Visit us the 1st & 3rd Saturday of every month 10am-2pm
37974 Shinn St, Fremont, CA 94536 (No postal mail!)
37974 Shinn St, Fremont, CA 94536 (No postal mail!)
Please send all postal mail to our PO BOX!
P.O. Box 601105 Sacramento, CA 95860-1105
Please send all postal mail to our PO BOX!
P.O. Box 601105 Sacramento, CA 95860-1105
1948 Greyhound Silverside
Originally this GM, PD-4151 “Silverside” was delivered new to Pacific Greyhound Lines in San Francisco as K-104 in April 1948. Of the 2000 post-war GM “Silversides” built during 1947 and 1948, most were PD 3751 models seating 37 passengers. There were 357 PD 4151s built, all in 1948, seating 41 passengers. Most of them went to Pacific Greyhound Lines and were numbered K91 to K323 (at that time, K was the letter designation for any bus assigned to Pacific Greyhound Lines). They were operated on Pacific Greyhound’s routes throughout California and Oregon. Because of their larger seating capacity (41 instead of 37), they were generally used on shorter intercity routes radiating out of San Francisco and Los Angeles to points north, east, and south.
During 1963-4, Western Greyhound Lines refurbished approximately 90 GM PD 4151 Silversides for suburban routes in the San Francisco Bay Area and installed fare boxes for this service. Greyhound expected an additional 5 to 7 years of service with the refurbishment of these buses. They were easily identified as suburban buses by the addition of the number 9 to the three-digit numbers on the buses. Thus PGL K104 became WGL 9104. By 1970 Greyhound’s remaining Silversides were used sporadically, usually during the busy summer months and peak travel days around Thanksgiving and Christmas. By 1971 there were a dwindling number of PD 4151s still in operation and by that fall they were stored in the back of the Greyhound Maintenance Facility in San Francisco. The last known days of operation of Greyhound’s Silversides was in December 1971.
 |
 |
In early 1972 Greyhound sold its last group of Silversides to a bus company in Peru but the very last Silverside bound for Peru was never shipped. This bus sat in a storage lot in San Francisco until 1980 when it was re-acquired by Greyhound and eventually became part of Greyhound’s Historic Bus Fleet. The Pacific Bus Museum acquired #1947 in January 2023 and is proud to have this historic coach in the museum’s collection.
The Silversides are an iconic part of Greyhound history. These operated side-by-side with their contemporaries, Scenicruisers. People have many fond memories of both buses cruising the highways and interstates across the country.
This bus is a must-see when you come to visit the Pacific Bus Museum.
As a volunteer orginization, we are always looking for as much help as we can get. If you've got skills and time, and want to get your hands dirty, consider becoming a member.
If you don't want to contribute "hands-on", financial donations for the restoration of bus #1947 are also needed at this time to complete this remaining work. All donations for bus #1947 will be placed in a Special Fund account exclusively for the restoration and maintenance of bus #1947. Please make a donation today to continue the restoration of bus #1947!
Make a "Pacific Bus Museum" donation to the Special Funds account for for bus #1947.
The Pacific Bus Museum is a non-profit, tax-exempt, volunteer organization registered in the state of California. We were granted tax-exempt status as a non-profit corporation by the IRS under 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code Tax ID # 1683391. Donations to the Pacific Bus Museum are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.