Atlantic Greyhound Lines
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The Atlantic Greyhound Lines (called also Atlantic or AGL), a highway-coach carrier, was a
Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
regional operating company, based in
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, USA, from 1931 until 1960, when it became merged with the Southeastern Greyhound Lines (called also Southeastern, SEG, SEGL, or the SEG Lines), a neighboring operating company, thus forming the Southern Division of
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(the parent Greyhound firm), which division became called also the Southern Greyhound Lines (GL).


Midland Trail Transit Company

The story of the Atlantic GL starts with the Midland Trail Transit Company, which began in July 1924, under the leadership of Arthur Hill (formerly the
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and
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of the Charleston Interurban Railroad Company) – to run – after buying two pre-existing carriers (the White Transportation Company and the Huntington-Charleston Motor Bus Company) – between Charleston and Huntington (both in
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), along one segment of a highway named as the Midland Trail (later designated as US highway 60). The Midland Trail firm continued to grow, mostly by buying more existing companies.


Blue and Gray Transit Company

Hill incorporated the Blue and Gray (called also B&G) Transit Company in
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in May 1927 – to buy his own Midland Trail firm and at least three other highway carriers (thus increasing his route network) – to make it easy and simple to consolidate all the permits and certificates of all the predecessor firms. B&G continued to expand, through
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to
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and to Columbus (all three in
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), through Wheeling (in West Virginia) to
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(in
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), to Lexington (in
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), and to Clarksburg and to Bluefield (both in West Virginia).


Camel City Coach Company

Meanwhile, in December 1925 in
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, the Camel City Coach Company (bearing a nickname of its hometown due to the Camel cigarettes made there) came into existence, under the leadership of a merchant by the name of John Gilmer – to run between Charlotte (in
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) and Martinsville (in Virginia) via Winston-Salem – and to expand. Soon Camel City grew, mostly by acquisition, first to the northwest to Mount Airy (in North Carolina), then to the south through Columbia and thence to the southeast to Charleston (both in
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), onward through
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(in
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) to
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(in
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), through Augusta and Waycross (both in Georgia) to Jacksonville (along a route from Augusta to Jacksonville acquired in March 1931 from the Greyhound Lines of Georgia, a predecessor of the Southeastern GL), to the west through Boone (in North Carolina) and thence to the northwest to Abingdon (in Virginia), to the north to Roanoke (in Virginia), and to the east-northeast through
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(in North Carolina) and Danville to
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and to
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(all three in Virginia).


National Highway Transport Company

Hill and Gilmer together organized the National Highway Transport (NHT) Company in December 1929 in Charleston, West Virginia, to buy the
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of the Blue and Gray and the Camel City concerns.


Atlantic GL

Early in 1931 the NHT firm (which already had formed operating ties to Greyhound and had begun negotiations with Greyhound) began using the brand name, trade name, or service name of the Atlantic Greyhound Lines (while at first retaining its own previous corporate name), then in July 1931 NHT became renamed as the Atlantic Greyhound Lines (with the consent of the parent Greyhound firm), although Greyhound had then acquired only a
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in NHT and not yet a
controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the maj ...
. By September 1931 the Skyland Stages, running since 1930 between Columbia (in South Carolina) and
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
(in
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) via Greenville (in South Carolina) and
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(in North Carolina), became a division of the Atlantic GL.
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in North Carolina, between Asheville and Greenville), when in May 1929 he founded the Asheville-Knoxville Coach Company.]


Old Dominion Stages

Further, in 1929 three major players in the developing highway-coach industry – Arthur Hill (of the Blue and Gray Transit Company), John Gilmer (of the Camel City Coach Company), and Guy Huguelet (of the Consolidated Coach Corporation, based in
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, which in -36 became renamed as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines) – organized yet another carrier, based in Roanoke, named as the Old Dominion (called also OD) Stages, using the nickname of the state or
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– to run between Knoxville and
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, via
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, Wytheville, Roanoke, Lexington, Staunton, and
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,
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, along a route which divided between the territories of the B&G and the Camel City companies – with those three men owning the new firm in three equal shares. Service began on the day before
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in November 1929.


Tennessee Coach Company

In May 1932 the OD Stages leased its rights to the route segment between Knoxville and Bristol (along US-11W) to the Tennessee Coach Company (called also TCC), which then was an independent regional carrier based in Knoxville, and which already ran (in part) between those two cities on its own parallel route (along -11E). Later in 1932 Hill and Gilmer bought the one-third interest of Huguelet in the OD Stages, then they merged OD into their Atlantic GL. The Tennessee Coach Company continued to run that leased segment (between Knoxville and Bristol) – and on that route took part in through-schedules (interlined pool operations) – that is, the use of through-coaches on through-routes running through the territories of two or more operating companies – in cooperation with the Atlantic GL, the Dixie GL, and the Southeastern GL – including through-schedules between
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(in
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) and Bristol and between Memphis and Washington – until 1956, when the TCC joined the Trailways trade association (then named as the
National Trailways Bus System The Trailways Transportation System is a public transport bus service in the United States. It operates a network of approximately 70 independent bus companies. The company is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. History The predecessor to Tra ...
), and when the TCC returned its leased right to that segment to the Atlantic GL (as the successor in interest of the OD Stages) – as a part of the deal related to the dissociation of the TCC from Greyhound. Afterward the TCC continued running between Knoxville and Bristol, but only along its own original route (on US-11E).


John Gilmer and others

John Gilmer, the founder of the Camel City Coach Company, participated also in a number of other activities during the early development of the highway-coach industry. In 1928 Gilmer provided much of the funds used in a refinancing and reorganizing of the Eastern Carolina Coach Company (running between Charlotte and Wilmington, both in North Carolina), which became renamed as the Queen City Coach Company (based in Charlotte), which (sometime about 1939-43) joined the National Trailways association (thus becoming called also the Queen City Trailways), and which in 1966 became bought by the Transcontinental Bus System (using the brand name, trade name, or service name of the Continental Trailways). owever, Gilmer ended his involvement with the Queen City firm in 1933. In 1933 Gilmer (along with several other principals of the Queen City Coach Company) joined in forming the Old South Lines, which started running between Charlotte and
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(in Georgia) and between Columbia (in South Carolina) and Atlanta. Gilmer's Old South Lines in 1934 bought the route between Atlanta and Montgomery (in Alabama) – including an alternate loop through Columbus (in Georgia) – from the Hood Coach Lines, which on that route had begun its first service (from Atlanta to Columbus in 1930, then onward to Montgomery in 1933), and which had soon tried (unsuccessfully) to run additional routes in the Peach State – between Atlanta and Macon, between Macon and
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, and between Macon and Jacksonville via Waycross. Hood in November 1934 sold also its other routes – to the Consolidated Coach Corporation and the Union Bus Company, acting jointly, with the Atlanta-Macon and Macon-Waycross-Jacksonville routes going to Consolidated (which in 1936 became renamed as the Southeastern Greyhound Lines) and with the Macon-Savannah route going to Union (which in 1941 became bought by and merged into the Southeastern GL) – thus providing Consolidated and Union (and therefore later Greyhound) not only a new route between Macon and Savannah and a parallel alternate route between Atlanta and Macon but also a quicker alternate route between Macon and Jacksonville (about 50 miles shorter than the older route via
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in Georgia and Lake City in Florida). After that last sale the Hood firm, holding no other route, went out of business. In 1935 the Atlantic GL bought the Old South routes to Atlanta from Charlotte and from Columbia, thus preparing to establish connections in Atlanta with the Teche GL and the Southeastern GL. In February 1936 the Teche GL bought the Old South route between Atlanta and Montgomery (with the loop through Columbus), thus completing its route between
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(in
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) and Atlanta. Gilmer also owned one or more automotive dealerships in Winston-Salem which sold
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cars and GMC trucks.


Capitol GL

The Capitol GL, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, came into existence in November 1930 – as a
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(owned in two equal shares) by the Blue and Gray Transit Company and The Greyhound Corporation (with an
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T, because the word "the" was an integral part of the legal name of the corporate entity) – to operate a single new main line, between Washington, DC, and Saint Louis (in
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), via Winchester (in Virginia), Clarksburg and Parkersburg (both in West Virginia), Chillicothe and Cincinnati (both in Ohio),
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and
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(both in
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), and Olney and Salem (both in
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), along US-50 – a route shorter and quicker (six hours faster) than the best (then available) alternate route Hagerstown (in Maryland">Hagerstown,_Maryland.html" ;"title="ia Hagerstown, Maryland">Hagerstown (in Maryland), Pittsburgh (in Pennsylvania), Wheeling (in West Virginia), Columbus (in Ohio), Indianapolis and Terre Haute (both in Indiana), and Effingham, Illinois, Effingham (in Illinois)] – plus a branch line between Shoals, Indiana, Shoals and Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville (in Kentucky) via Paoli (in Indiana). As described above, B&G (along with Camel City) in 1929 became a part of the NHT Company, which in 1931 became renamed as the Atlantic Greyhound Lines. The first president of the Capitol GL was Arthur Hill, the founder and president of the B&G firm. In 1954 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 was 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).


Atlantic GL as a division of The Greyhound Corporation

In 1936 The Greyhound Corporation accumulated a controlling (majority) interest in the Atlantic GL, and in 1957 the parent firm finished buying the remaining minority interest in the AGL and then merged the AGL into itself as a division of itself. By 1960 the Atlantic GL reached as far to the north as Columbus and Pittsburgh, as far to the east as the
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, as far to the south as Jacksonville, and as far to the west as Cincinnati, Knoxville, and Atlanta. The AGL also ran extensive local commuter service based in its hometown of Charleston and in Portsmouth (in Ohio), Winston-Salem (in North Carolina),
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(in South Carolina), and (in conjunction with the Queen City Trailways) in Charlotte (in North Carolina). The Atlantic GL then met the new Eastern GL to the north, the new Central GL to the northwest, and the Southeastern GL to the west and the south; AGL also met the Richmond GL in Washington, DC, and in Norfolk and Richmond. AGL took part in a large number of major interlined north-south through-routes (using pooled equipment in cooperation with other Greyhound companies) – that is, the use of through-coaches on through-routes running through the territories of two or more Greyhound regional operating companies – between various pairs of cities (first between
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and Jacksonville), including: in the north,
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,
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,
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, Pittsburgh,
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, New York City, and Washington, and in the south, Norfolk, Memphis, Atlanta, Jacksonville,
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,
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,
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, and
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.


Merger with Southeastern GL

In November 1960, in another round of consolidation, Greyhound merged the Atlantic GL with – not into but rather ''with'' – the Southeastern GL, based in
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, a neighboring regional company – thereby forming the Southern Division of The Greyhound Corporation, called also the Southern GL, the third of four huge new divisions (along with Central, Eastern, and Western) – which reached as far to the north as Springfield and Effingham (both in Illinois), Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Washington, as far to the east as the Atlantic Ocean, as far to the south as Miami and
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, and as far to the west as Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Memphis,
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, New Orleans, and Lake Charles (in Louisiana and on the way to
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, the rest of
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, and the rest of the
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) – from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico.. Thus ended the Atlantic GL and the Southeastern GL, and thus began the Southern GL.


Beyond Atlantic 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, thus leaving a single gargantuan undivided nationwide fleet. When the Southern GL came into existence, the headquarters functions became gradually transferred from Lexington, Kentucky, and Charleston, West Virginia, to Atlanta, Georgia; when GLE arose, many of those administrative functions became shifted from Atlanta to Cleveland, Ohio; eventually those functions migrated to Chicago, Illinois, then to
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– when (in 1971) The Greyhound Corporation moved its corporate headquarters from Chicago to a new building in Phoenix. 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
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– a separate, independent, unrelated firm, which was the property of a group of private
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under the promotion of Fred Currey, a former
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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
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, and merged it into the GLI. The
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and the other investors of the GLI ousted Fred Currey (as the
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) after the firm went into
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
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 Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufacturer of personal care and household cleaning products and is a su ...
, then the
Viad Corporation Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality, Inc. is a global attractions and hospitality company located in Canada, the United States and Iceland. Pursuit owns and operates attractions, accommodation, culinary experiences, retail and transportation in a ...
.
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
letter lambda – Λ – that is, the Greek equivalent of the Latin alphabet, Roman or Latin alphabet, 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).


See also

*
The Greyhound Corporation Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality, Inc. is a global attractions and hospitality company located in Canada, the United States and Iceland. Pursuit owns and operates attractions, accommodation, culinary experiences, retail and transportation in a ...
* Capitol Greyhound Lines * Dixie Greyhound Lines * Florida Greyhound Lines *
Great Lakes Greyhound Lines The Great Lakes Greyhound Lines (called also GLGL), 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 ope ...
* Southeastern Greyhound Lines *
Teche Greyhound Lines The Teche Greyhound Lines (called also Teche or TGL), a highway-coach carrier, was a Greyhound regional operating company, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from 1934 until 1954, when it (along with the Dixie Greyhound Lines) was merged into t ...
* Tennessee Coach Company


References

*Hixson, Kenneth (2001). ''Pick of the Litter''. Lexington: Centerville Book Company. . *Jackson, Carlton (1984). ''Hounds of the Road''. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. . *Meier, Albert, and John Hoschek (1975). ''Over the Road''. Upper Montclair: Motor Bus Society. No ISBN. *Schisgall, Oscar (1985). ''The Greyhound Story''. Chicago: J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company. {{ISBN, 0-385-19690-3. *''Motor Coach Age'' (a publication of the Motor Bus Society), various issues, especially these: *:August 1977; *:April–June 1995; *:October–December 1996; *:October–December 1997; *:October–December 1998. *''Backfire'', the corporate newspaper for the Southeastern Greyhound Lines, all issues, from January 1938 through February 1956. *''Jon's Trailways History Corner'', a web-based Trailways history by Jan Hobijn (also known as Jon Hobein) at http://cw42.tripod.com/Jon.html. *Web-based schedules and historical data at https://web.archive.org/web/20060312191347/http://www.greyhound.com/.


External links


"Atlantic Greyhound Lines" (at ''Bluehounds and Redhounds'')

''Bluehounds and Redhounds'', the history of Greyhound and Trailways

"Northland Greyhound Lines" (at ''Bluehounds and Redhounds''), including the early history of The Greyhound Corporation

"Greyhound Lines after WW2" (at ''Bluehounds and Redhounds'')

"The Scenicruiser" at ''Bluehounds and Redhounds''
Defunct transportation companies of the United States Defunct companies based in West Virginia Greyhound Lines