Route #67 could be considered by many to be Baltimore's "X-Files" line.  No schedules were ever printed for this service for public distribution.  No system maps show the operation of the line.  In fact, there have been some followers of the Baltimore Transit scene who have steadfastly denied that the route operated at all.  However, despite its obscurity, route #67 did exist, in fact operating for over a decade, to a regular group of riders who tended to enjoy their little secret.

The story of the #67 line starts in fact with a railroad line - the Western Maryland to be exact.  In the Spring of 1957, the WM decided to eliminate its commuter service from the Northwest suburbs into Hillen Station.  Astute riders of this service got together in search of alternate transportation to Downtown.  The result was the #67 line.  By June of 1957, the charter operation was in full swing, with a contingency of 44 passengers, splitting a bill of just over $20 per day to cover the cost of this regular "Charter" operation.

Initially, route #67 (or the Sudbrook Charter as it was sometimes referred) was set up to leave Belvedere Division at 7:00am each morning.  From there, it would deadhead to the WM Sudbook Station on Howard Road.  Picking up a group of commuters there at 7:20, it would then proceed to head east on Milford Mill Road to collect a second group of commuters at the Howardsville Station.  Then it would proceed non-stop along Milford Mill, Reisterstown, Druid Hill, Centre, and St. Paul, to discharge passengers at Saratoga Street.  From there, the signs were to be set "NOT IN SERVICE" and the coach would continue south on St. Paul and Light to Redwood, dropping off patrons at regular stops along the way.  Then, the coach would deadhead back to Belvedere.

For the return trip, the coach would board patrons at St. Paul and Pleasant, before heading off non-stop at 5:20pm, along St. Paul, Saratoga, Paca, McCulloh, Reisterstown Road, and Milford Mill to make the stops at both the WM stations.  Upon arrival at Sudbrook, the bus would deadhead back to Belvedere.

By early 1958, the stops had been expanded to be of greater convenience, as uptown stops were added at Woodside and Milford Mill, and Milford Mill and Reisterstown.  Drop off points for the inbound trip were added at Centre and Howard, St. Paul & Centre, and St. Paul & Pleasant.

In 1960, the operation of the Charter was moved to Retreat Street, following the closure of the Belvedere base.  That same year, the operation was highlighted in BTC's Annual Report.  Top management saw the success of this operation as a potential idea for other areas to use.  In fact, several groups had formed to discuss a peak-hour commuter charter to and from the Downtown area (plans were completed for a similar operation to Randallstown).  Despite the support of management, BTC's Manager of Charter Service was repeatedly informed as early as 1962 that there were no available buses at the peak time needed to operate such a service.  This would in effect, make the fortunate riders of the Sudbrook service, a part of a unique operation in Baltimore Transit.

Coordination of the Charter was managed by committee of four riders, represented by Warren Lechthaler.  The committee would collect the fees from each rider for submission to the BTC each month.  This committee would also make the attempts to garner new riders for the service.

By 1967, the service had fallen to a still respectable ridership of 34 paying passengers, ten of whom had been riding since the service's inception.  Still, costs were rising, as the service was now costing riders $20 each month.  The routes and stops were revised in attempts to attract new riders, even adding a stop at the Northwest Police Station in Baltimore, operating through a new apartment complex, and eventually offering true door-to-door service that saw the bus operating down Clarendon Road.

Despite several advertising attempts to attract new riders to the service, and the assignment of air-conditioned equipment to the operation, the ridership continued to drop, as the cost to bear on the remaining riders became too much to bear.  Thus, in Decemer of 1968, word was received from Mr. Lechthaler that Route #67 would make its last trip from St. Paul & Pleasant on December 31st.

Thus would draw to a close one of the longest tenures of such an obscure operation.  Among the challenges in the later years was the failure of patrons who were on vacation at a certain time to pay their part of the charter costs.  This tended to lead to hard feelings among the other paying patrons.  Still, the eleven-plus years of operation for the #67 line is certainly a remarkable feat for what might have been a far shorter chapter in the Baltimore Transit story.

Horace Ayres' EVENING SUN article of April 5, 1967 "34 Commuters Solve Problem of Off-Route Bus Service" was used in preparation of this page.

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