The Breakdown Thread

[sw4400]

I think it(#4323) will return to service. When remains to be seen... parts will need to be ordered and the bus will probably have to go to a local heavy maintenance facility like South Shops or Bus and Truck for it's repairs. It looks pretty bad in the front, I don't know about the front passenger door area or that side of the bus, but I doubt it's serious enough to be retired already.

[BusHunter]

I think it(#4323) will return to service. When remains to be seen... parts will need to be ordered and the bus will probably have to go to a local heavy maintenance facility like South Shops or Bus and Truck for it's repairs. It looks pretty bad in the front, I don't know about the front passenger door area or that side of the bus, but I doubt it's serious enough to be retired already.

It will return to service eventually. I doubt CTA wants to can a new bus, every effort will be made to bring it back. One thing that concerns me, is that reports say the bus driver was cut out of the vehicle. If that is the case, who knows what was severed/cut getting him/her out. Then there's the matter of a truck with a load hitting the front door side of the bus, a vulnerable area, but it appears the truck wasn't traveling too fast or there would've been alot more damage. Regardless, we won't be seeing this bus in service for a while, probably early to mid 2014 at the earliest. The bus is not going to be as easy to fix as #4319, which was fixed simply with parts ordered. This is going to need body work and parts ordered, but I doubt there's a half a million dollars in damage which would mean a write off.

[Busjack]

...One thing that concerns me, is that reports say the bus driver was cut out of the vehicle. If that is the case, who knows what was severed/cut getting him/her out....

Maybe not surprising for a bus board, I don't see any concern about the driver being critically injured, according to a CBS2 report.*

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*Which, strangely enough was on the Google News feed on the home page about an hour ago, but not now.

[BusHunter]

Maybe not surprising for a bus board, I don't see any concern about the driver being critically injured, according to a CBS2 report.*

_______

*Which, strangely enough was on the Google News feed on the home page about an hour ago, but not now.

I was talking in terms of the bus. When CFD uses the jaws of life, they pry away steel away from the occupant in most cases. Like in a car, it's not unusual to see roofs peeled back like tin cans. I mean't that if they were sawing/prying into the bus that bus could then have some serious damage. There's a post accident picture taken from the right side with the driver gone and there appears to be a hole where the driver's window was. Maybe it's just a missing frame maybe it's not, let's hope they didn't saw a hole into the bus!! But I guess you have to look at it from CFD's perspective, a human life is worth more than a half million dollar bus even if us busfans cringe at the thought of it.

[Busjack]

... a half million dollar bus even if us busfans cringe at the thought of it.

~$940,000 bus, for that matter.

[brownliner]

 

~$940,000 bus, for that matter.

 

Since the model is still in production, worst case is likely that they get a new front half of the bus.

[Busjack]

Since the model is still in production, worst case is likely that they get a new front half of the bus.

By front half, I assume you mean in front of the articulation, which probably is still at least $600K.

In the old days, they would just weld on a new front face, but that doesn't seem to work on current structures. For instance, both CTA and Pace retired NABIs with crushed front door platforms, in CTA's case before they retired the rest of the NABIs.

[Railwaymodeler]

Pace NABI 2430 was in a front end accident, and was rebuilt by American Transit Works. In fact, a photo on their website home page shows 2430 under repairs:

http://americantransitworks.com/

Their client page shows before and after pics:

http://americantransitworks.com/client.html

Seems that they never put the unit number in the corner, and it was missing the number there right to the end.

[Busjack]

Pace NABI 2430 was in a front end accident, and was rebuilt by American Transit Works. In fact, a photo on their website home page shows 2430 under repairs:

http://americantransitworks.com/

Their client page shows before and after pics:

http://americantransitworks.com/client.html

Seems that they never put the unit number in the corner, and it was missing the number there right to the end.

Looks like a slight whack on the right side. Note that even though the site says they got a 5 year contract from Pace, Pace certainly did not have 6040, 6161 and 6173 repaired. all three with pretty much bashed in fronts.

[brownliner]

 

By front half, I assume you mean in front of the articulation, which probably is still at least $600K.

In the old days, they would just weld on a new front face, but that doesn't seem to work on current structures. For instance, both CTA and Pace retired NABIs with crushed front door platforms, in CTA's case before they retired the rest of the NABIs.

Modern bus frames are made from alloys that are difficult to weld, and which have poor strength at the welds. They're also probably heat treated, which further complicates the repair. The upside is that they're lighter for a given strength, which means better fuel economy or better load carrying capacity, or better performance and reliability, or some mix of all three.

That the list of buses requiring such repair is so short is a sign that the trade off is probably worth it.

[trainman8119]

Spotted 1202 on a flatbed headed south on the Kennedy near Augusta Blvd around 1:30 this afternoon

[sw4400]

Spotted 1202 on a flatbed headed south on the Kennedy near Augusta Blvd around 1:30 this afternoon

Not sure where Augusta Blvd is around the Kennedy. But 1202 is a bus out of Forest Glen. So either it's being swapped out to another garage(but it should be driven, not towed there), getting some heavy enough maintenance done that it requires a flatbed rather than a CTA Wrecker, or it's getting or coming back from a mid-life rehab/rebuild. Guess we'll have to watch for it in the next few days or weeks...

[Busjack]

Not sure where Augusta Blvd is around the Kennedy....

1000 N. About where the Kennedy Expressway curves around the church.

Too far east to go to Chicago or Kedzie barns. Probably heading for South Shops.

[BusHunter]

Going south indicates it was either headed to South Shops for rehab or a heavy repair site, like Bus And Truck. #1227 and either #1197 or #1198 appear to have been rehabbed but again lack alot of the changes like LED interior lights and the new headlights.

[sw4400]

Anyone seeing this bus on the tracker on this day... will have to wait for the next one. 4000-Series Hybrid, I believe, judging from the visible roof pod...

[jajuan]

Anyone seeing this bus on the tracker on this day... will have to wait for the next one. 4000-Series Hybrid, I believe, judging from the visible roof pod...

Well the fact that it has Clean Air Hybrid Bus stenciled on its side above the windows and doesn't have the roof fins yet has the roof pod of one of CTA's current articulated buses is the give away that it's 4000-series.

[sw4400]

Well the fact that it has Clean Air Hybrid Bus stenciled on its side above the windows and doesn't have the roof fins yet has the roof pod of one of CTA's current articulated buses is the give away that it's 4000-series.

I originally thought it was a 900-Series New Flyer, until I saw a picture of it's roof pods. The 800-Series was a quick rule out as their roof pods are more bulkier.

[jajuan]

I originally thought it was a 900-Series New Flyer, until I saw a picture of it's roof pods. The 800-Series was a quick rule out as their roof pods are more bulkier.

No the 900-series pod is shaped like an arc in the front and like that of the 800 series holds a battery pack if I'm not mistaken. What you're seeing in the picture is the front pod of a 4000-series, which if I'm remembering correctly is tied to that model's HVAC system.

[sw4400]

Another bus having an issue on the job tonight working Rt. #80... #6802 was having a really bumpy ride up front because the kneeling airbags stopped functioning while in use. It rose partway then stopped... the bus was mobile, but bumps up front were magnified and really felt. The driver tried putting the bus in "N" and running it on high idle(foot depressed on accelerator pedal) for several minutes when it was curbed at some stops to see if that would help to no avail. I suggested she try shutting down and restarting the bus, which she said she'd try at the end of the line near Lake Shore Drive.

My guess is an airline froze in the cold temps or an airline ruptured up there.

[sw4400]

I spotted #1385 on what used to be the section of Lincoln it would operate on between Fullerton and Western(to be more precise, near Irving Park heading NB.... to NP perhaps???). While this bus is from NP, it brought back past memories of the #11 driving down here with passengers. This bus, however might've been having some issue though. Near Irving Park, when the green came, it sounded like the operator pressed the gas, but the bus didn't move. Then I heard the parking brake release and the bus started moving again. I don't know what was up... did the bus stall and require a restart? Did the driver just decide to set the parking brake while sitting in traffic??? Guess it'll be a CTA mystery that'll never be solved.

[andrethebusman]

I wonder how long this bus will be out. It's a 4300-Series DE60LFR as indicated by the roof fins. Hopefully it's not 4319, otherwise that bus is clearly jinxed...

Bus vs. Dump Truck

4323 might be a goner. Side windows were popped out, which means that a pressure wave traveled thru the body to the articulation joint. That might have broken a bunch of things loose. But we will see. It is after all almost brand new.

[BusHunter]

4323 might be a goner. Side windows were popped out, which means that a pressure wave traveled thru the body to the articulation joint. That might have broken a bunch of things loose. But we will see. It is after all almost brand new.

If they plan on bringing the cut up #1482 back anything is possible. That's alot of money just sitting around. I don't know whose fault it was in the accident, but maybe there's litigation involved. I doubt the insurance company is willing to write a check so easily for at least 500k.

[Busjack]

If they plan on bringing the cut up #1482 back anything is possible. That's alot of money just sitting around. I don't know whose fault it was in the accident, but maybe there's litigation involved. I doubt the insurance company is willing to write a check so easily for at least 500k.

As I mentioned earlier, $940K. Maybe more for loss of use.

[sw4400]

As I mentioned earlier, $940K. Maybe more for loss of use.

Not worth the value. #1482 was built between 2007-2008, so it would be 6-7 years old today and has depreciated in value quite a bit since, whether being driven or sitting. It'll probably remain parked until 2019-2020, when it hits the 12-year mark, then CTA can scrap it. In the meantime, I'd look for it to be stripped for useable parts.

[sw4400]

4323 might be a goner. Side windows were popped out, which means that a pressure wave traveled thru the body to the articulation joint. That might have broken a bunch of things loose. But we will see. It is after all almost brand new.

This bus I don't know about... it's only 1-2 years old now and hasn't depreciated much right now... it depends on what the CTA wants to do once they get a dollar figure for repairs and compare it to the value of the bus.