More Bus Moves

[Busjack]

This is getting way too mainstream. At least it brings memories when #2264 used to have those big decals.

...

I take it the issue is too many warning decals, which nobody will read.

Heck, I remember when it was a large stencil at the front of the bus, only saying "NO SMOKING."

But do you mean the askew fleet number? Again, it was bad when too large of a "9" was put in front of the 3 digit fleet numbers on the albino buses, after they were retrieved from the RTA (i.e. 497 became 9497).

[Busjack]

....

UPDATE: Scratch my question about how C and FG would fall on the 7900s assignment list in light of my seeing the reports in the 7900s thread that a few were in service on 77th routes as of this morning. The only thing left that's relevant to ask is if the recent 6400 series moves would put either one of those two garages higher on the list for 7900 assignment.

On the other hand, based on the reports in the 7900s thread, is CTA so inefficient as to pull NFs from FG and 74 just to send them to 77th and then a couple of weeks later have to send them back to retire 6400s, because 77th is getting the 7900s?

[garmon757]

I take it the issue is too many warning decals, which nobody will read.

Heck, I remember when it was a large stencil at the front of the bus, only saying "NO SMOKING."

But do you mean the askew fleet number? Again, it was bad when too large of a "9" was put in front of the 3 digit fleet numbers on the albino buses, after they were retrieved from the RTA (i.e. 497 became 9497).

It's both the crooked numbers and the warning stickers. At least #2264's decals were not crooked. I think I remembered seeing the big no smoking signs on the new looks and the flyers back then when I was a kid.

[garmon757]

I spotted that yesterday too. Must have been something going yesterday for the 20 to need the extra capacity. I say that because today the route is back to 40 footers. On the 6690s that made it to 74th, between those and the NFs that made it back there from 77th, they managed to get some that lowered numbered junk formerly from 77th out. The recent Nova moves makes me wonder if things are getting set up for either Chicago or FG to be first or at least at the top of the list in getting 7900s (of course we'd have to wait for the 7900s that are collecting down at South Shops to finally go into revenue service to find out for sure). Whatever the deal is, the 64xx numbered Novas seem to be getting consolidated at C and FG with the latest shifts among Novas.

UPDATE: Scratch my question about how C and FG would fall on the 7900s assignment list in light of my seeing the reports in the 7900s thread that a few were in service on 77th routes as of this morning. The only thing left that's relevant to ask is if the recent 6400 series moves would put either one of those two garages higher on the list for 7900 assignment.

On the other hand, based on the reports in the 7900s thread, is CTA so inefficient as to pull NFs from FG and 74 just to send them to 77th and then a couple of weeks later have to send them back to retire 6400s, because 77th is getting the 7900s?

The bottom line guys is Novas are taking up a toll with the old ones going around garages like a marathon and Forest Glen getting it's a$$ kicked by 77th. It has to be some balance in between Novas and NF's somewhere down this road.

About the artics yesterday Jajaun, I think it had to do with the World Cup because of the screening event downtown at Grant Park.

[jajuan]

On the other hand, based on the reports in the 7900s thread, is CTA so inefficient as to pull NFs from FG and 74 just to send them to 77th and then a couple of weeks later have to send them back to retire 6400s, because 77th is getting the 7900s?

Looking at how those at the top at CTA make a lot of decisions that go against common sense, at this point I'm not dismissing that possibility you raised.

[MTRSP1900-CTA3200]

I believe Metra has a similar Priority Seating sticker, or the exact same one (hence the Metra and Pace logos).

Also, how only the 9 in 3290 is crooked has me scratching my head. The numbers aren't even centered over the doorway. The overlapping warning stickers don't help much either.

[Busjack]

I believe Metra has a similar Priority Seating sticker, or the exact same one (hence the Metra and Pace logos).

...

That was an RTA initiative. Pace buses also have that.

[jajuan]

The bottom line guys is Novas are taking up a toll with the old ones going around garages like a marathon and Forest Glen getting it's a$$ kicked by 77th. It has to be some balance in between Novas and NF's somewhere down this road.

At this point and stage though, balancing NF and Nova models isn't as important as getting the newer buses where the oldest junk is. And as Busjack alluded to, once 77th forked its junk off to 74th, Chicago and especially FG during the fall and winter months, it was no longer true that 77th had the oldest buses in the fleet and therefore less of a need for 7900s to go to 77th as much as became the case for the other three.

[garmon757]

At this point and stage though, balancing NF and Nova models isn't as important as getting the newer buses where the oldest junk is. And as Busjack alluded to, once 77th forked its junk off to 74th, Chicago and especially FG during the fall and winter months, it was no longer true that 77th had the oldest buses in the fleet and therefore less of a need for 7900s to go to 77th as much as became the case for the other three.

7900s at 77th is indeed a hot debate whether they should be there or not in which I'm against them being there. That's really making 77th more of a powerhouse garage on top of North Park. By the way, #6696 is on #9 right now. #1057 is still on #9 also.

[ChicagoNova]

If you ask my opinion, I would prefer to see artics running on #20 Madison everyday besides the #66 and other artic-worthy routes.

[BusHunter]

They could be sending the nf's to 74th. I hope not!!

[Busjack]

If you ask my opinion, I would prefer to see artics running on #20 Madison everyday besides the #66 and other artic-worthy routes.

If my standard were applied* (and in the cases of 66 and 79, it was), Madison has enough boardings on the passenger report to justify it.

However, in this case, garmon seems to have the answer that this was a special event over the weekend, so some buses were reallocated. In a couple of weekends, they will be back on the Blue Line replacement.

__________

*My standard would also put artics on 9, 49, and 77, but apparently not enough buses, and more importantly, no where to store them.

[jajuan]

They could be sending the nf's to 74th. I hope not!!

At least not until they fix that situation of FG being filled with nothing but old buses.

[ArcherRider]

This afternoon I saw #1669 and #6503 on #62 on bustracker.

[jajuan]

If my standard were applied* (and in the cases of 66 and 79, it was), Madison has enough boardings on the passenger report to justify it.

However, in this case, garmon seems to have the answer that this was a special event over the weekend, so some buses were reallocated. In a couple of weekends, they will be back on the Blue Line replacement.

__________

*My standard would also put artics on 9, 49, and 77, but apparently not enough buses, and more importantly, no where to store them.

They'd have a justified place on the 49 on some trips more than the 9. As I stated before about my observations of the 9 compared to the 49, the 9's boardings are more evenly spread out over the course of the day than on the 49 with a lot of those #9 boardings being more short rides along the lines of a quick jump from Roosevelt to Harrison, Jackson or Madison; or one from Cortland to Fullerton or Diversey as opposed to boardings on the 49 resulting in longer rides such as a lot of folks I observed boarding at points very close to the Berwyn/Western terminus and riding all the way at least to Roosevelt Road and even further south resulting in buses on the 49 having a lot of standees on much longer stretches than I observe on the 9, and that includes rush periods during which I do ride the 9 a lot and still observe this to be true. So the ridership report numbers alone don't always tell you the full story or even most of it, as also evidenced by members' observations that there was no good reason to completely eliminate buses off the 11 Lincoln between the Western Brown Line and Fullerton/Sheffield even if the ridership reports at the time said boardings on the 11 were "low".

[ajm522]

1932 is on the 49 right now, I think 74th is short busses today. I only say that because 1933 is on #2 and 1934 is on the 4 right now so I think and hope that it is temporary.

[YoungBusLover]

1932 is on the 49 right now, I think 74th is short busses today. I only say that because 1933 is on #2 and 1934 is on the 4 right now so I think and hope that it is temporary.

Yeah I've been keeping tabs on 74th being short buses because there has been a lot of unexpected buses from Kedzie,77th and 103rd showing up on 74th's routes in the last month or two #2005,#6503 and #1842 are two buses that come to mind, but I have a hunch that its because of there #6600's and #1730's - 1750's. For the past few weeks I've been noticing and hearing some of the buses run terrible.I don't know if its because there being over worked or what,#6612(Gears are shifting out of place),#6608 (A/C keeps leaking water),#1737,#1732 and #1746 (These three buses just sound super loud and have strange take off's for some reason).#1732 in particular always whistles loudly when it takes off and when it decelerates there's always a high pitched whine for some strange reason.But like I said this is just a hunch I'm going off of, I could be wrong though.

[artthouwill]

Earlier this evening I saw bus 6430 heading eastbound on 35th street near Racine. The bus was Not In Service, but the run box number indicated the bus was from Chicago Ave. What would a Chicago Ave bus be doing running down 35th Street ( a Kedzie route) with no special events going on today?

[TripleTransit1]

This is getting way too mainstream. At least it brings memories when #2264 used to have those big decals.

Also, this is weird. BET???

First it was WXYZ, now it's BET. From this day forth, #6631 is known as the "BET Bus."

[artthouwill]

The other day about noon, there wasn't a single NB 22 from Armitage to Howard on Bustracker.

Since I was trying to get a Pace 215, I walked to Loyola & took the L, which then had to sit between Jarvis & Howard, because the usual gang of idiots in the Howard Tower had a "Not In Service" train parked on track 3 & a Red Line sitting on Track 4, even though the turn loop was empty.

The week before, I was waiting for a Linden bound train there, both NB tracks were clear, but the SB Purple was stuck on the bridge because both SB tracks were blocked, which is a constant problem at Howard.

On Track 1, was a SB Red & on Track 2, was a 6 car 2600, with "Not In Service" signs.

After several minutes, I saw a woman start walking from the southernmost car, through the train. Then she was in the cab, looked out the window at the north end & moved the train about 25 feet. She then climbed down the ladder at the north end, proceeded to cross the trolley rail, walk about 3 cars back, never looking at anything under any cars & then walked back to the head end cab, where the train sat for another 5 minutes. As the Red on Track 1 left for its SB run to 95th, the gang of idiots in the tower put another Red on Track 1, while a large crowd was gathering on the NB platform waiting for the NB Purple.

Finally, the "Not In Service" 2600, left & went on the loop track that's between the West Yard & the Swift tracks & proceeded to circle the outside of the yard.

Then & only then did the SB Purple make it to its berth on Track 2 & then go to the turnback track to return north to Linden.

This entire idiocy took about 10 minutes & would have been avoided, if only someone in the Howard Tower had a brain!

But that's been a problem there for decades, blocking both SB tracks, usually with Red Line trains & thus prevent any Linden or Dempster bound trains from dropping their passengers at Howard & then turning back for their NB trips.

The day of the 4200s charter, I rode the Red Line to Howard. We sat at Jarvis for what seemed like forever, then when we got to pull into Howard, they put us on track 1. They then told us we have to go to the east platform to catch the Purple and Yellow lines. Yet there was a Yellow line train that had just arrived before we did berthed on track 2. Fortunately I didn't follow their instructions as the Yellow Line train wound up departing for Skokie from track 2. Why did we have to pull into track 1 you say? Supposedly there was a sick passenger on a Red Line train that was berthed in the station on Track 4. I suppose there might've been a train on track 3, but I can't remember if it was a Red departing for the turnaround or a Purple waiting to depart (my guess is the former).

[garmon757]

Earlier this evening I saw bus 6430 heading eastbound on 35th street near Racine. The bus was Not In Service, but the run box number indicated the bus was from Chicago Ave. What would a Chicago Ave bus be doing running down 35th Street ( a Kedzie route) with no special events going on today?

I'm guessing South Shop.

[garmon757]

#1537 is on #49 right now.

[BusHunter]

You know what's bugging me? If FG sent 4 or 5 #6690's to 74th, what did they get in exchange nothing? I was tempted to go by the garage and see if there is possibly some nf's there. Maybe I'm dreaming.

[Kimball401]

I'm guessing South Shop.

your right its parked there I'm going to upload some photos in a min

[garmon757]

You know what's bugging me? If FG sent 4 or 5 #6690's to 74th, what did they get in exchange nothing? I was tempted to go by the garage and see if there is possibly some nf's there. Maybe I'm dreaming.

I would've thought Forest Glen sent #6692-96 (maybe more) to 74th in exchange of #6876-83.