| D-DOT EQUIPMENT PHOTOS — 1970's |
GM "NEW-LOOK" COACHES – MODEL T6H-5307A
| FOR MORE 1970'S D-DOT EQUIPMENT PHOTOS (PAGE 3) CLICK-ON "NEXT" (Below) |
2006 (PAGE LAST MODIFIED ON 06-20-09)
All Jim Husing Collection photos are posted with the permission of Mr. James Husing. Any distribution of photos for sale purposes is
prohibited.
prohibited.
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| THE 1920's 1 2 3 |
| THE 1930's 1 2 3 |
| THE 1980's 1 2 3 |
| THE 1990's 1 2 3 |
| THE 2000's 1 2 3 |
| AM GENERAL "METROPOLITAN SERIES" COACHES – MODEL 10240A-6 |
| The transit vehicles displayed on the next two pages were purchased for the city's newly founded transportation department (D-DOT) during the 1970's. Although GM "new-look" coaches were the first buses purchased under the new agency, a new bus manufacturer and a redesigned transit bus would arrive to forever change the look of Detroit transit. |
The 1970's for Detroit area transit would
continue on as the decade of change. In
November of 1973, the voters of Detroit
approved a new City Charter, resulting in
the formation of the Detroit Department
of Transportation (D-DOT), which would
begin opeations on July 1, 1974. DDOT,
along with the regional transit authority
SEMTA, would now be the major players
in this region's public transit arena.
continue on as the decade of change. In
November of 1973, the voters of Detroit
approved a new City Charter, resulting in
the formation of the Detroit Department
of Transportation (D-DOT), which would
begin opeations on July 1, 1974. DDOT,
along with the regional transit authority
SEMTA, would now be the major players
in this region's public transit arena.
| PHOTO: D-DOT GMC RTS-II (Melvin Bernero photo) |
GMC "BABY" NEW-LOOK COACHES – MODEL TDH-3301A
| The first new buses to arrive under the DDOT era were a fleet of 148 GMC "new-look" coaches (#1001-1148), which began arriving in June of 1975. Purchased through the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA) at a cost of $62,000 apiece and leased to the City of Detroit for $1.00 per year each, these new GMC coaches (Model T6H-5307A) were the first coaches to arrive sporting the new DDOT livery of white with black trimmed windows and green and yellow stripping. (For more on these $1.00 buses see D-DDOT #1000-1100 Series Buses) [Melvin Bernero photobucket.com collection, used by permission of Melvin Bernero] |
| The arrival of the T6H-5307A's enabled DDOT to begin retiring a large number of the first GM "new-looks" purchased by the DSR between 1960 and 1961. These #1000-1100 series coaches were the last GMC "new-look" style coaches to be purchased for the city. In this 1978 photo, coach #1143 is eastbound on Jefferson, just east of Woodward, working route #25 E. Jefferson. [Melvin Bernero photobucket.com collection, used by permission of Melvin Bernero] |
| The two interior photos of coach #1131 show how the color decor of these new buses differed from the shades of green primarily used on earlier Detroit new-looks. The seating was improved as well, arriving with forty-eight (48) individual plush brightly-colored cushioned seats, a major departure from the seating normally found on Detroit city buses. Unfortunately, the seats were the target of vandalism and were replaced with more conventional seats during the mid-1980's. [photo courtesy of the Jack and Ken Schramm photo collection] |
| In addition to being the first new buses to arrive in Detroit equipped with power-steering, these coaches also came with a number of safety features new to the city, including tinted plastic passenger windows, a computerized wheel-lock control braking system to prevent skidding, an improved air-operated "DD3" parking and emergency brake system (activated from a tower to the right of the driver's seat), foot-operated directional signal switches and improved interior lighting—moved from the center ceiling to back-lit advertising signs above the standee windows. [photo courtesy of the Jack and Ken Schramm photo collection] |
| This rear view of coach #1131, parked at the Shoemaker Terminal next to an early-1960's new- look, shows how the rear of the coach had evolved over 15 years of production, including the addition of Federal required safety lights. Like the #2800-2900 series new-looks that preceded them, these 5307A's also came equipped with air-conditioning, along with GM's Environmental Improvement Package (EIP) vertical exhaust system, designed to cut exhaust emissions, odor and smoke. But unlike the V-8s of the previous fleet, these 5307A's came with V6-71 engines. [website owner's collection photo, courtesy of the Schramm photo collection] |
| After the completion of the DDOT coach order, production would continue at the GMC Truck & Coach facility on an additional 48 coaches (#1521-1568) slated for the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA). These T6H-5307A's would become the first new buses to be both owned and operated by SEMTA, which by 1975 had acquired most of the surrounding suburban bus operations. SEMTA coaches (such as coach #1546) differed from the DDOT fleet in that they came with 45 mostly forward facing suburban style seats and no center exit doors. [Jim Husing Collection photo, courtesy of Jim Husing — see disclaimer below] |
| The new buses also launched the 4-digit fleet numbering sequence used by DDOT thru the year 2010, and were the first Detroit coaches to display the route number/route name designations still currently being followed by DDOT. In this May 1978 photo, coach #1071 is southbound on Woodward Avenue at Michigan, displaying the "#23 HAMILTON - W. 7 MILE" route sign. [Melvin Bernero photobucket.com collection, used by permission of Melvin Bernero] |
| In 1975, DDOT acquired five small-size, 30-foot "baby" new-look coaches from SEMTA for use on its two downtown Mini-Loop routes. Initially owned by the City of Pontiac, these 33-pass buses (Model TDH-3301A) were the first buses acquired under DDOT and were renumbered as #3002-3006. A sixth coach (#3001) was rebuilt from coach #1757 (a 40-foot TDH-5301) and cut-down to mini-bus size. All six were retired by 1986. (For more see D-DOT's First MiniBuses) [website owner's collection photo, courtesy of the Schramm photo collection] |
| Rebab work would continue on the fleet over the next few years. It was during this period when DDOT modified its paint scheme with the new "black-bottom" look, first introduced on the GM of Canada #1900-series "Classic" coaches delivered in 1986. In addition to a new exterior paint job, the interior was repainted black and off-white, with black conventional seats replacing the original cushioned seats. The rehabs also came with new engines, new exhaust systems and brakes. Newly rehabbed coach #1135 can be seen parked at the DDOT Shoemaker Terminal in October of 1988. The last of the remaining T6H-5307A's were retired during the mid-1990's. [Melvin Bernero photobucket.com collection, used by permission of Melvin Bernero] |
| After the arrival of the GMC RTS-II fleet in 1978, DDOT slowly began to repaint its entire fleet, patterned after its RTS paint design. Initial repainting began on the older former DSR coaches. During the mid-1980's, contracts were awarded to four bus repair companies to completely overhaul many older DDOT buses, including the #1000–1100 series fleet. In the Summer of 1985, 89 buses were sent off to be rehabbed, most by the Blitz Body Co. of Chicago (now Bus & Truck of Chicago, Inc.). Part of the rehab work resulted in a new paint job for the 5307A's. This October 1986 photo shows coach #1087, an example of the first group of T6H-5307A rehabs. [Bernard Drouillard photo, courtesy of the Jim Husing Collection — see disclaimer below] |
| In this May 1978 photo, coach #1202 is west on Monroe at Woodward while on an inbound trip on the E. Vernor line. Although many of the AM Generals were repainted during the early 1980's into the new DDOT paint scheme, none were ever rehabbed. The entire fleet was retired in 1986. |
| For only the second time since 1953, a non-GM manufactured large-size transit bus would arrive on the streets of Detroit, but this time this fleet would be here to stay. In 1974, the American Motors Corp's truck division, AM General, entered the transit bus manufacturing business with the launching of its "Metropolitan Series" transit coach — a redesigned version of a bus designed by Flyer Industries of Canada. The first AM Generals arrived in Detroit on December 31, 1975. [website owner's collection photo, courtesy of the Schramm photo collection] |
| Fifty-one AM General coaches (Model 10240A-6) costing $63,000 apiece, and also sporting the new DDOT livery of white with black trimmed windows and green and yellow stripping, were all assigned to the east-side Shoemaker Terminal. Like the GMC new-looks which preceded them six months earlier, these AM Generals (#1201-1251) were also purchased through SEMTA and leased to the City of Detroit for $1.00 per year per bus. In this 1978 photo, coach #1202 is east along Michigan Avenue while crossing Woodward on an outbound trip on the East Vernor line. [Melvin Bernero photobucket.com collection, used by permission of Melvin Bernero] |
| The interior color decor of the AMG's were basically identical to the GMC's (see photos above). The plush cushioned multicolored brown, yellow, tan and orange seating were also found on the AMG's, although later replaced by identical style all-black seats. As evident from this interior view of coach #1245, the large passenger windows provided excellent visibility for passengers. [website owner's collection photo, courtesy of the Schramm photo collection] |
| The AMG fleet came equipped with many of the same features found on the #1000-1100 series GMC's, including air-conditioning, power steering, tinted plastic passenger windows, an air- operated parking brake and wheel-lock control system, and a computerized anti-lock braking system. Coach #1245 can be seen here parked at the Shoemaker Terminal. Oddly, these AM Generals were the only "new" DDOT coaches ever to not display route numbers on its route roll- sign curtains. Also note that SEMTA logo displayed on the transmission compartment door. [website owner's collection photo, courtesy of the Schramm photo collection] |
| HISTORY FOOTNOTE: Two former Detroit landmark department stores can be seen in this photo. The 33-level J.L. Hudson Department Store (left) — still open in 1978 (imploded on October 24, 1988), and the former Crowley's Department Store (right) seen in this photo facing the wrecking ball. [Melvin Bernero photobucket.com collection, used by permission of Melvin Bernero] |
