Public Service of New Jersey K-514

Yellow Coach introduced the streamlined “Old Look” bus design 1940. General Motors acquired Yellow Coach in 1943 and continued the model. About 38,000 “Old Look” buses were built between 1940 and 1969. Most had diesel engines and were used to replace streetcars and older gasoline buses. “Old Look” buses came in numerous versions and ranged between 25 feet and 41 feet in length. Model TDM-4512 refers to Transit, Diesel engine and Manual transmission. The 45 was the designation for a 35-foot long bus with 45 seats, including the driver’s seat. Public Service Coordinated Transport (PSCT) was the principal operator of local and suburban bus service throughout New Jersey, with service also into Philadelphia and New York City. It was a subsidiary of Public Service Electric and Gas, the state’s major electric and gas utility company. PSCT replaced most of its streetcars with buses and trolley buses in the 1930s and 1940s. Its last streetcars ran in 1952 except on the Newark City Subway, which continues to the present as a New Jersey Transit light rail line. PSCT was one of the nation’s largest transit bus operators. PSCT began buying General Motors model TDM 4512 buses in 1953. PSCT apparently preferred the manual (standard) transmission, while most other transit operators bought the model TDH 4512 with a hydraulic transmission. The letter at the front of PSCT’s roster number designated the year of purchase. The letter “K” applied to 1956. That year, PSCT purchased its final TDM 4512 coaches: Nos. K500 to K524. No. K514 may have operated throughout the state; photos in later years show the K series coaches in southern New Jersey. PSCT changed its name to Transport of New Jersey in 1971. K514 was retired the next year. After K514’s retirement in New Jersey, the Fitchburg & Leominster Street Railway, in Fitchburg, MA, acquired K514. The Fitchburg & Leominster, which had long since replaced its streetcars and trolley buses with motor buses, stored the bus for possible parts use. In 1973, Seashore member Everett Mead of Concord, NH purchased K514 through Wilson Bus Sales of Templeton, MA. Mead removed (but preserved) a few seats and used the bus as a camper. The bus remained in good condition. Seashore acquired K514 from Mead in 1999. Seashore intended to use the bus in parades and for training at Biddeford Vocational School. In 2000, Seashore acquired another Public Service bus – F599, later Fitchburg & Leominster No. 111 – but subsequently transferred this bus to the Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center. Public Service is also represented at Seashore by PCC streetcar No. 5 which had operated on the Newark City Subway and which the museum acquired in 2011.