BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further:

The earliest (1940) Old Looks built by YELLOW for PGL were model TD-4502s.........

"NYO"

["K MILL VALLEY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also..........

It is interesting, to say the least, why, when GM began producing the smaller-sized Old Looks after "regular" Old Look production ended in 1959, the builder reverted back to the original square-window look that characterized Old Looks through 1948.

These "New Old Looks", indeed, had the distinctive appearance of the buses built through the late 1940s........

"NYO"

["RIDE WITH US-TAKE THE BUS!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

PSNJ's first Old Looks..........

Like many other bus companies in the country, PSNJ (largest transit operator in the State) purchased a number of YELLOW "Old Looks" early on, starting in 1940.

PS was a steadfast, loyal YELLOW customer right into the GM era; as mentioned earlier, with the exception of a lone postwar MACK suburban demo (and a small group of ACF-BRILL C-44 suburbans purchased in 1947, that later went to DE CAMP), PSNJ purchased only GM-built buses.

The NJDOT-purchased Flex New Looks, nearly 900 in all (arriving in the mid-1970s) were the first non-GM buses to service former PS routes in decades (TRANSPORT OF NEW JERSEY was now operating the former PS routes, prior to NJT)..........

"NYO"

["PUBLIC SERVICE COORDINATED TRANSPORT"]

["TRANSPORT OF NEW JERSEY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further........

PSNJ's YELLOW Old Looks came in both rear door (transit) and single-door (suburban) versions; interestingly, a number of the single door buses were also furnished with rooftop luggage racks, used on intercity runs, such as:

NEW YORK-PHILADELPIA

NEW YORK-ATLANTIC CITY

NEWARK-ATLANTIC CITY

NEWARK-PHILADELPHIA

JERSEY CITY-ATLANTIC CITY

"NYO"

["ATLANTIC CITY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On this day in 1937, the "#7 CITY SUBWAY" line was extended one stop from Broad Street (today "Military Park") to a multi-track terminal (with loops) at Penn Station, Newark.

Also on this date, a new "flying junction" connection opened, allowing rush-hour surface cars to travel to Penn Station, via the lower level of the PS terminal and the Cedar Street Subway.

Ironically, this connection was used only briefly, before the car lines that used it were converted to ASV; the money spent on this late-Depression era connection was totally wasted.

Through the 1990s, vintage work equipment were stored in these long-disused connector tunnels........

"NYO"

["7 CITY SUBWAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

On this day in 1978...........

The old PS Building in Newark was undergoing demolition; the last buses used this massive facility several years earlier.

During demolition of the old building (which contained two levels for buses, as well as company offices), two stored OOS PCCS were discovered in the long-disused outbound tunnel connector, which was used by streetcars to travel through to the lower level of the PS Terminal (through 1938), and thence, via the now-abandoned Cedar Street Subway, to surface trackage

The OOS cars were damaged by demolition debris and were cut up on the spot; some parts, however, were salvaged to be used to keep the Subway's PCC fleet "on track"..........

"NYO"

["43 JERSEY CITY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The end of an era (Newark, early 1954)...........

When the final ex-TCRT PCCs took over all service on the City Subway, it also marked the end of the line for the last of the once-vast fleet of ancient deck roof and "Compromise" roof streetcars.

The deck roof cars dated back to about 1910, while the oldest of the "Compromise" roof cars dated to 1915.

Today, only one of each type survives; the lone deck roof cars has been inoperable and neglected for years, stored forgotten in one of the carbarns up at Shore Line.

The one surviving "Compromise" car, after being "in limbo" for many years at an unknown location, is now (last I heard) beautifully restored, a most resplendent sight in classic PS streetcar colors!

Right up until the end, PS shop crews kept these elderly cars in excellent condition; "ROSEVILLE" (Newark) was then the last operating car house, although by that late date, it stabled mostly buses.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?18980 (note the prominent "Golden Glow" headlight; these "portable" headlights were affixed to the dashes of PS cars for nighttime running on lines that featured long stretches of private ROW)

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?76139 (#8016 was one of the class known as the "Rapid Transit 8000s"; as the City Subway neared completion in 1935, a group of "Compromise" roof cars were rebuilt for high-speed rapid transit operation)

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

"NYO"

["7 CITY SUBWAY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Further proof that PSNJ took excellent care of the cars, even in the later years.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?118354

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

This handsome deck roof car (3200 series) was nearly 40 years old when this timeless photo was snapped, at the far end of the "23 CENTRAL" subway-surface line.

This line used only deck roof cars; the line (which used the subway ramps at Norfolk Street) was the first to be converted to buses (December, 1947)

Like the the cars of the "7" and the "21", the "23" cars were based at the sprawling "ROSEVILLE" barns in Newark.

"NYO"

["SUBWAY CAR-SAVE TIME AND PARKING"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here is a photo of another smart-looking PS car; this one of Compromise roof car #8013 (one of the "Rapid Transit 8000" series"), seen at the outer end of the subway-surface line, "#21" (note the glimpse of a PS bus on the left, wearing the new postwar paint scheme)

Photo dates to about 1950.

Originally, the "8000s" only ran on the "7 CITY SUBWAY"; in later years, however, they also ran on the "21" and the "29"........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?118355

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

By early 1952, both branches of the "21" had been converted to buses....

"NYO"

["21 ORANGE"]

[Cyberider]

Excellent looking equipment!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

No longer "Newark City Subway"........

Today, the former City Subway is now known as "Newark Light Rail", erasing the historic name in use since 1935.

In place of the classic, timeless PCCs, the line is now operated by a fleet of bland, insipid, graceless LRVs which I've dubbed "Baby Belugas".

As far as I am concerned, the City Subway I knew and loved no longer exists.......

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?157842

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["IT JUST AIN'T THE SAME"]

[Cyberider]

Definitely an unworthy replacement for the beautiful PCC's.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Norfolk Street (1957 and 2011)

Note the abandoned ramps that were used by the "#23 CENTRAL" cars until late 1947.

The rails and switches were removed in the early 1980s........

The PCCs, of course, are now but fond memories...........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?149776

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?76112

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["7 CITY SUBWAY"]

["23 CENTRAL"]