I remember when... bus edtion

[Gotham Bus Co.]

The was controlled by the city

 

 

The City never controlled the . Yes, the City did control the transit system, but only the State legislature created the NYC Transit Authority in 1953. (Remember that the whole point of public authorities was to shield public officials from blame.)

[Shortline Bus]

Great topic. Also shows the life experience/age ranges of everyone on NYC Buses. My takes as most has already been covered.

 

 

(1)I remember when the Grumman Flexible buses debuted on the (B36)as the "Bus of the future' around 1980.

 

(2)I remember the "B36s" as the Sea Gate shuttle.

 

(3)I remember the B74 shopper special which I think ran (correct me if I am wrong) weekdays between Brighton Beach station(Brighton and CI Avenue)and Sea Gate.

 

(4)I remember the old X29 that ran between Sea Gate and 57th/Madison via Coney Island Avenue.

 

(5)I remember the old S7(now the Current S53)and the other pre-1993 SI route scheme.

 

(6)I remember the fishbowls which ran from the Flatbush depot until the mid-1980's and rebulit to the blue and white coloring from it's oringal green or dark blue.

 

 

(7)Remember when the M101/102 ran to/from City Hall.

 

I have more but those are the main back in the day way of life on NYC Buses.

Now can we bring back MTV please to it's music video days.

[B35 via Church]

If you're talking about Trainmaster 5, after a few private e-mails, I realized that we were both in the same 6th grade class. Had no contact with him for 50 years! What do you think of that?

 

yep, he said the same thing to me, about you....

50 years.... Who'd have thunk it.... meeting up w/ an old classmate through a community (such as our quaint one) nonetheless...

 

much as I harp on you about bringing up the past, we do need guys like the both of you in the transit community here....

 

*waits for one of you to upload that 6th grade class picture for that year... pointing each other out*

 

 

I remember when the B47 did exist. It was the current B43 without the northern part which was the B62. Also when the southern portion of the current B47 was the B78 and when it started operating.

 

I remember when the B35 operated trolleys and the day they were replaced by ugly old buses. (They promised new buses but brought in old ones.)

 

Did you know that before the Q35 made every stop, they only made limited stops?

 

..when the B14 terminated at Crescent street before it was extended to Drew and when it went straight from Sutter to Stone (Mother Gaston) to Pitkin. I also remembered when it used the main roadway on Eastern Parkway in the westbound direction.

 

That B12 thing only lasted a few years. Do you know the story why it was changed and then changed back? That would be interesting to know.

 

I remember before the B12 ever used Empire. When I was about 4, it used to run in both directions on East New York Avenue between Albany and Howard, and in Brownsville made a short diversion to Eastern Parkway.

 

Do you know if the illegal B78 U-turn was official or just that some drivers did that? Somehow, I don't seem to remember it. Did they do it for a long time?

 

I remember when the area between Stone (Mother Gaston) south of Hegemen was the storage area for the B35 trolleys. It was slightly below grade level.

 

- I also remember the (old) B47; went from WBP (williamsburg bridge plz) to prospect park subway....

 

- yes, I remember when the Q35 flip-flopped b/w making ltd stops, making almost every stop along flatbush, and doing what it does currently.... I also remember the complaints when they had the 35 make all those stops along f'bush....

 

- Nothin too grand.... The reason why the B12 moved off that part of empire, was to better serve those kids that go to that elemenary/middle school b/w troy & schnectady (on ENY av)... that school opened around 05-06.... I remember reading about that in the paper....

 

- The 78 w/ that illegal turn, yes, that was done for quite some time... Seemed to me that it wasn't just some particular drivers; back when I used to go to Kings Plaza every week as a kid, that was a rather common thing.... While I don't know about it's officiality (if that's even a word), it was only recently (well, when the 47 was still out of flatbush depot) that buses stopped doin that... They eventually made the left off av U onto flatbush av, u-turned where all the other kings plaza bound buses turn at, and then make that right off flatbush back onto av U....

[BrooklynBus]

I remember when some transfer privileges were free and others required a 25-cent Add-A-Ride ticket. (That was only on TA routes. OA routes had only Add-A Rides.)

 

I believe Add a-Rides started when the fare rose from 35 cents to 50 cents.

 

As part of the agreement for starting OA, free transfers were abolished in Manhattan and the Bronx except on the few TA routes in Manhattan. That's why OA only had add-a-rides.

[Joel Up Front]

So buses took tokens, coins, and MetroCards for almost 10 years...

 

I wish I'd paid enough attention to buses as a youngster here to remember LI's diesel Orion Vs with the 6V92. They ran better than the CNGs!

[Q43LTD]

I remember when the (B42) was the other bus route that had a free transfer to the

[Eric B]

I remember when a bus by definition was slanted bulkhead patterns, standee windows (or bat ears; that's what they looked like to me), rear windows, Detroit 6V71, plain solid colored fiberglass seats, and the chicka-chicka of the farebox. If it didn't have that stuff, it wasn't a bus.

 

Then the ADB provided a radical novelty. I saw the first Grumman on the B12 parked on Parkside, and had already seen slopeback RTS's in Springfield, MA, and saw one being tested on the B41. Never thought ahead to when these would take completely over, and I would go into a nostalgic kick and actually miss the ubiquitous New Look.

 

I remember Add-a-Ride as well, and never knew what the difference was from a regular transfer, though I do remember them being a quarter.

[Jashawn R.]

What can I remember? Hmmm...

 

The M101 ran out of Manhattanville and used RTS's, Bx6 and the Bx15 ran out of Amsterdam....

The Orion VI, which was always on the M5....

The Bx19 ran out of Mother Hara Clare....

I could always catch an RTS, on any Manhattan route...

The Metrocard Bus!!!

My first ride on an Artic, on the Bx1....

 

More to come....

[R188 7857]

I remember getting excited seeing a brand new Orion V.

[Q43LTD]

Too bad the Orion 5 will be extinct

[R188 7857]

Too bad the Orion 5 will be extinct

 

Yeah, its sad.:cry::cry:

[dman1455]

I remember RTS's at Gleason (a little bit) and Command Running around my area

[SIR North Shore]

This will be interesting: :cool:

 

-The S40 used to never show up at all.

 

-1999 Orion Vs on SI literally exploding into flames back in the mid-2000s.

 

-The S46 used to run every 10 minutes all day!

 

-S53 ran every 15 or 30 minutes to Port Richmond most of the day.. How did people get around?

 

-S61 was every 30 minutes too as were most routes now that I think about it.

 

-Waiting forever at bus stops before the days of the Guide-A-Ride.

 

-TMCs at Castleton.

 

-Nova RTS on the X1 and X10.

 

-S44 and S59 at Castleton.

 

-The S53 & S79 both stopped on the same side of 4th Ave.

 

-Rampant scratchiti.

 

-And seeing all different kinds of buses in Lower Manhattan outside Whitehall terminal, the Command CNGs, Fishbowls, MCI Classics, Suburban Orion Vs, and RTS.. these days it's all MCIs, Hybrids & the M15 artics.

[Hound]

I remember when the S40(formerly #1) continued on Richmond Terrace to the end at the Arthur Kill & turned around in essentially a dirt lot & dump.

I remember when the S74(formerly the 113) continued to Craig Ave & Bentley St. in Tottenville for it's western terminus.

[B35 via Church]

I remember when....

 

- the WB Q66 terminated at 21st

- the first installment of the Q69 ran, which was that free shuttle that went from the ferry terminal (hunterspt.) to LIRR Hunterspoint/Hunterspoint av

- the B18, and its 10 riders/day *smh*

- some Bx55's terminated at Yankee stadium

- the Bx41 terminated @ 133rd st

 

 

old post of mine, as far as remembrances' go: (lol)

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=344894&postcount=10

[Cait Sith]

I remember during the mid-days in S.I, the S44 would haul ass out of St. George down Richmond Terrace, and that bloody signal by the stadium wasnt there at the time. It was some of the best RTS rides I've had down there.

[BrooklynBus]

I remember when bus drivers wore changemakers on their belts so they could give you change and the old fareboxes made that jungling sound for about a minute as it counted all the coins. Change ended in 1969.

[BJC]

I remember riding RTS on the B 75 and B 77 going to/from catholic school when I was in kindergartner.

[BrooklynBus]

yep, he said the same thing to me, about you....

50 years.... Who'd have thunk it.... meeting up w/ an old classmate through a community (such as our quaint one) nonetheless...

 

much as I harp on you about bringing up the past, we do need guys like the both of you in the transit community here....

 

*waits for one of you to upload that 6th grade class picture for that year... pointing each other out*

 

You've asked for it and you shall receive. Here is the picture:

 

http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pp2OychOTqTZPsBLRCKbtk_m1Uglmyu-kQRpKHAJo7k9T2LvpjJZ_-7Y--5fOxJ2XQZdlAsecwVxck9uzptwiqA/sixthgrade.jpg?psid=1

 

I think you won't have a difficult time finding Trainmaster. Let's see if he can find me. Hint: We're both in the same row.

 

Got another picture showing how 17 of those kids looked forty years later. If I get Trainmaster's picture, that would make it 18.

 

 

- yes, I remember when the Q35 flip-flopped b/w making ltd stops, making almost every stop along flatbush, and doing what it does currently.... I also remember the complaints when they had the 35 make all those stops along f'bush....

 

I don't believe it was the MTA's idea for the Q 35 to make all stops. I believe it was forced upon them by DOT when the MTA took it over. Guess the MTA convinced them it was a bad idea.

 

 

- Nothin too grand.... The reason why the B12 moved off that part of empire, was to better serve those kids that go to that elemenary/middle school b/w troy & schnectady (on ENY av)... that school opened around 05-06.... I remember reading about that in the paper....

 

 

 

So it went back to its previous route. Guess the MTA thought that one fewer turn would have speeded up the route. I remember it being very slow around there. Such a small world. My friend's wife taught in that school until she retired a few years ago.

 

Went back yesterday to the old neighborhood with a friend from kindergarten. We had a great time just talking to people on the street. Turned out that one of the people we spoke to was living there when I was there. We were neighbors for 7 years. We ended up spending an hour and a half there. He told us the neighborhood is safe and we saw a lot of new construction. The neighborhood never looked so good.

 

A few months ago my friend put me in touch with someone else I hadn't been in touch with for 50 years. We spoke to the guy who currently owns his old house and took a picture of him to send. Hope he gets a kick out of it. That guy also graduated from the same school Trainmaster and I graduated from and his son currently is attending it. I asked him if he knows a certain teacher who is teaching there now and lives in my current neighborhood and he did. Someone else introduced us to four generations of his family and his grandmother said she remembered me after 34 years.

 

Can't believe how friendly and nice everyone was. It really felt good. Like talking to strangers on the internet but the old fashioned way, face to face -- so much better.

[SIR North Shore]

I remember when the S40(formerly #1) continued on Richmond Terrace to the end at the Arthur Kill & turned around in essentially a dirt lot & dump.

I remember when the S74(formerly the 113) continued to Craig Ave & Bentley St. in Tottenville for it's western terminus.

 

Yeah I remember that as well, the (S48) used to run to Goethals Road and the (S40) ran to Arlington. I used to have family that lived off of Richmond Terrace in the 90s and we would wait up to a hour or more sometimes for a S40 to show up.

 

-Anyone remember the S60.. too soon lol?

 

-There used to be a short-turn S62 (or S61) that used to terminate at some street called Cantebury Avenue. I haven't seen that destination in a very long time.

 

-Anyone remember when SI had received Old Gen Hybrids for a month and Yukon ran those things into the ground? They were so dinged up that they had to be heavily repaired when they got back to Manhattan.

 

-Oh, and how about when leaving the ferry at St. George and the bus dispatcher comes on the loudspeaker and says "Attention riders of the S40, S42, S46, S48, S51, S52, S62, S66, S67, and S74, the bus has broken down on the way to the ferry, the next bus is in thirty minutes."

 

-There used to be a bus stop for the S40, S44 & S52 St George bound across from the stadium. They cut it because you could throw a rock and hit the other bus stops

[Via Garibaldi 8]

-Oh, and how about when leaving the ferry at St. George and the bus dispatcher comes on the loudspeaker and says "Attention riders of the S40, S42, S46, S48, S51, S52, S62, S66, S67, and S74, the bus has broken down on the way to the ferry, the next bus is in thirty minutes."

 

 

So what they don't make announcements anymore about the buses at the terminal??? :confused:

 

I remember one of the last RTSs to run on Staten Island (95XX) out of Yukon. Used to run a lot on the (S61) and once I saw it parked there at Forest and Elizabeth on my way home. :cool:

[SIR North Shore]

So what they don't make announcements anymore about the buses at the terminal??? :confused:

 

I remember one of the last RTSs to run on Staten Island (95XX) out of Yukon. Used to run a lot on the (S61) and once I saw it parked there at Forest and Elizabeth on my way home. :cool:

 

I haven't heard them mention a broken down bus in a couple of years, but it used to be an everyday occurrence. You have to remember, back then they had those suburban orions (1xx) along with those trashy 1994 orions that castleton had and for whatever reason they were letting the fairly new '99 O5s rot to hell, and it was all a recipe for disaster.

 

And the last Novas were 94xx actually, Yukon overhauled all of 94xxs before sending them to Brooklyn, and SI became 100% Orion V for the summer of 2008 before 3801 came in.

[Q43LTD]

I remember when:

the (Bx11) ran to Freeman St Station

(Bx41) to Mott Haven and Wakefield

(Bx55) to Yankee Stadium

(Bx12) was truncated to Bartow and Edson Avs during the day. Same for the (Bx29)

(Bx26) to Fordham

(Bx3)'s late night terminal was Kingsbridge Rd

(Bx16) had 2 branches: Wakefield and Eastchester

(Q44) getting to Main St via the Grand Central Pkwy

The Q20 ran between Flushing and College Pt

[traildriver]

I remember when the Green Bus Line Q60 driver would stop on his long route from Jamaica to Manhattan to collect additional fares when crossing the 'zone limit'.

I remember when Queens Surface buses were painted "Queens-Nassau Transit Lines.

I remember when at busy terminals, the starter's would open the rear door and collect the fare on the sidewalk, to speed up boarding. You would deposit a dime into his hand-held register, and a nickel into a bag.

[SoSpectacular]

Air starters.

 

--

 

[yeah, so there're a few RTSes still with them, but those things were just cool -- especially to a five year old when the bus would just go "WHOOSH" and start running]

 

Any Orion V in the 600s also have air starters