BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

Most likely, modern-day desendents of the famed "Hollywopd" cars would look more like giant mutated insects than any sort of "traditional" electric rail car........

"NYO"

["GLENDALE-BURBANK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

They just keep on getting uglier............

Earlier, on another transit board, I was (out of curiosity) looking at recent photos of the "streetcars" which currently run in Dallas.

I thought, from what I was seeing, of an old a National Geographic documentry, one focusing on rare species of tropical rain forest railroad worms and giant caterpillars...........these are NOT streetcars!!!!

'nuff said............

"NYO"

["QUICK, HENRY! THE FLIT!"-

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Night and day...............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?38245

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?23845

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[Cyberider]

I've seen worse but I'll still take the PCC.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

63 years ago this month...........

The last Los Angeles streetcar lines were replaced by buses.

I've read that there had been some talk of retaining the heavily-used "P" line, but this would have also meant keeping meant retaining quite a bitof trackage that would only be used for non-revenue moves.........

"NYO"

["LATL"]

[Cyberider]

Hard to believe it's been so long already. My first amateur radio license was issued the day before but it would be 10 years until I actually lived in LA for a year. I went home to Phoenix once every month or two and took the SMMBL Pico bus from where I worked in West LA. This bus terminated at the Pico/Rimpau loop where one trnasferred to the then SCRTD 26 Pico bus that replaced the P line PCC. The whole Pico/Rimpau transfer station remained the same as it was except for the tracks being removed. The buses went around the same loops they did before with the same shelter canopies that were there before. The final leg of my 3-bus trip home was the Greyhound bus I took from downtown LA to Phoenix. On the trip back to LA, I used to arrive about 4:30 in the morning which was pretty creepy around downtown LA.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

Interesting personal" trivia"!

You witnessed "transition" much as I once did, here in the greater NY/NJ area.

For a number of years, most PSNJ facilities (stations, transfer points, etc) remained much the same after buses replaced the streetcars.

These days, no trace remains of these once common facilities, either being replaced with mundane, modern structures, ir rebuilt for non-transit use.......

"NYO"

["29 BLOOMFIELD"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Be careful what you wish for...........

We often wish that the former LARy streetcar vroutessurvived into the present day.

Personally, I am glad they are long gone; had the lines survived, the rolling stock would consist of nothing but hideous, slithering mutant caterpillars and oversized Dustbusters.

"Quit while you're ahead", it could be said..............

"NYO"

["LOS ANGELES RAILWAY"]

[Cyberider]

This is true and, the way I see it, there are more disadvantages to rail vehicles in streets than there are advantages.

The Pico/Rimpau terminal of the P-car and later bus days is long gone. It was quaint looking and I'm sure whatever replaced it is as you describe.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

It is interesting to read of the historic Steinway tubes under the East River, which are used by subway trains of the busy #7 line to Flushing, Queens.

These tight-clearance tubes were originally designed for streetcar operation (interesting reading, here; note mention of the streetcars ordered for the new service, prior to rapid transit operation)...............

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

["STEINWAY LINES"]

["INTERBOROUGH RAPID TRANSIT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Note:

The aforementioned "Steinway" cars were equipped with poles; overhead infrastructure in the tunnels was also installed.

Recall the B&QT's under ground trolley terminal at Delancey Street, in lower Manhattan ...........

"NYO"

["DE KALB"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

A "fantasy" scenario for the postwar "Red Car"...........

Had the then pro-rubber political climate had not been as powerful as it was, I can easily envision PE ordering new PCCs (double-ended)

Also, I see the Subway Terminal routes remaining in operation.

Now, by the later 1950s/early 1960s, under the MTA umbrella, I can see some new "interurban" cars being ordered, to supplement the aging 'Blimps"; these cars might have resembled the LIRR's "MP-72s", or, perhaps BUDD's "Silverliners".

As I have already mentioned, it would have been quite interesting to see the historic Subway Terminal still in use today, by modern electric rail transit.....

"NYO"

["RIDE THE RED CAR"]

[Cyberider]

I have a hard time fantasizing with PE wanting out of the passenger business and LAMTA wanting to be rid of the rails.