BusTalk

[W.B. Fishbowl]

Speaking of a thousand words . . .

Today is the 60th anniversary of a momentous change in traffic patterns: The conversion of Fifth Avenue to one-way southbound, and Madison Avenue to one-way northbound. It led to massive wholesale changes in the buses, most of which were ex-FACCo routes, but a few from the NYCO side also got changed. To wit:
- Ex-NYCO #1's SB route moved one block west to 5th Avenue between 135th and 40th Streets (ironic that a route with that number "came back" to Fifth nearly four years after FACCo's #1 - in its last years a one-franchise-trip-per-day route - was discontinued upon the " 'stoa" takeover of FACL and ST routes)
- Ex-NYCO #2 and ex-FACCo #2 "combined" to form a singular route with two branches. The ex-NYCO #2 became the "Lenox Avenue branch"; the ex-FACCo #2, the "Seventh Avenue branch," and its number modified to 2A. The former was rerouted southbound on Fifth Avenue, the latter northbound on Madison Avenue.
- Ex-FACCO's #3 and 4's northbound routes moved to Madison, which (along with 2A) traveled up University Place between 9th and 14th Streets.
- Ex-FACCo #5 rerouted up Sixth Avenue up to 57th Street (it had traveled, since Nov. 10, 1963 when its southern terminus was extended to Houston Street and West Broadway/La Guardia Place, up Sixth between Houston and West 8th Streets when it resumed travel along Fifth). Thus, ironically, the #5 returned to Sixth (albeit a different route) since the ex-NYCO route's discontinuance on that same day in 1963 when it was merged with, and absorbed into, the #6 - Broadway route.
- Ex-FACCo #15 - Jackson Heights rerouted north on Madison Avenue.
In addition, the numerous crosstowns that traveled along Central Park, would have its northbound sections moved to Madison as well: the "Tee-Yay's" M-7 - 65th Street Crosstown; the ex-FACCo #6 - 72nd Street Crosstown (between 57th and 72nd Streets); the ex-NYCO #17 - 79th Street, #18 - 86th Street and #19 - 96th Street Crosstown routes.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

If I asked this question before, accept my apologies....but HOW are you able to co-ordinate such a tremendous amount if data on historical "Noo Yawk" bus operations, focusing on service changes, new routes, abandonments, and so on,and always be so concise and accurate?

You must have had a great deal of old records and files to assist you, through the years!

It is QUITE obvious that you have done a tremendous wealth of in-depth research over the years....and what you share here (and elsewhere) MORE than proves this fact!

"NYO"

["RIDE THE SURFACE WAY"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

EXCELLENT sources of historical "Noo Yawk" bus information,for cetain (ever refer to "MOTOR COACH AGE"?); must have taken years to fully compile the information you have for so long shared wit us, and that's NO small task, for sure!

Again, EXCELLENT "reporting"...........

BTW:

Just learned that another "R-211" set is now operating on the "B"; an interesting question was posed:

Where will the displaced "Brighton Belles" be re-assigned?

Rockaway shuttle?

Additional sets for the "Frankie"?

"NYO"

["OA"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

By all means, PLEASE keep us all informed when you've returned from another "Brighton Belle" expedition (sure looks like that the "NTT brigade" is making steady inroads on the "B"); it would seem, then, at least to me, that the "Frankie" will be the last "stomping ground" for the "Belles", unless some end up out in the Rockaways...........

"NYO"

BTW:

Speaking of "MOTOR COACH AGE", sure wish some "Joisey"-area bus historian would come out with a well-illustrated book on the old "indy" carriers (local and suburban) that were so much a part of my life for many, many years)............

["Q"]

["RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

And unrelated to "mass transit," but I'm sure you've heard about the outage that affected Verizon customers in several states yesterday? In this case, this was made all the more inevitable by their chucking the old-fashioned "landlines" that served them for decades and decades. I heard Jeff Spurgeon, this morning on WQXR, talking about how he was unaffected because his connection was still by landline.

I am reminded of the "See-Bee-Tee-See" conundrum in all this: Going whole hog "all the way" on the "shiny and new," whilst throwing out the proverbial baby along with the bathwater on the "tried and true."

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This timeless photo (Penn Station, NY) from 1979 "speaks" many volumes, indeed (how well Your's Truly recalls this!)

We were MORE advanced then than what we are today in 2026; things were a LOT more convenient and "user friendly", back in the day.

So much for "progress".....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?159506

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["N.J. BELL"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

The ONLY thing I liked (back then) about the "new" Penn Station was hearing the train caller's distinctive intoning "ALLL ABOOOARRRD!" and the ever-flapping, always fascinating Solari board.

That, and a great bookshop in the main concourse that always had a good selection of rail books......

"NYO"

["PAY STATION"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

And now comes word that Illinois Bell will discontinue what's left of its landline service in March 2027 . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNNIX7sFQjM

Despite AT&T's assurances, I have a funny feeling that in an emergency, cell phone users will be just plain out of luck. I expect there to be MORE outages of the type they recently had.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

Speaking of old vs. new, my thoughts go to the "Isle of Staten," and "da snows" that are set to wallop "Noo Yawk" over the weekend. In particular, the new "Staten Island Rattlers," a.k.a. R-211T's. This snow will see how they fare in such weather, vs. the retired "Fordy-Fours." Compared to what's coming, what the 211's faced in "Es-Eye" were like dandruff flakes in comparison.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]