BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

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Some very interesting photos on this page (note the world's first trolleybus, 1882!)..............

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_omnibus

["BUS STOP"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just thought this might be of interest...............

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Jitney

["NEW YORK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recalling the days when the number of intercity operators was indeed virtually endless...........

JEFFERSON LINES

VALLEY TRANSIT

VERMONT TRANSIT

ACADIAN LINES

MONUMENTAL MOTOR TOURS

PEORIA-ROCKFORD BUS COMPANY

METROPOLITAN COACH SERVICE

ISLAND GREYHOUND (Canada)

RED STAR MOTOR COACHES

THE BLUE LINE

S.M.T. LIMITED (Canada)

GREY GOOSE BUS LINES (Canada)

BOISE-WINNEMUCCO STAGES

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Was VERY lucky indeed to across this truly nostalgic still from the 1957 movie, "JOHNNY GUNMAN"

The photo was taken at the suburban (upper level) of the PABT; the 1948 ACF-BRILL seen here was an "INTER-CITY" coach.

Ahhhhh, what happy childhood memories this timeless image brings back!

https://www.imcdb.org/v001488725.html

["THE BROWN BUS WITH THE ORANGE BAND"]

[Cyberider]

Another nice bus that I never got to see nor ride.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

I have not seen the film (I wonder if its on dvd?) so you're guess is as good as mine, regarding the gate numbers.

I DO remember, as a kid, once Mom and I (heading back home to Union City) got to the top of the escalator bank, turning right, and heading to the platform where the NHBL #5 loaded.

I CAN give you this info (from early/mid-1960s tts I have) regarding a few gate number assignments......

"MANHATTAN LINES" (Routes 50-53) Platform 53

"MANHATTAN LINES" (Route 56) Platform 54

"RED & TAN" (Route 99S) Platform 64

"WESTWOOD TRANSPORTATION LINES" (Route 56) Platform 30

"NORTHEAST COACH LINES" "Tracks" 125-126

"NYO"

["RIDE THE RED & TAN LINES"]

[traildriver]

Here's a newsreel showing the very early PABT...
https://portfolio.panynj.gov/2015/11/05/throw-back-sample-1950s-port-authority-bus-terminal/

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

As always, appreciate the links.....thank you!

Here's several more 1960s PABT gate assignments (via old timetables in my collection)..........

"SUBURBAN TRANSIT": (Gates #'s 119/120/121)

"SOMERSET": Route #s 15/111/143/222 (Platform #72, Upper level)

"LINCOLN TRANSIT": (Platform #117, Upper Level)

"RED & TAN" platform assignments (GWB Terminal):

Route #9: (Platform 22)

Route #25-10X/25-18 (Platform #23)

'NYO"

["RIDE THE RED & TAN LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Speaking of the stately (and beefy!) ACF-BRILL C-44s..............

These buses were featured in a scene (filmed at West Point) in 1949's "A LETTER TO THREE WIVES"; note the upswept "pompadour" air vent above the destination signs, which some of the C-44s were equipped with............

"NYO"

https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_394467-ACF-Brill-C-44-1947.html

["RIDE THE BLUE COACH"]

[traildriver]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Yes, it IS important to recall the additions of the upper level and parking decks, as well as the addition of the North Wing.

During that hot summer of 1980 (my dad had just passed away, PATH tubes were on strike) and I was commuting into the "Port-of-Authority" each weekday, riding an assortment on mostly ex-O&B/I-C Fishbowls, with a 4104/06 thrown in for good measure!)

Subway-wise, I was heading to and from downtown aboard ancient "R-10s" on the iND "CC" (then rush hours only) and the equally-nostalgic IRT "R-12s"/"14s"/"15s" on the 7th Avenue line (I'd also take the Lex uptown in the PM, and then transfer at GC for the #7 to TSQ, aboard a WF "Bluebird"!)

That long, hot summer was also when the "most beautiful bus terminal in the world" was in the depressing process being "renovated"/"improved".

It was nothing short of chaotic, trying to negotiate the plywood "mouse-in-the-maze" corridors, when heading home in the PM, looking for the "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS" (rush hours only)........what a mess!

I well recall "SRO" being the norm aboard the expresses that summer, especially with "the tubes" out for that entire summer (WATERWAY ferries would not appear until the end of the decade, and the old trans-Hudson boats were then long gone)

The ONLY consolation was that I was treated each workday to commuting aboard classic GM buses and vintage subway cars!

Back then, the former ORANGE & BLACK's "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS" was a true express, unlike today's "159R" operated by NJT.

The last stop before making the "closed door express" run into New York was Gorge Road in lower Cliffside Park; the buses than ran along "old" River Road (now replaced with a multi-lane, super-highway version) to Boulevard East; there, the buses would head south to the Lincoln Tunnel (not using the helix).

Back then, there was no shortage of buses on Boulevard East; you also had TNJ and MANHATTAN LINES running into "The Port", picking up the local passengers.

Today, on Boulevard East, it is now all NJT; the "159R" does not utilize Boulevard East, and also makes several stops along (new) River Road (and Ports Lincoln and Imperitore) before heading into the tunnel.

Hell-bent-for-leather jitney vans (I have NO love for these!) now dominate; the waterfront from Edgewater and the tunnel is now totally built up, with all traces of the old industries, rail lines, and derelict barges long gone.

This virtually nothing I remember from 1980, nowadays.

On Saturdays, if I were going into the city to head for the NYCTM (virtually every Saturday!), I'd ride either a New York-bound "local" or a "22" to Nungessers, where I'd board either a MANHATTAN LINES Fishbowl, or a TNJ #165 or 166 (also a Fishbowl) for the trip into the PABT, where I'd meet a buddy from Queens whom I also then worked with, to take the #7 train to GCT, and then a Lex express into Brooklyn (the IRT was 100% SMEE in those days!)

Pre-renovation, do you recall, heading for the subways at "The Port", with the entrances were on either side of the eastern end of the main concourse; also, the huge "open air" newsdealers, as you headed east towards to the subway, on the main concourse?

Slow, but sure, the "Port-of-Authority" I knew and loved since childhood was disappearing, replaced by a new facility that was more atkin to a modern shopping mall than a bus terminal......every scrap of nostalgia (as well as excitement) had vanished.

How greatly I treasure my many memories of "the old days"!

"NYO"

["RIVER ROAD EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

1980 and counting...........

The suburban Fishbowls of the former ORANGE & BLACK were now serving alongside their counterparts from INTER-CITY (I recall that there were still first-generation models operating at that time)

I recall (on different occasions) talking to drivers who had worked for ORANGE & BLACK. as well as INTER-CITY; both lamented the passing of the days when their respective companies were still independent.

Between NJT's takeover of virtually all of the old New Jersey carriers, and the "upgrading" of the PABT, it all boiled down to a very "generic" operations, all the way around.

The rainbow of colors worn by the old carriers, as well as the classic "modern" look of the 1950 terminal, indeed made for some most fascinating bus-watching, for the enthusiasts of that era (Your's Truly was one of them!)

"NYO"

["NEW YORK EXPRESS"]