The durable post-World War I truck chassis built by the White Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was a popular pick with bus builders in the teens and twenties. This pair of distinctive-looking Seattle Municipal Railway coaches on White chassis’ were constructed by an unknown bus body builder.
An attractive exterior finish was chosen by the Railway for the vehicles. The chassis, the hood, and fenders were likely black, the bus body was painted in two different shades, and the window frames and the door and structure were left in a natural wood finish.
The circa 1919 photo of the buses waiting on Pine Street near Broadway Avenue in Seattle is courtesy of Seattle Now And Then. There you can find an interesting story with photographs covering the public transport in the City over the last century.
This street must be quite hilly, note that all of the cars have their front tires turned into the curb.
It must have been ‘interesting’ driving something like that with rear wheel-only brakes and slick solid tyres. Getting it stopped on a downhill in the wet with a full load of passengers would be scary. I wonder what the speed limit on solid tyres was – maybe only 12mph like it was in the UK?