BusTalk

[N4 Jamaica]

Thanks to Arthur Tuttle, who flew over all New York City in 1924 taking photographs for the municipal government, we have these photos now on the internet in at least two sites: NYPL.org and
http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/
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The second site is a bit tricky to use, but has better search tools. Click on the camera icon. You may use a drop-down menu to switch from Address to Intersection. A slider below the camera icon changes the date from 1924 to 2006 or 2008. In the instance of Park Avenue and 98th street, one can see the footbridge, and one can also see how the portal was changed from 96th St. to 97th Street by adding a plaza.
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Lots of railroad trackage is obvious. In 1924, buses did not carry roof numbers, so we cannot count the fleet. Maybe I should search for my mother and her girl friends on the upper deck of a Fifth Avenue Coach on Route 4. The conductor used to remind passengers not to stand up as they went under the el at 110th Street.
Joe

[Mr. Linsky]

I give up!, you may have me but I'm not certain! - however, you must admit that '1705' itself was a great find!

Moving on;

Pictured below is fleet number 1235 - a 1930 Yellow Coach Model Z-BH-602 open topped 70 passenger double decker operated by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company of New York.

While the series is featured on page 25 of 'Bus Nostalgia, I will herein reiterate some brief details

The Model 'Z' (as Yellow coined it) chassis was among the first truly reliable drive trains in the industry and the first of Yellow manufacture to be used by Fifth Avenue to construct their own custom bodies in their uptown Manhattan shops (the Z, by the way, was their last effort at coach building).

The open tops were a very popular tourist attraction along Fifth Avenue during the summer months but, because the company deemed them as impractical to maintain and store for use only a few weeks per year, they were retired in 1946.

What makes 1235 stand out is the unusual and rare 'MAKE NEW YORK YOUR VACATION CITY' lettering above the lower windows. Also of note is the addition of a windshield for the upper deck passengers.

This image was taken (where, I don't know) in the early forties judging by the latest cars in the lot to the left of the frame, and is thanks to eBay.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

I thought you north easterners would feel right at home tonight with the very wintry image below.

We see Surface Transportation number 1608 pushing its way through quite a snowfall in Manhattan in the winter of 1952 (the photo is dated by the Chevrolet ad - upper right).

While the background looks familiar to me, I wouldn't even think of hazarding a guess as to the location - I'll leave that up to the experts.

However, the bus stop sign may signal a clue as it is labeled 'M-104 Broadway Buses Stop Here'.

Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

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

[Hart Bus]

Another aid in helping to identify the corner, what is the name of the cafeteria on the corner which starts with "H". Obviously it can't be Dubrow's or Bickford's.

[Mr. Linsky]

In another glimpse of transportation past in Manhattan, we see a 1938 Yellow Coach Model 735 (dubbed the 'Queen Mary') double decker operating for the Fifth Avenue Coach Company and traveling north on its namesake thoroughfare approaching 50th. Street.

The two neatly dressed young ladies and the sleek 1941 Buick coupe in front of Saks Fifth Avenue only add elegance to the shot.

It was not my original intent to post this picture because these buses have already been well documented in the threads of this site but, in a more careful examination of the image, I found something very interesting peaking out (center right).

You will note that standing on 50th. Street at the corner and about to cross Fifth is an early thirties Mack Model BT or CL (while the front ends of both models are identical, the length of the bus determines the model and, in this instance, that length is not in view)

Operating the then 'M-3' crosstown route (eastbound on 50th. and westbound on 49th.) were the buses of the Comprehensive Omnibus Corporation.

Interestingly, this crosstown route along with five others was in the possession of Green Bus Lines until 1935.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

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

[N4 Jamaica]

The sole Comprehensive route I ever rode was 66th Street crosstown, sometime before the turnstiles were removed. I spent a half-hour looking at old issues of the New York Times (on Proquest) to learn whether the city took over Comprehensive before or after the July, 1948, doubling of the subway fare. I had forgotten that not all fares changed that July 1st, only the subway and the municipal (generally BMT) buses and streetcars. My memory was that city took an 8 cent fare on their surface routes, but required the private lines to make do with 7 cents. However, the back issues of the Times showed that the events were more complex, particularly as Mike Quill and the unions were putting big-time pressure on the private operators. It would appear that sometime in late 1948 or early 1949 the city took over the operation of East Side and Comprehensive.
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If a photo of a Comprehensive bus interior with a turnstile ever shows up, I would be happy to see whether my memory is correct: a horizontal wire-armed turnstile, not the three-arm Perry that was in the 100 PCC cars of Brooklyn. Loading may have been swifter on the 66th Street crosstown with the prewar Macks than with today's artics and the slow dip of the Metrocard into the fare box.
Joe

[Mr. Linsky]

N4J,

The following is a very brief history of Comprehensive/East Side thanks to Joe Brennan's 'Local Bus Companies of Manhattan';

"East Side Omnibus Corporation" 1932-1948 operated routes formerly of the Second Avenue Railroad. The same owners formed "Comprehensive Omnibus Corporation" 1933-1948 operating a former jitney line. When this system failed in 1948, its routes were bought out by the City and handed over to the Board of Transportation, whence they passed to the NYCTA. These lines were never run by MABSTOA.

Pictured is one of only a handful of TD 4506's that they bought in 1946 - their last buses.

Notice the 'FB' plate in the pre convention size and, if you look very closely, the turnstile of the half closed umbrella type (you really have to squint to see it).

Also notice a couple of CL or BT Mack's on the roof of the garage (it's like they're sitting up there looking down and talking to each other saying 'so that's going to replace us - no way!').

Image courtesy of Dennis M. Linsky

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

[Mr. Linsky]

No - what you're seeing below isn't a rush hour nightmare!

What it may be is some sought of publicized demonstration (as noted by the camera man atop the roof of a truck - lower right) somewhere in Manhattan in the mid thirties, and I would say that the bus in the foreground is integral to the scene considering the special flags at each corner of the roof.

Now, to the good stuff;

The buses, both fore and background are mid thirties Yellow Coach Type 41 Model 718's operating for the New York City Omnibus Corporation.

The very successful Model 718 was Yellow's first genuine street transit and featured a transverse mounted 450 cubic inch gasoline engine combined with a patented 'angle drive', and mechanical transmission.

Of the 426 718's built between 1934 and 1937, 366 went to NYCO and its affiliates and became very prominent fixtures on the New York scene for many years.

If you look closely at the very upper left of the image you'll catch sight of the rear end of a Fifth Avenue Model 'Z' double decker.

Photo credit within frame.

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

[Hart Bus]

What struck me when I looked at the picture is that the "demonstrators" are predominately (if not exclusively) male. Also why did this bus have flags top its roof?

The crowd seems peaceful. Perhaps it was to show off the bus for some sort of advertising campaign.

[N4 Jamaica]

Just guessing, maybe this is a political campaign. The 35mm movie camera at the right would indicate that it is of newsreel importance. The man in the center bears some resemblance to Al Smith, perhaps campaigning on behalf of Herbert H. Lehman on the Democratic ticket for governor in 1936 or 1938, which elections Lehman won.
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The street has some resemblance to Lexington Avenue, where buses replaced streetcars in March, 1936. Trying to figure out which street looked like this and was shared by both Fifth Avenue Coach and NYR has become a puzzle. Twenty-third Street? for Fifth Avenue turnbacks? I don't know whether the 42nd Street library has old Manhattan phone books, but the name of the bar should be a good clue.
Joe McMahon

[Mr. Linsky]

Fellows,

I was thinking about checking to see whether any of those stores still exist - the old phone books would be a great idea too.

Buses that are usually involved in campaigns of any sought have some kind of banners especially under the window belt as pictured below on NYCO # 260 (location unknown - but might be on Lexington Avenue).

Regards,

Mr. 'L'

[Free-transfer]

The address on the bar canopy looks like 762, which would be near the corner of 59th or 60th, if this is Lexington avenue. The corner lot looks like it's under construction. Make any sense?

[Mr. Linsky]

Seen making its way north on Fifth Avenue and just passing 54th. Street is a GM Model TDH 4507 (fleet number illegible) but one of about one hundred numbered in the 22 and 23 hundred range delivered to Fifth Avenue Coach Company between 1946 and 1948.

The time frame is the mid to late fifties noted by the replacement of the trademark seven passenger stretched James F. Waters DeSoto 'SkyView' taxis with regular sedans (with the exception of the Checkers, of course) - a city edict that went over like a lead balloon with drivers who didn't cotton to the idea of being forced to carry one passenger in the front seat.

Note that as with all Omnibus equipment of the period, this 4507 had no directional signals, and, despite the ThermoMatic system, seems to have one 4506 Mickey Mouse eared type vent on the roof although that could be an optical illusion caused by something standing on the sidewalk.

This is a rare shot considering that so few photos of FACCO 4507's exist.

Image credited within frame.

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

[Mr. Linsky]

In this scene taken in downtown Manhattan in 1934, we see fleet number 30 - a 1934 Yellow Coach Model 718 and one of 76 (1 to 76) operating for the Madison Avenue Coach Company division of the Omnibus Corporation.

These were the very first of 366 718's purchased by Omnibus for its New York affiliates.

Interestingly, the caption that accompanied this image touted number 30 and its ilk as 'streamlined' replacements for the Fourth (Park) and Madison Avenue streetcar lines (which were the nation's first).

The location is Broadway at Fulton and the Georgian Style Church in the background is St. Pauls - built on a whole city block in 1766, it includes one of New York's oldest cemeteries with the most recent burials dating from the 1890's.

Virtually unhurt by the nearby collapses of the World Trade Center buildings, the church served as a rescue center for the injured.

Photo credit contained within frame.

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

[HwyHaulier]

Mr "L" -

Yeah, I'll spot 'em a claim to streamlined. An example of, "Everything's Up To Date In Kansas City"? The quick acid test: Whether it would fit in
with the perceptions of Art Deco and Moderne seen in other media of the era...

The classic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films often loaded with examples. The contemporary, King Kong was good at it, too...

..............Vern..............