BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A (somewhat faded) postwar Peter Witt portrait, at the Bridge PLaza Terminal.

Another "camera-shy" bus (running on the B46, according to photo caption) is just barely visible on the left.....

http://www.newdavesrailpix.com/nyc/htm/bqt384.htm

(courtesy: newdavesrailpix)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A classic portrait of Brooklyn Peter Witt #8528 holding down a "WILSON" run (the FORD on the right is of a style that changed little from 1949 through 1951; my grandfather had a '51!)

http://www.newdavesrailpix.com/nyc/htm/bqt648.htm

(courtesy: newdavesrailpix)

[N4 Jamaica]

http://www.newdavesrailpix.com/nyc/htm/bqt384.htm

That looks like another photo of car 8444 on Ralph-Rockaway with a blank destination sign, as I mentioned earlier, probably the Depot.
---
Some of the hyphenated B&QT lines resulted from running through end points, as Smith-Coney Island, Myrtle-Court, and McDonald-Vanderbilt. However, I suspect that Ralph-Rockaway was simply a variation of Ralph, which was discontinued in 1943. The "Rockaway" should include the word Parkway, as there is a parallel Rockaway Avenue. I think this Ralph-Rockaway streetcar went under the Interborough Sutter Avenue- Rutland Road station where recently two arriving women passengers got into a brawl that ended with a fatal knifing, recorded by the video aimed at the turnstiles.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B:

Yes, I recall the tragic stabbing Sutter Avenue-Rutland Rd elevated IRT station; from what I've read, that area has been quite dangerous for many years now......sad.

Both "CONESSIONS OF A TROLLEY DOGER FROM BROOKLYN" (Stan Fischler) and "BROOKLYN TROLLEYS" (Greller/Watson) are excellent research tools for anyone wishing to delve into the history and operations of Brooklyn's vast complex streetcar network.

With several busy Brooklyn thoroughfares topped with elevated lines, and the streets beneath honeycombed with a complex ganglia of intertwining subway tunnels, the streetcars not only provided important connections to these rapid transit stations (and the LIRR) but also, providing frequent and inexpensive transportation to school, work, or downtown to the big department stores that then were in business.

Another of my favorite Brooklyn cars were the 6000's (6000-6199, BRILL/OSGOOD-BRADLEY) which (to me) resembled more modern, more angular Peter Witts.

According to "BROOKLYN TROLLEYS", these cars were retired in 1951.

Sadly, none were saved.....

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Nostalgic views of the IRT's SUTTER AVE.-RUTLAND RD station, taken back in the day........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?22873

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?7175

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6949

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[N4 Jamaica]

This thread has gotten so long and so crowded with many topics that it is difficult to refer back to an earlier mention. At any rate, one of your Bridge Plaza photos showed what appeared to be a brand new Johnson Fare Box inside a green Peter Witt. Then you mention that the 6000's were your favorites. On July 1, 1948, the Board of Transportation streetcar fare jumped from 5 to 7 or 8 cents, and at least 300 streetcars lost their turnstiles, the 100 PCC's and the 6000's.
---
I was always in favor of the turnstiles. I think they could handle transfers and discount school fares in this manner: You gave the operator a ticket, he gave you a special big slug for the turnstile, and the turnstile returned it with the nickels to the operator. The switch to 7 or 8 cent fares caused the Board of Transportation to scrap these crowd-swallowing turnstiles. Someplace they bought new Johnson fare boxes.
---
However, I cannot recall which fare boxes were on older B&QT cars when the fare was a simple nickel.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Joe:

Great input, as always!

Good point about the streetcars equipped with turnstiles; tokens would have seemed a logical solution when the fare went beyond a nickle; however, by 1953, when the NYCTA began the use of tokens, most Brooklyn streetcar lines had been converted to rubber, anyway........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"THE VANQUISHED AND THE CONQUERS"

This postwar photo at the ENY depot shows rows of new MACKS parked where the proud old streetcars once idled; that lone trolley sure looks quite out-of-place in this classic "passing of the torch" scene........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46323

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Undated photo of the transit scene at Jamaica Ave. & Crescent; a train of BMT Standards rumbles overhead, while two streetcars pass one another down below.

The ancient-looking bus on the left looks like it might be a TWIN COACH Model 30........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?140939

(courtesy:nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Hamilton Ave. & W 9th Street.......

Peter Witt #8516 (signed for "MYRTLE"/"RIDGEWOOD") in the company of one of the "new kids on the block", signed for the "#33 HAMILTON AVE." line.......

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?118114

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

N4 (Joe):

Just came across this PCC turnstile photo........

"NYO"

http://www.newdavesrailpix.com/nyc/htm/bqt725.htm

(courtesy: newdavesrailpix)

[N4 Jamaica]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

19th St. & Prospect Park West, 1954.

The GM on the left indeed makes for a decidedly modern contrast to the old Peter Witt on the right.....

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?94208

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Another "old and new" photo at the busy Bridge Plaza station........

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?31063

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)