Southern
Coach Lines-Nashville Transit-Nashville Railway & Light
Image courtesy Dave Price
The larger Nashville Transit was for school kids and the Nashville Railway and Light was at one time the name of the streetcar company (before Southern Coach Lines). I believe at the time of the change-over the streetcars were run by what they referred to as "Tepco" meaning I think Tennessee Electric Power Company- which was part of what ended the street cars- Some state commission ruled that the streetcar company owning the power source constituted an unlawful something or other. I was very young and barely remember streetcars but the lawsuit is in the books.
The School
Bus Token was
originally 3c whereas I believe regular fare was maybe still a nickel.
Adults didn't use tokens until well after the War. I am almost
certain that
the school tokens pre-date the regular ones. We used to go downtown
and buy
them at the old bus barn across Fourth Avenue from the Bijou. You
would get
a big roll for something like a half-dollar. Well, sixteen times 3c
is 48c
and maybe you got the seventeenth for 2c to make the roll come out
even.
When adult tokens came in I believe they were two for a quarter. But
for a
long time there were lots of things for a nickel: candy bars,
Cokes,
non-school bus rides, phone calls. I do not remember nickel popcorn
though,
that was a dime as far back as I remember. I believe Streetcar
fare was 7c
when they went out, then buses were just a nickel."
-Dave
Price
