BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

(SEE PREVIOUS POSTS)

......a bit odd, IMHO, that retired revenue cars were not used to "pilot" this "R-44" clearance train, instead of using fairly new cars which were still in revenue service...............

"NYO"

["TA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This 1970 photo taken at St. George in 1970 (note "Sherman" heading westbound at upper left) shows another, far more "bizarre" clearance train (again, for the "R-44s" that would be replacing the ancient SIRT ME-1s in 1973.

Here, we have a chopped/stretched "Arnine", barely recognizable from what it once was, when still in service, converted to a "clearance" car............

www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1847

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["SIRT"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Yeah, who woulda thought that the those cars would, one day, be the oldest in the active fleet?

I was one of the legions of "Es-Eye-Are-Tee" fans of the "old school" who had no love for the 44's on Staten Island, replacing the ancient, deck-roofed, rattan-seated "ME-1s", which I grew up with.

This, coupled with the elimination of all grade crossings, made the "Es-Eye-Are-Tee" just another line; all of the charm and uniqueness simply evaporated.

The closest thing to the old SIRT was the "Bee-Em-Tee's" Canarsie line at E.105th Street, with its grade crossing and old station house.

In fact, on one of our many day excursions (eons ago!) aboard a "Standard", Mom commented: "This reminds me of when we ride the 'Rapid Transit' on Staten Island."

On the subways, I only rode the "44/46" IF I had to; I became quite adept at utilizing routes using older rolling stock.

Thinking now of the "62s" on the "Eye-Are-Tee"; as I was a DIE-HARD "R-12/14/15" fan (and often rode them daily), I took an instant dislike to the new cars, and avoided them if I could help it.

Now, today, I'm like: 'Man, these cars are now 40 years old?"

Today, I find that the most endesring feature of these cars are the pantograph gates, first seen on the "Eye-Are-Tee" in 1948, when the "R-12s" hit the rails, and became standard hardware on all SMEE equipment on the IRT, through the "R-36".

Dang, where does the time go..........

"NYO"

["CITY OF NEW YORK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Seen here at the 207th Street yards back in 2001, and flanked by classic rolling stock, it is obvious that "62" #1370 had recently suffered one heckuva "Excedrin" day (hopefully, no fatalities)............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?5955

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["R-62"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"THE VICTOR AND THE VANQUISHED" (Tompkinsville, 1973)..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?21956

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?45577

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["STATEN ISLAND"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

........when railfans start "waxing nostalgic" over the "R-62s", that, my friends, is a sign that far too many years have elapsed, since these silver cars were first put into service.

I still recall all the media hype (newspapers/television) these cars were getting when they were being offloaded from the shipsb upon which they sailed to our shores.

They were also the first "Eye-Are-Tee" cars to dispense with bulkhead sign boxes and "side slot" curtains since the "R-36" (also, these cars were not equipped with markers, the use of which were going to be phased out, anyway)..............

"NYO"

["SMEE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Kissin' cousins" to the "R-62s" are the unique "R-127/R-134" refuse motors; these unique cars are indeed interesting, but seldom discussed.

"Box motors", if you will, for the subway.............

Though these cars are indeed built to "Eye-Are-Tee" specs, they can be found on all divisions, hard at work, unsung heroes of the subway, for sure.............

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?46831

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?132951

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?50098

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?140120

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["NOT IN SERVICE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

......just imagine if a few the fearsome "D"-type Triplex units had been converted into "self-contained" work trains.

Those beefy, hefty beasts would have made short shrift of virtually ANY snowfall, equipped with a plow at each end!

Or, with all seating removed, being used as refuse trains, or to carry a large number of work crews to a particularly-busy work site, somewhere along the sprawling "Bee-Em-Tee".

Then again, look at the "Standards" (aka "Brooklyn Battleships"), out of such a vast fleet, only a couple were converted to MOW units..........

"NYO"

["4 SEA BEACH"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here we have a train of "Triplex" units climbing the ramp at Fresh Pond, working a 1975 fantrip; note several retired Fishbowls in between the ramps, silently awaiting their ultimate fate.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?24054

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Appreciate the additional information, as always.

The lead "Jetson" looked as though it had some serious encounter with either another vehicle, or perhaps, a stationary object.

I often wonder just when the "Em-Tee-Yay" stopped storing soon-to-be scrapped buses between the ramps at Fresh Pond?

Outside of the one lone photo I found a few weeks back, showing an OOS "Torpedo" (with no other buses parked between the ramps) at Fresh Pond, none of the more recent photos taken at this location show any buses stored there.

I have seen autos/small vans sometimes parked there in the later photos, and, in a few photos, odd pieces of construction equipment............

"NYO"

["New York City Transit" Authority"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

ENY shops, 1962...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?151314

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

Up above, we have a "Triplex" and a "Standard"; down below, we see a "Sherman" displaying a damaged front end (note, also, the sign posted above the garage/shop bay entrance)

By the end of the decade, the "Triplex" and the "Standards" would be gone, and "Shermans" would indeed be in the ultra minority the bus fleet................

"NYO"

["EAST NEW YORK"]