6400-series Nova LFS - Updates & Retirements

[BusHunter]

22 hours ago, andrethebusman said:

6552 , 6571 ,6791 6822 , 6827 ,6833 delisted as of 7/8

Thanks just saw this.

[BusHunter]

There's been no #6400's below #6454 all month so far in service.

[BusHunter]

I'm trying to eliminate some more #6400's. i checked for this month and these are the buses to look for not yet in service this month all buses are gone below #6454.

#6465, #6467, #6471, #6479, #6480, #6565, #6569, #6572, #6676, #6679, #6683, #6689, #6695, #6700, #6729, #6742, #6743, #6766, #6767, #6773, #6801, #6807, #6816. #6817, #6819, #6850 and #6854.

Now seeing these numbers I'm having flashbacks of seeing some of them in the 3rd yard so maybe some are going away after all. Ones I remember mentioning are #6467, #6569, #6676, #6679, #6683, #6689, #6695, #6767, #6801, #6816, #6817. Why these are still on the roster I don't know unless they intend to fix some at SS.

[sw4400]

1 hour ago, BusHunter said:

I'm trying to eliminate some more #6400's. i checked for this month and these are the buses to look for not yet in service this month all buses are gone below #6454.

#6465, #6467, #6471, #6479, #6480, #6565, #6569, #6572, #6676, #6679, #6683, #6689, #6695, #6700, #6729, #6742, #6743, #6766, #6767, #6773, #6801, #6807, #6816. #6817, #6819, #6850 and #6854.

Now seeing these numbers I'm having flashbacks of seeing some of them in the 3rd yard so maybe some are going away after all. Ones I remember mentioning are #6467, #6569, #6676, #6679, #6683, #6689, #6695, #6767, #6801, #6816, #6817. Why these are still on the roster I don't know unless they intend to fix some at SS.

There have been some that disappeared for a while and then suddenly reappeared again weeks or a month or two later. It's possible that maybe they will go through these on a case by case basis and determine which of them are repairable with minimal resources to operate enough for service and put them out. They may have some defects(kneeler no longer functions, ramp takes 20 minutes to deploy, no lighting on the interior, etc...), but so long as the engine runs decently enough and the bus gets the passengers from point "A" to point "B", that's good enough for the CTA.

[BusHunter]

55 minutes ago, sw4400 said:

There have been some that disappeared for a while and then suddenly reappeared again weeks or a month or two later. It's possible that maybe they will go through these on a case by case basis and determine which of them are repairable with minimal resources to operate enough for service and put them out. They may have some defects(kneeler no longer functions, ramp takes 20 minutes to deploy, no lighting on the interior, etc...), but so long as the engine runs decently enough and the bus gets the passengers from point "A" to point "B", that's good enough for the CTA.

If you subtract the not seen total from current total you can get the fg fleet down to around 253 (257 is normal for them) So it sounds like most of these may be gone. They have received now going on 30 new buses in 3 weeks and all the purged was 8 buses. Something is fishy here.

[sw4400]

24 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

If you subtract the not seen total from current total you can get the fg fleet down to around 253 (257 is normal for them) So it sounds like most of these may be gone. They have received now going on 30 new buses in 3 weeks and all the purged was 8 buses. Something is fishy here.

Well I know there has been a lot of talk they want to keep about 30 Novas around until the all-Electric buses that have yet-to-be ordered arrive. Which ones they'll keep, I'm not sure.... it might be a mix of 1st and 2nd order, as it seems a lot of the 2nd order are falling off lately. In the last group @andrethebusman just talked about, we had 2 1st order and 4 2nd order taken off roster.

[busfan2847]

4 hours ago, BusHunter said:

I'm trying to eliminate some more #6400's. i checked for this month and these are the buses to look for not yet in service this month all buses are gone below #6454.

#6465, #6467, #6471, #6479, #6480, #6565, #6569, #6572, #6676, #6679, #6683, #6689, #6695, #6700, #6729, #6742, #6743, #6766, #6767, #6773, #6801, #6807, #6816. #6817, #6819, #6850 and #6854.

Now seeing these numbers I'm having flashbacks of seeing some of them in the 3rd yard so maybe some are going away after all. Ones I remember mentioning are #6467, #6569, #6676, #6679, #6683, #6689, #6695, #6767, #6801, #6816, #6817. Why these are still on the roster I don't know unless they intend to fix some at SS.

From my tracking using maths 22 archive on M, W and F last use was

6451 last out 6/8, 6452 6/24, 6453 6/22, 6465/7 6/29, 6471 6/22, 6479/80, 6565 6/30, 6569 6/8, 6572 6/27, 6676 6/16, 6679 6/30, 6683 5/23, 6689/95 6/17, 6700 6/30, 6729 6/29, 6742 6/10, 6743 6/29, 6766 6/3, 6767 6/22, 6773 6/27, 6801 6/22, 6807 5/27, 6818 6/22, 6817, 4/22, 6819 6/30, 6850 6/24, 6854 6/30.

 

[jajuan]

4 hours ago, sw4400 said:

There have been some that disappeared for a while and then suddenly reappeared again weeks or a month or two later. It's possible that maybe they will go through these on a case by case basis and determine which of them are repairable with minimal resources to operate enough for service and put them out. They may have some defects(kneeler no longer functions, ramp takes 20 minutes to deploy, no lighting on the interior, etc...), but so long as the engine runs decently enough and the bus gets the passengers from point "A" to point "B", that's good enough for the CTA.

If a ramp is taking 20 minutes to deploy then that's a sign of a bus that shouldn't be out running that day if it's not one that's next to be retired.  They never know when someone in a wheelchair or sometimes someone with a walker may need that ramp.

[BusHunter]

New additions to the Fg 3rd yard are #6793, #6780, #6737, #6747, #6684 and a few more I can't remember. I got a special treat tonight. Truck #270 showed up with #1007 so I watched it to see where does it go, to maintenance or to the 3rd yard? If you said 3rd yard "we have a winner!!" Now how they drop the bus off and get it on the fence or brick wall is another question does the truck just drop it and lightly bump it into place? It's interesting to say the least. I'd have a blast if I lived over there.

[BusHunter]

Out of my not seen #6400 list for the whole month of july so far only four buses reappeared this week #6467, #6572, #6700 and #6854. The rest I'm going to take off the roster, but I'll leave the list intact in case they come back but I'm 95 percent convinced they are gone. Anyway it should get the FG roster down as 280 I know is not right.

[andrethebusman]

6688,6806,6742,6864,6754,6804,6484 delisted 7/15

[BusHunter]

These #6400's have not run in service this week (since 7/18-7/22)

#6473, #6488, #6550, #6553, #6737, #6740, #6745, #6750, #6758, #6814, #6831, #6843

[BusHunter]

New to the 3rd yard at fg is #6681, #6460, #6768, #6700 and #6687. Didn't see to much else different.

[BusHunter]

The FG 3rd yard was kind of packed this time. They had #6711, #6803, #6834, and #6474 there and a couple others I forgot. Was shocked to see #8275 was already in the 3rd yard, I guess it was one (day in service) and done. #8225 was there too. I toured the yard again. There was a van motoring around on the elston side of the yard. It said intersection (name of a company) on the van. Green and yellow insignia on the truck. I wonder what they do? They were hanging around the new buses as they seem to put them all over on elston side. (starting to get further from the transportation building though)

[andrethebusman]

Intersection is the outfit that does the advertising on the outside of the buses.

[BusHunter]

#6474 was already spotted yesterday back in service. You got to love how the mechanics rig up some of these old buses to run. i was on #6467 and when the operator holds the brake pedal the bus idles but some kind of alternator or pulley type assembly or even a pump tries to run in a loop cycle. It actually makes the bus rock like a boat when it stops in traffic. i can only imagine how that feels to the operator. I hope he is not fighting the brakes cause it seems that way like the bus wants to take off on him. i've seen this before, so it is not unique. It's some kind of rigged idle.

[BusHunter]

This week 7/25-7/29 these #6400's haven't been in service

#6454, #6455, #6456, #6460, #6462, #6473, #6488, #6550, #6702, #6712, #6725, #6740, #6745, #6750, #6760, #6762, #6768, #6782, #6790, #6821, #6831. Out of these #6473, #6488, #6550, 6740, #6745, #6750, #6831 haven't been seen in two weeks. I'm going to take the 2 week buses off the roster and take the buses below #6461 off the roster as I think there gone.

[BusOps]

12 hours ago, BusHunter said:

#6474 was already spotted yesterday back in service. You got to love how the mechanics rig up some of these old buses to run. i was on #6467 and when the operator holds the brake pedal the bus idles but some kind of alternator or pulley type assembly or even a pump tries to run in a loop cycle. It actually makes the bus rock like a boat when it stops in traffic. i can only imagine how that feels to the operator. I hope he is not fighting the brakes cause it seems that way like the bus wants to take off on him. i've seen this before, so it is not unique. It's some kind of rigged idle.

That noise you hear is the transmission kicking in and out of natural. It's suppose to go into temporary neutral when the bus comes to a complete stop with the brake pedal applied. Hence why the bus is rocking back and forth.

[BusHunter]

25 minutes ago, BusOps said:

That noise you hear is the transmission kicking in and out of natural. It's suppose to go into temporary neutral when the bus comes to a complete stop with the brake pedal applied. Hence why the bus is rocking back and forth.

Yeah  cause now #6763 has this and I'm trippin hearing this twice in 3 days. So this is mechanically rigged right cause I don't recall the buses doing this when new

Actually there are times when #6763 doesn't  do this and there are times when it's more pronounced 

[BusOps]

5 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Yeah  cause now #6763 has this and I'm trippin hearing this twice in 3 days. So this is mechanically rigged right cause I don't recall the buses doing this when new

Actually there are times when #6763 doesn't  do this and there are times when it's more pronounced 

Mechanical wise when you hear the whine noise pitch up is when it goes into temporary neutral, which that's where it's suppose to stay, when you hear the whine noise pitch down that's when it engages into drive.

[BusHunter]

hmm I count around 50 of the old green #6400 flipdot destination buses left. Good because barely any work anymore. Unfortunately they only have about 45 buses yet to deliver so some will live on for a few years more maybe. The #6400's though have taken a hit I believe there are only 8 left. There's twice as many #6500's and #6600's. i wish they wouldn't have retired so many amber destination #6709's because the destinations do seem to work. If those fail it seems to be the whole sign failing.

[Busjack]

9 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Good because barely any work anymore. Unfortunately they only have about 45 buses yet to deliver so some will live on for a few years more maybe.

More than likely there is bloat to cover the unreliability of the fleet. As is always the case (such as the 9000s and leased 700s in 1995), the buses will drop quickly. Quibbling over 5 buses is relatively nothing.

[BusHunter]

10 hours ago, Busjack said:

More than likely there is bloat to cover the unreliability of the fleet. As is always the case (such as the 9000s and leased 700s in 1995), the buses will drop quickly. Quibbling over 5 buses is relatively nothing.

Probably more like 20, I doubt they are going to retire all base order buses. I get this weird feeling south shops might keep a few buses and rotate them in because you are asking alot for 15 year buses to continue making it, even if they are in rush only service. It's really weird if the electrics won't retire the last of the #6400's what will?

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Probably more like 20, I doubt they are going to retire all base order buses. I get this weird feeling south shops might keep a few buses and rotate them in because you are asking alot for 15 year buses to continue making it, even if they are in rush only service. It's really weird if the electrics won't retire the last of the #6400's what will?

That's been discussed before and you forgot what you previously said, which was that the option for 25 was still there. The budget also had 50 buses in the 5 year plan.

As I also mentioned, bloat is going to drop. You need to figure out how many buses are needed to run FG routes during the rush hour, and then allow for the usual additional 15% spares.

[BusHunter]

7 hours ago, Busjack said:

That's been discussed before and you forgot what you previously said, which was that the option for 25 was still there. The budget also had 50 buses in the 5 year plan.

As I also mentioned, bloat is going to drop. You need to figure out how many buses are needed to run FG routes during the rush hour, and then allow for the usual additional 15% spares.

Yeah but from what I count I got 142 #6400's. Take away 70 more (best case scenario)  that still leaves 70 buses. We don't  have but 20 something electrics coming so that still leaves a good 40-50 #6400's around. If they haven't  relinquished  the bloat yet maybe there isn't  any. 

Now in order to order more buses they have to do bids and wait on manufacture That's not happening for a few years at least.