BusTalk

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

As always, greatly appreciate your always "in depth" historical info!

From the information I've read here over the years, courtesy of yourself and our good friend Mr. MaBSTOA 15, I've learned that, over the decades, there have been many bus rout consolidations, abandonments, and re-routings; also, no shortage of traffic flow changes on many thoroughfares, which, of course, caused many roite changes for a number of bus routes.

I've read that, in many cities (late in the streetcar era) many car lines were abandoned outright when two-way streets were converted into one-way thoroughfares; this was especially the case in postwar Baltimore.....

"NYO"

["AVOID TRAFFIC FUSS-RIDE WITH US!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just thinking..........

It is interesting that the "Bee-oh-Tee" never "poichased" any ACF-BRILLs (aka "BRILL-boas") or WHITES.

On the other hand, "Bah-ston's" "Em-Tee-Yay" rostered a substantial number of ACF-BRILL "C-36s" and WHITE "798s", that lasted into the 1960s.

Ditto the "See-Tee-Yay".

Though the ppstwar "Bee-Tee-See" (Baltimore) fleet was virtually all "Gee-Em", even they rostered "C-36s", which weren't retired until 1967..........

"NYO"

["ACF-BRILL"]

["WHITE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Foither"..........

Was just thinking of the old Hudson County "Indy" companies I grew up with, 60-odd years ago; as DIVERSE as their fleets were through the mid-1960s, NOT ONE of these outfits rostered ANY "BRILL-boas", though WHITES were indeed commonplace.

On the other hand, several NJ "suboiban" companies (DE CAMP, INTER-CITY, SOMERSET) operated "C-44s" through much of the 1960s.......

"MYO"

["22 JERSEY CITY"]

["97 PATERSON"]

["148 NEW YORK CITY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"PATTONS"..........

In my area, well into the 1960s, both prewar and postwar MACKS were commonplace with old Hudson County "indies"; the elderly prewar buses were gone by about 1966; the postwar buses by late 1966/early 1968......

"NYO"

["JERSEY CITY-BAYONNE LOCAL"]

[MaBSTOA 15]

New York City Omnibus 2629 regarding your Surface Transportation Six Wheel double deck bus.

Surface bought twenty six Six Wheel double deck model 66 in 1927. They were operated in the Bronx on the Concourse routes 1 and 2. They were used till 1933.

In 1933 they were cut down to a single deck and remained in service till 1939 when the first diesel buses arrived. These were Twin Coach, Yellow Coach and White Motors.

By the way at the outset of World War 2 Surface operated the largest fleet of diesel powered buses in the United States.

Surface Transportations initial fleet was composed of the 26 Six Wheel double deck 36 single deck Six Wheel model 64 twenty eight Versares model 6HC37 and fourteen small ACF model 601-2-29.

That leads me to the photo in the scrap yard in Image of Rails Third Avenue Railway book. Look closely and you'll see the fleet number M31 between the hood and the door. M could stand for maintenance. It was common practice back then to cut down used buses and turn them into maintenance trucks. The only bus with the fleet number 31 in the Surface Westchester division was an ACF.

The true idemtity of the vehicle in that photo went up in smoke.

[MaBSTOA 15]

Information on the Six Wheel buses

[MaBSTOA 15]

Information on the Versares buses

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

MaBSTOA 15:

Man, you've OUTDONE YOURSELF yet again!!!!!!

I would have PAID tp go back in time and ridden on those truly ungainly (but dang interesting!) buses!

Too bad that one example does not survive today; man, what a museum piece a bus like THAT would have made!

THANK YOU! (again!)

"NYO"

["SURFACE TRANSPORTATION"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On this day in 1952...........

The very last vestiges of the once-complex TARS system came to an end, when cars of the #7 line (in Yonkers) made their final runs.

Several days earlier, the other remaining lines were also converted to buses.

A long and colorful era in street railway history was now relegated to history..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116521

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116564

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116466

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116414

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["7"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Appreciate, as always, the additional historical info.

See also:

https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/TARS_Third_Avenue_Railway_System#google_vignette

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Avenue_Railway

["TARS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

,,,,though I've mentioned this interesting little book some while back, the ("Images of Rail" series) "METROPOLITAN NEW YORK'S THIRD AVENUE RAILWAY SYSTEM" (Ballard), I was noticing (again) the photos that feature "Soiface" buses.

One photo I particularly like was taken about 1949, taken from the elevated IRT terminal at 242nd Street/Broadway (a "White Castle" stands on the corner!) has two TARS streetcars and two "Soiface" buses ("Gee-Ems") heading in opposite directions.

What route were these buses running on?

If you look closely at the photos in this book, you can also spot "Soiface" buses in the background, or in close camera range; one photo, taken at 166th Street & St. Nicholas, has an elderly TARS convertible, with a "Queen Mary" in the background............

"NYO"

["TARS"]

["RIDE THE SURFACE WAY"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.

What route would the two "Soiface" buses have been running on, in that c-1949 photo at 242nd & Broadway?

"NYO"

["SURFACE TRANSPORTATION"]