BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In its heyday, PS did a tremendous charter business; it was not uncommon, back in the 1950's and 1960's, to see over 50 chartered PS buses taking up a good chunk of one of Palisades Park's parking lots.

These photos show a group of new PS Old Look suburbans (obviously on a charter to Coney Island) under the El at the old Culver depot, about 1954; a B&QT PCC can also be glimpsed in the background of one photo)........

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3331

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4230

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4231

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Back in the heyday of Journal Square, PS stretcar/bus passengers had the advantage of boarding and debarking under cover, at the old Sip Avenue terminal.

The PS terminal was connected to the H&M station (there was a restaurant and waiting room in this passageway at one time); there was also a wooden escalator (which I remember when I was small) that went from the PS area down into the H&M station.

There were also several storefronts under the PS shed; some of these stores also had entrances out on the Square itself (the "Glove Shop", where my mother liked to shop, had an entrance on the PS concourse, and another in the old H&M station. concourse.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Bergen Avenue & Newkirk, facing north, 1940's.

Here, a PSNJ "Compromise" roof car is seen operating on the wartime "SOUTH KEARNY" line; note the bus just glimpsed between the tractor-trailer and the streetcar (might be a "BERGEN AVENUE" bus)........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116282

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Old Bergen Road & Gates Avenue (1948)

Another veteran PS "Compromise" roof streetcar is seen clattering through the special work near the GREENVILLE depot; also, note the new PS Old Look (in new postwar gray) on the right.........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116279

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The end of an era (August, 1949).........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116277

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Late 1940's panoramic view of the NYCRR's West Shore terminal in Weehawken (note the outbound "UNION CITY" line PS streetcar, and the GM bus, at the terminal).

This terminal was a wonderfully quirky and antiquated jumble of structures, as you can clearly see here.

You can also see the ferryboats, which operated to W. 42nd Street and Cortlandt Street, until 1959.

The huge terminal was destroyed by a massive blaze in 1962, several years after it closed down (I vividly remember seeing this huge fire from atop Boulevard East, even though I was quite young at the time)

The streetcar tracks at the terminal site were still visible in the 1970's (I took a photo, back around 1975); sadly, nothing whatsoever in this view survives today, on the New Jersey side.......

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116259

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

PSNJ #19 buses served the West Shore terminal from August, 1949, until 1959.

It was bizarre, indeed, that the NYCRR abandoned the ferries to Manhattan in March of 1959, BUT continued to run the trains into Weehawken!

With no H&M connection at Weehawken, nor a direct bus service to the PABT, Wst Shore commuters were simply stranded; for months, the NYC operated nearly empty trains to Weehawken.

This farce finally ended in late 1959, when the NYC finally pulled the plug on the West Shore commuter trains.

For some while, at the time, a group of well-heeled West Shore commuters were talking of purchasing/leasing a retired WW2 PT boat, and converting it into an exclusive "commuters yacht" to take them into Manhattan from "up the river"! (recall, the original "CIRCLE LINE" boats were all converted from WW2-era Coast Guard cutters and landing craft)

Another plan that never happened: Citizens United Transit Committee interested the Hudson River Day Line in establishing another ferry connection from Weehawken to Manhattan; however, interest waned that the NYC asked for an annual fee of $58,000 for the use of a slip at Weehawken..........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Beginning about 1940, PSNJ leased several buses to the NYS&W RR, for their new "SUSQUEHANNA TRANSFER" service.

The railroad opened up a modest transfer station in the shadows of the Lincoln Tunnel approaches in Weehawken, and here, commuters could transfer from a commuter train to the bus for the short hop into New York (after 1950, NYS&W connection buses operated to the PABT)

These buses, though still retaining PS paint and insignias, were lettered "SUSQUEHANNA"

Through the 1940's, the railroad operated sleek streamlined rail cars (built by ACF) on this service; these cars did not operate south into Jersey City.

By the 1950's, RDC cars were being used, and after the NYS&W sold its RDC's to the CNJ, conventional locomotive-hauled trains were used until the end of service.

Passengers opting for Lower Manhattan could still ride all the way down to the ERIE's Pavonia Avenue terminal (until 1960), where connections could be made to either the ERIE ferries or the H&M tubes.

The ERIE's ferry service to Chambers St. was shut down in December of 1958.

By that time, service was down to a single boat between Pavonia Avenue and Manhattan, as all ERIE trains (except NORTHERN BRANCH trains) had already been shifted up to the DL&W's Hoboken terminal)

"SUSQUEHANNA TRANSFER" service lasted until mid-1966, when the NYS&W axed the commuter trains......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In this 1940's view, we see inbound PSNJ "Compromise" roof car #2800 on the "UNION CITY" line, about to leave the private ROW and enter the forecourt of the sprawling West Shore terminal; Boulevard East is atop the Palisades.

Look closely on the left and you can also discern ASV wires.......

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?116261

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Journal Square.......in London??

In a book I have on the history of London Transport, there is an interesting old photo (taken in 1923) showing the Tube station and forecourt Golders Green.

It easy to recall the "Journal Square Of Olde" when looking at this photo; the Tube station, like the old H&M station at Journal Square, featured multiple platforms and tracks that ran in an open cut.

Adjacent to the Tube station, on the "forecourt", are several open-air bus lanes (fourteen open-topped double decker buses are seen here, awaiting the next load of passengers from incoming Tube trains)

This photo dates to the time when the name "Journal Square" was not even in use yet; the H&M (later PATH) station then was known as "SUMMIT AVENUE".

In this photo, there is a small commercial district, that was also served by trams.

Another open-air Tube station, at Edgeware featured a very condensed (but busy) forecourt that could accommodate several buses; as was the case at Journal Square for decades, bus-Tube connections were easily made.

In recent years, the former bus loading forecourt at this station has been used only by private cars, dropping off (or picking up) passengers using the Tubes.

A new bus station had been built behind the 1920's era Tube station......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On the frontspiece of "PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD IN JERSEY CITY" (Charles Caldes, 2011), there is a mid-late 1920's postcard of Journal Square, looking southeast.

Quite a few buses in this view; some were lined up where, in later years, the NHBL's #1 and #5 would load, above the H&M/PATH tracks.

Just opposite, several more buses are at the safety island, facing south.

Three rows of buses (facing north) are seen awaiting departure adjacent to the "TRUST COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY" building,

Construction was then taking place on the south side of the LOEW's movie house, where, in later years, the "CHINA CLIPPER" restaurant and several other businesses establishments would eventually be located.

In the McNulty book on Jersey City, buses were still lined up alongside the "TRUST COMPANY" building, again facing north (these looked to be "INTER-CITY" buses), in a photo that was snapped in the early 1950's.

Clearly, over the course of the decades, the assignment of bus loading areas in "The Square" varied.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On this day, back in 2000 (the horrors of 9/11 were then still more than a year into the future) the HBLR extended service from Exchange Place to 34th St., Bayonne, and, also, from Liberty State Park to West Side Avenue.

Cannot believe it's already been 20 years..........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A bit of a "mystery".......

One of the "mysteries" I have encountered over the years regarding the streetcar operations of PSNJ is that, in all my years of research, I've yet to have com across any indication of a streetcar line that ran down Johnston Avenue in Jersey City, to the CRRNJ ferry terminal.

I know, too, that in later years, I've looked for traces of old streetcar rail in the cobblestoned stretch of Johnston Avenue (today's Audrey Zapp Drive), and never found even the slightest indication that streetcar rails were ever embedded in this street.

The only section of track I could find was a short stretch that crossed Johnston Avenue on an angle, connecting the CNJ with the LV's float yard.

It would seem strange that no PS streetcar line (or any streetcar line for that matter) ever served such a busy terminal, which also served the B&O, RDG, and LV, in addition to the CNJ ferries.

If there was never any streetcar service to the CRRNJ station, how, then, did Jersey City-bound passengers get to their destinations, after getting off a ferry?

My guess would be that they could have taken a train to one of the local CNJ stations in Jersey City, and then made a streetcar connection there.

I do know that the CRRNJ/LV station on Jackson Avenue was served by the PS "JACKSON" streetcar line' by the time the "JACKSON" line was converted to buses in 1949, the railroad station on Jackson Avenue was already closed for a few years.

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a mid/late 1930's photo showing a 2400 series deck roof PS car on the "JACKSON" line; on the left, the joint CRRNJ/LV station can just be glimpsed (the platforms were reached by stairways down from the station house)

The maroon and cream paint on this car tells us that it was one of "De Luxe" cars; in the late 1920's, PS upgraded a number of both deck and Compromise roof cars with new leather, bucket-type seating and a new two-tone paint scheme.

These cars were known as the "De Luxe" cars; the last cars in this scheme were all repainted into the new orange/yellow by the early 1940's.

http://www.newdavesrailpix.com/psct/htm/psct035.htm

(courtesy: newdavesrailpix)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A further mystery in regards to obvious lack of streetcar service to the CRRNJ terminal on Johnston Avenue, is that WHY would this be the ONLY North (Hudson) River rail/ferry depot NOT served by a streetcar line (either PSNJ, or earlier North Hudson Railways)?

Like the ERIE's terminal at Pavonia Avenue, the CRRNJ terminal was located at least a good mile from any residential area; however, at the ERIE terminal, there were not only streetcars to make "local" connections, but also, the H&M tubes.

As we already know, the West Shore (NYCRR), the DL&W, the ERIE, and the PRR ferry terminals were all served by streetcars (in later years, also ASV's and buses); again, WHY would there be no streetcar connection to a waterfront terminal as busy as the CRRNJ's?

By the end of all HUDSON Division streetcar service in 1949, only the NYCRR's West Shore terminal at Weehawken, and DL&W terminal at Hoboken were still served by streetcars; by this late date, both the ERIE and the PRR terminals were served by buses only..........

"NYO"