Tucson Rapid Transit #14
21 passenger, 1937 Yellow Coach Model 733, Serial 392
Buses 14-17 on 5th Street adjacent to the bus barn in the original orange and cream paint scheme with silver roof and trim.
During the 1930’s transit bus manufacturers began to experiment with the location of the engine. First they tried engine-forward buses with the body built over the engine, rather than the conventional hood out front. This provided more inside room, but was too hot and noisy for the driver to endure all day long, especially during summer months. Because of this, later models had their engines moved to the rear where they have stayed ever since. In June 1936, Yellow Coach introduced the Model 733, a 21-passenger, front-engine bus which was billed as meeting “the demand for a built-for-the-purpose, lightweight bus which could be sold in the low price range”.
The Tucson Rapid Transit Company had replaced streetcars with new buses at the end of 1930, but a significant ridership decline associated with the Depression did not allow purchase of any additional new buses until 1935, and then only two. By 1937 the situation was critical with badly aging buses and management problems. A. E. “Gene” Magee was brought in to resolve these issues.
Reasoning that the latest “Metropolitan” style buses would be more attractive to potential riders, he purchased 4 21-passenger (front engine) Yellows in 1937 and 1938 (#14-17), followed by 9-24 passenger (rear engine) Yellows in 1939 and 40. This enabled retirement of all the pre-1935 busses.
About 1941, most of the model 733s, including #14, were painted with a yellow-and-green paint scheme, shown here on #16 after an accident on December 1, 1941.
Magee choose the Yellow Model 733 for its modern styling and durability. The aluminum body made them light-weight thus fuel efficient, while their standard 216 co. in. Chevrolet truck engine made them very reliable. The choice proved a good one as these buses served well under the heavy traffic demands of World War II when transit ridership in Tucson increased a whopping 900%!
Bus 14 as found abandoned along the highway to Rocky Point.
In the late 1980’s, after interviewing Roy Magee’s son, representatives of Old Pueblo Trolley journeyed south of the border and located bus #14 apparently abandoned about 30 miles south of Lukeville. Inquiries lead to the owner, Jesus Alvarez Barnett, in Puerto Peñasco. Pleased that OPT was interested in restoring the bus, Barnett and his wife donated it. In 1997, however the difficult logistics of moving the bus across the border have frustrated OPT volunteers over the intervening years. More recently, the addition of a volunteer to the bus division with family in Rocky Point and a truck and trailer capable of hauling the bus have created some encouragement that the bus may actually return to Tucson in the near future.
Camp set up with bus 14 on the beach in Mexico.
By the end of the war, the entire fleet was very tired and was replaced as quickly as possible. In 1946 #14 was sold to Gene Magee’s brother, Roy, a local dentist. He bought it along with #40, a 1938 Chevrolet school bus known as the “Green Hornet”, which had been purchased used by T.R.T. during the war. The buses were converted to motor homes and were regularly driven to Puerto Peñasco, Sonora by Roy and Gene’s families where they camped on the beach. Later, they arranged to have them stored in Puerto Peñasco between trips. Once their children had grown, #40 was sold, and #14 was given to a poor Mexican family who used it as living quarters.