BusTalk

Hankg42 · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 8:59 am Post subject:

I have to wonder how fast that bus was moving to get up over the car like that? Indeed, the occupants of both vehicles were extremely lucky, although a fractured skull is certainly not minor.

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:48 pm Post subject:

It's March 21st. 1941 as we see Fifth Avenue Coach Company (FACCO) mechanics back at work at the company's main shops on West 132nd Street in upper Manhattan after an eleven day long walkout.

No less then three craftsmen are toiling in an attempt to adjust the Banker semi automatic transmission (akin to the old Chrysler Fluid Drive) on fleet # 2103 - a 1938 72 passenger double decked Yellow Coach Modeled as a 735 but better known as a Queen Mary.

The greatest thing since sliced bread the Banker Transmissions were not and gave numerous problems to operators during their short lifespans.

Fifth Avenue, and I presume affiliated Chicago Motor Coach (CMC) as well, wasted no time after the war to convert most of their DD's to fully automatic Diesel hydraulics.

FACCO's DD fleet consisted of 75 model 735's and 25 model 720's which were about six inches lower to clear the Roosevelt Avenue El on the #15 route between Manhattan and Jackson Heights in Queens while CMC's stable was of all 720's to negotiate the many low underpasses in that city.

The first three buses in the image are 735's and the last two are 720's as evidenced by the lower level of the first floor rear windows.

Photo taken by Acme Newspictures and is available through 'Historic Images' at eBay as item # 351014969672.
Thanks also goes to Jeff Marinoff for the lead.

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

Hart Bus · Age: 74 Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 1150

And to think that 21 years later, almost to the day, the company was taken over by NYC via eminent domain !

Truly sad.

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida

Love that nickname "Queen Mary" for those DD's....I used to have a 1979 Lincoln Continental Town Car, which happens to be the last "full-sized" American car....(all other's had been 'down-sized' a year or two prior).
It was a huge 234" long boat, and my friends nicknamed it "The Queen Mary".... Razz

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:20 am Post subject:

traildriver,

The real 'Queen Mary' of the day was my mother in law's 1969 Fleetwood Brougham which she continued to drive until she was ninety-five!

I was a Cadillac man until 1985 when I saw the first of the downsized front wheel drive junkers and immediately bought my first Lincoln Town Car which was the most gorgeous thing I ever drove.

I stuck with Lincoln until Town Car production ended and I opted for a one year old 2009 Land Rover LR3 principally because it was easy for my wife to get in and out of but she passed away soon after we got it and was never really able to enjoy it.

In the meantime, it runs nicely and I have no plans to trade it right now.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2460 Location: South Florida

I was always fond of those huge Detroit 'land yachts'....a trait I inherited from my father....
The last full sized Cadillac was in 1976...the 1977 models, while still large by today's standard's, and still rear-wheel drive, were considerably smaller and lighter than the '76...these platform's lasted thru 1996.
Ford and Mercury downsized in 1979 to the 'Panther' platform. The Lincoln Town Car did the same in 1980...it lasted thru 2011.
They currently offer a livery edition of the MKT crossover, that they brand as the MKT-Town Car...but to me its not a true sedan....

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 3:22 pm Post subject:

If the subject of this presentation could write its own biography it would probably title it 'I Led Three Lives' (old timers might remember that TV series from the fifties).

Seen within the limits of New York City on an unknown date is fleet # 416 - a 1951 45 passenger Mack modeled as a C-45-DT operating for S.I. Transit Company.

# 416, which was one of ten buses originally purchased by Bee Line (L.I.) numbered in their 500's, arrived with its siblings at Avenue B and East Broadway Transit in Manhattan in 1961 at which time all were renumbered to the 400's (note that an American flag covers Avenue B's logo over the front wheel well).

Perhaps ten or more years thereafter and certainly showing signs of its time spent on the harsh streets of the Big Apple's lower end, #416 was snapped up by S.I. Transit and put to work in its 'as is' condition.

Little is known to this writer about S.I. Transit except to say that the eBay vendor selling the photo has assumed that the S.I. means Staten Island - a fact that cannot be verified.

Photo courtesy of 'ttcbeat' and is available at eBay as item # 191090078155.

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

B53RICH · Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 254

I must be Sherlock Holmes, I cannot believe I actually found the location of the photo taken of S.I. Transit 416. Shocked

On a hunch from another photo I once seen of an older model bus parked outside the old Niederstein's Restaurant on Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, Queens, I went to Google Maps street view. Across the street from where Niederstein's was, the two buldings in the current Google photo match those in the photo where bus 416 is parked, in front of 69-15 Metro. The bus was probably used as a charter.

X-Astorian · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 168 Location: Central NJ

Mr. L. posted the message below including the curbside view of #416 a couple of years back.

"Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 2:44 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
If anyone would have ever told me that some idiot bought a used Mack bus from Avenue B and East Broadway Transit (NY) I would have said that the guy had to have had rocks in his head!

Nevertheless, I did happen and can be seen below in a March 1970 shot on Metropolitan Avenue at 69th. Street in Middle Village, Queens as fleet # 416 - a 1951 Model C-45-DT operating for the little known S.I. Transit Company, Inc.

This would have been the third life for this bus which was originally delivered to Bee Line, Inc. of Rockville Centre, New York as their fleet # 516 and was sold to Avenue B ten years later (you can still see Avenue B's decal covered by an American flag under the first passenger window).

The caption that accompanied the photo claimed that the 'S.I' stood for Staten Island but I question that because I know of no private operators left in that borough by 1970 and I think that getting this bus to make the climb back and forth over the Verrazano Bridge would really have been pushing the envelope! (but, who knows!).

Photo courtesy of jpspcc699 and has been sold on eBay.

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

"

Hankg42 · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 8:25 am Post subject:

While I have no concrete proof to present, I was still living in Staten Island in 1970 (and did until 1977), and I do not believe there was any S.I. Transit operating in Staten Island, much less this poor looking Mack. Some private lines that operated through Staten Island around (before & after) that time were Red & Tan, Hudson County Transit (we called it the Blue & Gray), and Domenico. The last Macks on Staten Island, again to my knowledge, were the C49-DTs of the NYCTA.

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:00 pm Post subject:

Hankg42,

I have an idea that S.I. Transit may have been a short lived Brooklyn outfit possibly serving house accounts.

BTW; I am aware that I featured # 416 a couple of years ago but not the same pose and location.

Also BTW; if I had a nickel for each time I've featured Avenue B Macks numbered 503 and 505 in different locations and poses, I'd be a rich man!

Many regards,

Mr. 'L'

Hart Bus · Age: 74 Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 1150

WCA Your previous hunch might be correct. Otherwise, why would a purported Staten Island bus company have a coach in the Glendale/Middle Village section of Queens?

Another question (off-topic) question about the picture.What is that building behind the bus with those elegant looking windows?

ECA

Free-transfer · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 11:08 am Post subject:

The building with the elegant windows is a gas station...the gas pumps are in a diagonal drive through at the corner, under the overhang.

As I used to live in that area, I'd like to take a guess. Looking at the
red (clayish) looking dirt on the wheels and knowing there are numerous
cemeteries in the area...I'm thinking (and I could very well be wrong), this
may have been a one bus company that catered to an ethnic group that was
looking for a one seat ride to cemeteries in Middle village / Maspeth.

frankie · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 12:20 pm Post subject:

After reading the last few threads, my conclusion is that SI does not stand for Staten Island, but are initials for a small local private bus operator.

Frankie

Mr. Linsky · Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 12:20 pm Post subject: