Lancaster, OH 3

Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company was formed in 1923, initially a subsidiary of Yellow Cab Company. General Motors acquired a controlling interest in 1925 and renamed the company Yellow Truck and Coach, although it was commonly still termed “Yellow Coach.” Yellow Coach merged into General Motors in 1943. During 1923-1943, Yellow Coach was a major bus producer both for long distance carriers as well as transit systems that were converting fleets from streetcars to buses. In 1931, Yellow began producing its 700 series buses with flat fronts and rear engines which was an innovation at the time. Later, some 700 series buses, including model 733, had engines in the front to meet the preference of some customers. Model 733 was a small transit bus with 21 seats and was used primarily in smaller cities. Lancaster Traction Co. operated streetcars in Lancaster, Ohio from 1896 until 1937. Buses, operated by Lancaster Transit Corp., replaced the trolleys in 1937. Lancaster Transit purchased a fleet of seven Yellow Coach model 733 buses, Nos. 1 -7. On October 30, 1937, crowds along Lancaster’s Main Street watched a parade of the retired trolleys followed by the fleet of seven new buses. When Lancaster Transit ceased operation in 1969, it sold Nos. 2 -7 to Hines Scrap Iron and Metal Co. in Amanda, Ohio. Tom Tallentire, a Seashore member in Indiana, bought No. 3 from Hines. Tallentire replaced the engine and kept the bus in a barn at his farm. In 2018, Tom Tallentire sold his farm and donated No. 3 to Seashore. The museum has kept No. 3 in Fairview storage barn, thus continuing indoor storage for the bus since its retirement in 1969. Seashore accessioned the bus in 2021. No. 3 joined another Yellow Coach model 733 at Seashore: Waterloo, Cedar Falls & Northern No. 35.