BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Am hoping to find the retirement dates (meaning, what year) that the following types of buses were retired from revenue service.......

DE CAMP:

When were the last Old Looks and ACF-BRILLS retired (I'm trying to go by memory, here, but I think that the Old Looks were gone by 1970, and the BRILLS a few years earlier; again, I cannot pin down a definite year)

Last Fishbowls?

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ORANGE & BLACK (MAPLEWOOD EQUIPMENT CO."):

I DO remember the sad sight of seeing the Old Looks being towed from the Fairview garage; I seem to recall sometime aroubd 1977 (I remember riding them through at least 1976, if memory serves me correctly; by that time, they were mostly used during rush hours)

MACKS (mid-1960s?)

I also remember that the Fishbowls were disappearing as the MCIs and VOLVO artics were arriving.
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MANHATTAN LINES:

Last Old Looks?
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INTER-CITY:

Last Old Looks, WHITES, and ACF-BRILLS?

I was just a kid back then, but I seem to remember the WHITES and the BRILLS disappearing in the mid/late 1960s

NJT:

Last Fishbowls (suburban/transit)
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Again, I truly appreciate any and all info, as I gew up with the old companies.

YJANK YOU in advance...........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

If memory serves me correctly.......

The very last NJ company to roster Old Look suburbans was "SOMERSET"; I last recall seeing then in the vicinity of the "Port-of-Authority" and the Lincoln Tunnel, circa-1981, or about that time.

When these handsome, classic buses were retired, it closed out a long and colorful era, indeed............

"NYO"

["THE BLUE STAR ROUTE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Every inch a timeless classic........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154519

(courtesy: nycsubway.,org)

["9323"]

[MaBSTOA 15]

Finding when a specific model is/was retired by an operator is very difficult. Since most publications do not include said information. You may find piece meal information as you read articles on a particular bus company.

Reading through the January 1976 issue of Motor Coach Age on Somerset Bus Company I found the following

The 10 Twin Coach models 44S and 44D or what was left of them ran till 1960.

The remaining ACF Brill C-44 were retired in 1965 when Somerset leased nine Greyhound ex-Worlds Fair SDH-5302.

At that point Somerset had an all diesel fleet.

[MaBSTOA 15]

Also this Somerset bus is a TDM-4515 numbers 9321-9331. According to the Ohio Museum of Transportation these buses were delivered in January 1957 to Red Adams Bus Lines in Miami Florida.

According to the Motor Coach Age issue on Somerset these buses are listed coming from Tropical Coach Lines to Somerset in 1959.

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154519

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

MaBSTOA 15:

MANY thanks for this info; MUCH appreciated!

I see I weas incorrect assuming that "SOMERSET's" C-44s were replaced by the PREVOST "Champions"; I was also VERY surprised to see that those Old Looks that "SOMERSET" operated were second-hand; I had assumed the company purchased then new.

"January, 1957"......SAME month and YEAR that Your's Truly hit this planet!!

I have seen only one photo of the postwar "Fageoliners" that "SOMERSET" once rostered; if they were retired in 1960, that would coincide with the first "Jetson" Fishbowls.

Again, I greatly appreciate your taking the time to research this info for this topic!

"NYO"

["33 NEW YORK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In this nostalgic 1981 photo, we see one of the ex-GREYHOUND "World's Fair" Fishbowls nearing the end of its run into the "Port-of-Authority".......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154520

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["148 NEW YORK CITY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Back in 1974, we see an ex-DE CAMP Old Look (still in DE CAMP paint, but minus company lettering) near the Lincoln Tunnel in Manhattan (I well remember Mom and I riding the Old Looks and C-44's on DE CAMP's long-defunct "22" out of JSQ, to visit relatives in West Orange; we always alighted in Verona).............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154405

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

['22 JERSEY CITY-CALDWELL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Recalling "SOMERSET's" distinctive PREVOST "Champions"; "SOMERSET", interestingly enough, had the distinction of being the first American company to purchase buses not manufactured in the States.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154518

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154522

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["MOUNTAINSIDE 141"]