BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a more detailed view of the motorman's controls on ex-Brooklyn PCC #1001, at Shore Line......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?79484

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["B.&Q.T."]

[traildriver]

The "dashboard" on both of those were pretty basic. I like it! The controls were probably built ruggedly, and easy to service, compared to modern buses and trains.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Sharp comparisons of subway cab hardware, then and now......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3213

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?147708

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["Sharp Comparisons"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Motorman's controls of an ex-IRT "Hi-V", and a former BERy streetcar.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?53076

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?152068

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["Interborough Rapid Transit"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The controls of a present-day IRT car.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?132085

(courtesty: nycsubway.org)

["NTT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The motormen who operated the INTERBOROUGH's unique "MUDC" elevated cars (after rebuilding) HAD to have had GOOD eyesight; for some reason, when the end platforms were enclosed with vestibules, the motorman's control's were NOT moved forward into the vestibule area.

This meant that the motormen had to now look through TWO sets of windows, and ACROSS the vestibule!!

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?27901

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["MUDC"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's another MUDC El car view (the motorman's cab would have been located behind the window to the right of the open vestibule door).......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?75766

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["INTERBOROUGH"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

See also:

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?17962

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["I.R.T."]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

3rd Avenue & 161st St..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?114251

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["There's More Room On The 'L'!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here are two interior cab views (now quite nostalgic!) of the now-long retired R-38 (aka "The Poor Man's Brightliner")

Interestingly, these cars were also the first subway cars in New York to be equipped with horn buttons, instead of the usual pull cord......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46101

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46102

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["St. Louis Car Company"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a lucky subway buff at the controls of a then-recently retired BMT "Bluebird"; these streamlined units were quite advanced for their day.

The motormen of these trains used a controller that was used for both acceleration and braking......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?75533

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["CLARK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a conductor "working the doors" on the Lo-V "Museum Train"; the last IRT cars to have outdoor conductor positions were the R-14's of 1949.

The very last cars in revenue service where the conductor "slapped the caps" in between cars to operate the doors were the IND R-10's, retired in 1989........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?106551

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["INTERBOROUGH"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Earlier in this topic, I've mentioned the NYW&B Ry, which saw its last trains in 1937.

On the inside rear cover of Roger Arcara's excellent book, "WESTCHESTER'S FORGOTTEN RAILWAY" (third edition, 1985), there is a plan showing the proposed new articulated MU's for the "Westchester", built by BUDD.

These new lightweight trains would have replaced the older MU's, and were to have been two-unit articulateds, with overall styling reminiscent of the BMT's "Zephyr" (also built by BUDD), and the KEY SYSTEM's then-new "Bridge Units".

The new units would have had porthole windows at the cab ends (like the original NYW&B cars), also, the MP-54's and the Espee's Bay Area- "Red Electrics".

These new lightweight trains would have been cheaper to operate than the older, heavier steel cars, and also would have helped the cash-strapped electric railway save some much-needed money......

"NYO"

["Ride The Westchester!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also in the aforementioned book, there is a photo of the abandoned NYW&B platform at E. 180th St.; by the date of the photo, only work trains were being stored on this track.

Mr. Arcara, on this old platform, noted:

"......the now-deserted platform may be used again for passenger traffic, if the long-projected Second Avenue Subway, with a proposed connection to the Dyre Avenue line, is ever built......."

This would have been a monumental project, to say the least, had this ever seen the light of day.

As I had mentioned earlier in this topic, the Dyre Avenue shuttle, which opened in 1941, was a true "hodgepodge" operation; the refurbished El equipment came from the IRT, the signals were surplus from the BMT, and the train crews all from the ranks of IND men.

Too, as I had also mentioned earlier here, I've long wondered why the City waited 16 years after the Dyre Avenue line opened to intergrate it with the IRT ":mainline".

Once this connection went into service, through service to Manhattan (and Brooklyn) was available.

Recall, also, that it was the "Westchester's" total lack of access to midtown Manhattan that helped to seal the grand and opulent railway's doom in 1937......

"NYO"

["N.Y.W.& B."]