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By some, the Carnegie Coach
Lines (CCL) is known as the company PAT forgot because it was so small. By others it's the
company PAT hoped would go away because it was so small. While the specific events as to
why the CCL was overlooked have been lost to time, the CCL was the last, as well as the
smallest, company acquired by PAT in the consolidation of independent transit companies.
The CCL was
created in August of 1954 by Leonard J. Bruno after purchasing the rights for 4 local
Carnegie shuttle routes as well as the Campbell Run Road line from
Gradison Auto Bus
Company. These lines originally were owned by the
Montour Motor Coach Lines and sold to Gradison in the spring of 1953 when Montour Motor Coach Lines went out of business. Bruno
was a former Montour operator and operated these 5 routes since they were started in 1946.
Also
purchased from Gradison were 2 prewar Yellow Coaches which originally ran for Montour and
were a 1937 Yellow 733 along with a 1940 Yellow TG-2101. These coaches, although not in
the greatest of shape, allowed Bruno to operate the Carnegie routes.
An
interesting point with the CCL is that this was a totally one man operation with Bruno
serving as driver, mechanic, scheduler and every other position required to run a bus
company. All five routes were run in a round-robin fashion with one bus covering the 26
daily trips which operated 5 days a week. The total daily mileage on these routes amounted
to 90 miles with the 26 trips.
Four
of the lines operated were short shuttle lines serving the nearby areas around Main Street
in Carnegie and could be completed in most cases in under 10 minutes each for a round
trip. These shuttle lines ran over narrow and extremely hilly areas but were relatively
close to Main Street which was the main focus of the CCL. The longest line, the Campbell
Run Road route, took approximately 30 minutes to run a round trip on. The CCL carried
approximately 200 passengers a day on its 5 routes during the early 1960's. During the
period of time Bruno operated these lines, there were no routes added, cut or changed.
Bruno
purchased a used 1952 Marmon 8MB and a used 1950 Chevrolet school bus in 1959 to replace
the prewar Yellow Coaches. The Marmon held down the weekday 11 1/2 hour schedule while the
school bus was used as a back up. There was also a 1945 GMC school bus indicated in the
records which was acquired in 1957 and it is assumed that this was disposed of when the
other school bus was purchased. Maintenance appeared to be done on weekends unless there
was a breakdown.
While
the total route mileage, passenger loads and equipment were not much to speak of, they
were sufficient that PAT eventually took over the operation and numbered the routes into
its system-wide numbering numbering system. The acquisition occurred on January 31, 1965
and several individuals that have researched this company have stated that this was only
after Bruno went to PAT to inquire when he was going to be taken over. Neither the Marmon
or the school bus was taken into PAT's fleet and were immediately disposed of.
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