BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

EXACTLY what I wished to know; THANK YOU!

Hard to believe that the TARS "convoitable" streetcars "soiving" that "car door" have now been gone 80-odd years........

"NYO"

["THIRD AVENUE RAILWAY SYSTEM"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Am curious (I cannot recall if we discussed this earlier in this topic)............

When FACCo retired the last of the elderly, open-top "Blunderbuses" in 1946, did the conductors have the option to remain with the company and train as drivers?

Or, were they simply "sacked"?

"NYO"

["GO THE MOTOR COACH WAY"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

I had forgotten about the TWU; let me know what historical info you can unearth on the then-redundant FACCo conductors (recall, out in "Shik-aga" "Motor Coach" retired their old "Blunderbuses" earlier than FACCo.................

"NYO"

["YELLOW COACH"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Seems that "Shik-aga" wanted to be rid of ANY and ALL double-deckers, even quicker than "Noo Yawk".

By the 1960s, it was clear that, eventually, London Transport would be doing away with conductors; all new double- and single-deckers were now "OMO" (One Man Operation)

Even older single-deckers, which initially employed conductors, were now being converted to "OMO".

As you know, the iconic "Routemasters" were the very last London buses to employ conductors; the last of these historic buses werer etired in 2005.........

"NYO"

["722 CHIGWELL-MORDEN STN."]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Old Looks!

Fishbowls!

"Dangerfields"!

Double-deckers! (all REAL buses!!)

Streetcars! (NOT electrified caterpillars!)

"L"s!

EXTENSIVE historical bus photos are here, throughout this OUTSTANDING photo page.....ENJOY!

'NYO"

*NOTE:

BE SURE to check out the interesting circa-1950 "trick" photo featuring a 5502 demo; caption states that this "staged" photo was most likely taken in downtown Pontiac, and NOT Chicago.

https://thetrolleydodger.com/2017/02/

["CHICAGO SURFACE LINES"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

As they old saying goes:

"Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery"

Like FACCo, "motor coach" also rostered some postwar "Pattons", though, like FACCo, the "Gee-Em"-built buses MORE than dominated the fleet.....

'NYO"

["THE BOULEVARD ROUTE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

An interesting bit from "CHICAGO MOTOR COACH COMPANY" (John F. Doyle)........

"...........in March, 1920, 'CHICAGO MOTOR BUS' went into receivership, and became a subsidiary of 'LAKE SHORE MOTOR BUS', who sold bonds taking 'CHICAGO MOTOR BUS' out of receivership......."

"........'LAKE SHORE', a subsidiary of 'FACCo' in New York, in turn, began modernizing 'CHICAGO MOTOR BUS'................"

"NYO"

["LOOP-LIMIT'D STOPS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further (circa-1922)............

"......applying for a South Side license to connect Washington and Jackson Parks to the Loop, 'CHICAGO MOTOR BUS' lost out to to the new 'CHICAGO STAGE COMPANY', owned by FACCo of New York......."

["53 WILSON AVE."}

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also........

Recall, for brief time during the 1920s, FACCo "soived" riders up in "da Bronx", and, later on, in Queens.

Never "hoid" of anything even remotely hinting that FACCo was interested in extending "soivice" in Brooklyn.......

"NYO"

["GO THE MOTOR COACH WAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further from the Doyle book..........

"......the bus manufacturing of 'CHICAGO MOTOR BUS' were spun off, as a separate entity, named the 'AMERICAN MOTOR BUS COMPANY', with plans to built the New York type 'K' double-decker buses for Chicago and other North American cities at the Belden Avenue plant......"

["CHICAGO MOTOR BUS COMPANY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also, unlike FACCo,"motor coach" enclosed all the upper decks of their older "Blunderbus" fleet early on.

These older buses were also converted to one-man operation; offside views of these buses, with the rear staircase now enclosed, gave the vehicles the impression that they (the buses) were carrying a tool shed at the rear.

Of course, open-toppers in "Noo Yawk" lasted until 1946...........

"NYO"

["FIFTH AVENUE COACH COMPANY"]