THE HISTORY OF THE EAGLE BUS BUILT IN BROWNSVILLE AND HARLINGEN FROM 1974-1997~PART THREE

                                            by Daniel Lenz

Daniel Lenz

I went to work for Eagle International in March of 1986 which was a fairly lean operation at the time, only producing about 75 buses that year.

In the summer of 1987, Trailways (Owner of Eagle International) sold out to Greyhound Lines, Inc. which included the Brownsville factory and assets. 

Under the Greyhound ownership, the factory would become known as Eagle Bus Mfg., Inc.

Business would pick up for the production of buses with Greyhound ordering 50 buses almost immediately, along with other contracts and the charter and tour bus industry picking up.

Eagle Production Line~Brownsville, TX

However, Eagle Bus Mfg., Inc. would get caught up in the Greyhound strike of 1990-91, which led to a bankruptcy filing that included all of Greyhounds companies.

This prevented continued production at the Brownsville factory of the Eagle Bus for obvious reasons, the main one being that we could not pay our bills and vendors as the money was controlled by the courts.

Eagle Bus Mfg. closed completely in about February of 1991. The company was eventually sold out of bankruptcy to Moto Diesel Mexicana who started bringing operations back in early 1992. The new company would be known as Eagle Coach Corporation.

Eagle Production Line~Brownsville, TX

Under the new company name, operations resumed at the Brownsville facility.

The Eagle Bus would be built up until calendar year 1997, when again bankruptcy came into play. A couple of other attempts at resuming operations failed to come to fruition.

The Eagle Bus as a whole is considered a very iconic bus to the industry, being sold into over 25 countries over the years, and to people who just loved the styling.

Eagle Buses at one time were considered the choice of entertainers, especially the Gospel groups and Country and Western. At one time the Eagle Bus commanded 98% of the entertainer coach market, mainly because of the torsion bar suspension which gave it the smoothest ride of any bus in its day, obviously something that was very important to the stars riding them.

Eagle Bus Production~Brownsville, TX

The Eagle brand has not been produced since 1997. This is quite sad that it ended the way it did, mainly falling victim to parent companies that took them out.

There are so many people in Brownsville that worked for the factory right out of high school and that was there life. It was crushing after being loyal to the company for so many years, to have to move on to something else.

If you ask people, even today, they know of the Eagle Bus production here in Brownsville, it may be through directly working there, a family member or friend who worked there, etc.

Brownsville's Eagle Production Line~'97, '98

Brownsville should be very proud of playing a major role back in the day, providing a product that was first class within the bus industry. It could not have happened without the loyal and dedicated people who worked there and the support of the general public.

If you want to learn more about the History of the Eagle Bus, you can click on this link where I talk about the iconic brand from its inception up until the end of production, including several pictures of all the different Eagle models built:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0JFP60eXTU&fbclid=IwAR1bVNNu- 7lEswJXyvYD2DsK2x7meTQYcnfUcfFRbC2460FcgXX0iDFpthA

Eagle Production Line Seating Assembly

You can also search for my group called Silver Eagle Bus on facebook where were doing our best to keep the Eagle Bus history alive and well with over 8,000 members. It is a private group that you can ask to join. 

Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/silvereaglebus

Note: I have used the name Trailways in general terms for purpose of this article.

They were also known over the years as National Trailways Bus System, Transcontinental Bus System and Continental Trailways.