BusTalk

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:12 pm Post subject: "QUEENSBORO" MEMORIES

In this undated trolley photo, note FACC double decker in the background.....

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46230

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:16 pm Post subject:

Note very small glimpse of a "STEINWAY" coach in the left background........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46193

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 3:32 am Post subject:

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629,

As luck would have it, I just came across the attachment which will certainly fit nicely into this interesting thread.

In this 1949 shot within the labyrinth called Queens Plaza we see in the foreground traction car # 534 operating for the Queensboro Bridge Railway Company subsidiary of Steinway Omnibus Corporation.

In the background running on its #15 route between mid-town Manhattan and Jackson Heights is a mid thirties double decker Yellow Coach Model 720 operating for the Fifth Avenue Coach Company.

The model 720, sister to the model 735, was six inches lower than the 735 and was specifically built for the low elevator structure clearances on the Roosevelt Avenue portion of the route - the 720's were also used exclusively on commonly owned Chicago Motor Coach routes that were dotted with low overpasses.

Photo courtesy of 'Vintage-Vauly75' and is up for auction on eBay as item #170981058726.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 2:21 pm Post subject:

Mr. "L"

Herre is another classic "QUEENSBORO" scene from the 50's that I'm sure you'll enjoy......sure wish this old sign was in a museum today!

"NYO"

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?136144

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2701 Location: South Florida

Great shots, guys!

I remember when the Queensboro Bridge cars were the last street cars left in the City. They lasted into, what, 1960?

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:35 am Post subject:

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:56 am Post subject:

traildriver,

The actual last year for the Queensboro Bridge Railway Company trolley was 1957 as has been reported above.

Here's a photo of the final run as taken by noted New York photographer Sid Kaplan.

Enjoy,

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

andy47 · Joined: 17 Feb 2011 Posts: 96 Location: New York State

All of this brings back memories. I remember clearly when the Queensboro Bridge trolleys stopped running in 1957. The FACO Queen Mary 720s on Route #15 stopped running before I was old enough to appreciate them, but I do remember their sister 735s on the Riverside Drive route. Those 720s must have just squeezed underneath the el structure!

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2701 Location: South Florida

Speaking of Queens Borough....
I am wondering if anyone knows of any links or sources of photo's of the streetcar line that linked Flushing and Jamaica on the route now covered by MTA Bus route Q65, former Queens Transit.....
It is the closest street car line to where I now live, so would like to see any shots somewhere near my home.
When I first moved here from Brooklyn, back in 1954, there were still a couple of blocks on 164 street that had the original cobblestone with the tracks intact.

Free-transfer · Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:50 am Post subject: 164th street

Try this link for the trolley pics...New York and Queens Trolley.

http://www.thejoekorner.com/photos/fjgoldsmith/index.html

X-Astorian · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 173 Location: Central NJ

N4 Jamaica · Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 868 Location: Long Island

Yes, those three videos are quite helpful, especially with Vincent Seyfried's voice-over description. There are several scenes of 164th Street.
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I also recommend the Arcadia book by Stephen L. Meyers, Lost Trolleys of Queens and Long Island. Page 23 has a 1928 track map of the route from College Point to Jamaica, with the amazing notation, "The long Jamaica-Flushing Line was later rebuilt to double track." The book includes about fifteen photos of the private-right-of-way segments.
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In the early 1970's wasn't this Queens Transit bus a "Flying Fraction," that is, a combined route with two numbers?
Joe McMahon

X-Astorian · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 173 Location: Central NJ

NorthShore · Age: 77 Joined: 18 Mar 2012 Posts: 113

The portion of the "Q-65" trolley line between Flushing Cemetery and Hillside Avenue, Jamaica was private right-of-way of the trolley.
In the 30's, the NYC wanted to make this a public street (164 St.)
NYC made a deal with NY & Queens Traction Co. to purchase the right-of-way in exchange for new ACF buses to covert the line. This was done in 1937. Both of Mayor LaGuardia's wishes came true.
With regard to the "Flying Fraction" of this route, the was a Q68 bus route , which was a short turn between Main St. and Flushing Cemetery. This route was combined with the Q66 during rush hours and ran as the Q66/68.
In 1966 the Q68 designation was dropped, and the line became the Q65/66.
This short turn and through-route are no longer operated.

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2701 Location: South Florida

Thanks for those responses!
I watched those video's, and the only stretch of 164th street I could recognize was from Union Turnpike, past Queens General Hospital and then the Jamaica Water Company tank. The area I am interested in, at Jewel Ave looks completely alien and of course undeveloped at that time, hence the private ROW. I recall the downhill going north from North Hempstead Turnpike (now Booth Memorial Avenue) between the golf course and Kissena Park having its original cobblestone in the mid 1950's, with the tracks still visible....

It is interesting that the bottom of that hill was the approximate location of the long abandoned Central Branch of the LIRR. I suppose that was gone several years before the street car line would have crossed it there...