Kingston Transit

Saturday, 22 March 2025

It's Here...a Blog all about Kingston Transit!

As with many facets of Kingston's history, buses and transit have not been widely covered. That's about to change. I'll be adding more here on fishbowls, Orions and Nova buses. Seems fare to me!

The Buses of Kingston, 1930-1962

Trying to get photographic context that shows Kingston, in somewhat-recognizable places, given the changes that have taken place over the years in our street scenes! Photos in this post, unless otherwise noted, courtesy of former Colonial Coach Lines mechanic and transit enthusiast Kingston's own John Carey. Posed on the hill just east of Kingston Penitentiary, two Kingston City Coach buses with Portsmouth-Princess route-signs (top photo - 1930 Reo; below - possibly Leyland).

Two views of what appears to be the same 29-passenger Leyland, parked outside the LaSalle Hotel, Bagot and Princess Streets (above and below). John noted that the old and newer parts (yellow brick) of the hotel were discernible above the bus roof. Cheese it! It's the coppers!

A Whig clipping from September 6, 1930 described the new buses:

On a wintry February 23, 1934, a procession of three Leylands lined up for a charter outside Ban Righ Hall, on what was formerly Queen's Crescent:

A 1935 GMC numbered 352 posed in front of the Frontenac County Court House. Notice the patriotic flag-draped decorating job and '21st Battalion' on the front bumper. Perhaps this was for a major 21st Battalion Club service, held at the Cricket Field on May 7, 1935 marking the Silver Jubilee of King George V and the 20th anniversary of the battalion's departure from Kingston overseas for World War I. John noted that the Coast to Coast - Montreal to Vancouver - New York to L.A. lettering pertained perhaps to connecting routes grandiosely.

A 1934 GMC product, possibly a Model U, takes on passengers at Royal Military College:

Coach 39 was a GM Yellow Coach, built in Pontiac (Detroit), Michigan with a Buick or Cadillac engine. Converted to city use in Kingston, having wooden-slat seats, it continued in use until after World War II. John mentioned that he rode in this vintage bus many times coming home from St. Mary's school in 1945-46. Route-sign says 'Barriefield'. A route begun in 1946 gave Kingston City Coach the right to reach Barriefield, Vimy, the nylon plant and Norman Rogers airport. This coach was also used on an extra run to the Front Road nylon plant at the same time to pick up workers coming off-shirt at 4:30 in the afternoon. John remembers driver Alfie Ball picking him up at Clergy and Princess Streets, thence to Victoria or John's home on Mack Street heading out to the nylon plant. For a lark, he would turn the ignition off, then turn it back on! The Kingston Armoury in Montreal Street can be seen in the background behind this parking lot used for bus storage.

Photographed at Oscar Cook's garage near Ontario and Queen streets, a 1930 Reo:

Kingston City Coach's 1935 Macks were built in Allentown, PA and carried across the St. Lawrence River by Ogdensburg-Prescott ferry. As delivered with no back door, this page shows John's post-it notes with additional information pertaining to each photo. These photos came from Ted Baker, the most senior Colonial driver who started in 1930:

Photographed at the Queen Street-side Colonial Coach Lines garage entrance (below) driver Merrill Weekes was also a noted vehicle enthusiast in this area in later years. A World War II veteran, Merrill left us in 2022 at the age of 99, and his obituary mentions that he usually had either a wrench or a steering-wheel in his hands! Bus 397 is a 1939 GM model 742, among the first equipped with a pusher 707 six-cylinder diesel engine with dual ignition.

Bagot & Princess Streets - August 24, 1948. An expensive Lincoln sedan rear-ended by a Kingston City Coach Ford at one in the afternoon. The Whig gave the incident about one column-inch, noting that the car was driven by C. Leounis of Binghamton, NY and that the bus's air-brakes may have led to the collision.

The Topnotch feed mill's tower is visible in background, with Fort Frontenac's wall and limestone quarters behind four 1937 GMC buses destined for Montreal, stylish but no longer in service during John's tenure as a mechanic:

A 1947 photo showing all-new coaches open for inspection in Market Square, likely taken from upper storeys of the Whig building. Is that the ferry peeking out from between the west wing of City Hall and the Prince George Hotel? These are model 3702-3703, model years 1945-48, powered by GM 4-71 diesel engines. John says, "They were real workhorses", and that "If there's a better bus built, GM builds them".

While viewing the photo above, John noted that the Prince George and the Frontenac Hotel, next to it, were rough beer parlours. The British-American Hotel was one street over on Clarence Street. His uncle Ace was in charge of the Brock Street firehall the night the B-A burned down, nearly losing his life becoming disoriented in the upper stories of the 60-room hotel on March 19, 1963. Photographer George Lilley's studio at 34-40 Clarence Street was fortuitously undamaged. Expanded in the 1960s, the B-A still had some fireplace-equipped rooms!

Two old Kingston City Coach Leylands posed along the Inner Harbour. John said that #44 (above - route sign Portsmouth) used to make the nightly run to Vimy and Norman Rogers, and that #45 (Portsmouth-Princess - below) was right-hand drive and did passenger runs in the city during World War II.

Another photo of Kingston City Coach Mack 54, posed at Market Square, route-sign 'Sightseeing':

Built in 1944, (i.e. 4400-series) GM 3608's came from Montreal suburban routes, renumbered, then used in service in Kingston. John noted that they were in service for a long time, with a six-cylinder gas engine. This photo print is dated Sep-1962, taken near the site of the former electric railway carbarns, with the Ontario Street Topnotch feed mill in background - after Colonial had left their garage. The city acquired 15 Brill buses from Colonial in 1962, paying $411 each to repaint them at Edwards Ford.

A 1952 Kingston Public Transit System Brill AEC English Diesel bus that began its service in Montreal. Revamped in 1956 with rear door added then sent to Kingston City Coach. John noted that these European engines required Metric tools to be ordered in order to work on them!

Buses and Broadcasts in Kingston - John Carey

On Monday, August 12 I had a two-hour sit-down at the commodious home of John and Tina Carey, here in my west-end neighbourhood. I could have walked there, though grey clouds threatened - topically, I could have even taken the Kingston Transit Route 15 bus to get there - only two stops away! Speaking of buses, that's why I was visiting John. He'd called me, having seen Kingston Transit coverage on this blog. John had an interesting life story to tell, though only the early part of his working years involved buses, with many more involving broadcasting.

John explained that he initially became a bus mechanic because his father advised him, "Learn a trade or stay in school". John was not too keen on school, having attended 'Regi' because his mother insisted upon it. One day during the early war years, a neighbour took John and his father to the Colonial Coach Lines bus shop, and John thought it was something he'd enjoy doing. John enrolled in trade school in Toronto's Kensington Market - a former elementary school plus addition on Nassau Street. While there, John worked at Gray Coach's small service garage four nights per week to hone his trade, monitoring idling diesel buses overnight (oil pressure and 450 rpm).

On June 16, 1954 John started with Colonial as summer help in their Kingston garage. John was 16 years old at the time, so although he couldn't drive on city streets, he was able to move the buses around the service area. In December 1954, John formally started as an apprentice at Colonial, staying until 1960. In that year, Colonial closed its Kingston garage, located behind its terminal at the traffic circle, to consolidate operations in Ottawa.

John got to know noted Kingston broadcasting personality Brian Olney while in a band in the 1950s, spurring his interest in broadcasting. Beginning in 1957 John worked as a part-time radio operator for CKWS, and went full time for CKWS-TV downstairs at their 170 Queen Street building in 1960. After spending 14 months at CJOH in Ottawa, John worked at CTV Toronto from 1962-1965, then moved to Peterborough where he worked for CHEX for five years. In 1969, he returned to Kingston as sales manager for CKWS for the next four years. In charge of the Kingston Whig-Standard classified ad department, he went on to work at CKWS selling radio ad time, and then four years at CKLC collecting bad accounts, John explained it was necessary to move around in broadcasting at the time! Interstingly, John obtained his Stationary Engineer certificate from Kingston's St Lawrence College in 1982, studying in the mornings and spending time monitoring several Kingston utility stations.

John had known Dick Lumb for a long time. Dick's grandfather, father Mel and uncle Gord were principals in the local marine service firm Millard & Lumb. Dick was involved with re-tubing Canadian Pacific 1201 for the National Museum of Science and Technology excursions (operated by the Bytown Railway Society). As a result, they were given a unique opportunity. In 2003, John and his uncle Dick were able to visit the Canada Science & Technology Museum (Ingenium) artifact warehouse to visit 1947-built GM 3703 bus 4756 in restored Provincial Transit colours. John said, "Back in the saddle again, 47 years later!" (below and top photo):

During our visit, John shared a three-inch binder full of Kingston transit artifacts and photos, its provenance providing an interesting introduction to our visit. The binder was compiled by John Lemmon, a bus driver who started with Colonial nearly a century ago, later becoming Safety Director. (John knew him, confirming his 6'3" stature, and kindly allowed me to share photos I took of the binder's contents during our visit. The binder containing the artifacts and photos is one of those 1970s vintage designs with self-adhesive holding acetate leaves in place, accounting for some of the shine on some of my images). While working at the Whig-Standard, a fellow employee who lived next to Mr Lemmon mentioned the binder of bus photos to John. Sometime in the 1990s, John's wife Tina (through a neighbour connection via church teas and sales) heard that the binder was going to be thrown in the garbage, providentially the binder came to John!

Mr Lemmon's application for employment with Provincial Transport is first-up in the album. He was born in 1905, making him 30+ years John's senior. Check out those references! John noted that Ted Baker started in 1930 and provided some of the photos in Mr Lemmons' album. Ted was the most senior driver with Badge 1! Also in the binder was Mr Lemmon's Colonial badge:

Needless to say, I was amazed not only by the binder's contents carefully curated by Mr Lemmon, but also by John's wisdom in adding post-it notes to several of the photos. The captions matched exactly what John elicited extemporaneously from his sharp-as-a-hat-pin memory while guiding me through the photos.

I'm grateful to John for sharing so much information with me, regarding Kingston's seldom-seen public transit history. John is understandably concerned that these artifacts will be preserved for future historians as well.

Bus Stations in Kingston

After a fire consumed the street railway car barns along King-Queen-Ontario Streets, along with twenty cars in March 1930, Colonial Coach Lines, which had been solely in the business of providing intercity bus travel, morphed into a city transit service for Kingston. Included in the new bus service were some new city routes served by an additional seven buses brought from Montreal. Before that, Colonial ran routes to Ottawa, Brockville and Prescott. All photos in this post are courtesy of John Carey unless otherwise noted.

By 1931, a terminal was located at the north-west corner of Princess and Montreal Streets, touted as the only indoor terminal in Canada! Originally the King Edward Theatre, next door was the Windsor Hotel, reportedly a somewhat sketchy watering hole, which when torn down was replaced by the Fort Henry Hotel which in turn burned down on February 24, 1968.

Exterior view (above) looking across Princess Street, with Montreal Street heading north at right. In 1949, Colonial Coach lines bought out Oshawa's Collacutt Coach Lines, the latter operating Gananoque-Oshawa, mainly to take over their route towards Toronto. Colonial was Ontario-based, while Provincial Tranporation, later Voyageur, was Quebec-based. Interior view (below) showing built-to-last but austere wooden waiting room benches. Both photos were taken in 1939.

Passengers boarded buses on Montreal Street, then proceeding up or down Princess Street to Toronto and Montreal, respectively. Between runs, buses were stored across Queen Street, now a city parking lot. The PWOR Armoury's roof is visible in the background (top photo) in which one bus route-sign indicates 'RCAF'. Buses were serviced in the centre of the Princess-Montreal-Queen city block, accessed through an archway on Montreal Street near David's Lunch. Once through the archway, the buses would swing around, be filled up with gas, then exit again.

The garage stood on the site presently occupied by the CKWS (Global/Corus) broadcast centre and TV studios. The site was cramped to say the least, and a modern terminal with restaurant opened at Kingston's traffic circle in 1948.

Traffic circle construction had started in 1942. The McFedridge family lived there in the large limestone house known as Vauxhall. In a huge land deal, the 3.25 acres between Highways 2 and 33 were sold to Canadian Tire for a new store in 1959.

The store was across Bath Road from the Colonial bus terminal. Three undated photos posted to Vintage Kingston Facebook group.

The new Colonial Coach Lines terminal opened on May 14, 1948, covering over 80,000 square feet. The waiting room measured 44x25 feet, and a Macy's Terminal Restaurants air-conditioned eatery with 'large windows and colourful furnishings' was under the same roof. The restaurant boasted about its fine coffee, its jumbo hamburgers (elevated to the order of a banquet!), Chicken a la King, and its Chicken in a Basket, a signature entree. Its Red Brand sirloin steaks were served right off the charcoal grill. The Jiggs dinner -corned beef and cabbage - cost a reasonable 75 cents in 1949.

(Whig-Standard clippings)

A 1947 aerial view shows finishing touches being put on the new terminal. City coaches are parked nose-in to Wilmot's Dairy.

Ground-level exterior views of the terminal. A 1947 GMC Highway Cruiser:

Buses lined up in front of the terminal circa 1953. All coaches shown were 3702 models, except for new 1952 Brills:

The terminal's cavernous maintenance garage measured 254x140 feet, with overhanging heaters. Day-to-day maintenance was done in Kingston, with major jobs performed at Provincial's main garage in Montreal. This view faces east toward the maintenance in-ground pits:

The traffic circle terminal's garage closed in 1960. The entire property was up for sale (below) sucessfully purchased by Samuel Springer on July 1, 1962. The garage's interior was ideal for a bowling alley, and was taken over by Cloverleaf bowling lanes which opened on January 10, 1963.

The new 10,000 square-foot Voyageur-Colonial bus terminal at 959 Division Street near Counter Street opened in late 1972, later becoming Curley's eatery and the Portuguese cultural centre. Voyageur moved to a new terminal at 175 Counter Street on November 29, 1992, still a bus terminal served by Megabus.

Colonial Coach Lines and Kingston's Transit History

With the demise of the Kingston electric street railway, Kingston City Coach, a subsidiary of Colonial Coach Lines, was given a ten-year franchise to operate city bus service from March 5, 1930. On March 10 alone, 1,400 interested passengers boarded for the fare of 10 cents. Interestingly, one of the first priorities was to operate buses to Cataraqui Bay, site of the terminal grain elevator construction. This allowed workers to live in Kingston, thus there was no need to erect shacks and cook houses at the site. The cost of rehabilitating the street railway was estimated to be $325,000 making bus service a much more sensible option. That may not sound like a huge dollar amount, but comparing 1936 dollars to 2024 dollars mean this reconstruction would have a cost of at least $6,000,000. Starting a bus service was easier, quicker and in a global Depression, much more affordable.

That agreement was superseded by City By-Law No. 25 was passed on November 13, 1936, confirming Kingston City Coach Co. and Colonial Coach Lines, Ltd. as the city's designated transit providers for the ensuing ten years. The initial 1936 route schedule was published in the Whig (above), and an intercity Colonial Coach Lines schedule cover from 1945 (below). The Outer Station shuttle speaks to the importance of Canadian National Railways providing most intercity transportation from Kingston until major highways were built.

The service operated by Kingston City Coach lasted until July 1, 1962. Citing rising costs of operating and increased labour [wage] demands, the company was threatening leaving its agreement with the city as early as 1951. With static ridership since 1946, facing the possibility of curtailed routes and increased costs, bus operation was assumed by the Kingston Public Transit System (KPTS) as a public utility. The KPTS moniker was chosen in May, 1962 and the system transferred to the Public Utilities Commission at the end of 1962. This previous post shows Kingston Transit buses in service beginning in that year.

Today, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with someone who was there in the Colonial days, John Carey. In subsequent posts, I'll share photos and information, courtesy of John, showing buses in Kingston as long as 90 years ago! There are certain interwoven themes, beginning in this post with transit lines from that predated our current Kingston Transit (the name first used in 1975). Subsequent posts include:

bus stations in Kingston
the buses themselves that were seen on Kingston streets
John's engaging career story

You won't need to ask for a transfer to get to these posts...just click and enjoy the trip!

On The Buses

I occasionally come across city bus photos. There are not many such photos, so it's always a neat find to come across one. With the demise of the Kingston electric railway, Kingston City Coach, a subsidiary of Colonial Bus Lines, operated city bus service from 1930 until July 1, 1962. Thereafter, buses were operated by the Kingston Public Transit System (KPTS). The KPTS moniker was chosen in May, 1962 and the system transferred to the Public Utilities Commission at the end of 1962. The system was later renamed Kingston Transit (KT). Bus 5609 (a 1952 Canadian Car & Foundry product, originally owned by Kingston City Coach) operating as a school bus at Lasalle Causeway, with Orefax tied up in background on January 15, 1968 (top photo).

Though not evident in the black & white archival photos, the Kingston buses wore an attractive white and light-blue paint scheme, still reflected in today's fleet. This online auction site photo shows bus 6223 operating on the Montreal route (note green flag) and passing St Andrew's Presbyterian Church at Princess and Barrie Streets:

Buses 6216-6230 were the first new buses ordered by KPTS, entering service in October, 1962. Four of the buses were parked at the Cricket Field, in front of the Frontenac Country Court House for their publicity photos by George Lilley, one of which was included in a Whig ad on October 3, 1962 advertising free rides!

The new General Motors buses cost just under $15,000 each.

6222 on Princess Street, 1966 (below)

Waiting buses at Brock & King Streets, 1965:

New bus orders continued, all from General Motors for their 35-foot 'New Look' models, totalling ten orders over the next 14 years, before orders were placed for higher capacity, 40-foot GM models. 6434 at Brock and King in 1966: