By MICHAEL BUSHNELL
Northeast News
April 12, 2017
These Real Photo postcards show Coach No. 503 of the Kansas City Public Service Company, an agent for Gray Line Tours.
The Yellow Cab Company operated the coaches through an agreement with KCPSC. “See Kansas City and know what you’re seeing” was the advertising tag line printed on brochures and postcards that advertised “an instructive, enjoyable 2.5 hour trip, 30 miles of the most interesting sections of Kansas City’s parks, boulevards, business and residential sections.”
According to equipment records of the Kansas City Public Service Company, such parlor coaches were built by a variety of manufacturers, including the American Car Company, Mack International Bus Co., Yellow Coach Company and the Safeway Six Wheel Company. Gross Vehicle weight ran 18,700 pounds and each coach cost $12,405.
Interior compliments included horsehair carpeting, mahogany wood trim throughout and seats covered with fabric in the “Chase Alhambra No. 1012.” Each coach had a capacity of 30 passengers, and it cost roughly 33 cents per coach mile to operate.
Double-decker models built by the St. Louis Car Company were also used in Kansas City along primary bus routes operated by the Kansas City Public Service Company. Another postcard shows the interior of the coach, outfitted and ready for tour patrons to view the best Kansas City had to offer in forms of parks, boulevards and attractions.