Atlantic Greyhound Lines - John Gilmer and Others

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).

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 Atlanta (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 Savannah, 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 Valdosta 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 New Orleans (in Louisiana) and Atlanta.

Gilmer also owned one or more automotive dealerships in Winston-Salem which sold Chrysler cars and GMC trucks.