Deposition

A "Chucker"

Take away the driver and route indicators, and what makes one NYC bus different from another? Okay, besides the subtle differences in smell. Give up? It's the depot marker, that decal behind the front wheelwell that tells you which division and which depot your bus gets its axles greased in. That's a Charlestown Depot bus from the Staten Island Division at right. The two other Staten Island depots are the Castleton and Yukon (for Yukon Avenue).

In my due depot diligence, I came across this amazing site: BusDepot! It's a site devoted to bus photos, mostly from New York but also from New Jersey, Toronto, and Shanghai. One place on the site you won't find bus depot photos from is Iran. This beautiful shot was taken of the bus depot in Qom by Gilles Peress for Magnum Photos in 1979.

Waitin' on the 78

By the way, Staten Island boasts the two longest local bus routes in NYC, the S74 and the S78, which travels 16.5 miles from the ferry terminal in St. George to Main Street in Tottenville. Get more fun facts on MTA buses here.