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Fifth Avenue Coach Bus of the Future

 
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MaBSTOA 15



Age: 70
Joined: 27 Feb 2013
Posts: 1056

PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 8:03 pm    Post subject: Fifth Avenue Coach Bus of the Future Reply with quote

"New York City Mayor Robert Wagner and Fifth Avenue Coach Lines president, Mr. John McCarthy look over proposed new air conditioned bus it is 102 inches wide instead of the present 96 inches. City Traffic Commissioner Wiley prefers the old width. The company wants to put 25 buses in operation. October 2, 1959" NY Post

Photo used for educational purpose.

If you look closely, you can see that the side destination sign says GM Coach.

It is said that this was a GM demo for NYCTA. You can see the NY state required driver's stachion and the dark color scheme. [/quote]



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frankie



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

PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The oddest feature of this photo is the mirror like reflection from the destination sign of the other dignitaries standing in front of the bus and if you look closely at the front bumper, their reflection are also present.

Frankie


Last edited by frankie on Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:32 pm; edited 1 time in total
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 3:40 pm    Post subject: Re: Fifth Avenue Coach Bus of the Future Reply with quote

MaBSTOA 15 wrote:
"New York City Mayor Robert Wagner and Fifth Avenue Coach Lines president, Mr. John McCarthy look over proposed new air conditioned bus it is 102 inches wide instead of the present 96 inches. City Traffic Commissioner Wiley prefers the old width. The company wants to put 25 buses in operation. October 2, 1959" NY Post
[/quote]

I wonder if the good traffic commissioner was aware that in 1959, some 102" wide buses had already been around for 11 years... Smile
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W.B. Fishbowl



Age: 57
Joined: 02 Oct 2014
Posts: 2378
Location: New York, New York, USA

PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was in late 1959, after all, that 102" wide buses were first permitted by law in NYC, and the TA took the plunge with 190 of the 5301's (beginning with number 1). This dovetailed with two other trends that year:
- The startup of a new roll sign-making firm, Transign, which came out of the bench with signs made of mylar; the 5301's were among the first to have them, on both TA and the 120 buses ultimately ordered by Fifth Avenue Coach Lines over a 9-month period in the next year (55 of which were for Surface Transit Inc., and mentioned that subsidiary on the sides of 50 of them)
- The rescinding of a law (further codified by a 1911 U.S. Supreme Court decision against Fifth Avenue Coach, ironically enough) prohibiting outside advertising on buses
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frankie



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

PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

W.B. Fishbowl wrote:
It was in late 1959, after all, that 102" wide buses were first permitted by law in NYC, and the TA took the plunge with 190 of the 5301's (beginning with number 1).


So how was it that the TA was able to order 500 102" wide TDH-4510 coaches back in 1949? Were they able to get an exemption from the city?
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do not know the laws or statutes involved, but I suspect that buses that only operated withing the NYC limit, may have been exempt from state laws...
IIRC, at one time TA buses did not have state license plates...only their fleet numbers. Not sure about that....

It should be noted that streetcars negotiating city streets and traffic, that predated buses, could be as wide as 108"....not sure what they were in NYC...
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