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NTCTA's last Macks

 
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 2:45 pm    Post subject: NTCTA's last Macks Reply with quote

Gentlemen:

I know that the last MACKS operated (C-49's) were retired about 1968.

Twelve years old (transit coach-wise) seems to be barely an adolescent, IMHO.

What was the main reason that the NYCTA retired these MACKS, when they were a little more than a decade old?

It would seem that these big bruisers still had some good service years remaining in them; perhaps the NYCTA wanted to retire all non-GM buses?

Appreciate your comments........ Wink

"NYO"
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frankie



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PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 7:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lack of parts to maintain them especially with Mack no longer in the bus business. My Dad worked on them at the East New York shops and this was one of the main concerns.
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

frankie wrote:
Lack of parts to maintain them especially with Mack no longer in the bus business. My Dad worked on them at the East New York shops and this was one of the main concerns.


frankie:

Parts becoming harder to obtain indeed can spell doom to buses whose builders are no longer in existence (Also recall WHITE, and BRILL)

The NHBL operated several MACK and WHITE models well into the 60's; I can recall these non-GM's (MACKS included) beginning to vanish around late 1966/1967.

I still recall a NHBL MACK getting hit with an engine blaze that clearly ended its career, near my old Union City apartment house, during summer (1967 or 1968)

The WHITES and oldest Old Looks had already been retired.

Ironically, the BLUE & WHITE was still operating really sharp looking New Look MACKS on the #97 (an old INTER-CITY route, between JSQ and Paterson) into the mid-70's.

These were (I believe) ex-YONKERS coaches; at their lot/garage on Tonnelle Avenue (North Bergen) there were also two older ex-Yonkers MACKS, being used as storage sheds.

The NYCTA MACKS I remember best were those holding down Staten Island runs, back in the 60's........where did all the years go......??

"NYO"
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frankie



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PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 wrote:


The NYCTA MACKS I remember best were those holding down Staten Island runs, back in the 60's........where did all the years go......??

"NYO"



Didn't the 9000 series GM old looks wind up holding down S.I. runs also before being retired?

Those were my favorite and most handsome GM's back in the day. I loved the unique horizontal opening windows and deep throated sound of their Cummins diesels. Yes, they were Cummins along with the 7000 series.
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

frankie:

The 9000's (TDH-5106), IMHO were retired much too early; in 1968, they were only a decade old, a mere babe in the transit bus world!

Even when they were retired (early 70's?) I would gather these buses still could have given good service (I think I recall the late, great Mr. Linsky (RIP) mentioned that [several?] went to New Jersey, and operated on the LAFAYETTE & GREENVILLE ,Jersey City)

In "NEW YORK TRANSIT MEMORIES" (Harold A. Smith) there is a photo on page 81 showing MACK #6002 on New Dorp Lane, running on the R-112 in 1967.

The caption mentions the MACKS starting out in Brooklyn, and then going over to Staten Island, where they ran until they were retired.

Growing up, I can only remember Old Looks and MACKS at the St. George terminal, well into the 60's; I have a circa-1963 postcard showing the St. George terminal (clearly during a rush hour) populated by only Old Looks and MACKS.............

"NYO"
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frankie



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PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So sad to see this! I wish more of them were saved. Thank goodness the NYCTA did just that.

Frankie



L and G NJ 9000.jpg
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L and G NJ 9000.jpg


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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

frankie:

Yes, that is the SAME picture that "Mr. L " shared with us quite some time ago; I know exactly where that photo was taken, in Hoboken.

Back in the late 70's, I took a number of photos there one sultry summer afternoon; there were many Old Looks hailing from different companies, now-historic buses that would have made awesome museum vehicles today.

I even snapped several "baby" Old Looks that were being used as school buses.

There were also several WASHINGTON STREET Old Looks (still in service at that time) in attendance that day.

Many "Jersey Indy" Old Looks were retired in 1976/1977, when the NJT New Looks began arriving.

Most of what remained in rush hour service was axed when the GRUMMANS/METROS began arriving in the early/mid 1980's.

I remember the oldest GM New Looks also beginning to disappear about that time.

The last two or three NHBL Old Looks vanished during summer, 1986.

I never saw any Old Looks again in my general area.

Man, I still miss my old diesel-engined childhood friends...............

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's another L&G Old Look, #216, taken in 1975.

I rode these old relics many times on my "bus jaunts", back in the day; #216 is looking a bit battered in this view..............

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?691

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here are two views showing the handsome BLUE & WHITE New Look MACKS (ex-Yonkers?) on a 1973 excursion.

These buses were true eye-catchers! Wink

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?143

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?145

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A truly nostalgic 1964 photo with a Yonkers New Look MACK looking quite smart.............

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2951

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Several 1950's views showcasing the swaggering champions that were that NYCTA's "bulldog tough" MACKS.

I can still hear these brutes snorting and growling in my mind, even today........

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3976

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3978

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3952

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4000

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)
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W.B. Fishbowl



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know this'd be for a different thread, but it seems the reasons for the early retirement of the NYCTA Macks would have been the same as when the 1958 Macks MaBSTOA inherited from Surface Transit were likewise put to pasture around the same time period, no? I know in their last years, they were plying such routes as M-100 and M-104, all out of Amsterdam depot.
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

W.B. Fishbowl wrote:
I know this'd be for a different thread, but it seems the reasons for the early retirement of the NYCTA Macks would have been the same as when the 1958 Macks MaBSTOA inherited from Surface Transit were likewise put to pasture around the same time period, no? I know in their last years, they were plying such routes as M-100 and M-104, all out of Amsterdam depot.

W.B:

A good point.

By the 1960's, though many cities still operated buses built by several builders, it was clear that "standardization" was more and more becoming the rule rather than the exception.

As the 60's progressed, more and more properties were becoming 100% GM, or, nearly all GM.

In my area, non-GM's began to vanish in late 1966/1967.

I cannot recall and MACKS, WHITES, or BRILLS in my general area beyond 1967, possibly early 1968.

The exception here would have been the well-maintained second hand New Look MACKS operated by BLUE & WHITE, which were still operating in the mid-1970's, on the "#97 JOURNAL SQUARE-PATERSON"............

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2018 10:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.......more NYCTA MACK nostalgia...................... Very Happy

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3962

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3969

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)
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