BusTalk

[X-Astorian]

Mr. L,

Another great find and thanks for the Manhattan & Queens thumbnail history.

X-A

[Mr. Linsky]

Another couple of nice shots, taken in the summer of 1951, to ad to our Green Bus Lines (NY) album;

Upper photo; Making its way through Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue and heading south toward 116th. Street in Rockaway Park via the Marine Parkway Bridge (now Gil Hodges) on the Q35 Line is fleet # 949 - a 1947 GM Coach Model TDH 4507 and one of twenty-five likenesses numbered from 926 to 950 delivered to the company in June of that year.

Lower photo; same bus parked at layover in Rockaway Park and signed for its return trip to the I.R.T. Subway station at Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues.

To you Surface Transportation System mavens; if #949 seems to look familiar to you it should be because #949 and its twenty-four sister ships were originally ordered by and built to spec for STS but were diverted to Green Line during production (those specs included rare trolley like 'Golden Glow' head lamps, outward opening front doors, a special flood light over the fare box and a milk glass 'BACKING' fixture on the left engine hatch).

BTW; #949 also makes a guest appearance in its original livery as it passes Fifth Avenue Coach double decked #2000 in Long Island City on page 56 of Ogden's 'New York Fifth Avenue Coach Company'

Photos from the collection of Bradford Stiles.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

Continuing my coverage of the little known Manhattan and Queens Bus Corporation that starts at the bottom of the previous page, I herein present some more interesting shots which were taken circa 1941; (all but the first image were snapped at M & Q's temporary lot off Queens Boulevard in Long Island City while they awaited clearance of a trolley barn and trackage at their own property in Elmhurst on Eliot Avenue).

In the first photo, we see # 106 at Queens Plaza in Long Island City making its way to Jamaica (note the air intakes to either side of the destination sign which fed the mandatory mechanical ventilation system).

# 114 along with two interior images are next . (of note are the interesting ads of the day, the small radiant heater at the driver's side, the manual Johnson Model 'D' fare box, genuine leather seating and a blower motor housing just above the front door with a second unit over the driver's seat being obscured).

Photo credit within frames and used for educational purposes only.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

Sitting at rest behind the 165th. Street Bus Terminal in Jamaica, Queens on a date unknown but sometime between 1948 and 1953 when the fare was a dime, we see fleet # 309 - a 1947 GM Coach Model TDH 4507 and one of twenty likenesses numbered from 300 to 319 originally ordered by the North Shore Bus Company of Flushing but diverted in pipeline to the City of New York Board of Transportation's newly formed Queens Bus Division upon its takeover of the company in that year.

#309 and its sister ships retained their original fleet numbers and represented the city's first ever GM products and their first ever factory installed Diesels (the municipality had already re-engined nearly two hundred pre-war Brooklyn Twin Coaches with Hercules Diesels in 1945).

#309 is signed for the Q36 route which will take it from Jamaica back to the city line at Floral Park via Hillside and then Jamaica Avenues.

This was an era when the city was notoriously lax cosmetic wise with their buses as evidenced by #309's mismatched rear door paint scheme and the usual dings in the 'sideswipe' zone between the wheel wells (otherwise, it's really not in bad shape and at least it looks as though it had just been washed).

Photo credit within frame and is up for bid on eBay as item # 180831267253

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

Now that the annual joust with my tax lady is over, I can get back to matters at hand!

In a photo taken in August of 1941, we see fleet # 81 - a 1935 Yellow Coach Model 718 and one of ninety five likenesses numbered between 1 to 76 and 78 to 96 delivered to the then newly formed Madison Avenue Coach Company (MACCO) division of the New York City Omnibus Corporation (NYCO).

While the 40 passenger model 718, Yellow's largest capacity transit coach of the day, was still gasoline powered it featured the first mass production use of a transverse mounted rear engine coupled with a patented angle drive combined with an air shift which eliminated the clutch pedal and made for a much smoother ride. However, because of maintenance problems, the air shift only appeared on the first 145 718's with the balance built in manual configuration.

Of the 426 718's manufactured between 1934 and 1937, NYCO and its affiliates bought 366 which made the model almost unique to New York City.

#81 is seen at Park Row in downtown Manhattan awaiting its next trip on Route #1 which will take it north on 4th. Avenue (Park Avenue South) to Grand Central Terminal at 42nd. Street and then west to Madison Avenue where it will again turn north to 135th. Street (the exact route of its predecessor New York Railways Company).

It was a time of 'quality' bus construction as noted by the heavy chromium plated passenger window frames

Photo courtesy of Judahpraise and has been sold on eBay.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

If the attachment were a painting, I would have titled it "And The Winner Is!'

It's sometime in late 1948 and somewhere along Manhattan's Third Avenue where we see a taxi cab that zigged when it should have zagged which is something you really shouldn't do in front of an oncoming ten ton Mack bus!

The mostly unscathed bus, fleet # 1732 and brand new at the time, was a Model C-45-DT and one of 185 numbered from 1600 to 1784 purchased in 1948 for the Surface Transportation System of New York and was plying its # M101 route between Park Row downtown and 125th. Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Harlem.

The less fortunate cab, a late forties Checker Model A2, was one of hundreds that operated in New York City for the National Transportation Company - a wholly owned subsidiary of the Checker Manufacturing Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

It was a time when a bus ride was a dime, you could go the first 5th. of a mile for twenty cents in a cab (and five cents for each additional 5th.), dormant trolley tracks still embedded in cobble stone and an 'L' still running above you.

Those were the days!.

Photo by SuperStock at Getty Images and is for sale as item# 128016366.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[andy47]

Great shot. I remember those C45 Macks very well. They were mainstays on the M100, M101, and M104 Surface Transportation routes. Rode them often on the M104. The diesel engines had a distinct "purring" sound, not as loud as the GMs that Surface (and FACO-NYCO) also operated.

Just a few comments - the M101 extended northward all the way to 190th & Amsterdam Ave. (Fort George), but probably had some short turns to 125th & Amsterdam, as the M101 was then the longest route in Manhattan (today that distinction belongs to M5, an old FACO route). The fare was still 7 cents late in 1948, and did not go up to ten cents till about 1950. The city refused to let the private buses charge the same 10 cents the Board of Transportation charged on its subways (B of T buses were 7 cents in 1948 also).

[Mr. Linsky]

What were you doing in New York City the evening of Friday the 26th. of December 1947?

I was all of nine at the time and came down to the living room to watch something on our new 10 inch. GE television and their was no sign of any snow (except on the screen) but when I was about to retire for the night a couple of hours later, I glanced out the window to what had become a winter wonderland and immediately went down to the basement to wax the steel runners of my Flexible Flyer.

In the meantime, all havoc had broken loose in Manhattan as can be seen below in an image of chaos at the corner of 39th. and 10th. on the west side.

The three buses, all Yellow Coach Model 731's and operating for the New York City Omnibus Corporation (NYCO) had all but given up their duly appointed rounds on the # 16 Line between First and Twelfth Avenues on 34th. Street, and, from the look of things, the drivers probably gave up any idea of ever getting home to their families that night either!

The 36 passenger Yellow Model 731 was identical to the Model 728 except that it was one window longer (between the front and rear doors) affording four more forward facing seats.

130 were built in 1936 for NYCO numbered between 1500 and 1629 - I believe that NYCO was the only Omnibus Corporation affiliate, which included FACCO, MACCO and EACCO, that operated the 731's (but I stand corrected on that point).

Photo by George Mattson/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

Found this interesting 1939 G.E. ad probably from Bus Transportation Magazine (the then bible of the industry) featuring fleet # 905 - a 1938 Twin Coach Model 41-RLDE (Long Wheelbase Diesel Electric) and one of forty numbered from 901 to 940 delivered to Surface Transportation System (STS) of New York in that year.

STS was a pioneer in pre war Diesel Electric equipment with 235 reaching the property between 1938 and 1941 including 76 Mack CM-4D's, 11 Yellow 746's and 148 Twins made up of GDE, RDE, RLDE and LDE models..

While the Twins were solidly built and served well through the war years and beyond, they were judged by their drivers as sluggish compared to their competitors.

# 905 is shown in service already carrying a New York State Public Service inspection sticker as well as 'New York World's Fair' license plates and is signed for the #2 Concourse Hub route but marked as 'Special' probably for runs to the world exposition.

Of note is the awkward looking assembly on # 905's roof which was Twin's answer to a New York regulation that required full time mechanical ventilation.

Photo courtesy of 4509Bus and is up for bid on eBay as item # 350544827802.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

I pay the least attention to the old Staten Island Coach Company (SICCO) probably because it was off the beaten path but it was still an integral part of Vintage New York City transit and it certainly deserves more honorable mention here.

First some brief history; in March of 1937, and at behest of the City of New York, the Associated Gas and Electric Company created SICCO to replace with buses the city's emergency trolley bus services that it had run under the supervision of its Department of Plant and Structures (DP&S).

SICCO ran a fleet of mixed 1930's ACF models including H-17's, H-9's and a few 26-U's until 1946 when it sold the company to its employees who then formed Isle Transportation with the intent of replacing its aging ACF's with a new fleet of White 788's. However, these plans never materialized and the fledgling company fell into the hands of the city which then created the Staten Island Bus Division in 1947.

Interestingly, it was in this early post war period that both the North Shore Bus Company of Flushing and the East Side and Comprehensive Omnibus Corporations of Manhattan also fell to the hands of the city thus creating the Queens and the beginnings of the Manhattan Bus Divisions respectively.

The two top (or left) photos below are an ad (presumably from a 1938 issue of Bus Transportation Magazine) touting the benefits of Texaco Marfak lubrication and spotlighting SICCO as a long time customer.

The lower (or right) photo taken in early 1942 shows a variety of SICCO equipment at what appears to be a busy bus terminal and possibly at a commuter ferry slip although I stand corrected on that point.

Upper photos thanks to 4509Bus and are up for bid on eBay as item# 350544240972.
Lower photo from Getty Archive and is for sale as Item# 107712266.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[andy47]

Again thank you Mr. L for your unending excellent photos. The 1942 shot on Staten Island is definitely at the St. George Ferry terminal, no doubt during a PM rush as commuters are running from boat to bus. That terminal, incidentally, was destroyed in a spectacular June 1946 fire that went to five alarms and killed three people. The current terminal, rehabbed recently, was built to replace the old one.

[N4 Jamaica]

I could be mistaken, but I believe the line of street lights in the back of the photo are the "head" of the bus loop, as can be seen in old aerial photos. I think this area survived the 1946 blaze, which began with grease on the tracks below and to the east (to the right). In the 1960's, this space was the taxi loading area. The new bus terminal was built to the right of this.
---
Streetcars and buses used a girder viaduct to reach the loop in this photo. That viaduct was still in use when the area was for taxis. In the 1960's, I think private autos were allowed to use the entrance ramp that all buses used, but could exit only through the furthest pick-up ramp. As private drivers, were were not allowed in the taxi area (the pre-1946 bus loop).

[N4 Jamaica]

Below, I link a 1971 photo that shows, I believe, the pre-1946 bus loop to the left of the newer bus lanes, and lower than the newer structure. The old ferry waiting room was immediately behind the head of the loop. From a 1924 aerial photo available at NYPL Digital (and difficult to link) I can see west of the streetcar (later bus) terminal the ground-level tracks of the Arlington SIRT branch. To the right of the old terminal were the stub-end tracks coming from South Beach and Tottenville. The new bus ramps were placed over these "south shore" tracks. In the linked photo one can also see a WTC tower under construction.
Link to 1971 photo.
http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1298

[Mr. Linsky]

In a photo taken on February 17th. 1947 at the state line between New York and New Jersey (in the middle of the Hudson River) atop the George Washington Bridge, we see fleet # 1215 - comprised of a 1930 Yellow Coach Model Z-BH-602 chassis carrying one of a small number of open topped double decked bodies built by and for the Fifth Avenue Coach Company of Manhattan, New York.

The posed image which features Gale Storm, of early sitcom fame as the star of 'My Little Margie', behind the wheel in what is supposedly the beginning of a journey to Hollywood, California as the result of the sale of # 1215 and two siblings to unknown owners on that coast.

In 1946 the company decided that the cost of maintenance and storage of the seasonally used open tops was becoming too prohibitive to continue and either scrapped or sold off all of those style coaches.

The fate of # 1215 is unknown and not shown as among the preserved in the Motor Bus Society Directory dated October of 1989.

Of note is the fact that the old Z's finally did get head lights and directional signals!

Photo courtesy of the New York Journal American Photographic Morgue (item # NJA000618).

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, New York

[Mr. Linsky]

A post script to the above article showing a FACCO Model Z 'supposedly' on its way to California;

I had my doubts as to the validity of the Journal American story that accompanied the photo and did a little more checking because there is no record of any FACCO Model Z winding up in Hollywood (my doubt did manifest itself in the original report with my use of the word 'supposedly').

After carefully examining the banner hanging amidships, it turns out that this bus was beginning a tri state tour to tout the 1947 Allied Pictures release of a film entitled 'It Happened on Fifth Avenue' in which Ms. Storm played a prominent role.

It is probable that Fifth Avenue rented the coach to the production company for the campaign.

Regards,

Mr. 'L'