BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

(SEE PREVIOUS PHOTOS/LINKS)

W.B.:

Here is another excellent page you will indeed "get into"!

Note, also, the unexpected influences from London's "tubes"; much here on station signage, entrance/exit designs, etc.

Much "individuality" in these historic station designs.

(Also, look closely for two Fishbowls in one 1980s photo!)

Too, interesting to note that each station utilized its own individual colored trim "accent".

www.forgottenchicago.com/features/our-historic-subway-stations/

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's another interesting page......

https://cera-chicago.org/Blog/3294025

Note, here, postcard depicting a "Bluebird" running in the State Street Subway (an underground postwar "busway" was also proposed; see illustration w/ postwar "Oddballs!)

"NYO"

["CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Correct you are.

At least, unlike our "Em-Tee-Yay", the "SZee-Tee-Yay" did not put their collective "eggs" into one "basket", and purchase hundreds of buses, which were, quite, literally, lemons.

Of course, by that late date, Fishbowls were only being built in Canada, and "Dangerfields" were, by then, totally oit of production.........

"NYO"

["48-KEDZIE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Regarding the State Street Subway.......

It would appear that, though the CRT didn't seek to "carbon copy" the "Eye-En-Dee" (then the newest system in "Noo Yawk") they DID seek to project a totally "moderne" image, just as the Independent did when it began service in 1932..........

"NYO"

["INDEPENDENT SUBWAY SYSTEM"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Note that this illuminated "moderne" sign on the BSS (Philly) hints at the electric station signboxes used on the original State Street Subway (such signs would have been right at home on the "Eye-En-Dee")......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?17039

(courtesy: nyxsubway.org)

["FAIRMOUNT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Interesting.......

Though the "Eye-En-Dee" was indeed quite "moderne" and "flashy" compared to the older "Eye-En-Dee" and "Bee-Em-Tee", its rolling stock was quite "utilitarian" in appearance.

One cannot help but wonder if the City "ventured forth" at some point during the 1930s had designed a new Independent car, one that would better reflect the "moderne" styles of that era, as was clearly evident in the BSS's formidable, fearsome "Rocketeers".

Interesting, too, are the doors (more atkin to bus or streetcar doors)

Had the Independent had kiosks, I can easily see them as being "moderne" in design as well.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?49889

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["J.G. BRILL"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

I've long believed that the end sign boxes used on the now-iconic "Arnines" were "inspired" by those utilized by the "Bee-Em-Tee's" fearsome "Triplex" units.

Now, interestingly enough, none of the "Bee-Ess-Ess" cars ever were furnished with end sign boxes (these cars first arrived in 1928, four years before the "Eye-En-Dee" opened)

The "Bee-Ess-Ess" cars of the 1980s, interestingly enough (like postwar equipment from "Bah-ston- and "Shik-aga") feature small "gun slot" signboxes at car ends (recall, also, the "tubes" 1958 "K"/"MP-52" joint service cars).......

"NYO"

["SUBWAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Comparisons............

If you compare the original Cambridge cars from "Bah-ston", you can clearly see what inspired the later "Broadway Battleship" AB-"Standards"

Regarding the BSS cars, note that, unlike the "Battleships", featured "railroad"-style roofs...........

"NYO"

["CITY HALL-FERN ROCK"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also.....

As was the case up in "Bah-ston", a number of prewar BSS cars were revamped with modernized interiors, in the years just after the War........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?72873

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?72880 (note the streamlined "NEXT STATION" sign in the clerestory; I can easily picture these being used on the "Arnines")

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This photo dates to 1969, the same year that our long-lived, rugged "Broadway Battleships" (Standards) were retired.

Without a doubt, the interiors of non-upgraded prewar BSS cars easily would have been "right at home" on both the "Bee-Em-Tee" and the "Eye-En-Dee"..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?48813

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This circa-1960 photo from Philly (Market-Frankford El) easily recalls the "Eye-Are-Tee" up in "da Bronx", back in the day; the buses in the bus lanes below easily could have been serving "Soiface" buses..........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?78244

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["PRT"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Note the uncanny resemblence of the "first generation" Market-Frankford cars to the INTERBOROUGH's prewar rolling stock; these cars, replaced by the BUDD "Almond Joys" in 1960/1961 predated the iconic "Lo-Vs" by several years.

The cars were built by hometown car builder "J. G. BRILL", as well as "PRESSED STEEL".

Note the small, bulkhead-mounted markers and the "El"-type headlight.....

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?150791

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?16767

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)