page_title: Kenworth
section_title: T & C series
hierarchical_section_title: Kenworth / Bus industry / 1940–1959 / T & C series
caption_attribution_description: English: A retired 1955 Kenworth Model T-216 "Pacific School Coach" seen here in Cathlamet, Washington.
context_page_description: Kenworth Trucks, Inc. is an American-based truck manufacturer. Founded in 1923 as the successor company to Gerlinger Motors, Kenworth specializes in production of heavy-duty and medium-duty commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Seattle suburb Kirkland, Washington, Kenworth has been a wholly owned subsidiary of PACCAR since 1945, operating alongside sister company Peterbilt Motors.
  Kenworth marked several firsts in truck production; alongside the first truck produced with a standard diesel-fuel engine, the company introduced a raised-roof sleeper cab, and the first heavy-duty truck with an aerodynamically-optimized body design. The Kenworth W900 was produced continuously from 1961 to 2019, serving as one of the longest production runs of any vehicles in automotive history.
context_section_description: The Model T school bus, which entered production after the last bus was built for Great Northern in April 1949, was an immediate hit with many school bus operators in the Pacific Northwest. The T-126 as it was known, boasted a unique four-pane windshield that offered unheralded forward visibility in any school bus at the time, and was the first school bus ever built to feature a roof escape hatch (now required equipment). Production of the T-126 averaged over 375 buses per year, making it Kenworth's most lucrative bus offering in the company's history up to that time. Shortly after its launch, Kenworth renamed the line the model CT. The model CT also came in several varying passenger capacities ranging from 55, 61, 67, 73, and 79 passengers. The model CT "Pacific School Coach" was powered by an International Red Diamond 450 inline six-cylinder gas engine placed at the rear of the bus, and a LeRoi H540 engine was made available for an LR-73 model that was produced in August 1950. Some orders for modified model CTs were made available and sold internationally, with variants being sold to Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as the Middle East.
  After the boon of school bus production, and to focus more on truck production due to a rising number of heavy duty truck orders, all bus production was shifted from Kenworth over to Pacific Car and Foundry in the middle of 1956. After some final cleanup, PC&F wound up completely outstanding orders for the Pacific School Coach in early 1957. Shortly afterwards, PC&F sold all rights, tooling, and equipment to  Gillig Bros., a school bus manufacturer based in Hayward, California. Gillig would later incorporate many designs of the model CT "Pacific School Coach" into their own Transit Coach line of school buses, starting with the 501- and C-series models in 1958 and 1959, respectively.
caption: A retired 1955 Kenworth T126 "Pacific School Coach", seen here in Cathlamet, Washington. Compare with image below, of same bus, taken after restoration has commenced.
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