About Twin Coach
The Fageol Brothers, who built motor vehicles in Oakland, turned out their first “Safety Coach” in 1922. Expansion came in 1924 with the incorporation of the Fageol Motors Co. of Ohio in Kent. That venture ended the next year as the brothers joined the American Car & Foundry Co. in Detroit. The Oakland plant remained independent,
The Fageol brothers left ACF in 1927, incorporating the Twin Coach Co. to build a revolutionary box-shaped bus with dual underfloor engines carrying 40 passengers. The prototype was assembled in Oakland and production was carried out in the Kent factory of the former Fageol Motors Co. of Ohio.
Finding that customers for the large bus needed equipment for feeder and crosstown services, a line of buses with a single engine over the front axle inside the body next to the driver was introduced. The smallest of these was the Model 15 and East Bay Motor Coach Lines (Key System) acquired 11 Model 15 Twins starting with 301, the first of the 55 built, in January 1931. Ten more (312-321) followed in 1932.
The first Model 15 on display
Twin Angle Drive
Dwight Austin was an integral part of the history of the angle drive, which was a key component of the Utility Coach. His angle drive was almost identically duplicated by Kenworth, Mack, and Twin Coach
Other manufacturers embraced the Utility Coach (angle drive) concept. Kenworth built one model KHC-22 in August 1932 which went to Portland Traction. Mack built an almost photographic copy as its model CW starting in 1935.
Sources included: Coachbuilt.com
Pacific Bus Museum Twins
The Pacific Bus Museum has several Twin buses. Check them out on our Bus Roster.
Fageol
About the Model 34-S and Postwar Twins
Styled by Dwight Austin, the first postwar Twin Coach was a complete departure from prewar design. The new bus featured a six-piece windshield, new suspension and ventilation systems, and a new lightweight engine produced by newly-created subsidiary Fageol Products Co. The first of 824 model 34-S buses came off the line in February 1946, the last in October 1951. Postwar Twins were built in Buffalo, NY as well as Kent, OH beginning in 1846. Production of this design ranging from 34 to 58-passenger articulated buses totaled 5.464 from 1945 to 1953.
#308 – East Bay Motor Coach Lines
East Bay Motor Coach Lines (Key System) acquired 11 model 15 “baby” Twins starting in January 1931.
The PBM acquired the #308 from the estate of the late Jerry Graham in 1996.
#308 was included in the filming of the movie “Oppenheimer”.
3-Speed Manual, East Bay Motor Coach, Hercules, Key System, Transit, Twin Coach
#400 -East Bay Motor Coach Lines (Key System)
This 28-passenger Twin Coach Model 30 was delivered to East Bay Motor Coach Lines in September 1933.
The PBM acquired the #400 from the estate of the late Jerry Graham in 1996.
3-Speed Manual, East Bay Motor Coach, Hercules, Key System, Twin Coach
PBM History
In 2017 PBM Member, Ron Medaglia, wrote this article on the history of the Pacific Bus Museum, entitled “The Pacific Bus Museum From Hobby to Formal Museum”, for the National Bus Trader magazine.
American Stage Tours, General Motors, GM Truck & Coach Division, Niles Canyon Railway, Niles Coach Lines, Royal Coach Tours, Scenic Hyway Tours, Twin Coach, UC Davis Transit System, Union Pacific Railroad, Unitrans UC Davis, West Coast Motor Coach Museum