BusTalk

[Mr. Linsky]

As coincidence would have it, the demo TDH 4510 that I mentioned above was just found in what might have been considered a life of semi-retirement among the palm trees of Southern California compared to the mean streets of Brooklyn, New York.

#6500, which arrived in Los Angeles sometime in 1950 after a whistle stop tour across the country, originally carried fleet #2700 in the deep red livery of Pacific Electric Railway Co. (PE) before being painted in the almost kitchen white of successor RTD (Rapid Transit District).

Since its retirement it has been restored to its original PE colors.

Photo courtesy of '4509bus' and is available on eBay as item # 350918805319.

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

[X-Astorian]

[Mr. Linsky]

X-Astorian,

I'm glad that you brought up the fact that # 4117 was parked where it shouldn't have been because I had the same idea but was uncertain.

I checked on Brooklyn's routes that extended to Queens and saw nothing that traveled Roosevelt Avenue.

I'm sure that there may have been others but the only Brooklyn routes that extended to Queens that I knew of were Jamaica Avenue, Metropolitan Avenue, Atlantic Avenue and one that terminated at 47th. Street and Queens Boulevard.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[NorthShore]

The Q-58 runs from Ridgewood to Flushing via Corona Av.
It's related Q-72 route ran from Corona to LaGuardia Airport via Junction Blvd.
This line had a short turn @ Roosevelt Ave, Hence the photo was taken @ Roosevelt Av. & Junction Blvd.
When it was a trolley line, the original route was from Ridgewood to the then-popular North Beach Amusement Park. In later years, the line was reconfigured and it became Ridgewood-Flushing, with a shuttle branch from Corona to North Beach. It was converted to bus in 1949 when the photo was taken. The route was based @ Maspeth Depot. When Maspeth closed to make way for the L.I.E., the route was briefly transferred to Flushing Depot.
In 1961, the NTCTA transferred this route to Triboro Coach, renaming it the Q-72 and extending it to Rego Park. (Queens Blvd.).

[Hart Bus]

[NorthShore]

I believe the route Mr "L" is referring to that started @ 47 St. & Queens Blvd. is the B-30 (discontinued in 1995). It ran to Kingsland Av. & Meeker St. in Greenpoint via Review Av., Greenpoint Av., Kingsland Av., and Humboldt St.

[Mr. Linsky]

We've been talking about Brooklyn bus routes that stretched into Queens in this thread so I thought it not to be inappropriate to spotlight another mode of transit that made similar borough hops.

Seen on a fall day in 1938 traveling along 41st. in Flushing on what is believed to be the old #72 Junction Boulevard line toward Grand Central Parkway/La Guardia Airport and then transferring to a special spur to the World's Fair Grounds is fleet # 1090 - a 1936 47 passenger St Loius Car Company Model 'PCC' and one of ninety-nine likenesses numbered 1001 to 1099 operating for the Brooklyn & Queens Transit Company (B&QT) of Brooklyn, New York.

#1090 and a bevy of its siblings were assigned to the special route primarily to carry construction workers to the site and the many sidewalk superintendents eager to see the progress.

The PCC or 'Presidents Conference Committee' car was an effort in the mid thirties by a number of major traction company officials to stave off the inevitable by designing a trolley car that would be as comfortable as the buses that were then threatening to displace their antique fleets.

In June 1935 the B&QT awarded two PCC construction contracts with the first going to the Clark Equipment Co. for a prototype numbered 1000 and a second to St. Louis Car Company for the first ninety-nine to be built which were numbered as indicated above.

The streamlined 19 ton, 48 foot long PCC's with interior amenities that rivaled the most expensive transit buses of the era along with exceptional acceleration, speed and quietness were an immediate success with thousands appearing in cities across the country.

Photo courtesy of 'Vintage-Vault75' and is available on eBay as item # 181256121313.

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

[andy47]

The PCC car in the photo is actually operating on tracks of the Corona Ave. Line, today's bus route Q58 Flushing-Ridgewood . While PCCs were not normally assigned, this was a special route that actually began in Downtown Brooklyn and linked with the Corona Ave. line to provide a service for Fairground workers.

The Corona Ave. route remained a trolley till 1949, when buses took over.

[traildriver]

Great photo! I'm trying to figure out exactly where that car was....was it on 41st avenue, heading east, just west of Main Street?

[Mr. Linsky]

[X-Astorian]

[Mr. Linsky]

Seen some time in the early forties awaiting its next assignment at the company's outdoor garage facility in the shadow of Bush Terminal in what was then called Bay Ridge in Brooklyn is fleet # 955 - a 1939 37 passenger Mack Model 'Improved' CT-3G and one of seventy-five likenesses numbered 900 to 974 operating for the Brooklyn Bus Corporation subsidiary of the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Company (BMT).

The improvements that made these CT's an improved version were a slightly more powerful engine to address operator complaints of sluggishness and an angled windshield to reduce reflection from interior lighting (a feature that appeared on Mack buses fully one year before those of Yellow).

The 900's were that last new coaches to have been delivered to Brooklyn Bus before city takeover the following year and appeared with the familiar trademark Trylon and Perisphere decals of the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair to which the company operated a number of special routes.

In the background of the image can be seen the unique stations in the lot that circulated the water of the cooling systems of stored buses to prevent freeze-ups overnight.

Photo courtesy of 'flickrhivemind'.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

In this vintage photo taken on Manhattan's Second Avenue sometime between September and the end of December 1916, we see one of many 'Jitneys' taking advantage of a prolonged city wide strike by nearly 12,000 subway, trolley and elevated line motorman, conductors and guards - the upshot of the three month walkout was a failed win for the workers at the bargaining table (obviously before Mr. Quill's time!).

The picture also reflects the strength of unions back when as the wildcat bus was hired by the Musicians' Local 310 - a juggernaut in its own right - to circumvent the use of what trolley cars were still being operated by management.

Information thanks Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

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

[traildriver]

[Mr. Linsky]

Standing at rest at a Transit Authority facility and awaiting its next group of cadets is fleet #6179 - a 1972 GM Coach Model T6H-5310A and one of ninety three likenesses numbered in the 6000's delivered to the New York City Transit Authority in increments between 1972 and 1973 - only 106 of the model were built with eight others going to Nassau Suburban Bus Authority and five to the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority.

#6179 has been refitted as an MTA Training Bus for new operators and includes an all white paint job so it cannot be mistaken for a line coach as well as a special water filled bumper for the little tiny mistakes that a newbie behind the wheel might make!

Of note is the fact that the GM Badge under the windshield has disappeared.

I only wish that we had had air conditioning on our training bus!

Photo courtesy of '90mac' and is available at eBay as item # 111219494138.

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