1958 GM Bus Arrives at IRM

Cincinnati Newport & Covington 283, a GM-built city transit bus dating to 1958, arrived in Union on September 22nd, 2026, following its donation to the Illinois Railway Museum. This model TDH-4512 diesel bus represents the only piece of city transit equipment from the Cincinnati area preserved at IRM and represents a late example of the GM postwar bus design. CN&C 283 is the 41st bus in the IRM collection.

The CN&C, which used the nickname “The Green Line,” was one of two distinct transit systems in the Cincinnati area. The Cincinnati Street Railway served the city and its environs in Ohio, while the CN&C crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky to connect its namesake cities. Both systems originally used streetcars, later adopting trolley buses and eventually converting to diesel buses. CN&C 283 was the final unit in an order of seven buses that enabled the retirement of the company’s last trolley buses in March 1958. This order was the last older-design bus purchased by the C&NC, and they began purchasing more modern “New Look” GM buses in 1960.

This bus operated for the CN&C until 1972. Following the severe flooding in June 1972 caused by Hurricane Agnes, the parent company of both the CN&C and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, transit systems transferred CN&C 283 to the latter city. It was renumbered Luzerne County Transportation Authority 610 and operated until replaced by newer buses in 1974. It was then purchased by an individual who planned to convert it to an RV, but it remained intact in his garage until the 2020s. An IRM member acquired it and donated it to the Museum in 2026.

Funds are needed to support the restoration and maintenance of motor buses at IRM – click here to learn how you can help. Information on the annual Bus Day event, which will take place September 26, 2026, can be found here.

1958 GM Bus Arrives at IRM

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