGL met the new Eastern GL to the north, the new Central GL to the northwest, and the Southeastern GL to the west and the south – along with the Richmond GL in Washington and in Norfolk and Richmond (both in Virginia). The AGL also ran extensive local suburban commuter service based in its hometown of Charleston, in Portsmouth
Portsmouth, Ohio
Portsmouth is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Scioto County. The municipality is located on the northern banks of the Ohio River and east of the Scioto River in Southern Ohio. The population was 20,226 at the 2010 census.-Foundation:...
(in Ohio), Winston-Salem (in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
), Sumter
Sumter, South Carolina
-Demographics:, there were 59,180 people, 34,717 households, and 4,049 families living in the city. The population density was 4,469.5 people per square mile . There were 416,032 housing units at an average density of 603.0 per square mile...
(in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
), and (in conjunction with the Queen City Coach Company, called also the Queen City Trailways) in Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
(in North Carolina).
Beyond Southeastern GL
Later (about 1966) 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 1970) it eliminated those two divisions, thereby leaving a single gargantuan undivided nationwide fleet.When the Southern GL came into existence, the headquarters functions became gradually transferred from Lexington, Kentucky, and Charleston, West Virginia, to Atlanta, Georgia; when the GLE arose, many of those administrative functions became shifted to Cleveland, Ohio; later yet those functions migrated to Chicago, Illinois, then to Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
– when (in 1971) The Greyhound Corporation moved its corporate headquarters from Chicago to a new building in Phoenix.
In 1987 The Greyhound Corporation (the original umbrella Greyhound firm), which had become widely diversified far beyond passenger transportation, sold its entire highway-coach operating business (its core bus business) to a new company, named as the Greyhound Lines, Inc., also called GLI, based in Dallas, Texas – a separate, independent, unrelated firm, which was the property of a group of private investors under the promotion of Fred Currey, a former executive of the Continental Trailways (later renamed as the Trailways, Inc., also called TWI, also based in Dallas), which was by far the largest member company in the Trailways trade association (then named as the National Trailways Bus System, now as the Trailways Transportation System
Trailways Transportation System
The Trailways Transportation System is an American group of 80 independent bus companies that have entered into a franchising agreement. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia.- History :...
).
Later in 1987 the Greyhound Lines, Inc., the GLI, the new firm based in Dallas, further bought also the Trailways, Inc., the TWI, its largest competitor, and merged it into the GLI.
The lenders
Loan
A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
and the other investors of the GLI ousted Fred Currey (as the chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
) after the firm went into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1990.
The GLI has continued to experience difficulties and lackluster performance under a succession of new owners
Ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over property, which may be an object, land/real estate or intellectual property. Ownership involves multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different parties. The concept of ownership has...
and new executives
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
while continuing to reduce its level of service – by hauling fewer passengers aboard fewer coaches on fewer trips along fewer routes with fewer stops in fewer communities in fewer states – and by doing so on fewer days – that is, increasingly operating some trips less often than every day (fewer than seven days per week) – and by using fewer through-coaches, thus requiring passengers to make more transfers (from one coach to another).
After the sale to the GLI, The Greyhound Corporation changed its name to the Greyhound-Dial Corporation, then the Dial Corporation, then the Viad Corporation
VIAD Corporation
Viad Corp is an S&P SmallCap 600 company that operates businesses that provide place-based marketing services in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Arab Emirates, as well as travel and recreation services in the United States and Canada. Viad’s businesses occupy leading...
. [The contrived name Viad appears to be a curious respelling of the former name Dial – if one scrambles the letters D, I, and A, then turns the V upside down and regards it as the Greek
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
letter lambda
Lambda
Lambda is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is related to the Phoenician letter Lamed . Letters in other alphabets that stemmed from lambda include the Roman L and the Cyrillic letter El...
– Λ – that is, the Greek equivalent of the Roman
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
or Latin
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
letter L.]
The website of the Viad Corporation (http://www.viad.com) in September 2008 makes no mention of its corporate history or its past relationship to Greyhound – that is, its origin as The Greyhound Corporation.
See also
- The Greyhound Corporation
- Atlantic Greyhound LinesAtlantic Greyhound LinesThe Atlantic Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a neighboring operating company, thus forming the Southern Division of The...
- Capitol Greyhound LinesCapitol Greyhound LinesThe Capitol Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it was merged into the Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.-Development:The Capitol Greyhound Lines came into...
- Dixie Greyhound LinesDixie Greyhound LinesThe Dixie Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it became merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.- Origin :The Dixie Greyhound Lines began in 1925...
- Florida Greyhound LinesFlorida Greyhound LinesThe Florida Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, from 1946 until 1957, when it was merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.-Origin:The immediate predecessor of the Florida...
- Great Lakes Greyhound LinesGreat Lakes Greyhound LinesThe Great Lakes Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Detroit, Michigan, USA, from 1941 until 1957, when it merged with the Northland Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Central Division of The Greyhound...
- Teche Greyhound LinesTeche Greyhound LinesThe Teche Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from 1934 until 1954, when it was merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.[Teche, pronounced as "tesh", is a word of French...
- Tennessee Coach CompanyTennessee Coach CompanyThe Tennessee Coach Company was a regional highway-coach carrier, founded in 1928 and based in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It was in operation until 1976, when it became merged into the Continental Tennessee Lines, a subsidiary of the Transcontinental Bus System, called also the Continental Trailways...