- North Shore Bus Company
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The North Shore Bus Company operated public buses in Queens, New York City, United States. It was established in 1920 as the successor to the New York and North Shore Traction Company trolley system, and operated until 1947 when it went bankrupt, and its operations were taken over by the New York City Transit Authority.
Contents
Pre-history: New York and North Shore Traction Company
The company was established in 1902 as a trolley company called the "Mineola, Roslyn & Port Washington Traction Company," but as it grew into Queens it was renamed in 1907 as the "New York and North Shore Traction Company." It had a line from Flushing, Queens to Roslyn in Nassau County named the North Shore Line, as well as another from Flushing to Whitestone–14th Avenue Station on the Whitestone Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, better known as the Whitestone Line. Within Nassau County, it had lines from Port Washington to Mineola which was known as the Port Washington Line, and from Mineola to Hicksville, called the Hicksville Line.
The trolley cars on this system were considered to be the largest and most powerful on Long Island and in Queens. As powerful as they were however, they still had difficulty climing the hills of such areas as Douglaston and Manhasset.[1]
Transition to buses
By the late-1910's many trolley systems began to decline, but rather than collapse or sell themselves to other companies, the NY&NST replaced their trolley cars with buses, the majority of which operated in Queens. The economic impact of the Great Depression forced them to sell off many of their routes to other companies during the 1930's, most notably to the Triboro Coach Corporation, one of the last surviving private bus lines in New York City. In spite of this, they were still occasionally able to purchase routes from Bee Line, Incoroporated in Nassau County. But in 1947 the company went bankrupt, and its operations were taken over by the New York City Transit Authority.
References
- ^ Lost Trolleys of Queens and Long Island by Stephen L. Meyers (Chapter Three, pages 57-60)
External links
Categories:- Bus transportation in New York City
- Companies established in 1920
- Companies disestablished in 1947
- New York City transportation stubs
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