New York's Ultimate Double Decker Bus: The 1936 "Queen Mary"

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New York's Ultimate Double Decker Bus: The 1936 "Queen Mary"

Рет қаралды 1,009

Күн бұрын

In 1936, a radical new type of double decker bus appeared on the streets of New York and Chicago. It was the type 720/735, built by Yellow Coach. It was purchased by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company and the Chicago Motor Coach Company. Both bus companies were under the ownership of the Omnibus Corporation.
A revised version of the fabulous type 706 bus (of which only one was built for Chicago), the 720, and its higher headroom sibling, the New York-only 735, the bus fast became a symbol of New York's Fifth Avenue.
It was so loved, that New Yorkers referred to these buses as the "Queen Mary," after the famed ocean liner of the day.
See and hear the interesting story of this fabulous bus that ran in New York from 1936 to 1953.
Good sources of information obtained for this video was from zavanak.com and hagerty.com.
#transportationhistory #buses #classicbus #newyorkcity #automotive #automotivehistory #newyorkhistory #manhattan #manhattannyc #fifthavenue #doubledecker #doubledeckerexpress #chicagotransitauthority #chicagohistory #transitbus

Пікірлер: 33

@craigrymer9903 Ай бұрын

Great to have you back Jeffrey, another fascinating video about a virtually unknown bus this side of the pond 👍

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Thank you, Craig! I appreciate that you enjoyed the video! Thank you for watching!!

@TAMS1952 Ай бұрын

Hi Jeffery from Tom across the pond. I came across your site today. Being a former bus driver years ago, I take great interest in seeing videos like yours. This one I found very interesting and informative. I’ve never really thought about looking at the bus network in the USA, but having seen this video, it’s opened up my eyes, so I am now going to look at more of your videos. Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to make these videos.

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Hello Tom! I'm really glad you like my videos! I also saw your comment on the Leyland National - very interesting and informative. Unlike in Europe, Americans generally have disdain for buses, but there's some good systems out there in the US despite that feeling. I'm working on a video about a very controversial British bus - hopefully it will be interesting. Thank you for watching from the UK!!

@TAMS1952 Ай бұрын

@@JeffreyOrnstein Thank you for your message. Controversial British bus, I wonder what one that could be! I have a feeling I know which one it will be, but I will keep that to myself for now. Keep up the good work Jeffrey.

@2002barneyf Ай бұрын

Just come across your channel and this is a really interesting video - I'm not really that much into American buses however I do have a book in my collection about the Fifth Avenue Coach Company which does have a lot of photographs of these Queen Mary types - I think it's because they're double deckers that I got the book, being from Britain, I've always preferred doubles to singles. Keep up the good work.

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Hellol! I'm really glad you liked the video! Too bad we don't have double-deckers here anymore. Thank you for watching and for your comment!

@AlbertBenajam-ww1db Ай бұрын

Las Vegas, NV at least until 2013, double deck buses in regular transit service

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Yes, Las Vegas had had double deckers! I heard they are buying new ones from Alexander Dennis. Thank you for watching and for your comment!

@cruzcontrol1504 Ай бұрын

Back in the saddle ! That copyright thing was weird, glad you're back. There are films on YT of NYC in color in the 40's and there is great footage of double deckers in action. But hey, there are plenty of double decker sightseeing buses on Fifth Ave now, a friend of mine was a tour guide on one. I rode on Fifth Ave Coach co. single deck buses when I was a kid, until MABSTOA took over all the bus companies

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Thank you for watching and for your comment!! Yes, it's good to be back after that little copyright incident. Like you said, there's definitely a good number of old films that show these buses...but I didn't want to run into any copyright issues again, so I just used still photos. Thanks very much for your support!!

@ChrisCanary Ай бұрын

In the late 1970s, while riding an Amtrak from Boston to NYC, I looked out the window on the "passenger" side of the train and saw down below, a huge junkyard or storage yard that had a bunch of double decker open top buses. like at 2:25 in this video. They looked like the one used in the movie "The Ghost in The Invisible Bikini". (Wish I could include a photo) The yard was somewhere between the bottom of Connecticut and possibly Westchester Co, NY.

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Hello! That sounds interesting! Wonder what happened to those buses...probably scrapped, unfortunately. Thank you for watching and for your comment!

@cargy930 28 күн бұрын

Hooked in by your recent Brit bus videos, I wasn't sure I'd be interested. But thanks to your presentation style I was mesmerised! These are incredible and are on a par with the technology of the UK buses I was driving in the 80s and 90s. Glad to hear that at least one was preserved.

@JeffreyOrnstein 27 күн бұрын

I'm really glad you like my videos! Those Yellow Coach double deckers were certainly ahead of their time! Too bad we never brought them back. Thank you for watching and for your comment!

@crabbymilton390 Ай бұрын

Great to have you back Jeffery. I figured that unplanned hiatus wouldn’t last long. Very interesting presentation of those double deckers. It’s also interesting that there are countless double deckers today running as tourist buses. History often repeats itself.

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Thank you very much, and thank you for watching! But if only we had double decker buses used for regular passenger service again!

@jeffclark2725 Ай бұрын

Yaa, , Great video, I did not know Double Deckers were used here in this country,I guess i just did not notice them in old movies, i wonder if any are still around in a back lot or corner of a building, really enjoy these videos

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Thank you for watching and for your comment!! I'm really glad you liked the video! Double decker buses were used to some degree in NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Los Angeles and probably elswhere. But it never really caught on as standard practice in the US. I did see a photo of one of these Queen Mary buses, very dusty and unidentified, sitting in a lot somewhere. But I could not use the photo, unfortunately.

@jeffclark2725 Ай бұрын

@@JeffreyOrnstein Yes, i grew up in the Seattle area they did not have double decker, they liked using a double length bus with a cool pivot point where the halves ere connected, popular here, great video

@johntrimble9057 Ай бұрын

There are a few double decker bus in San Francisco but they aren't part of the transit system there. They are operated by tour companies and take passengers on tours of the city.

@NickRatnieks 29 күн бұрын

I see at 3:19 what must be a Hollywood movie street scene that is supposed to be London.

@JeffreyOrnstein 29 күн бұрын

It is! It's a still from a movie! Thank you for watching and for your comment!

@jamesfrench7299 Ай бұрын

Interesting rear axle. Looks like hub reduction. Was the semi automatic gearbox a Wilson imported from the UK or was it an American developed system? They were ahead of their time and looked nicely laid out inside.

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Hello! I can't say for sure if the gearbox was imported from the UK, but given that it was a GM/Yellow Coach product of the 1930s....I'm thinking probably not. Need to research that! Thank you for watching and for your comment!

@jamesfrench7299 Ай бұрын

@@JeffreyOrnstein Yeh didn't think so, just exploring the possibility. I'd like to find out more about this gearbox set up. Looks like America may have beaten Britain to the semi automatic concept but didn't run with it for long unlike GB where it became ubiquitous for many decades. Nowadays both sides of the pond rely on Voith and ZF.

@jeffaulik3980 Ай бұрын

Welcome back! After watching the video, I don't understand the deal where the lower half of some top deck bus windshields had to be blanked out because of passengers possibly falling out? What am I missing?

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Thank you, Jeff!!! As to answer the question about covering the bottom of the front upper windows with a solid metal panel: When the buses were first built, they had hinged windows at the front that opened outwards at the bottom. What it looks like the bus company did, was to just weld a panel over the bottom part of the opening - instead of perhaps replacing the window entirely. That's how they secured the window from opening...I guess. Thank you so much for watching!!

@neohabilis7412 Ай бұрын

Jeremy: to what precise area does your accent originate? I love your accent - and your work - but am not an expert. Is it Long Island?

@JeffreyOrnstein Ай бұрын

Hello! I am from Brooklyn, New York. It's an accent specific to the Flatbush neighborhood. I am very happy you enjoyed my video! Hopefully more interesting videos to come! Thank you for watching and for your comment!

@JTA1961 Ай бұрын

Wonder what kind of "Rock & Rollin" went on in the "windy city" in a double decker

@danielsellers8707 17 күн бұрын

A rear engined double decker that predates the Leyland Atlantean by 20 years! I think the small number of USA Atlanteans & Olympians were later used as sightseeing buses.

@JeffreyOrnstein 17 күн бұрын

Yes, that's quite innovative for its time, isn't it?! Tnanks for watching!