The Railfan Window Blog

MTA New York City Transit issued a press release for the 2009 Holiday Vintage Buses program that, as we reported yesterday, began yesterday.

MTA New York City Transit Runs Special Vintage Buses for the Holidays

M42 crosstown bus customers will be able to take a ride back in time when MTA New York City Transit places into service a fleet of vintage New York City Transit buses for the holiday season. Everything but the MetroCard fare boxes will be original.

The crosstown buses will be in operation from Monday, November 23 through the end of the holiday season, running on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. With a little bit of luck and good timing, you could catch a ride back in time on a classic coach for the price of a regular ride. And don’t forget, these 1950s-era buses are equipped with modern fare boxes, so they’ll accept your MetroCard or coins.

“These buses are a living, breathing part of the city’s history,” said Joseph Smith, MTA Bus Company President and Senior Vice President of Buses for MTA NYC Transit. “Riding on these buses is a fantastic counterpoint to the vehicles we operate currently,” noted Joseph Smith. “It’s obvious that we have come a long way since the 1950s and, despite the charm of the older equipment, our customers are benefiting from major advances in bus efficiency, design and accessibility.”

The agency’s historic fleet contains 19 buses, ranging in age from the Queen Anne – a 1917 wood-bodied double-decker manufactured in the shops of the old Fifth Avenue Coach Company – to bus number 1201, NYC Transit’s first General Motors RTS.

Many of the vehicles have been deemed to have historical significance to the city, including bus number 3100, a 1956 GM which was the first air-conditioned transit bus manufactured, and 5227, the last non-wheelchair accessible bus to operate for NYC Transit, pulled from service in 1993.

List and description of buses that will be in operation:

Bus No. 3100 – 1956 General Motors owned and operated by Fifth Avenue Coach Lines. (First Air-conditioned transit bus).

Bus No. 9098 – 1958 General Motors, among the first buses outfitted with fiberglass seats.

Bus No. 2969 – 1948 General Motors, among the first forty-foot transit buses to operate in NYC.

One of the vintage buses that will be in service along the M42 this holiday season

MTA New York City Transit is once again running select buses from their museum fleet in revenue service for the holiday shopping season. They did it last year, and it was loads of fun.

This year however is even more special – the buses are even older! While last year’s vintage buses were mainly in service in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s before being retired, this year’s buses date from the 1950s! These older buses are commonly referred to as the “old look” buses.

While details of the 2009 Holiday Vintage Bus program have not yet been officially released, it is believed that one or more vintage buses will be running along the M42 bus route in Manhattan (42 St Crosstown) between 10 AM and 2 PM, Monday to Friday, through the end of December.

Photo by: Adam E. Moreira