BusTalk

[Hart Bus]

[Mr. Linsky]

While I am not particularly enamored by trolley cars and coaches in general, I do appreciate the fact that they played a very important role in the development of surface transportation in New York and certainly should not be omitted from the mainstream of our discussions.

In the 1930 ad seen below, the J, G. Brill Company of Philadelphia announces the delivery of fifty new street cars to the Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation (B&Q) - an affiliate of both the Brooklyn and Manhattan Transit Company (BMT) and the Brooklyn Bus Corporation.

At the time, the B&Q, operating mainly in the borough of Brooklyn, was reputed to be among the largest operations of its kind in the world.

If I were as knowledgeable about the specifics of traction cars as I am about those of buses I could speak further on the subject but I think the ad does well for itself.

Ad page courtesy of '4509bus' and is available at eBay as item # 351147043400.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Q65A]

The car pictured was one of the series 6050-6099 which, as noted by my good friend Mr. L, was purchased by B&QT (BMT's surface car subsidiary)from J.G. Brill (Phila. PA) for the price of $16,000.00 per unit. This car series, joined by similar cars bought from Osgood-Bradley in 1931, eventually grew to include 200 units (#6000-6199). Entering service on March 9,1930, these vehicles were called "single-ended, center-exit 'Passimeter' cars, with turnstiles at their front entrance doorways and treadle-operated center exit doors. (Apparently some early uses operated by BMT-owned Brooklyn Bus Corp. were similarly equipped.) Originally painted "Aurora red and Citron yellow", they eventually were repainted into the silver-over-green livery of the BOT. According to a car assignment list dated 6/1/40, they operated out of the following depots: Flatbush (41-Flatbush Ave. line), Canarsie (8-Church Ave. line & 13-Gravesend Church Ave. line) and Fresh Pond (26-Putnam Ave. line, 54-Myrtle Ave. Court St. line & 58-Flushing-Ridgewood line). They also ran on the following lines: 67-7th Ave., 44-Nostrand Ave., 52-Gates Ave., 25-Fulton St., 15-Crosstown, 16-Graham Ave., 57-Flushing Ave., 11-Ralph Ave. (Note that many of the B&QT car line numbers became Brooklyn bus route numbers that are still used today.) These cars were scrapped in 1951 at Coney Island. (Source: Brooklyn Trolley Cars-From the BRT to the B&QT, James Greller, Xplorer Press)

[Mr. Linsky]

I title this presentation as 'Off to the Races'!

Seen in what appears to be the Chinatown section of lower Manhattan and taken in April of 1972 is fleet # 501 followed by # 502 readying for a trip to Yonkers Raceway and operating for the Avenue B and East Broadway Transit Company (AB&EB) of New York.

# 501, probably the most photographed ever of the company's buses, and its sibling are 1958 51 passenger Macks modeled as a C-49-DM's and were originally demonstrators that arrived at AB&EB in 1960 (the year is in question - see below) at which time the company added Thermo Equipment Company (not to be confused with Thermo King) air conditioning systems

These buses along with two C-49-DM's from Schenectady and two C-45-DT's from Cleveland were the last used equipment for AB&EB and were followed by new Flxibles and GM's before the company's takeover by MASTOA in 1980.

One note concerning #'s 501 and 502; while they were modeled as DM's meaning Diesel/mechanical, they are listed on AB&EB's roster (in parenthesis) as torque converters which would indicate that they were modified somewhere along the line.

There is one further conflict in facts; Mack's post war production records show that they were demos sold to AB&EB in 1959 while Martin's 'New York City Transit Buses 1945-1975' indicates that they were purchased from Public Service Interstate Transport of New Jersey in 1960 - the door remains open on that one!

Photo courtesy of 'cr-sd80mac' and is available at eBay as item # 231303732188.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

A gentleman traveler by the name of 'Pete' has favored this writer with a treasure trove of vintage photos generally from New York City of the thirties and I take this opportunity to thank him for his kindness.

Seen below is part of the collection in the form of fleet# A215 - a 1935 30 passenger Mack modeled as a 6-CL-3S and one of twenty likenesses numbered A200 to A 219 purchased in increments between 1933 and 1936 and among only a handful of brand new buses ever to have arrived at Avenue B and East Broadway Transit Company (AB&EB) of Manhattan, New York.

The model CL, a virtual copy of Twin's extremely successful street car design of 1927 but with improved serviceability and handling (easy slide out engine and hydraulic steering), held its own in the New York market accounting for almost the entire early fleets of the East Side and Comprehensive Omnibus Corporations, Brooklyn Bus Corporation and AB&EB with 38 of its own.

While #A215's destination sign is obscured it is undoubtedly marked for one of the company's two main routes across lower Manhattan which were the M8 (Grand Street) or the M9 Avenue B and East Broadway and the very new Cadillac (with its optional fog lights) passing #A215 dates the photo as no earlier than 1947.

It's unfortunate that the image is not in AB&EB's striking colors which included silver roofs with windows trimmed in cream over fire engine red bodies.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[JimmiB]

The Kaiser on the right and the Buick along the curb about halfway back on the left also both appear to be 1947 models.

[Mr. Linsky]

From the pages of an early fifties issue of Bus Transportation Magazine (my Bible) we see an interesting Globe Hoist Company ad touting their equipment as newly installed at the Board of Transportation's Castleton Avenue Garage in Staten Island and the Flushing Garage in Queens.

Either trick photography was used to produce this blurb or an awful lot of the city's TDH-5101's were taken out of service for it!

The advertisement mentions that different hoists were installed for class 'A' and Class 'B' inspections (perhaps someone can enlighten this writer as to what each examination entailed).

Photo courtesy of '4509bus' and is available at eBay as item # 351151484178.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

Seen sometime immediately after the war posing for an ad for National Pneumatic (NP) automatic exit doors is fleet # 1153 - a 1946 44 passenger GM Coach modeled as a TD-4506 and operating for Surface Transportation System of New York (STS).

This is a most interesting blurb and this writer has quite a bit to say about it!

What NP refers to is their rear door 'treadle step' design in which when a passenger enters the step well thereby exerting pressure on the step case the doors will open and quickly shut releasing the interlock once freed - there is driver intervention between stops assuring that the system will not activate while the bus is in motion.

The company claims that the device will reduce costs and increase safety - reducing costs is one thing but increasing safety is another!

STS ordered all of their 4506's and their hundreds of 4507's so equipped which included twenty five 1947 4507's diverted in pipeline to Green Bus Lines numbered 926 to 950.

It wasn't long after receipt of these buses by Green Line that an accident occurred which caused the rapid deletion of the equipment.

A woman dressed in a long winter coat stepped off at her stop and the doors snapped shut catching the bottom of the garment and dragging her a half a block before screams from passengers and pedestrians caught the driver's attention - fortunately, her injuries were minor but I'm certain that a lawsuit followed.

Photo courtesy of '4509bus' and is available at eBay as item # 371132016542.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

Seen at Riis Park in Rockaway, Queens sometime post 1987 and with no apparent destination discernible is fleet # 217-C - a 1966 53 passenger 96 inch wide GM Coach modeled as a TDH-5304 (ser# 1275) and operating for Green Bus Lines, Inc., of Jamaica, New York.

# 217-C has an interesting history originally being purchased by Yonkers Transit Corporation of Westchester and subsequently sold to Pioneer Bus Corporation of Brooklyn which was eventually taken over by Command Bus Company - a newly formed affiliate of Green Bus Lines.

In an ironic twist of fate and fortunes Green Bus Lines, who for many years supplied its surplus equipment to its affiliates including Jamaica Buses and Triboro Coach, found itself floundering financially in the 80's along with an aging fleet in need of replacement forcing it to borrow whatever worthy rolling stock that its commonly owned divisions could spare.

The condition of # 217-C (which still flies its Command flag over the passenger windows) tells the sad story of a once great company that took pride and was cited many times for its excellence in both maintenance and operations.

Photo courtesy of 'Vintage-Vault75' and is available at eBay as item # 171447275173.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[X-Astorian]

Stepping a little further back in time again (likely the late 40s) we find Surface 1003, a 1939 Yellow 746, one of 11 on the company's roster. The driver's side seems to have had a run-in with something.

[frankie]

FINALLY! I've been looking for ages for a QSC patch for my collection and I finally secured one! Whoo-hoo!

Thought I'd share this with everyone.

Frankie

[Mr. Linsky]

[Hart Bus]

[Mr. Linsky]

ECA,

Not in any way to diminish Frankie's find of the Queens Surface patch but I think your orange Queens Transit emblem is more in keeping with the 'The Route of the Orange Bus' theme.

Congratulations to both of you for your discoveries.

Many regards,

WCA

[Hart Bus]