BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[Cyberider]

NYO,

Nice looking buses. Even the school bus lights couldn't detract from that.

Traildriver,

Lots of gear grinding on my SDM Fishbowl trip from LA to Riverside too!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

Back in the heyday of the Old Look suburbans in New Jersey, these buses themselves (painted in the stylish liveries of many companies) indeed made for a true "Rainbow Fleet".

These handsome, powerful buses once proudly wore the stylish colors of:

PSNJ

ORANGE & BLACK

DE CAMP

INTER-CITY

SOMERSET

SUBURBAN

MANHATTAN LINES

RED & TAN

LAKELAND

By the mid-1950s, these buses had already become the backbone of most NJ suburban carriers............

"NYO"

["NEWARK-141"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

Here is yet another handsome suburban Old Look, representing (yet another) long-defunct New Jersey suburban company..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?157325

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["NEW YORK"]

[Cyberider]

NYO,

Yes, I've seen many photos of those buses in books and online. You were truly blessed to have them all in NJ! Maybe that's why it's called the Garden State? A garden of beautifully painted buses when pride was taken in quality machinery.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Like some of the other suburban operators in New Jersey (such as PS and O&B), many years back, "RED & TAN" (a long-established company now part of the "COACH USA" conglomerate) also operated Old Looks I've termed "semi-suburbans".

These buses had a single door, transit-type seating, and standee windows.

Some of these classic buses lasted into the early 1980s.........I knew them quite well, indeed.......

"NYO"

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?154511

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["RIDE THE RED & TAN LINES"]

[Cyberider]

NYO:

Good looking buses but not as "important" and "dignified" looking as the real suburbans with the tall windows.

The New Look suburbans certainly didn't give that impression just by the deletion of the rear doors.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[traildriver]

I prefer the new look suburbans. Besides the single door and the overhead racks, which also eliminated the standee windows; 🪟 the seats were on an elevated platform, which allowed all forward-facing seats, and more importantly provided space for underfloor baggage bays. This made them ideal for weekday use on line runs with their 49-53 passenger capacity, and weekend use on charters. Their optional limited recline seats, and V-8 power was also an enhancement.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

After I began working in Lower Manhattan in 1979, if I opted for the bus into New York, and then the subway downtown, I rode ex-ORANGE & BLACK and ex-INTER-CITY suburban Fishbowls on the rush hour-only "RIVER ROAD EXPRESS" (MAPLEWOOD EQUIPMENT CO.-NJT)

In the early 1980s, there were also a few 4104s/4106s/"Buffalos" to savor as well!

I still recall first-generation Fishbowls (with the sleek-looking Art-Deco clearance lights) and the later models (with the smaller "bullet"-type clearance lights) dominating Anderson Avenue, our main "drag")

My faves were those buses that were still wearing their old O&B and INTER-CITY paint!

The older drivers I rode with regularly vastly preferred the Fishbowls over the newer types then entering service (and who could blame them?)

I also recall some of these buses have "sightseeing panels" in the roof; some of these buses once were owned by GREYHOUND, and were used for the 1964/1965 World's Fair.....what a treat!

Ahhh, what sweet memories.............

"NYO"

["NEW YORK EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberider:

Here's a few nostalgic photos of some dear old friends of mine (I've lived within a few minutes walk of these photo locations since 1974)!

Now THESE were BUSES, and NOT giant milk cartons or monolithic mutated caterpillars........

"NYO"

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156431

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156417

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?156436

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["670"]

[traildriver]

NYO --
It was on an Orange & Black Suburban, an 'old look', that I began my USAF tour of duty, aboard...

After being sworn in at the AFEES (Armed Forces Entrance and Examining Station), at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, an O&B charter carried us new recruits over to JFK for our Braniff B-707 flight to San Antonio, TX to begin basic training at Lackland AFB. My very first airline flight.

That was my only ride on an O&B bus. Interesting that a NJ carrier got that government contract, but maybe not so surprising, as few NYC private bus lines rostered that type of equipment, suitable for that.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[Cyberider]