BusTalk

[N4 Jamaica]

The name "St. John's Place" in Brooklyn didn't mean much to me until double wires were strung on this former streetcar line in 1948. This 7th grader was fascinated by the overhead switch near Borough Hall and the metal curves, unlike the wired curves over tracks. Anyhow, I knew B-45 as the trackless route that shared Livingston Street with the streetcars. And I have a vague recollection of seeing the new depot, wires over concrete, on Bergen Street. I think Dad brought me on Bergen, Lorimer, and Flushing routes. See the wire map at the bottom of this link: http://www.stationreporter.net/trolley_bus.htm
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The other day I boarded a B45. Headways seemed good, and the Orion V was crowded. There was a slight change in the outbound route: Washington Avenue to left onto St John's Place, whereas previously both directions operated a bit on Stirling Place. I explored the neighborhood or parish of St Gregory the Great, where a friend had lived, and walked her route along Eastern Parkway to the high school near the Brooklyn Museum.
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Home, I rummaged around for "Streetcars on Tires," a tape offered by Victor Gordon of Danby, Vt. It has great views of the St. Louis Car Company trackless in downtown Brooklyn, and making their various turns before running east on St. John's Place. The small destination sign read "Ralph," not the "Pennsylvania" when the route opened. I recommend that tape for all sorts of glimpses of Brooklyn streets, people, buildings, and transit in the 1950's.
Joe McMahon

[Mr. Linsky]

N4J,

You certainly bring back memories of only a couple of months ago when we visited my daughter on Park Place not far from Eastern Parkway.

The whole area is steeped in history and so much of it remains unchanged from a century ago (I just love it!).

When we were kids growing up in Kew Gardens, we would often take the 'F' Express all the way to the end of the line at McDonald and Church where we would then enjoy a smooth ride on a BofT PCC car - that was a treat second only to the great egg creams you could get on any street corner in Brooklyn.

It was also good to see all the RTS's still at work all over the borough.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

A little Brooklyn Nostalgia;

Courtesy of The New York First Company

When Brooklyn Was the World.

Born of the soda fountain era, the legendary Egg Cream is deceptive, for its flavor and texture depend entirely on the correct preparation. There is no egg in an Egg Cream, but if the ingredients are mixed properly, a foamy, egg-white-like head tops the drink.

The invention of the Egg Cream is credited to Louis Auster, a Brooklyn candy shop owner in 1890. Auster's concoction sold for three cents, and he sold as many as three thousand on a hot summer day. Lines would form down the street and around the corner, and it started a tradition of drinking the egg cream while standing -- never sitting. Egg creams were so popular in Brooklyn that author Elliot Willensky writes "a candy store minus an Egg Cream, in Brooklyn at least, was as difficult to conceive of as the Earth without gravity."

Enjoy!

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