BusTalk

W.B. Fishbowl · Last edited by W.B. Fishbowl on Wed Oct 25, 2017 6:56 am; edited 1 time in total

I don't know if this was tackled before, but here's the roster of all buses built by Flxible for NYCTA and MABSTOA prior to the Grumman takeover (the infamous 870 has been the subject of another thread and thus will not be covered here). It starts with the F2D6V401-1 from 1964, and ends with the 1977 set of buses in the 53102-6-1 series.
The NYCTA first took a chance with Flxible in 1964 after that company built buses for Triboro Coach. For the next two years all new bus orders were split between that company for NYCTA and GM for MABSTOA. Then in 1969 Flxible got its first "dual order" for both NYCTA and MABSTOA (the latter first concentrated in the Bronx, before they were scattered all over Manhattan in later years). Their peak, of course, was in the 1973-77 period where not one order went to GM.
As with the GM lists, serial numbers come first, followed by which division, numbers and year.
The 1964 order was the only one to Flxible where the rear window setup was originally 3-piece (surviving museum bus 5117 [serial #52203] was converted along the way to 4-piece). The 1966 and 1969 orders' rear windows were 4-piece, while the 1973-77 orders had the small window in the back which was meant for emergency exit purposes. The 1969 order was the first Flxible-built fleet to have air conditioning, and 4727 (serial #54398) has been preserved as a museum bus. Of the 1973-77 orders, 7753 (serial #60853) was the only Flxible bus to have the "batwings" that were on 943 of the GM buses (893 TDH-5303's and 50 T6H-5305A's), while 7340 (serial #58179) and 7809 (serial #60909) have been preserved as museum buses. (Warning: The 1977 order was especially jumbled, worse than the 1971 and 1972-73 GM orders.)
Any and all corrections or amendments are welcomed.

FLXIBLE COACHES, NYCTA / MABSTOA

F2D6V401-1:
52087-52251 NYCTA 5001-5165 ?/64
52617-52806 NYCTA 5601-5790 ?/66

111CC-D5-1:
54068-54167 NYCTA 4000-4099 12/69-01/70
54168-54217 NYCTA 4153-4202 12/69-01/70
54218-54270 NYCTA 4100-4152 12/69-01/70
54271-54398 MABSTOA 4600-4727 12/69-01/70

53102-6-1:
57933-58138 NYCTA 7000-7204 ?/73-?/74
58138-58199 MABSTOA 7300-7361 ?/74
60640-60799 NYCTA 7500-7659 3/75
60800-61037 MABSTOA 7700-7937 3/75
63095-63100 NYCTA 9000-9002, 9055-9057 3/77
63101-63105 NYCTA 9070-9072, 9085, 9086 3/77
63106-63109 NYCTA 9095, 9096, 9105, 9106 3/77
63110-63112 NYCTA 9115-9117 3/77
63113-63118 MABSTOA 9165, 9185-9189 3/77
63119-63129 MABSTOA 9205-9210, 9225-9229 3/77
63130-63134 MABSTOA 9245-9247, 9260, 9261 3/77
63135-63140 MABSTOA 9270-9272, 9285-9287 3/77
63141-63142 MABSTOA 9300, 9301 3/77
63143-63147 NYCTA 9003-9005, 9058, 9059 3/77
63148-63153 NYCTA 9073-9076, 9087, 9088 3/77
63154-63158 NYCTA 9097-9099, 9107, 9108 3/77
63159-63161 NYCTA 9118-9120 3/77
63162-63172 MABSTOA 9166-9171, 9190-9194 3/77
63173-63181 MABSTOA 9211-9215, 9230-9233 3/77
63182-63186 MABSTOA 9248-9250, 9262, 9263 3/77
63187-63193 MABSTOA 9273-9275, 9288-9291 3/77
63194-63196 MABSTOA 9302-9304 3/77
63197-63201 NYCTA 9006-9008, 9060, 9061 3/77
63202-63208 NYCTA 9077-9080, 9089-9091 3/77
63209-63212 NYCTA 9100, 9101, 9109, 9110 3/77
63213-63215 NYCTA 9121-9123 3/77
63216-63227 MABSTOA 9172-9178, 9195-9199 3/77
63228-63236 MABSTOA 9216-9220, 9234-9237 3/77
63237-63241 MABSTOA 9251-9253, 9264, 9265 3/77
63242-63247 MABSTOA 9276-9278, 9292-9294 3/77
63248-63250 MABSTOA 9305-9307 3/77
63251-63257 NYCTA 9009-9011, 9062-9065 3/77
63258-63264 NYCTA 9081-9084, 9092-9094 3/77
63265-63269 NYCTA 9102-9104, 9111, 9112 3/77
63270-63272 NYCTA 9124-9126 3/77
63273-63283 MABSTOA 9179-9184, 9200-9204 3/77
63284-63290 MABSTOA 9221-9224, 9238-9240 3/77
63291-63295 MABSTOA 9254-9256, 9266, 9267 3/77
63296-63300 MABSTOA 9279-9281, 9295, 9296 3/77
63301-63302 MABSTOA 9308, 9309 3/77
63303-63309 NYCTA 9012-9014, 9066-9069 3/77
63310-63314 NYCTA 9113, 9114, 9127-9129 3/77
63315-63321 MABSTOA 9241-9244, 9257-9259 3/77
63322-63326 MABSTOA 9268, 9269, 9282-9284 3/77
63327-63329 MABSTOA 9297-9299 3/77
63330-63335 NYCTA 9027-9029, 9015-9017 3/77
63336-63342 NYCTA 9030-9032, 9040-9043 3/77
63343-63348 NYCTA 9018-9020, 9033-9035 3/77
63349-63354 NYCTA 9044-9046, 9021-9023 3/77
63355-63360 NYCTA 9036, 9037, 9047-9050 3/77
63361-63365 NYCTA 9024-9026, 9038, 9039 3/77
63366-63394 NYCTA 9051-9054, 9130-9154 3/77

53102-8-1:
63395-63399 MABSTOA 9160, 9164, 9161-9163 3/77
63400-63404 NYCTA 9155, 9157-9159, 9156 3/77

MaBSTOA 15 · Age: 71 Joined: 27 Feb 2013 Posts: 1156

Triboro Coach received their first Flxibles in 1964 followed by NYCTA. Avenue B and East Broadway got theirs in 1965.

However, prior to these, two Flxible New Looks rolled on the streets of Manhattan as demos...

First, a model F2D6V401-1 in Chicago Transit Authority colors worked for Fifth Avenue Coach mostly on route 4, Fort Tryon - Penn Station. This bus did have the upper sliding windows like the first CTA Flxibles. The slide that I have shows this bus with a placard screwed to the side below the belt with the FACCo script. This was sometime in 1961 or early, very early 1962. Fleet number is not clear.

Secondly, In 1963 model F2D6V401-1 serial number 51271 and numbered 200 worked for NYCTA. My slide shows it on the M3 49 & 50 Street Crosstown route. Bus was painted blue and it eventually wound up in the Terminal Island, California fleet with the same number and color scheme.

I'm sure that this particular bus more so than Triboro's fleet encouraged the TA to order their first fleet of Flxibles.

MaBSTOA 15 · Age: 71 Joined: 27 Feb 2013 Posts: 1156

Slight correction to your excellent listing:

NYCTA numbers 9155 - 9159 and MaBSTOA numbers 9160 - 9164 were actually models 53102-8-1.

These 10 buses came with 8 cylinder engines on a trial basis instead of the standard New York City 6 cylinder diesel engines.

W.B. Fishbowl · Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 11:14 pm Post subject:

W.B. Fishbowl · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:06 pm Post subject:

MaBSTOA 15 · Age: 71 Joined: 27 Feb 2013 Posts: 1156

Here are two views of #200, the Flxible demo operated by NYCTA in routes 3, 49 & 50 Street Crosstown and route 44, West Farms Square.

Note the jack-knife rear door not seeing on an NYCTA bus since the Mack C-49s.

Photos used for educational purposes.

W.B. Fishbowl · Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 9:04 pm Post subject:

And at the risk of repeating myself: That pic of that Flx on the 3 - 49th & 50th Crosstown route makes it all the more ironic that none of the 1964 or '65 Flxies really saw service (if at all) on the six Manhattan Bus Division routes of the TA, and that any of those buses' penetration into Manhattan was via the B15 - Manhattan Bridge (or B63 - Fifth Avenue which was also cited as going over the 'Manny B' to Manhattan).