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| W.B.'s Bus Almanac for November 1st (350643) | |||
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W.B.'s Bus Almanac for November 1st |
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Posted by W.B. on Sat Nov 1 06:49:59 2025 November 1, 1945 - The Book of Wartime Restrictions Washington, D.C. United States Office of Defense Transportation The ODT officially repeals a mandate in place since December 1, 1942, requiring bus companies to reduce mileage by 15 percent to conserve fuel and tires. The announcement of the abolition of this regulation was made on September 7. It was due to this and other ODT regulations that a few bus routes in New York City were eliminated entirely, such as FACCo's Route 9 - Fifth Avenue-57th Street-Broadway-72nd Street line and Surface Transportation System's M-107 - 180th-181st Street Crosstown Shuttle and Bx-49 - Parkchester-West Farms lines; a few others saw regular service end, and after the war returned either in rush-hour-only service or as a one-trip-a-day franchise holder (most notably NYCO's 9 - Seventh Avenue-8th Street and 22 - Pitt and Ridge Streets lines); a handful of others were suspended "for the duration"; overnight service had been discontinued entirely; and the war-induced truncation of several routes, with a few modifications, would hold for years to come (especially after the elimination of several ferries in the lower, mid- and upper Manhattan area both before and after the war). (Source: "Bus Restrictions to End." The New York Times, September 8, 1945.) November 1, 1945 - The Book of Route Resumptions Queens, New York Fifth Avenue Coach Company On the same day as the Office of Defense Transportation lifts its last major restriction on bus service, the 16 - Elmhurst Crosstown line, which had been out of service since June 13, 1943, resumes operations. Between April 28, 1940 and that 1943 date, the route had gone as far north as La Guardia Airport; with its return, 16's path will be confined to its pre-1940 route along Baxter Avenue and Broadway between Queens and Northern Boulevards. This will hold for the remainder of the route's days, through the modification of its route designation as QM16 in early 1973, its renumbering as Q89 on July 1, 1974, and up to its final demise in 1988. (Source: "Fifth Avenue Coach Company." Motor Coach Age, July-August 1971.) November 1, 1960 - The Book of First Runs The Bronx, New York Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc. Surface Transit, Inc. A ceremony is held at the Bronx County Building to herald the debut of 100 new buses, which had run along the Grand Concourse prior to the commencent of their unveiling. The Fifth Avenue Coach Lines glee club, under the direction of Medley May, perform the "Bus Song" at the gathering. The buses - GMC model TDH-5301, costing $28,000 each - were split into two entities, with 3111-3160 branded on the sides as Fifth Avenue Coach Lines, Inc., to be divided among most of the depots operated by their FACO and NYCO Divisions, while 3161-3210 are flagged as Surface Transit, Inc., and will be scattered among that division's garages. A total of 17 routes among the three divisions will run with these new buses. In terms of the FACL allocation, 3111-3135 is reserved for FACO Division depots and routes, while 3136-3160 go to those of the NYCO Division. Together with the order from earlier in the year - 10 air-conditioned buses numbered 1-10 (all initially flagged as FACL, but around this time or afterward 6-10 would be relettered as ST; all these units will be renumbered as 3211-3220 in 1963) and another 10 non-air-conditioned buses numbered 3101-3110 - these will be the last new buses ever ordered by the company and the only New Looks (a.k.a. Fishbowls) they ever ran. They will remain in service through the 1962 takeover by MaBSTOA, and run through 1973. (Source: "Fifth Ave. Line Puts 100 New Buses Into Operation" (with picture), The New York Times, November 2, 1960; "New York City Omnibus Corp." by Bernard Linder, Motor Coach Age, February 1969.) Based on photographs and films (and a few eyewitness accounts), 15 have been identified specifically as running the new buses, grouped according to division (if anyone can fill in the other two during the 1960-61 period, please advise): FACO Division: 3 - Fifth, St. Nicholas and Convent Avenues 4 - Fifth and Forth Washington Avenues 5 - Fifth Avenue / Riverside Drive 15 - Fifth Avenue / Queensboro Bridge / Jackson Heights NYCO Division: 1 - Park Avenue South and Madison Avenue 2 - Park Avenue South and Madison Avenue 10 - Eighth Avenue and Central Park West 16 - 34th Street Crosstown Surface Transit: Bx-1 - Concourse Bx-2 - Concourse- Hub Bx-31 - Southern Boulevard Bx-34 - 163rd Street Crosstown M-101 - Third, Lexington and Amsterdam Avenues M-104 - Broadway M-106 - 42nd Street Crosstown |
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