Omaha Transit Co. 1312

Twin Coach Company of Kent, OH built No. 1312 for the Omaha Traction Company (operating as the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway) in 1947. Twin Coach was formed by the Fageol brothers in 1927, and was a major motor bus and trolley bus producer until Flxible acquired Twin’s bus manufacturing business in 1955. While the first articulated trolley bus was built in Italy in 1939, Twin Coach pioneered articulated trolley buses and motor buses in North America in 1940. These were the first rubber tired vehicles that could carry as many passengers as a large streetcar. Twin’s first articulated vehicles were two 3-axle vehicles built as demonstrators. One was an electric trolley bus eventually purchased by the Cleveland Transit System. The other was an articulated motor bus later bought by the Chicago Transit Authority and converted to electric. This is now at the Illinois Railway Museum. The only fleet purchase of the Super Twin articulated motor bus was 15 vehicles, including No. 1312, for Omaha in 1947. These Super Twins had dual engines (the origin of the Twin Coach Company name) powered by propane. These 60-foot long buses did not bend sideways, but they bent vertically so that all wheels stayed on the road when going up and down hills. A synchronous steering system caused wheels to steer at both front and back of the bus. In Omaha, the Super Twins ran in rush-hour service on principal routes. One unit could replace two smaller buses. The Super Twins could move more people and lower cost and potentially reduce traffic congestion. Nevertheless, other transit operators did not acquire the model. Twin’s articulated buses were precursors for articulated buses that became popular starting in the 1980s. When Omaha streetcar service ended in 1952, Omaha Traction and the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway became the Omaha Transit Company. Seashore acquired No. 1312 in 2006 and placed it on static display near the Highwood carbarn.