BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On this day in 1969, the last of the venerable, iconic BMT "Standards" (aka "Broadway Battleships") made their final runs on what is today's "M" line,

No other piece of rolling stock better symbol.ized the BMT as did those massive and fearsome "Battleships" (the last prewar BMT cars in service were the wooden "Q" El cars, which made their final runs on "da Moit" that October)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?88057 (note row of "Pattons" on the right)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6346

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?35308

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6438

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6467 (note the fascinating array of signage here, including the one for the NYCTA Training Center)

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["BMT LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"RUST IN PIECES"........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?77626

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?88082

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6458

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

A sad ending, indeed, for what is STILL, to this day, the most ICONIC of the BMT's classic-era rolling stock.........

"NYO"

["BROOKLYN-MANHATTAN TRANSIT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"CHANGING OF THE GUARD"

(how ironic that the modern cars seen here at CIY have, like the "Battleships" themselves, have also vanished).......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?76588

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["ta"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

'TIMELESS"..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?152504

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["BROAD ST."]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

"At the time," the "Battleships" outlasted the "Behemoths" (a.k.a. Triplex) which had been retired four years before.

Not until the R-32's were retired in early 2022 did any subsequent piece of rolling stock surpass the Standards' long run in NYC transit. In the overall picture, the "Toity-Toos' " run was somewhere in-between the "steels" and the "Q" trains on "da Moit." But the 'Brightliners,' in 1969, were among the "new kids on the block" as well as the R-38's ("Brightliner wannabes"), R-40's (the first 300 of which were "Snoutliners") and R-42's (whose arrival actually paved the way for the retirement of these old reliables). Ironic the "Toity-Toos" outlasted all those other "newies" that came after them.

And on some of the pics of them being prepped for the scrapper, wasn't that an "El-Eye-Double-Are" MP-54 next to it?

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

You are correct; that WAS what was left of an ancient "MP-54" awaiting scrapping (note the mysterious "NO BRAKE" scrawled on the vestibule door)

There were still a few hundred of the elderly "54s" in "soivice" in the later 1960s, but their days were dwindling fast as more and more of the new "Metropolitan" M-1s were arriving.

Regarding the "Toity-Twos", I don't think that anyone ever thought they were going to last as long as they did (cannot help imagining them running on the SIRT, with their stylish blue doors!)

GOH REALLY took away so much of their original, stylish attractiveness, for sure ("cyclops" end bulkhead signs, the removal of the straphanger's straps, and that AWFUL interior paint.....yyyeeecchhh!!!)

Recall, also, by 1969, it had also been several years since ANY of the BMT's prewar rolling stock ran on routes serving Coney Island.

I must admit I was sad to see the "27/30s" disappear when they did; IMHO, they were retired FAR too soon (last I rode them was when they were running on the "C", after the iconic "Thunderboids" had been retired.

Though St. Louis was long renowned for building long-lived rolling stock, look at how much longer th sleek, silvery, 1964 BUDD-bult "Brightliners" remained in "soivice", compared to the "Brightliner Wannabee" R-38s...........

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Agreed:

WAaaaaay back in the day, recall cars built by PRESSED STEEL and ACF (and, of course, PULLMAN) also built solid, rugged rolling stock..........

"NYO"

["LEXINGTON AVE. THRU EXP"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

And in 1969, when the iconic BMT "Battleships" were running out their last miles, the bus picture in "Noo Yawk" looked like this.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154084

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154086

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153836

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?153793

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?155824

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154157 (recall, "exact change" became the "new order of the day" in 1969, regarding bus fares)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?155865

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["OA"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Appreciate the additional info, as always.

Although Mets fans would indeed mark 1969 as a triumphant year (to say the least!) it was, on the flip side, NOT a happy year for local transit buffs..........

1: The A-B "Broadway Battleships" were retired.

2: The "Cue" cars were retired when "da Moit" was closed down.

3: The last prewar IRT cars were retired ("Toid Aven-uh" El up in "da Bronx")...............

"NYO"

["NYCTA"]

["OA"]

["M"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Hope these photos bring back some great memories.......

"NYO"

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156416

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156428

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156412

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156418

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

['INTER-CITY LINES"]

["ORANGE & BLACK BUS LINES"]

["RIDE THE RED & TAN LINES"

["SHORT LINE"]

["MAPLEWOOD EQUIPMENT COMPANY"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

Yep, they do . . . appreciate the shot of that "Buffalo" with the 4-piece rear windows . . .

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

40-plus years back, if Your's Truly wasn't using "the tubes" to get into the city, it was the former ORANGE & BLACK's "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS".

Back then, you had Fishbowls, 4104s, and 4106s (and a few "Bison, for good measure!) in charge of the rush hour-only line.

Everything was pretty much ex-O&B and ex-INTER-CITY, back then.

I was particularly fond of one series of ex-O&B Fishbowls which I dubbed "semi suburbans" (I used this same terminology for their single-door Old Looks)

These 1960s-era Fishbowls were so wonderfully dated, with their pink plastic seating and "swirly" decorated interior panels.

This series buses also had a large padded area over the rearmost seats, which was in back of the a/c unit.

When at a stop (or waiting for a light) they gave off this peculiar, "harmonic"-sounding "phew-phewwwww-phew-phewwwwww" that I can still hear to this day (I also remember several NHBL Fishbowls making this same distinctive sound)

Man, it's all so long ago......and GREAT FUN while it all lasted!!!

"NYO"

["GMC"]