BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The 125th Street Ferry to Edgewater shut down in December, of 1950.

At that time, the newest SURFACE buses (if I am correct) were the MACK C-45-DTs.

In 1964 (September), when the "DAY LINE" discontinued service to the 125th Street pier, the newest buses in the "stoa" fleet would have been the TDH-5303s (delivered in 1963)............

"NYO"

["SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM"]

["Manhattan & Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Yes, the "DAY LINE" (by then down to but one boat, the historic sidewheeler "ALEXANDER HAMILTON") ended service to the 125th Street pier at the close of the 1964 season.

As I had mentioned earlier, the NJDOT "Dangerfields" delivered to IBOA "CENTRAL AVENUE" in the later 1970s, oddly enough, had "CNJ FERRY" printed on the roller curtains, even though the ferry (and the terminal operations as well) had been closed down since 1967, a decade earlier.

Go figure...............

"NYO"

["IBOA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

1965...............

In that year, the first diesel-electric ferries (the now-retired "KENNEDY" class) entered the Staten Island fleet.

At that time, Fishbowls would have still been "novelty" vehicles, as "The Isle of Staten" was still a-bustlin' with "Kramdens" and "Pattons".

By the time the last of these classic vessels were retired, the last of the "Ae-Tee-Es" had been retired, and the Staten Island "buses" (are they REALLY "buses" at all?) were all of the oversized milk carton variety.

And, when the now-veteran "R-44s" replaced the last of the ancient "ME-1s" on the "Es-Eye-Are-Tee" in 1973, the ferry "GOLD STAR MOTHER" (1937/1938) had already been retired, and was being used as a floating drug rehab center (the former Staten Island ferry was now often ungraciously referred to as the "Gold Star Methadone")

The other two streamlined boats in that class, "MISS NEW YORK" and "MARY MURRAY", would soon follow their downgraded sister into retirement.

Sadly, none of these historic and handsome boats survive today; one "ME-1" survives up at Shore Line, and I believe there is another at Seashore.............

"NYO"

["NEXT BOAT"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Thanks for the info.

Oh, without a doubt, the "working class" "Kramdens"/"Shermans"/"Pattons" would NOT have fit the "prestige" image of the new express services then starting.

As I had said earlier, back in the early/mid-60's, I can only remember seeing Old Looks and MACKS congregating at St. George (I clearly remember Mom and I riding out to South Beach on a "Patton"; as a girl, Mom recalling riding out on the "Es-Eye-Are-Tee"!)

"NYO"

["NYCTA"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Interesting.........

Note the vintage advertisement (fifth image down from top) for the Dyckman Street Ferry; note mention of the Broadway Subway (INTERBOROUGH), and also, the bus connections.

Curious as to what bus routes these might have been (this ferry line shut down in the early 1940s; small passenger-only boats operated briefly in 1949)................

https://myinwood.net/inwoods-dyckman-street-ferry/

["FULL AHEAD"]

[Cyberider]

You'se guys in New Yawk and New Joisey coitainly had all forms of transportation! I'm jealous when I look at the old photos. For me, not only too late but in the wrong place too!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further.......

MIGHT the buses that once connected with the Dyckman Street ferries (until the crossing shut down in 1943) have been "Soiface" buses?

Like the "Soiface" buses that terminated at the Hudson River waterfront (recall, the 125th Street Ferry called here until late 1950, and the Day Line until 1964), it would seem that ridership on the buses on Dyckman Street would have lost ridership, once the ferries were terminated, at least at the western end......

"NYO"

["SURFACE TRANSPORTATION CO."]

[Cyberider]

I always thought of "Soiface" Transportation as an entity that took over the Third Avenue Railway streetcar lines but it was actually it's bus subsidiary according to what I just read on Wikipedia. Before that, were their bus lines called Surface or Third Avenue Railway?

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Cyberrider:

You might also be interested to know that "SOIFACE", in the late 1920s and early 1930s, once operated six-wheel double deckers; by the later 1930s, these buses were cut down to single-deck configuration.........

"NYO"

["ST"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Note.......

Throughout its life, the Dyckman Street Ferry was privately owned and operated.

The 125th Street Ferry was owned and operated by the mighty PSNJ until 1943; in that year, the old PS boats were retired, and "ELECTRIC FERRIES", another private company, took over with its fleet of diesel-electric boats, which operated until the line closed in December, 1950...........

"NYO"

["125TH ST. FERRY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Photos..............

Photos of the old Dyckman Street Ferry online are almost as rare as hen's teeth; I was trying to see if I could find at least ONE photo showing city buses at the ferry terminal.....nothing, not surprisingly.

I would guess there was a small layover area/loop for the buses, before beginning their eastward runs, with at least some "Joisey" folks aboard.....

"NYO"

['WATCH YOUR STEP ENTERING AND LEAVING FERRY BOATS"]