What would become the Q74 began service on October 14, 1940, operated by the North Shore Bus Company between Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing as a third branch of the . On October 28, this service was combined with North Shore's Bronx–Flushing–World's Fair Line, running between Kew Gardens and West Farms, Bronx as the Q44. By December of that year the service was split; the Q44 Bronx–Flushing–Jamaica service (the main Q44 branch) ran between Jamaica and the Bronx, while the Q44 Kew Gardens/Vleigh Place service ran between Union Turnpike Station and Jewel Avenue in Kew Gardens Hills. It was variously known as the Vleigh Place Branch of the , the Vleigh Place Shuttle, the Q44 shuttle, or the Q44A shuttle. By 1942, the Q44 Vleigh Place route was cut back to Jewel Avenue. On May 29, 1943, the Q44 Vleigh Place Branch was temporarily discontinued due to a gas shortage due to World War II. On May 20, 1946, the route was extended from Jewel Avenue to the Flushing–Main Street terminal at Roosevelt Avenue. The route was truncated back to Jewel Avenue on January 27, 1947. That year, North Shore Bus would be taken over by the New York City Board of Transportation (later the New York City Transit Authority), making the bus route city operated. Under city operation, the bus kept its existing route.