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When did the PBL's other than NYBS retire Fishbowls?


Green Lines 96

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Does anyone know when the last of the Private Bus Lines Fishbowls retire? I'm not counting NYBS but I mean the others like Green Lines, Triboro, Command, Queens Surface, and Liberty Lines. I do know Jamaica Buses had to retire theirs around 1993 because the oldest buses they had after that were almost half of the Grumman 870's which were used until 2000.

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I believe that most of the last fishbowls were sold off rather than run into the ground perhaps due to ADA coming into play in the early 80's. 621 seems to have been preserved with a paint job that painted interior seats red versus the original green and added more red paint to the exterior. For Triboro, Green and Jamaica, the last fishbowls were delivered in Fall 1979 in a mixed delivery with the first of the RTS's (615-629 Fishbowl and 630-639 RTS for Triboro). I believe 625-629 were originally destined for GBL but GBL was in the midst of a long strike at the time and the buses went to Triboro. They had a 2 piece (one red, one black) front destination sign as opposed to the 1 piece found on 615-624. 622 was sold to some company that ran a bus to LaGuardia Airport in the early 90's and another bus (I belive 623) was sold to a Brooklyn Hassidic group that runs a bus from midtown Manhattan (this group originally had Triboro 744 delivered in 1974. 615-629 ran exclusivley in express service although there is a photo of old triboro buses showing 623 or so running on the Q39 in the early 1990's. Queens Surface took delivery of some Fishbowls post 1980. I believe these buses may have been ADA accessible. They sat 51 as opposed to the standard 53 with an extra long front seat on 1 side. I am not sure when these were retired. One question I had was why Triboro ordered Fishbowls in 1974 (741-760) , 1977 (601-612 - 1st buses with red paint scheme) and 1979 (615-629) with out padded seats and tinted windows as Queens Transit did with its buses (700 series) ordered at a similar time? Both companies used the buses mainly on express routes. I grew up in Queens and know Triboro's buses well. I lived outside NY for a few years in the late 80's and again in the 90's so don't know as much about deliveries/retirements then.

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The only fishbowl pictures I've seen after their retirement were pictures of GBL Fishbowls 361 and 604-1(ex-Triboro) both at NIMCO but the date of the picture is unspecified. Next to those 2 Fishbowls is what appears to be a GBL RTS-03 most likely 1002(First GBL RTS-03 retired) unless 630-1 to 636-1(ex-Triboro) or 301-1 to 310-1(ex-Jamaica Buses) were painted in GBL's final paint job. I do know that GBL RTS-03's 630-1, 1001, 1003-1015 were used until 2000.

 

Photo taken by Dennis Shore in an unknown year.

mid_361_and_604-1_plus_GBL_RTS.jpg

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Another question I have is what buses did Green Lines retire as they got their original order of Orion V's(5501-5544) from WMATA in 1997?

 

I know Green Lines didn't get 5545-5550 until 2000 along with TMC's 1143-1149. They were replacements for the 1979 RTS's 1001, 1003-1011, 1013-1015(1012 was kept for TRAINING).

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IDK but I do know 606 is a 1970 model and the 2 next to it on the right are 1968 models. BTW 606 is ex-Queens Surface.

 

I realize now that 606 is also a suburban model - no rear door. I did not think that QS had any such buses. I do remember QS owning some suburban non-new look buses which were used for charter purposes. I started grammar school in the mid 60's and recall seeing some for class trips. Jamaica Buses also did charter service but with new look buses. A bit off subject but does anyone knew about Triboro buses 931-946. These were Triboro's 1st air conditioned buses delivered around 1966. The had blue padded seats (when other Triboro models had green and brown padded seats) except for the last few rows which had yellow hard seats. I don't believe these buses had any overhead front lights. Triboro received buses 951-965 in 1967 which looked more like previous Triboro buses and had overhead front lights. Were 931-946 originally intended for another buyer but bought by Triboro at the last minute? Also being a Queensite, I am not that familiar with Brooklyn bus companies. I know Command buses. What about Pioneer?

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IDK but I do know 606 is a 1970 model and the 2 next to it on the right are 1968 models. BTW 606 is ex-Queens Surface.

 

I realize now that 606 is also a suburban model - no rear door. I did not think that QS had any such buses. I do remember QS owning some suburban non-new look buses which were used for charter purposes. I started grammar school in the mid 60's and recall seeing some for class trips. Jamaica Buses also did charter service but with new look buses. A bit off subject but does anyone knew about Triboro buses 931-946. These were Triboro's 1st air conditioned buses delivered around 1966. The had blue padded seats (when other Triboro models had green and brown padded seats) except for the last few rows which had yellow hard seats. I don't believe these buses had any overhead front lights. Triboro received buses 951-965 in 1967 which looked more like previous Triboro buses and had overhead front lights. Were 931-946 originally intended for another buyer but bought by Triboro at the last minute? Also being a Queensite, I am not that familiar with Brooklyn bus companies. I know Command buses. What about Pioneer?

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I realize now that 606 is also a suburban model - no rear door. I did not think that QS had any such buses. I do remember QS owning some suburban non-new look buses which were used for charter purposes. I started grammar school in the mid 60's and recall seeing some for class trips. Jamaica Buses also did charter service but with new look buses. A bit off subject but does anyone knew about Triboro buses 931-946. These were Triboro's 1st air conditioned buses delivered around 1966. The had blue padded seats (when other Triboro models had green and brown padded seats) except for the last few rows which had yellow hard seats. I don't believe these buses had any overhead front lights. Triboro received buses 951-965 in 1967 which looked more like previous Triboro buses and had overhead front lights. Were 931-946 originally intended for another buyer but bought by Triboro at the last minute? Also being a Queensite, I am not that familiar with Brooklyn bus companies. I know Command buses. What about Pioneer?

 

Triboro 931-946 also had an driver controlled read door which was a bit of a hazard. I am not aware of any New Look GMC's operated by another PBL or NYC that had that feature.

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I realize now that 606 is also a suburban model - no rear door. I did not think that QS had any such buses. I do remember QS owning some suburban non-new look buses which were used for charter purposes. I started grammar school in the mid 60's and recall seeing some for class trips. Jamaica Buses also did charter service but with new look buses. A bit off subject but does anyone knew about Triboro buses 931-946. These were Triboro's 1st air conditioned buses delivered around 1966. The had blue padded seats (when other Triboro models had green and brown padded seats) except for the last few rows which had yellow hard seats. I don't believe these buses had any overhead front lights. Triboro received buses 951-965 in 1967 which looked more like previous Triboro buses and had overhead front lights. Were 931-946 originally intended for another buyer but bought by Triboro at the last minute? Also being a Queensite, I am not that familiar with Brooklyn bus companies. I know Command buses. What about Pioneer?

 

Triboro 931-946 also had an driver controlled read door which was a bit of a hazard. I am not aware of any New Look GMC's operated by another PBL or NYC that had that feature.

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Today while looking through the Wayback Machine I found a whole bunch of pictures of QSC Flx and GMC/GMDD Fishbowls. Many of them seemed to be around the time QSC was started in 1986. They seemed to borrow alot of buses from other companies as I saw a picture of an ex-NYBS Fishbowl with the NYBS Paint Scheme and Queens Surface text taped over as well as other buses with their original company paint schemes and QSC text.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I saw a picture on an old bus site of a whole bunch of 600 and 700 series Triboro Fishbowls in the garage taken in 1998 right before the Orion V CNG's came in. I am also assuming until Green Lines got the WMATA Orions they ran their 1979 GMDD Fishbowls 355-364 as well as 1976 GMC Fishbowls 971-1 to 980-1 ex-Jamaica Bus and the ex-Triboro Low 600 series (i e 604-1 or 609-1) I don't know the exact numbers. I am guessing they also ran ex-Jamaica Bus RTS-03 301-1 to 310-1, ex-Triboro RTS-03 630-1 to 636-1, Green Lines RTS-03 1002, and Green Lines RTS-04 601. Correct me if I'm wrong about this.

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Today while looking through the Wayback Machine I found a whole bunch of pictures of QSC Flx and GMC/GMDD Fishbowls. Many of them seemed to be around the time QSC was started in 1986. They seemed to borrow alot of buses from other companies as I saw a picture of an ex-NYBS Fishbowl with the NYBS Paint Scheme and Queens Surface text taped over as well as other buses with their original company paint schemes and QSC text.
Those mismatched Fishbowls are due to the fact that a lot of the Steinway/Queens Transit fleet was mothballed after the merge that formed Queens Surface in 1988.
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  • 11 months later...

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