Continental Trailways Fleet Numbering System
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:21 am
Joe Richards (aka Bus & Car) has now resumed his very detailed documentation of Eagle History. Today he emailed me a document that details the Continental Trailways Fleet Numbering System.
Below is a quote from the document. The entire document is attached to this post.
Below is a quote from the document. The entire document is attached to this post.
Before we get too involved with the Eagle production records we need to have a look at how Continental's fleet numbering system worked. The vast majority of Eagles made went to Continental (later Trailways Inc.) so it's good to know how the system worked in order to better follow each coach around during it's time on the system. There were actually three different systems over time and we will look at each one in detail.
The first system was in effect from 1943 to 1957. It really wasn't a system, just a collection of numbers. Continental grew by purchasing other companies. Each of these companies had their own numbering systems before becoming part of Continental. At first, each company keep it's own system. This worked for a while but it wasn't long before there were two or more buses wearing the same number in Continental's fleet. That was solved by adding a letter prefix that told which division owned each bus. This list may not be all-inclusive but it gives a good idea of how the system worked.