BusTalk

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MaBSTOA 15:

In the 1978 issue of "MOTOR COACH AGE" (the issue was on DE CAMP) which I've already brought to your attention, there is a photo of one of the first postwar GM "suburbans" the company purchased (circa-1946); the buses had square windows, single doors, and no standee windows (they were equipped with luggage racks, however)

During the 1950s, of course, GM's big, husky suburban Old Looks soon became the backbone of most New Jersey suburban carriers.

Well into the 1970s, I remember "ORANGE & BLACK having a group of Old Looks on the roster which I termed "semi-suburbans"; these buses had a single door, transit-style seating, and standee windows......

"NYO"

['EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a good page on the once-commonplace "Buffalo" (note photo of a restored example which once was on the "Pee-Es" roster!)

I've always found these eye-catching buses to be quite interesting........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Buffalo_bus

"NYO"

["Z603"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"OH, CANADA!" (greetings from 1966!)

https://explorenorth.com/library/bus/coachways-gm-1966.html

("EDMONTON"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also of interest......

https://www.barnfinds.com/a-diamond-in-the-rough-1970-gmc-buffalo-bus/

["DATTCO"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Buffalo" trivia..........

Interestingly, the PD-4903 was the first 40-foot GM bus available to non-GREYHOUND operators (recall, "The Hound" had an exclusive 40-foot design, the iconic PD-4501 Scenicruiser)

The next version, the PD-4905, generated only 331 sales.

The P8M-4905A introduced a fully-retractable rear axle; 2,027 of this model were sold over a period of seven years.

It should also be noted that, by the mid-1960s, GM's intercity coach line had declined as both GREYHOUND and TRAILWAYS began building their own buses.

Furthering the decline of GM's once-profitable intercity market, many smaller carriers began buying buses from GREYHOUND's subsidiary MCI INDUSTRIES, or TRAILWAYS EAGLE MANUFACTURING.

Indeed, it was the end of the line for the production of GM intercity coaches.

It should also be noted that the "Buffao" was the last GM-built bus purchased by GREYHOUND...........

"NYO"

["IT'S SUCH A COMFORT TO TAKE THE BUS"]

[W.B. Fishbowl]

That background might explain why Flxible never built their own version of the "Bison," that decline in "intercity" bus sales that "Gee-Em" experienced.

Speaking of intercity buses, I saw over the weekend one of those intercity "BINO's" that had things sticking out of them in the front that made them look like robotic reindeer. An example of how "futuristic" = x

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

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[W.B. Fishbowl]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

W.B.:

Give me a SCENICRUISER, a 4104, a 4106, a "Buffalo", or an early MCI anyday!

Like yourself, I'm not into giant, mutated insects, robotic rheindeer, or rubber-tired roaches........(!!)

"NYO"

["GMC 4 EVER!"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"Port-of-Authority"..........

Read that the temporary bus terminal will be built adjacent to the present "TINO", and, when the new facility opens, will become a bus staging area.

Do they even store buses near the PABT anymore these days, as they once did?

I know that the lot where the "RED & TAN" buses once laid over (to the rear of the church) has since been built over.

These days, "En-Jay-Tee" has huge storage yard in Weehawken, alongside the helix approach to the Lincoln Tunnel.............

'NYO"

{"NEW YORK EXPRESS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Your's Truly last used the "Port-of-Authority" in mid-2004, the day he retired from "woikin" down on "da Street".

Last "159R" I rode going home to "Joisey" that day was one of the NEOPLAN artics, then just coming "on line".

I last commuted in via "The Tubes" that fateful morning of 9/11,

Cannot believe it will be 22 years (in 2026) since I was last in the city; mornings, I would take a "Brightliner" (or rather, the "shell" of them) on the "C", down to Chambers Street, where I'd transfer to the "Eye-Are-Tee" (Park Place) for the short hop to Wall Street.

In the PM, I'd take the #2 or the #3 uptown to TAQ, and then head for the PABT.

Was downright WEIRD, riding on the "Eye-Are-Tee", and knowing all of the "Redboids" were gone...........

"NYO"

["RIDING DOWN MEMORY LANE"]