BusTalk

[Q65A]

Built from November 1946 to January 1949, the TDH/M-4507 was GM’s second post-World War II transit bus. Sharing the same power train, construction design and basic dimensions with the older TD-4506, the TDH/M-4507 pioneered some new innovations. It ushered in the optional Thermomatic ventilation system, signaled by a large screened horizontal air intake vent installed directly above the front destination sign. This item would become a familiar spotting feature that distinguishes the 4507 from its predecessors. The 4507 also was the first model to add a third letter in GM's alphanumeric model nomenclature system, to signify the type of transmission installed in the vehicle. This model sold very well: it was the third largest-selling member of GM’s long-lived Old Look lineup, with 3015 units sold. Perhaps not surprisingly, more than 1/3 of these buses (1072 units)would spend their service lives on the rosters of various NYC bus lines.
Surface Transportation boasted the largest fleet of 4507's in the Gotham area, with 403 red and cream buses (#'s 1197-1599) roaming the streets of Manhattan and The Bronx. FACCO and NYCO (plus NYCO subsidiaries Eighth Ave. Coach Corp. and Madison Avenue Coach Co.) had 349 green and cream 4507's on Manhattan streets. FACCO's 103 units (#'s 2260-2362) joined their older 4506 sisters on heavy routes formerly ruled by various double deckers. NYCO and its 2 subsidiaries had 246 units in a common numbering series (#'s 1836-1999 and 2700-2736), which also teamed up with 4506's. Across the East River, the NYC Board of Transportation purchased 192 TDH-4507's in 1948, which became the first of many GM diesel bus fleets purchased by the BOT and its successor NYCTA. Painted green and silver, BOT's 4507's were numbered 2000-2129 and 2200-2261. These buses joined a 30-unit fleet of 4507's (BOT 300-319) that originally had been ordered by North Shore Bus Co. in 1947, but which were absorbed by BOT when it took over North Shore in 1947 to form the new Queens Bus Division. BOT/NYCTA's 4507's spent a short time in Brooklyn before spending their lengthy careers in Queens.
As with the TD-4506, New York's PBL's of the period did not embrace the TDH-4507 with particularly open arms. Triboro Coach ordered 25 units (#'s 1101-1125) in 2 groups both in 1948 and 1949. TCC also bought 20 used 4507's from NYCTA in 1961 (ex-NYCTA 2003, 2028, 2086, 2093, 2218, 2238 and several undisclosed units), numbering them 1133-1152. Green Bus Lines added 35 units to their growing fleet of GM diesels: #'s 926-950 in 1947 and #'s 301-310 in 1949. These units had horizontally-split side window sashes. (Bus modelers will note that Corgi created a diecast model of GBL 310 to immortalize this fleet.)GBL later bought NYCTA 2091 in 1968, numbering it 951. Steinway Transit bought its first GM diesels in September 1947 with TDH-4507's #'s 201-215. In contrast, Queens-Nassau Transit was still ordering ACF-Brills at the time, while Jamaica Buses and Avenue B & East Braodway remained ever loyal to the Mack Bulldog. TDH-4507's soldiered on in NYC for many years. New Looks began to supplant them in the early-to-mid-1960's, and by the early 1970's most were either scrapped, sold, or placed in storage. Unfortunately, NYCTA did not preserve any 4507's or other 35-foot GM Old Looks.

[Mr. Linsky]

Bob,

I always take great pleasure in bolstering your marvelous essays with appropriate illustrations!

Herewith is Green Bus Lines TDH 4507 #942 operating somewhere in the Rockaways in the early fifties.

Photo courtesy of Green Line archive.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY

[Q65A]

You always pick excellent photos, Mr. L!
Thanks for posting!!!

[Free-transfer]

I can tell you that the picture of 942 was taken on Rockaway Boulevard between 98th and 99th streets in Ozone Park, facing westbound towards Crossbay Blvd, across the street from the Americana Bowling Lanes.

The elevated structure is the LIRR, southbound to Rockaway from Ozone Park, now part of the current NYC Transit system.


I suppose 942 was either a Q-7, Q-41 or dead headed School tripper from John Adams HS, 2 blocks behind it.

[Mr. Linsky]

Free Transfer,

Sorry about that but the photo, which comes from the GBL archive, was marked 'The Rockaways' but I may well have confused it with another photo of 942 (see below) that was taken at the Arverne Garage.

Q65A had mentioned that there were similarities between some STS and GBL 4506's which may not be coincidental because the owners of the two companies were quite friendly.

This may well have had something to do with the fact that # 942 and its twenty-four siblings (926 to 950 - 1947 TDH 4507's) were originally built for and rejected by Surface Transportation.

Photo courtesy of Dennis M. Linsky

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY