became Kenworth's standard line of buses throughout the early and mid-1930s. Experiments with "deck-and-a-half" buses would soon follow, made reality in the W-1 model, as well as the company's very first experiments with rear-engine coach-type buses in 1936. Transit buses Kenworth changed its production line early in 1939, reflecting a desire to remain "in tune" with market forces. The conventional bus chassis, which had become poor sellers, were dropped altogether, and Kenworth focused its designs on more transit or "coach-type" buses with engines being located either underfloor or at the back of the bus. By this time, Kenworth was a major force in transit bus production, and nearly every major transit company in the Pacific Northwest were running Kenworth buses. Seattle Municipal Railway purchased several new model 601s to replace the previous model H30s, which were powered by a Hall-Scott 135 engine underfloor and had bodies built by the Pacific Car and Foundry Company. Kenworth also built a model 612, which became the company's most widely distributed underfloor coach. 27 were built with 14 wheelbase variations (and seven engine variations), and all 27 were sold by as many as 15 different operators. 1940s At the beginning of the decade, bus customers began to decline in number, but the company received larger orders as several regional operators consolidated into larger, territorial ones. Bremerton Transit purchased several buses in 1940 to accommodate the increase in ridership due to the preparations for the war itself; the same year, the Seattle Municipal Railway purchased 30 buses in a single order, assisting Kenworth in breaking a production record. Producing about 40 buses yearly, Kenworth became a low-volume bus manufacturer, accommodating special-order coaches. Gray Line affiliates Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver purchased several of these special coach orders known as Grayliner or Grayliner Junior buses; the bodies for these buses were all built by Pacific Car and Foundry. At the onset of World War II, war production took precedence over bus manufacturing as Kenworth supplied recovery vehicles for the U.S. Army. Along with military variations of their commercial truck line, Kenworth buses remained in production for use as troop transports. In 1945, Kenworth was sold to Pacific Car and Foundry; both companies believed bus production would play a pivotal role in jumpstarting a postwar economy. Kenworth also saw the opportunity in hiring former military truck and aircraft workers as part of launching its post-war product line. For