jajuan Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 6883 at FG this AM (11/19) - broke down in yard - check engine/low coolant/low air. Froze to death?? If indeed this is a permanent reassignment and not just a loan (having seen 6876 still at 74th and operating on the #9 as of Sunday night), this is where I can say sw was right in this instance and I'm big enough to admit I was wrong. Many 6400's have failed signs. Sometimes whole sign is dark, sometimes part of display is "frozen" while rest changes, and even more curious are the ones that have mismatched front and side readings, for different routes, yet both are cycling! Every day buses go out from FG with window cards, sometimes even in addition to working signs. I noticed that with quite a number of FG buses as far as the partially frozen signs and mismatched front and side signs go when passing routes 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 84, 92 and 152 while commuting to and from work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 It was COLD this morning! However, engine was still running, so it hadn't seized.Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
See Tea Eh Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 The TwinVision sign has separate front sign and side/rear sign computers (or whatever it's called that actually runs the sign), all fed from the same ODK. Often if the side sign on a TwinVision bus is broken, the rear sign will be, as well. I suppose if the connection from the ODK to the side/rear sign set gets messed up somehow, they will continue showing whatever sign they were programmed to when the connection last worked, while the front sign successfully changes (or vice versa).The Luminator sign does not have this setup, so all are fed from the same base. Some years ago the sign guy showed me a demo. The New Flyer (Luminator) was flashed with a new sign program just once, in a few seconds, but the Nova (Twin Vision) had to be done twice, first for the front sign, then again for the side/rear sign. For the life of me, I can't think of why the system would be set up like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 6883 at FG this AM (11/19) - broke down in yard - check engine/low coolant/low air. Froze to death?? There's some reason to this being at FG.... this is currently a 74th St. bus according to rosters. My earlier speculation about 6876-6883 rejoining 6709-6875 could be bearing fruit. If this was a junk bus now, it would've been taken from 74th to South Shops dead line. Even though it has a Check Engine, Low Coolant and Low Air lights illuminated on the dash, these problems could easily be fixed I'm sure. All we can do is wait and see.... and watch for 6876-6882 to appear out of FG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 If indeed this is a permanent reassignment and not just a loan (having seen 6876 still at 74th and operating on the #9 as of Sunday night), this is where I can say sw was right in this instance and I'm big enough to admit I was wrong. I noticed that with quite a number of FG buses as far as the partially frozen signs and mismatched front and side signs go when passing routes 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 84, 92 and 152 while commuting to and from work. Time will tell.... but FTR, I don't believe in doing the "I told you so" dance... I've been wrong and blown things out of proportion a bit on some posts. You bring a lot of knowledge to the forum, jajuan and it's appreciated... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 So if #6883 had all these problems how did it make it to FG? I never saw it in service. Sounds like it was towed there with the problems. On another front, I was going to mention they have been putting some really, i hate to say junk, out this week. What is up with that? On Sunday or Monday they put out a bus, might have been #6803 on the #80 and both the second and third overhead lights (from the front) were out on both sides of the bus. It had that Pace look where the front of the bus would be dark only it was the middle. Then yesterday they really sent out a whopper with #6767 on #152, the whole back of the bus had no lights at all. I was LMAO as I was riding a bus at night in the dark with no lights. I've never seen this on a bus before, there were a few instances of #2200's towards the end going totally dark in the Kimball subway though. I took a few pictures of the half dark bus, I should upload those. So what they were short fuses or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 So if #6883 had all these problems how did it make it to FG? I never saw it in service. Sounds like it was towed there with the problems. On another front, I was going to mention they have been putting some really, i hate to say junk, out this week. What is up with that? On Sunday or Monday they put out a bus, might have been #6803 on the #80 and both the second and third overhead lights (from the front) were out on both sides of the bus. It had that Pace look where the front of the bus would be dark only it was the middle. Then yesterday they really sent out a whopper with #6767 on #152, the whole back of the bus had no lights at all. I was LMAO as I was riding a bus at night in the dark with no lights. I've never seen this on a bus before, there were a few instances of #2200's towards the end going totally dark in the Kimball subway though. I took a few pictures of the half dark bus, I should upload those. Well it might've been deadheading from 74th to FG and died in route. I've seen New Flyers in similar state... I've been on some non-rehabbed New Flyers on #9(the 1100's) and some of them have fluorescent lights that are burned out and not replaced. I've also seen some non-rehabbed 1700's with burned out blue LED's not yet replaced. What I don't get is why not replace the small florescent light panels near the driver section with small LED strips? It looks tacky not replacing when the rehabbed 1700's are LED lighted front to back with no dark sections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 So if #6883 had all these problems how did it make it to FG? I never saw it in service. Sounds like it was towed there with the problems. On another front, I was going to mention they have been putting some really, i hate to say junk, out this week. What is up with that? On Sunday or Monday they put out a bus, might have been #6803 on the #80 and both the second and third overhead lights (from the front) were out on both sides of the bus. It had that Pace look where the front of the bus would be dark only it was the middle. Then yesterday they really sent out a whopper with #6767 on #152, the whole back of the bus had no lights at all. I was LMAO as I was riding a bus at night in the dark with no lights. I've never seen this on a bus before, there were a few instances of #2200's towards the end going totally dark in the Kimball subway though. I took a few pictures of the half dark bus, I should upload those. So what they were short fuses or something? For what it's worth here are the pictures. This is not one light out but entire sections of the bus!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 For what it's worth here are the pictures. This is not one light out but entire sections of the bus!! cta 6767 who turned out the lights today.PNG cta 6767 no lights your choice dark section or light.PNG cta 6767 no lights rear of bus.PNG cta 6767 no lights today.PNG cta 6767 no lights exterior today.PNG As bad as that is, I can trump that(though no pics).... I boarded a #11(a long time ago when CTA actually cared about it's customers!) and remember distinctly it was TMC #4463. The bus had no interior lights period, no "Stop Request" display functioning and lastly the "Stop Request" chime was piped through two white RadioShack speakers bolted in the front(one behind the driver and one on the other side above the right front wheelwell. How's that for innovation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 As bad as that is, I can trump that(though no pics).... I boarded a #11(a long time ago when CTA actually cared about it's customers!) and remember distinctly it was TMC #4463. The bus had no interior lights period, no "Stop Request" display functioning and lastly the "Stop Request" chime was piped through two white RadioShack speakers bolted in the front(one behind the driver and one on the other side above the right front wheelwell. How's that for innovation? That's insane. Those buses shouldn't be on the street, someone with a vision impairment hurts themself on those buses and the CTA is negligible. Back to #6883, I was thinking I wonder if the rest are coming over this weekend for the weekend swaps and that bus was so screwed up it came ahead of the others. By what's going on in the bus moves thread maybe they just need to send them to NP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Time will tell.... but FTR, I don't believe in doing the "I told you so" dance... I've been wrong and blown things out of proportion a bit on some posts. You bring a lot of knowledge to the forum, jajuan and it's appreciated... I thank you. It's still go though to be able to admit when we're wrong or made a mistake if we're to keep the fun aspect that the forum is ultimately supposed to be about. That's insane. Those buses shouldn't be on the street, someone with a vision impairment hurts themself on those buses and the CTA is negligible. Back to #6883, I was thinking I wonder if the rest are coming over this weekend for the weekend swaps and that bus was so screwed up it came ahead of the others. By what's going on in the bus moves thread maybe they just need to send them to NP. Hmmm, now why would NP want a crappy bus? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 For what it's worth here are the pictures. This is not one light out but entire sections of the bus!! cta 6767 who turned out the lights today.PNG cta 6767 no lights your choice dark section or light.PNG cta 6767 no lights rear of bus.PNG cta 6767 no lights today.PNG cta 6767 no lights exterior today.PNG Well at least I can get some sleep while the lights are off!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 I thank you. It's still go though to be able to admit when we're wrong or made a mistake if we're to keep the fun aspect that the forum is ultimately supposed to be about. Hmmm, now why would NP want a crappy bus? Hey, what you calling crappy?? That's now the newest bus at FG!! Maybe if they ask Santa on the holiday bus for something newer maybe they'll get it if they are nice!! Man they must have been really naughty this year so far!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Well at least I can get some sleep while the lights are off!!! At least the bugs can come out and join you without being seen!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 Hey, what you calling crappy?? That's now the newest bus at FG!! Maybe if they ask Santa on the holiday bus for something newer maybe they'll get it if they are nice!! Man they must have been really naughty this year so far!! That may be but it's still junk like some other Novas that FG got from other garages. What's wrong with 74th? At least other Novas it sent up to FG (along with some that went to Chicago) before that were better conditioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted November 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 I thank you. It's still go though to be able to admit when we're wrong or made a mistake if we're to keep the fun aspect that the forum is ultimately supposed to be about. Hmmm, now why would NP want a crappy bus? North Park had a few crappy buses in the past.... as did 77th and 103rd.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted November 23, 2014 Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 North Park had a few crappy buses in the past.... as did 77th and 103rd.... As did Kedzie from your NABI reference, but I think you missed my joke there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 As did Kedzie from your NABI reference, but I think you missed my joke there. Kedzie had almost exclusively junk from the 2001 swap with FG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Kedzie had almost exclusively junk from the 2001 swap with FG. Exactly. And that's not counting that in a way it can be viewed that Kedzie got passed over in giving FG 6400s when 6400s were billed as a replacement for the MAN 4000s. So it was only fair in my opinion that they got an allotment of 1000s and 4000s when both of those series were being delivered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Kedzie and 103rd have really been treated well with all new buses in their fleets for the last 8 years, NP can't complain either only really having as many as 30 buses that were not the latest CTA model. The 3 biggest losers have been 77th, 74th and FG. 77th though has had a great year and Chicago which was in league with the well treated 3 has seem to take on 77th old funk that it used to have with old buses. As Chicago and FG serve the NW and west sides of the city those areas of the city are the biggest losers and if you look at rail it's the same with the Forest Pk/O'Hare Blue line serving all those areas with it's inaccessible stations and old trains. This proves that Chicago is a great city for transit if you live in the right neighborhood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 ...This proves that Chicago is a great city for transit if you live in the right neighborhood. But one is probably in the wrong neighborhood for other reasons, unless you get the double whammy in Englewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Kedzie and 103rd have really been treated well with all new buses in their fleets for the last 8 years, NP can't complain either only really having as many as 30 buses that were not the latest CTA model. The 3 biggest losers have been 77th, 74th and FG. 77th though has had a great year and Chicago which was in league with the well treated 3 has seem to take on 77th old funk that it used to have with old buses. As Chicago and FG serve the NW and west sides of the city those areas of the city are the biggest losers and if you look at rail it's the same with the Forest Pk/O'Hare Blue line serving all those areas with it's inaccessible stations and old trains. This proves that Chicago is a great city for transit if you live in the right neighborhood. Chicago got and still has 1000s. As a matter of fact it has the youngest of them so NW side has not entirely been scrambling for new buses. The issue is FG hasn't gotten new buses in 12 years outside of a few year assignment of a small number of NFs that yes were a couple years old if they were even that old at the time of the initial assignments there. And that's mainly because of how CTA has held onto buses past their FTA lifespans to a point of multiple series being eligible for retirement at the same time. So we get these waves of different sections of the city being served by old equipment. At one point it was the west side. At another the south side. Another NP's part of the north side and now FG's areas of the NW side. CTA's way of assigning buses doesn't help either. Take 77th. That garage had artics just to lose artics, Got them back a short while. Lost them again for years. Got them again. Gave up half to make a fifth garage an artic assigned garage. Lost all its remaining newer artics for older ones from the one garage that works artics hardest so that garage could have all the clean diesel artics. Then a few months after that move, lost all its artics again. On the 40 foot front, before it forked all its 6400s on C, FG and 74th after pretty much junking them up, its 40 foot roster easily had been three quarters 6400s for years. So again the south side was contending with junk buses in many ways. So I won't feed into the NW side being the stepchild theory other than to agree it was stupid of CTA to flip FG to an all 6400 garage now that that model is retirement eligible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 I don't think riders on the 44, 48, 62, 75 and 94 appreciate getting stuck with just about all 6400s anymore than FG riders do, and New Flyers are actually available at 74th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungBusLover Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 I beg to differ on that one although I do wish the 9 and 55 we're all novas every once in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 I beg to differ on that one although I do wish the 9 and 55 we're all novas every once in a while. Well I'm pretty sure a lot of other folks would glad to no longer be riding junk. And they can keep Nova count as low as possible on the 9 thank you very much. Now if the Nova in question is a 7900 then that's a different story. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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