BusTalk

[Cyberider]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

In the 70s, a few Newark City Subway PCCs were purchased for service on the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit in Cleveland; they remained on that line until they were retired, replaced by light rail equipment which more resembled insipid mobile homes.

Recall, also, that it was not until the arrival of the "LIBERTY LINERS" (ex-"ELECTROLINERS") in 1964 that the former P&W operated anything but "Bullets" and "Straffords".

By the later 1980s, due to critical equipment shortages, SEPTA began to operate surplus Market-Frankford "Almond Joy" (BUDD, 1960) elevated cars on the line, as well as a group of ex-CTA 6000 series units.

These cars utilized trucks salvaged from PATH's 1958 "K" class cars (the PRR/H&M/PATH "joint service" cars) that were then being scrapped; I grew up with the "K" cars, and also commuted on them for nearly 10 years before they were retired.

When the last "Straffords" and "Bullets" were retired, they had the distinction of being the last BRILL-built rolling stock in regular service anywhere in the country.

Talk about being "built to last"!

"NYO"

["69TH STREET"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Strange bedfellows" at 69th Street terminal.............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?69113

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?52150

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["NORRISTOWN EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a nostalgic photo from 1958. showing an ancient 'Strafford" nearing 69th Street; note the "RED ARROW" Old Looks and ACF-BRILLs in the yard; some of the older "square window" Old Looks (and the BRILLS) were still in service circa-1970..............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?87920

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["VILLANOVA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Another nostalgic photo (taken near the same location as the previous view); this one dates to 1962, and has another "Strafford" and several Old Looks.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?42199

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

['RED ARROW LINES"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This timeless Philadelphia photo recalls the long-ago days when both the PCC and the Old Look were onceso commonplace in many American cities.

Both the PCC and the Old Look are classic representitives of truly American public transit vehicles, still sleek and stylish today, decades after they first entered service...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?13441

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["40 FRONT-SOUTH"]

[Cyberider]

I actually rode those ugly Breda cars on my visit to Cleveland in 1992, the first and only time I'd been back since moving to AZ in 1956. My parents and grandparents rode both the Shaker Rapid and the CTS streetcars in their day.

Lots of equipment used on the suburban Philadelphia lines I didn't know about. Must have come after I bought my books! Looks like things have pretty well standardized on the dull and boring now.

We need a time machine!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

If I DO encounter a time machine, YOU will be the first person I'll call!

NO VARIETY at all in Philly these days (as is the case is most other cities today)

Back in the day, the ERA and NRHS were running frequent fantrips on the streetcar lines, the Red Arrow Lines, the P&W, the BSS and Market-Frankford El, and, of course, the trolleybuses.

Too, Philadelphia has (like New York and most other big cities) high crime rates, and you, literally, take your life in your hands by venturing out these days to "railfan"/"bus fan", even in "safe" areas.

When I think of how, so many years ago, I railfanned the Newark Subway, the NYC subways, (and the buses!), and the commuter rails in my area, with NO fear of becoming a statistic, I truly believe I lived on another planet, 500 years ago.

Only two cities I'd visit today (and I won't/can't, for many reasons) would be San Francisco and New Orleans.....at least there is STILL a LOT of CLASSIC equipment still in use, to be savored and enjoyed!

How we all took the "good old days" for granted............

"NYO"

["7 CITY SUBWAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a truly classic "traction action" scene at the 69th Street terminal (Upper Darby), dating from the 1950s...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?16767

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

Here we see a train of the original (pre-1910) "MARKET FRANKFORD" elevated cars, on the loop at 69th Street, poised for an inbound trip into Philadelphia.

Above, we see several P&W "Straffords" sporting different paint schemes); look closely, and you'll also see the nose of a "Bullet" lurking in the shadows!

"NYO"

['PHILADELPHIA & WESTERN"]

[Cyberider]

From this photo and others I've seen over the years, this certainly was a fascinating place to be back in the day.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In the "BUS WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSES" (1988) there is a photo showing the VERY unorthodox "ORION PEOPLE MOVER", a "tractpr/trailer combo which resembled two glassed-in/stylized RTS, the powered unit pulling the trailer, at Niagara Falls.

Only one tractor/trailer set was built, for the Niagara Parks Commission; it was powered by liquid propane, and sat a total 78.............

"NYO"

["ORION"]

[Cyberider]

That sounds like one rare "purpose-built" "bus!"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[Cyberider]

Sounds like the buses were more interesting than the falls!