BusTalk Forum Index BusTalk
A Community Discussing Buses and Bus Operations Worldwide!
 
 BusTalk MainBusTalk Main FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups BusTalk GalleriesBusTalk Galleries   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Imagine if FACCo had a facility like this!
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 16, 17, 18 ... 57, 58, 59  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    BusTalk Forum Index -> New York City Buses
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Further on the ex-London "RT's" in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).......

Though many buses remained easily recognizable from their London days, there was also much in the way of adaptation and re-vamping, as these buses entered their new life from from London.

Also, given the fact that London's climate is far removed from the humid, tropical heat of Ceylon, it is not at all surprising that the former LT buses assumed modifications in view of this (NO a/c, however!)

Some buses had sliding windows at the front of the upper deck installed; many buses had their original lower-deck windows replaced with sliding ones.

A number of the old "RT's" had the lower panels of the engine compartment removed, to provide increased ventilation to the engines.

With inadequate repair facilities and less-than-professional mechanics, it is no wonder that these old veterans of London soon became decrepit, battered, run-down wrecks.

Yet, somehow, these old workhorses STILL kept on running for a number of years more, before they were retired......

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:33 am; edited 4 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

....those old "RT's" that went on to serve in South Africa and Asia soon found themselves in a unique segregated services (which, thankfully, no longer exists)

In this now-gone service, the buses used on non-white routes used flashing indicators (and electric sign boxes) to denote that this particular bus did not carry white passengers.

In Colombo, bus stops were marked by overhead metal signs, mounted on poles, reading:

"MOTOR BUS HALTING PLACE"

In later years, some of the old "RT's" were stripped of their bodies and converted into lorries (trucks)......

"NYO"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The photo of this battered "RT" operating in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) dates to 1972.

Note the overall raffish condition of the bus; also, note the missing mudguard "fender) and, also, the new sliding windows installed at the front of the upper deck.

The total lack of outside advertising is quite the opposite of London.....

https://sltbbus.blogspot.com/2015/06/an-ex-london-transport-leyland-rtw.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.......though we have often heard of the many ex-London "RT" buses exported to Ceylon (now Sri Laka) many "RM" Routemaster have likewise traveled to Sri Lanka.

In total (AFAIK) forty-one "RM's" were shipped to Sri Lanka, as part of an international aid package.

Following a re-orgniztion of the nationalized Regional Transport Boards in 1990/1991, each depot (garage) became a separate subsidiary company in is own right, and these companies became known as the "Peoplised Transport Company".

Thee companies were later merged into eleven larger companies in 1997. Disposals of the "RM's" had commenced by this time, and while several had since passed on to private owners, a number of buses have sadly been scrapped (clearly, the "RM's" did not serve Sri Lankans as long as the older RT's")

In a report from 1999, it was found that at least five "RM's" remained in regular service, but, more than likely, there were still others on other parts of the island.

Oddly enough, not only were these buses maintained far more decently than the old "RT's", but, they also carried advertising posters (some were even painted with the logos of the products that were being touted on their flanks)

Some buses were re-equipped with ASHOK engines, and these buses were easy to spot due to their rebuilt fronts......

"NYO"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also of interest:

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

www.countrybus.org/RM/RM.html

Interestingly, FACCo was quite a bit more "up to date" than LT, regarding its double-decker fleet.

FACCo introduced one-man double-deckers when the "Queen Mary" buses entered service in the late 1930's; however, it would not be until the 1960's when the first front-entrance, one-man double-deckers entered service in London.

Also, these new one-man double-deckers also introduced rear engine double-deckers to the LT fleet; FACCo did the same in the 1930's......

"NYO"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Introducing rear-engine, one-man double-deckers to London*:

www.countrybus.org/XAXF/XA.htm

www.countrybus.org/DMS/DMS1.htm

Had FACCo/MaBSTOA still been operating double-deckers in the 1960's, perhaps they might have looked like these LT buses.....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2021 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

....recall, also, that FACCo was already operating single-deck buses by the later 1930's; in London, however, it would not be until 1952, when the new "flat face" buses/coaches ("RF" class) would begin to replace the older, front-engined "T" types.

Outside of the "RF" types, it would not be until the 1960's that non-"RF"-type, single-deck buses would become commonplace in London, the "Merlins", as an example ("OMO" buses).....

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:39 pm; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2021 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

See:

www.countrybus.org/merlswft/merlin.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2021 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Though none of FACCo's horse-drawn buses were ever converted into mail transports, in London, however, a number converted omnibuses were used by the Post Office to transport the Royal Mail ("Royal Mail Parcel Coaches"), beginning in 1887.

Scroll down the page for a rare photo of one of these converted omnibuses......

https://www.postalmuseum.org/blog/victorian-mail-transport/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two "early" rear-engine FACCo/NYO buses:

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154382

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154384

At the time that these FACCo buses were new, it would still be a decade or more before the first rear-engine (single-deck) buses appeared in the LT fleet.

And, it would not be until well into the 1960's, that single-deck buses (with rear doors) began to enter service in London......

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Single-deck, front-engine FACCO #2500.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156385

(courtey: nycsubway.org)

Though very much in the minority, the first single-deck buses in London appeared about 1910; the earliest of these buses loaded from the rear platform (as was the case with the single-deck DE DIONS)

Interestingly, that arrangement remained commonplace in Paris through the 1960's........

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Sun Nov 21, 2021 5:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The modern "RF" types (flat front) buses/coaches did not appear in London until the early 1950's, many years after rear-engine buses had become commonplace on FACCo........

www.countrybus.org/rf/RF.htm

www.countrybus.org/rf/RF1.htm

www.countrybus.org/rf/RF3.htm
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
W.B. Fishbowl



Age: 57
Joined: 02 Oct 2014
Posts: 2378
Location: New York, New York, USA

PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:
Two "early" rear-engine FACCo/NYO buses:

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154382

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154384

At the time that these FACCo buses were new, it would still be a decade or more before the first rear-engine (single-deck) buses appeared in the LT fleet.

And, it would not be until well into the 1960's, that single-deck buses (with rear doors) began to enter service in London......

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

#154382 was Madison Avenue Coach, a NYCO subsidiary which was affiliated with FACCo.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

W.B.:

I've always liked reading of old bus companies (like railroads) that seemed to be "competitors", but were, in fact, affilates.

In London, pre-LPTB, though there were affilates, to be sure, there were far more competitors.

GREEN LINE was closely associated with LT for many years (this long-established company served the far suburbs); however, a number of LT bus routes reached the innermost fringes of suburban (or "country" territory) served by GREEN LINE.

In fact, it was not at all uncommon to see LT double-deckers (or single-deckers) sporting roller blinds reading: "GREEN LIFE RELIEF", when there was a shortage of buses in the GL fleet, or, during traffic surges)

To make things even more interesting, you'd also see green buses in the "country" areas, sporting LT insignia!

However, in later years, both LT and GREEN line bus operations were handed over to the new NATIONAL BUS COMPANY......

"NYO"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 22282
Location: NEW JOISEY

PostPosted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

..........recall, also, that, back in its heyday, LT was much like the "Tee-Yay", operating both the buses (with the exception of a few "indy" companies) as well as the Underground tubes.

When the MTA took over GREEN BUS, STEINWAY, etc., some years back, it truly achieved a monopoly; remaining competition was now in the past.

In the early years of the Underground, there were a number of separate companies operating the Tube trains, much in the way the IRT and the BRT/BMT were operating the subways and the elevateds, pre-1940 Unification (remember, too, the B&QT's streetcar and trolley bus networks)

TARS was, of course, an "independent" streetcar company, whose routes were later replaced by SURFACE buses; it had no rapid transit "connections", as did the BRT/BMT.

Today, in London, LT is now more, and, as it was in the early day of motor buses in London, a plethora of independent companies are now moving the masses about......

"NYO"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    BusTalk Forum Index -> New York City Buses All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 16, 17, 18 ... 57, 58, 59  Next
Page 17 of 59

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group