Capitol Greyhound Lines
Encyclopedia
The Capitol Greyhound Lines (called also Capitol or CpGL), a highway-coach
carrier
, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio
, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it was merged into the Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.
(owned in two equal shares) by the Blue and Gray (B&G) Transit Company and The Greyhound Corporation to operate a single new main line along U.S. Route 50
between Washington, DC and Saint Louis, Missouri via Winchester, Virginia
; Clarksburg
and Parkersburg
, West Virginia
; Chillicothe
and Cincinnati, Ohio
; Bedford
and Vincennes
, Indiana
; and Olney
and Salem
Illinois
. The U.S. 50 route was shorter and faster (by six hours) than the best alternate route then available, which ran via Hagerstown, Maryland
, Pittsburgh
, Wheeling, West Virginia
, Columbus, Ohio
, Indianapolis
and Terre Haute, Indiana, and Effingham, Illinois
. Capitol Greyhound also operated a branch line between Shoals, Indiana
and Louisville, Kentucky
via Paoli, Indiana
and provided local suburban commuter service from Washington, DC, to Winchester, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland
.
The CpGL took part in only one interlined through-route (using pooled equipment in cooperation with one other carrier) – that is, the use of through-coaches on a through-route running through the territories of itself and one other company – with the Red Star Motor Coaches – connecting Washington, DC, via Annapolis (also on US-50) with Rehoboth Beach (in Delaware
) and Salisbury
and Ocean City
(both in Maryland
), all three on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
and Delaware (on the Delmarva Peninsula
) – until 1952, when the Carolina Coach Company (the Carolina Trailways) bought the Red Star concern.
The first president of the Capitol GL was Arthur Hill, the founder and president of the B&G firm.
B&G (along with the Camel City Coach Company, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
) in 1929 had become a part of the National Highway Transport Company, which in 1931 became renamed as the Atlantic Greyhound Lines
, based in Charleston, West Virginia
.
The Capitol GL met the Atlantic GL (to the south), the (second) Central GL (to the north), the Dixie GL
(to the south), the Great Lakes GL
(to the north), the Pennsylvania GL (to the north and east), the Richmond GL (to the southeast), the Southeastern GL
(to the south), and the Southwestern GL (to the west).
Thus ended the Capitol GL.
In 1987 The Greyhound Corporation (the original Greyhound umbrella firm), which had become widely diversified far beyond transportation, sold its entire highway-coach operating business (its core bus business), to a new company, named as the Greyhound Lines, Inc., called also GLI, based in Dallas, Texas
– a separate, independent, unrelated firm, which was the property of a group of private investors under the promotion of Fred Currey, a former executive
of the Continental Trailways (later renamed as the Trailways, Inc., called also TWI, also based in Dallas), which was by far the largest member company in the National Trailways trade association.
Later in 1987 the Greyhound Lines, Inc., the GLI, the new firm based in Dallas, further bought the Trailways, Inc., the TWI, its largest competitor, and merged it into the GLI.
The lenders and the other investors of the GLI ousted Fred Currey as the chief executive officer
(CEO) after the firm went into bankruptcy
in 1990.
The GLI has continued to experience difficulties and lackluster performance under a succession of new owners and new executives – while continuing to reduce its level of service – by hauling fewer passengers aboard fewer coaches on fewer trips along fewer routes with fewer stops in fewer communities in fewer states – and by doing so on fewer days – that is, increasingly operating some trips less often than every day (fewer than seven days per week) – and by using fewer through-coaches, thereby requiring passengers to make more transfers (from one coach to another).
After the sale to the GLI, The Greyhound Corporation changed its name to the Greyhound-Dial Corporation, then the Dial Corporation, then the Viad Corporation
. [The contrived name Viad appears to be a curious respelling of the former name Dial – if one scrambles the letters D, I, and A, then turns the V upside down and regards it as the Greek
letter lambda
– Λ – that is, the Greek equivalent of the Roman
or Latin
letter L.]
The website of the Viad Corporation (http://www.viad.com) in September 2008 makes no mention of its corporate history or its past relationship to Greyhound (that is, its origin as The Greyhound Corporation).
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it was merged into the Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.
Development
The Capitol Greyhound Lines (GL) came into existence in November 1930, as a joint ventureJoint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
(owned in two equal shares) by the Blue and Gray (B&G) Transit Company and The Greyhound Corporation to operate a single new main line along U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...
between Washington, DC and Saint Louis, Missouri via Winchester, Virginia
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
; Clarksburg
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...
and Parkersburg
Parkersburg, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
; Chillicothe
Chillicothe, Ohio
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States.Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio and is located in southern Ohio along the Scioto River. The name comes from the Shawnee name Chalahgawtha, meaning "principal town", as it was a major settlement of...
and Cincinnati, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
; Bedford
Bedford, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,768 people, 6,054 households, and 3,644 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,157.1 people per square mile . There were 6,618 housing units at an average density of 556.2 per square mile...
and Vincennes
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
; and Olney
Olney, Illinois
Olney is a city in Richland County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,631 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Richland County.-History:...
and Salem
Salem, Illinois
Salem is a city located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Marion County. The population was 7,485 at the 2010 census.Salem is the birthplace of William Jennings Bryan and his brother vice presidential candidate Charles W. Bryan, the G. I. Bill of Rights, and Miracle Whip salad...
Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The U.S. 50 route was shorter and faster (by six hours) than the best alternate route then available, which ran via Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...
, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
and Terre Haute, Indiana, and Effingham, Illinois
Effingham, Illinois
Effingham is a city in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,384 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Effingham County....
. Capitol Greyhound also operated a branch line between Shoals, Indiana
Shoals, Indiana
Shoals is a town in Center and Halbert townships, Martin County, Indiana, United States. The population was 756 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Martin County....
and Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
via Paoli, Indiana
Paoli, Indiana
Paoli is a town in Paoli Township, Orange County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,844 at the 2000 census. The town is the county seat of Orange County.-History:...
and provided local suburban commuter service from Washington, DC, to Winchester, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
.
The CpGL took part in only one interlined through-route (using pooled equipment in cooperation with one other carrier) – that is, the use of through-coaches on a through-route running through the territories of itself and one other company – with the Red Star Motor Coaches – connecting Washington, DC, via Annapolis (also on US-50) with Rehoboth Beach (in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
) and Salisbury
Salisbury, Maryland
-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...
and Ocean City
Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City, sometimes known as OC, or OCMD, is an Atlantic Ocean resort town in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. Ocean City is widely known in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is a frequent destination for vacationers in that area...
(both in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
), all three on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
Eastern Shore of Maryland
The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a territorial part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies predominately on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay and consists of nine counties. The origin of term Eastern Shore was derived to distinguish a territorial part of the State of Maryland from the Western...
and Delaware (on the Delmarva Peninsula
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula is a large peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia...
) – until 1952, when the Carolina Coach Company (the Carolina Trailways) bought the Red Star concern.
The first president of the Capitol GL was Arthur Hill, the founder and president of the B&G firm.
B&G (along with the Camel City Coach Company, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
) in 1929 had become a part of the National Highway Transport Company, which in 1931 became renamed as the Atlantic Greyhound Lines
Atlantic Greyhound Lines
The Atlantic Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a neighboring operating company, thus forming the Southern Division of The...
, based in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
.
The Capitol GL met the Atlantic GL (to the south), the (second) Central GL (to the north), the Dixie GL
Dixie Greyhound Lines
The Dixie Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it became merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.- Origin :The Dixie Greyhound Lines began in 1925...
(to the south), the Great Lakes GL
Great Lakes Greyhound Lines
The Great Lakes Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Detroit, Michigan, USA, from 1941 until 1957, when it merged with the Northland Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Central Division of The Greyhound...
(to the north), the Pennsylvania GL (to the north and east), the Richmond GL (to the southeast), the Southeastern GL
Southeastern Greyhound Lines
The Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Atlantic Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Southern Division of The...
(to the south), and the Southwestern GL (to the west).
Merger into Pennsylvania GL
In 1954 The Greyhound Corporation (the parent Greyhound firm) bought the 50-percent share of the Atlantic GL (which part had come from B&G) in the Capitol GL, then Greyhound merged Capitol into the Pennsylvania GL, which in 1955 became merged with the old (second) Central GL – thereby forming the Eastern Division of The Greyhound Corporation (called also the new (second) Eastern GL), the first of four huge new divisions (along with Southern, Western, and Central, which last name became used again (in the fifth of six instances) but with a meaning quite different from its other applications).Thus ended the Capitol GL.
Beyond Capitol GL
Later (about 1966) The Greyhound Corporation reorganized again, into just two humongous divisions, named as the Greyhound Lines East (GLE) and the Greyhound Lines West (GLW); even later (about 1970) it eliminated those two divisions, thereby leaving a single gargantuan undivided nationwide fleet.In 1987 The Greyhound Corporation (the original Greyhound umbrella firm), which had become widely diversified far beyond transportation, sold its entire highway-coach operating business (its core bus business), to a new company, named as the Greyhound Lines, Inc., called also GLI, based in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
– a separate, independent, unrelated firm, which was the property of a group of private investors under the promotion of Fred Currey, a former executive
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
of the Continental Trailways (later renamed as the Trailways, Inc., called also TWI, also based in Dallas), which was by far the largest member company in the National Trailways trade association.
Later in 1987 the Greyhound Lines, Inc., the GLI, the new firm based in Dallas, further bought the Trailways, Inc., the TWI, its largest competitor, and merged it into the GLI.
The lenders and the other investors of the GLI ousted Fred Currey as the chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
(CEO) after the firm went into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in 1990.
The GLI has continued to experience difficulties and lackluster performance under a succession of new owners and new executives – while continuing to reduce its level of service – by hauling fewer passengers aboard fewer coaches on fewer trips along fewer routes with fewer stops in fewer communities in fewer states – and by doing so on fewer days – that is, increasingly operating some trips less often than every day (fewer than seven days per week) – and by using fewer through-coaches, thereby requiring passengers to make more transfers (from one coach to another).
After the sale to the GLI, The Greyhound Corporation changed its name to the Greyhound-Dial Corporation, then the Dial Corporation, then the Viad Corporation
VIAD Corporation
Viad Corp is an S&P SmallCap 600 company that operates businesses that provide place-based marketing services in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Arab Emirates, as well as travel and recreation services in the United States and Canada. Viad’s businesses occupy leading...
. [The contrived name Viad appears to be a curious respelling of the former name Dial – if one scrambles the letters D, I, and A, then turns the V upside down and regards it as the Greek
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
letter lambda
Lambda
Lambda is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is related to the Phoenician letter Lamed . Letters in other alphabets that stemmed from lambda include the Roman L and the Cyrillic letter El...
– Λ – that is, the Greek equivalent of the Roman
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
or Latin
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
letter L.]
The website of the Viad Corporation (http://www.viad.com) in September 2008 makes no mention of its corporate history or its past relationship to Greyhound (that is, its origin as The Greyhound Corporation).
See also
- The Greyhound Corporation
- Atlantic Greyhound LinesAtlantic Greyhound LinesThe Atlantic Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Charleston, West Virginia, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a neighboring operating company, thus forming the Southern Division of The...
- Dixie Greyhound LinesDixie Greyhound LinesThe Dixie Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, from 1930 until 1954, when it became merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.- Origin :The Dixie Greyhound Lines began in 1925...
- Florida Greyhound LinesFlorida Greyhound LinesThe Florida Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, from 1946 until 1957, when it was merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.-Origin:The immediate predecessor of the Florida...
- Great Lakes Greyhound LinesGreat Lakes Greyhound LinesThe Great Lakes Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Detroit, Michigan, USA, from 1941 until 1957, when it merged with the Northland Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Central Division of The Greyhound...
- Southeastern Greyhound LinesSoutheastern Greyhound LinesThe Southeastern Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Atlantic Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company, thereby forming the Southern Division of The...
- Teche Greyhound LinesTeche Greyhound LinesThe Teche Greyhound Lines , a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from 1934 until 1954, when it was merged into the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, a neighboring operating company.[Teche, pronounced as "tesh", is a word of French...
- Tennessee Coach CompanyTennessee Coach CompanyThe Tennessee Coach Company was a regional highway-coach carrier, founded in 1928 and based in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It was in operation until 1976, when it became merged into the Continental Tennessee Lines, a subsidiary of the Transcontinental Bus System, called also the Continental Trailways...