BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

(SEE PREVIOUS POSTS/PHOTOS)

Same location, same year; this time we see an ex-"O&B" Fishbowl working a "local" route, inbound to the "Port-of-Authority"..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156435

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["ORANGE & BLACK BUS LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Bergenline Avenue & 81st Street, 1981 (my aunt then lived just two blocks south of here!); we are looking north.

Note that the right-hand sign of Fishbowl #108's roller curtain is white-on-red........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?155426

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["108"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Outbound ex-O&B Fishbowl #662 departing the "Port-of-Authority", 1981 (check out all those REAL buses!)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156429

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

Note the "EXPRESS" sign displayed; there were also readings for "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"

["EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Same location, same year.

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

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

Note that ex-"O&B" 660's roller curtain reads:

"RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"

["660"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Indeed, it WAS a sure sign that transition was in the wind, for sure, the deeper we got into the 1980s........Mom and I were then living just feet away from main drag Anderson Avenue, so I certainly saw it all, firsthand.

Recall, NJT's original "Big Boy" MCIs/"Jersey Hounds" with the upswept "hump" yp front, front crowning the destination sign?

These "humps" adorning the fronts of those early "Joisey Kruisers" always reminded me of the "pompadour" air scoop above the front sign of many ACF-BRILL C-44 "suboibans", back in my day......

"NYO"

["ORANGE & BLACK BUS LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Fairview garage (early 1980s)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156421

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156586

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

As is obvious, "En-Jay-Tee's" insipid "Disco Dip" scheme did NOTHING to enhance the appearance of the classic equipment then still operating.

Note the large "MAPLEWOOD" sign, soon to be replaced by one for NJT.

Interestingly, during "Superstorm Sandy", both signs were blown off, revealing the original (painted) "ORANGE & BLACK BUS LINES" sign on the facade.

Needless to say, just like PATH, NJT wasted no time in again covering up this historic sign, not wanting any historical connection to a bygone operation.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Much more pleasing to the eye, indeed......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156436

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156431

(courtesy: nycsubay.org)

["670"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Blessing in disguise".........

Thank heavens the Old Looks were all long gone by the time "En-Jay-Tee" began applying their oh-so-insipid "Disco Dip" scheme to the Fishbowls and "Dangerfields".

At the VERY least, those classic buses were spared this indignity........

"NYO"

["165 NEW YORK"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

While the two-tone blue was easy to live with, adorning the Fishbowls and "Dangerfields", I shudder to think what the "Kramdens" might have looked like, had they not been retired when they were.

Strange, that two-tone blue was not used on the subway cars......

"NYO"

["M"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Back in the day...........

Early in the "En-Jay-Tee" era, the ex-ORANGE & BLACK "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS" was indeed a "closed door" express run (this was years before they rebuilt "old" River Road into a massive, multi-lane highway, lined with condos, strip malls, and outlets)

None of the old industries in the area survive; all have long since disappeared, ditto freight rail.

In my day, the last stop in Cliffside Park was Gorge Road, opposite the Greenhouse condos (HEAVY loading, here)

The buses would then run non-stop to the "Port-of-Authority", via Road and Boulevard East.

On Boulevard East, you not only had TNJ buses picking up inbound passengers, but, also, those of "MANHATTAN LINES"., heading into "Noo York" (VERY heaby bus traffic, back then, along Boulevard East)

Today, the "159R" (what USED to be the "River Road Express" now makes several stops along the "new" River Road, no longer a true "express".

IMHO, I would term the "1598R" as a limited stop" run............

Your's Truly last rode this line back in 2004, the day I retired........

"NYO"

["159R"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Suburban "coach" operation in the London area (historical information)........

Like their double-deck counterparts, "suboiban" buses (i.e. "coaches") were also once manned by a crew of two.

Some of these "coaches" had the conductor stationed right opposite the front door ("PAYE");others, as was the case with double-feckers, had passengers boarding and then a conductor would collect their fares, once seated.

"GREEN LINE" double-deckers had this arrangement, with the exception of those that were "OMO" (One Man Operation) from the start.

Some "GREEN LINE" coaches (the older "Q" types, as examples) had sliding entrance doors (some air operated)

By the 1950s, as the new "RF" types began taking over much of "GREEN LINE" operation, some of the older "Q"-types were repainted red. lettered for London Transport, and, were then (as described in many of the LT books I have, were then "demoted to bus work").

Recall, in Great Britain, a "bus" is a vehicle used in city area operation, whereas a "coach" was a vehicle going out to the far suburbs, as well as traveling other cities.

Conductor operation on the "coach" lines began to peter out during the 1960s, and was gone by the 70s.

As more and more rear-engine double-deckers entered service in London throughout the 60's and 70s, it signaled the end of crew-operated buses, which dated back to the omnibus days

The very last LT buses to have a crew of two were the iconic "Routemasters", which soldiered on until 2005.........

"NYO"

["411 WEST CROYDON"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The now-historic "RF" of the 1950s was indeed the equivalent of the Old Look "suboibans" that once connected "Noo Yawk" with dozens of "bedroom communities" here in "Joisey", back in the day.

Like our Old Looks, the humble, hard-working "RF" was both long-lived and reliable...........

https://ensignbushire.com/rf319.html

["X55"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also of interest...........

https://rf600.weebly.com