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GM NEW LOOK ODDITIES
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pictured at Niagara Falls in 1977, we see a row of Canadian Coach Lines, Ltd. GM New Looks in complete suburban configuration including high back seats, parcel racks, underfloor luggage bins and beautifully made and installed rare sedan doors.

The doors are fitted so well that I would have to say that they may have been a GMDD (Canada) option and were not uncommon up north to keep the cabins of the buses warmer on those frigid runs.

Photo courtesy of eBay.

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

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roymanning2000



Age: 75
Joined: 01 Aug 2007
Posts: 198

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mr. L,

Right you are. This was an option for suburbans built at London ON. Some U. S. operators might have specified these doors also but I don't believe they were ever available on Pontiac-built buses. The door control was the same or similar to the one used on the 4106.

Roy
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fishbowl



Age: 76
Joined: 01 Sep 2010
Posts: 62
Location: Detroit

PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm fascinated by this YouTube video of Dayton new look trolleybus #110, which I assume is Canadian-built and 5307-era. Don't know if they qualify as oddities, but those straight-opening front doors (at 3:43) sure look odd to me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTHuFj2gEBw&feature=related
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fishbowl



Age: 76
Joined: 01 Sep 2010
Posts: 62
Location: Detroit

PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's one I don't quite understand: a TDH-5301 with exhaust baffles (what exactly were they called?) on the rear window, a feature I've only seen on much later models. Was this a GM retrofit and test? Perhaps, since the license is a Michigan manufacturer's plate, and photo is dated 1969.



Photo from current Historic Images eBay auction #280819154387.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-Press-Photo-Buses-Photograph-Design-Model-Backview-/280819154387?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item4162203dd3
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frankie



Age: 77
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 745
Location: St. Peters, Mo.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is definitely an aftermarket installation. The EIP (Environmental Improvement Package) didn't become standard until 1970 on the 3rd generation fishbowl - first tested in San Francisco in mid-1969.

Great rear shot of the original taillight cluster!

Frankie
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fishbowl,

I would say that the fact that the bus has manufacturer's plates and is pictured in a press release would certainly indicate that it is experimental and probably the first test or prototype of GM's 'Environmental Improvement Package' or 'EIP'.

It's rather complicated to explain and has been questioned as far as its ability to have solved the then front burner air pollution problems with Diesels.

A fairly full description of the system may be found on page 62 of 'Welcome Aboard the GM New Look Bus' by McKane and Squier.

EIP was adopted eventually and appeared on most later phase New Looks.

Included below courtesy of Detroit's Department of Street Railways (DSR) is a captioned photo that should help explain the system as well.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'


One of the last coaches to arrive on the property under the DSR was a GMC "Diesel Cruiser" demonstrator coach possibly a T8H-5305A (or 5307A) which arrived in the Spring of 1973.
The demo, numbered as coach #3000, arrived on May 13, 1973, and was tested for four months in regular service. The rear A/C unit cover also displayed the words "LOOK I QUIT SMOKING! (AND THE ODOR IS GONE TOO)" with an arrows pointing to GM's EIP vertical exhaust system.
Coach #3000 was returned to GM on September 14, 1973. Although not much more is known about this coach, the paint scheme resembles the livery to be adopted by DDOT beginning in 1975.
[website owner's collection photo, courtesy of the Schramm photo collection]
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I'm still in this thread I thought I'd treat you all to a New Look oddity from A/C Transit of Oakland, California - they had the greatest shops for creating oddities!

This one is a stock TDH 5304 that was given a 'Classic' look so I suppose that you could call it a 'Classic New Look'!

Notice the updated head lamps and the traces of sheet metal filler to cover the old circular openings (lower frame).

Photos from the Jim Husing Collection.

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


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fishbowl



Age: 76
Joined: 01 Sep 2010
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Location: Detroit

PostPosted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's one I know nothing about. (Please forgive me if it's been discussed before.) Can someone provide information about this Australian, fishbowl-fronted, intercity coach? (It's an oddity to me, but probably not to millions of Australians!)




Photo thanks to the Leon Batman collection.
http://www.home.railscene.com/batman/buses_1/page.html
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frankie



Age: 77
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
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Location: St. Peters, Mo.

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 4:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back in the early '80's, Victoria B.C. experimented with installing wheelchair lifts on four fishbowls. Acquired in 1976 were 7 T6H-4523N buses numbered 787-793. The four buses retrofitted with the lifts were 790, 791, 792 and 793. Along with the lifts were doors that look like they came off of either last generation Brills, TC or St. Louis trolley coaches as evident by the door style and probably modified to fit the new looks. This is only a guess. The trial didn't last long and eventually all four buses had the lifts removed and restored to it's original look.

Also note the small rubber bumperettes - another oddity.

Frankie

Credit as noted on the photos for educational purposes only.



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Mr. Linsky
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Information on this GM New Look oddity is very sketchy at best except to say that it appears to be a 5301 model owned by SC County Transit - whomever they may be.

Of note are the old fashioned 'jack-knife' rear doors and an updating of the rear engine hatch with new stop, signal and back-up light fixtures along with a relocation of the license plate.

While the main rear window has been divided in two as per GM recommendation, the roof strengthening elements have not been installed over the triangular glass behind the front door.

It does look like a nice restoration but I would certainly have preferred to see the original rear panel configuration.

Photo from the Jim Husing Collection and found on remie4494's Flickr page.

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

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JimmiB



Age: 81
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Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Judging by the paint scheme it's probably Sonoma County Transit.
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oddities don't necessarily have to be from the factory and can encompass any in shop alterations performed by an operator including this 1976 image of fleet # BW-50 - a 1961 GM Coach Model TDH 5301 and originally one of one hundred and fifty transit configurations numbered from 100 to 249 delivered to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in April and May of that year.

With most of its passenger windows removed, # BW-50 has been converted to a work bus assigned to CTA's maintenance department and probably doing lighter duties such as parts deliveries and minor road service calls although there are no visible emergency fixtures or signs aboard.

Of note is the heavy double sheeted plywood wall separating the driver's
compartment from the work area.

Photo courtesy of Vintage-Vault75 and is up for bid on eBay as item # 170895739157.

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

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Skip391



Age: 66
Joined: 03 Sep 2011
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Information on this GM New Look oddity is very sketchy at best except to say that it appears to be a 5301 model owned by SC County Transit - whomever they may be.

Of note are the old fashioned 'jack-knife' rear doors and an updating of the rear engine hatch with new stop, signal and back-up light fixtures along with a relocation of the license plate.

While the main rear window has been divided in two as per GM recommendation, the roof strengthening elements have not been installed over the triangular glass behind the front door.

It does look like a nice restoration but I would certainly have preferred to see the original rear panel configuration.

Photo from the Jim Husing Collection and found on remie4494's Flickr page.

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


SC Count Transit was Santa Clarra county Transit and is now VTA.
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seen sometime in 1979 and standing at a 'Transit Zone' somewhere in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and readying for another trip between Century Park and South Gate on the # 17 Line is fleet # 649 - a 1975 GMDD Coach Model T6H-5307N and one of over three-hundred delivered in increments between 1972 and 1977 and divided among a number cities served by the Edmonton Transit System.

Of note, aside from the lack of standee glasses, is the unusually wide almost trolley like double stream rear doors.

While only a handful of operators in the U.S. including The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority opted for this feature, it was very popular north of the border and used throughout the Canadian Provinces.

Operation was usually actuated by either treadle steps or by McKay gates at the top of the stairways and most all had handrails down the center of the steps for passenger safety.

On 5300 models so equipped, the two passenger sashes aft of the rear doors were 4500 in size to accommodate the wider exit opening.

Photo courtesy of Vintage-Vault75 and is up for bid on eBay as item #
170925290667.

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

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Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Adding to our GM New Look oddity department, we see fleet # 715 - a 1980 GMDD (Canada) Model T6H-4521N and one of eighteen likenesses numbered from 701 to 718 operating for the Lane Transit District of Eugene, Oregon.

While a bike rack on a GM New Look is a rarity in its own right, the real oddity here is the wheel chair lift as seen in operation on bus # 701 (lower frame) which would account for the strange gadget over the front door (probably an interlock sensor to prevent bus movement while the wheel chair apparatus is deployed).

Lane Transit District of Eugene began operations in 1970 with both buses and vans, and has grown and changed along with its community's needs to become an outstanding north west property.

Upper photo courtesy of 'mbsbusguy' and is up for bid on eBay as item #261115404020.
Lower photo courtesy of Lane Transit District.

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


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