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'THE YELLOW COACH MODEL 740'


Mr. Linsky

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Pictured below in a factory pose on a snowy February day in 1939 is fleet # 1410 – a Yellow Coach Model 740 and one of 35 delivered to the Fifth Avenue Coach division of the Omnibus Corporation in New York that year.

The 740 represented the first big 40 passenger Diesel Hydraulic transit coach by Yellow and paved the way for the next generation of buses that we now refer to as ‘Old Looks’ beginning in 1940. In fact, the model number of the last batch of 740’s was re-designated as TD 4501.

389 of these coaches were built in two differing wheelbases, with the choice of either gas or Diesel power and as many as three optional transmissions.

The Omnibus Corporation purchased an additional 180 740’s which were split between New York City Omnibus Corporation and its affiliates and commonly owned Chicago Motor Coach Company (the last 44 of the Chicago order, while mechanically identical to the others, were one window longer).

The only other recorded purchase by a local New York operator was an order for 8 740’s for Triboro Coach Corporation of Jackson Heights numbered 1051 to 1058.

These buses were so reliable, rugged and long lasting that as late as the early fifties many received facelifts including front clips of the later ‘Old Look’ models (see below).

Notice in the photo that # 1410 carries the slogan 'Welcome To New York' more prominently than the famous 'Go The Motor Coach Way' which appears only in small script lettering over the destination sign. Also note that the bus is signed for Special service to the Polo Grounds - former home of Mel Ott's New York Giants of baseball.

Photos courtesy of the Motor Bus Society.

Mr. Linsky – Green Bus Lines, Inc,. Jamaica, NY

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TRIBORO4-1.jpg

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