Local Lines Bus Company

The first bus service to be provided to the Skead community was through the Local Lines Limited Bus Company. The company was owned by Ed Carter of Sudbury and started servicing the community of Skead in 1943. The first bus drivers were Albert Leduc and Harvey Vaillancourt.

In the 1940's, many people couldn't afford to purchase a vehicle, which meant that most residents would take the bus. The bus would travel between Skead and Sudbury twice a day and in those times, it did not make any stops along the route to pick up passengers. Instead, people could only board the bus at the stop in front of the general store.

Local Lines Limited Bus.  Photo courtesy of the Greater Sudbury Historical Database.Originally, the bus would leave Skead in the morning, arrive back at noon, leave again in the evening, and return once more at midnight. The driver, Bill Hayes, would rent a room at Poupore's bunk house for the night. However, once the bus began to provide transportation to schools, the schedule changed. The bus would leave Skead at 8:00 a.m., return at noon, leave again at 2:00 p.m., and finally return at 5:00 p.m.

As people started to purchase their own vehicles, the need for bus services began to decline, resulting in a reduction in the number of trips provided. Eventually, bus service was down to twice a week instead of every day.

In February of 1956, Bill Hayes left his position as bus driver to work for the Falconbridge Nickel Mines. He was the last bus driver for the company that would stay overnight in Skead.

The Local Lines Limited Bus Company continued to operate for about a year after Hayes' departure, making its last run in 1957. In 1968, the Grant Bus Lines took up the task of providing bus services to residents twice weekly. They provided this service for ten years before stopping altogether in 1978 when the company was bought out by Charterways.

From 1978 until the amalgamation of the City of Greater Sudbury, there was no bus service to or from Skead except for the school buses that transported students throughout the district.

Today, bus service is provided to the Skead community through the City of Greater Sudbury Transit Services.

 

Material compiled from Skead, Ontario, Canada: 1924-1999.

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