This photo by Robin Shaw grabbed me. How could it not, the most iconic American transit bus ever, and one I drove during my stint at Iowa City Transit. And here’s London, ONT number 59, resting peacefully under the stars, dreaming of the millions of miles and passengers from its many years of service.
This looks like a 40′ transit bus, and probably from the 1960s, as it also appears to have a 6V-71 DD back there. Later versions of the 40 footer typically had the huskier 8V-71. The big Allison VH torque converter is visible on the right, angled to direct its output to the rear axle. These were just a wide ratio torque converter that locked up into direct mechanical drive at some 30-35 mph, with a very noticeable jolt.
For a more detailed look at the New Look, head here for my full CC on them.
Auto-Biography: Bus We Must (Iowa City Transit)
That torque converter is the size of a washing machine drum!
Sniff. Sorry to see it in a sorry state. They were a good ride. That lock up I experienced many a time on NYC buses.
Grew up in London ON, and rode the city bus to and/or from school most every day from ’75-’81. Seeing how durable these were, it wouldn’t surprise me that I actually might have ridden this exact one sometime in the early part of that timeframe! Certainly remember that lock-up, though at the time I wouldn’t have known what it was.
As a young teen ,I would ride in the last seat left hand side and pretend to drive using the wheel well as an accelerator pedal
I always thought that they had powerglide transmission because they seemed to shift only once
So many great childhood memories of riding those buses on the Triboro lines as a kid in Queens NYC . . . . the sound of the farebox rattling whenever the bus went over a small bump . . . the “whoosh” sound whenever the driver opened the front door . . . warming your hands, legs, etc. on a cold day by sitting on the full-width back seat on top of the engine . . . the sweet smell of the exhaust . . . the sound of the groaning engine as the bus started moving from a stop (photo courtesy of https://www.nycsubway.org/)
Some of the other NYC buses sprouted “bat wings” to increase advertising revenues, such this example from https://www.nycsubway.org. This one carries ads for Rheingold, a hugely popular local brew, and a front placard for Abraham & Strauss (“A&S), a famous department store chain. Sadly, both of these iconic NYC businesses are long extinct.
The picture is a good ad for aluminum.
I remember riding these buses with my father to Brewer’s games in the seventies. The buses to County Stadium had blue and red flags on them left over from the Milwaukee Braves days.
The interwebs say that London Transit No. 59 was a 1971 T6H-4521, Serial No. C230 built locally in London by GM Diesel Division. The T6H-4521 is a 35 footer with a 6V71.
I always thought it was a two speed automatic. I vividly remember the jolt when the torque converter locked up!
That is indeed a great photo, especially in gorgeous black and white…
+1
In my pre-sleep delirium last night I was ‘watching’ a Carol Burnett show from early in her career, where she was a working girl. One of the scenes involved her riding on a New-Look bus with her guardian angel; it was great to see all that early-60’s iron on the streets in the background.
BTWs Carol Burnett was quite a looker….athletic too.
One of the better “Twilight Zone” episodes….https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734559/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_75
With noted actor Jesse White playing the guardian angel – see him usually on Perry Mason…which airs right after The Carol Burnett show on MeTV!
I wish I could take photos like this because I see so many things I think would photograph well but I digress .
Like many here I logged many miles in these as a passenger and always thought the jolt meant something was amiss .
In the late 1980’s / early 1990’s you could buy these in driveaway condition for under $500 at the “National” auction off the i605 freeway East of Los Angeles many went straight to scrap yards for the engines and trannies .
-Nate
I loved those buses. Nothing beat that shift into direct drive.
If you lived in a area that was hilly, many operators ordered the override switch which the driver would use to keep the tranny from shifting into direct drive on hills and when needed for faster acceleration.
I rode this to and from high school. Half the time, the A/C didn’t work or they smelled of mold. As for the other riders on the bus, there were a few that would scare you. That’s were I learned my “New York look straight through you” face and most of the thugs would pick on someone else.
That override switch made sense. Seems like when they shifted (or maybe more accurately went into) direct drive the engine rpms went way down. I wonder if the step before direct drive could be forced by flooring the accelerator or some other way? Maybe the override switch was used to do that as well.
Reading about these (Allison?) transmissions a while back I think they were sometimes referred to a 1 speed automatic – the torque converter was operating then bypassed when ‘shifting’ to direct drive. I also wonder if anyone is still around that drove these.
Back in the 80s in East Windsor Connecticut at the Trolley Museum there were several of these on display in the back, along with some older ones with the rounded style.
I’m also thinking I’ve seen some of these converted to electric use. Two bars on top of the bus were in contact with wires above. I believe some or maybe all were not on rails, so the driver had to be careful not to deviate far enough for the connections (whatever they were called) to the overhead power source to disconnect, which occasionally happened.
SF’s MUNI used these buses with the trolley poles on top and there were no rails. The poles would come out of contact regularly, usually at a sharp turn, not uncommon to see a bus stuck in the middle of the intersection while making a turn and the driver sprinting around back to pull the ropes that would allow him to re-align the connector piece. They were very good at it, it was a quick procedure, usually it took more time for the driver to run to the back than to reconnect it. The buses were quiet and quick, it seemed like a pretty good system. The poles could angle quite significantly in order to pass a doubleparked car. It’s still in use there today with modern buses.
https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/munis-electric-trolley-buses
I do recall hearing how it wasn’t uncommon for the poles to come out of contact with the overhead wires. Interesting and sensible to note in the attached link that some buses have a battery good for brief distances when the poles became disconnected. With so many electric vehicles now maybe we’ll see more of the wire systems, but maybe with enhancements like the supplemental battery. It must be kind of unusual with them being quiet. I surprised to hear they were quick.
I remember the floor shift lever in these GMC diesel buses. Just reverse all the way back, neutral in the middle and drive all the way forward. Back in the 60s the tour buses that were used for school field trips were GMC but with a 4 or 5 speed manual floor shift.
Yeah, flooring it did keep it out if direct drive for a short time but it would still kick over at some point while going up a steep hill and that wasn’t good for the engine when it started lugging.
There were mechanical tricks you could use on the selinoid unit on the tranny but you really had to know and understand what you were doing (adding or removing shims). Screw up and you could end up not shifting at all or going into direct drive even earlier.
“,,,it would still kick over at some point while going up a steep hill and that wasn’t good for the engine when it started lugging.”
When I was in middle school around 1970 there was one bus route that had the rounded style previous to the new look. The driveway to the school was pretty steep uphill to the main road. Occasionally, that bus would switch to direct drive right before the top and really bog down. I’d notice things like that. Usually, it didn’t shift so the engine was at a quite high rpm.
I recall the bus I rode, a GMC with a V6 gas engine had a 4 speed manual transmission, but the driver always started in 2nd. Once, when we had to stop on the hill going up he then started in 1st, which I then realized was very very low with a noticeable gear whine.
To get to the main city where I live there’s a few miles of highway. I recall the GMC city buses usually going slower than the speed limit, and it would take a while for them to get up to speed in direct drive.