BusHunter Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 From what I saw yes there is work being done but it all seems to be on the grassy areas. A fire hydrant was pulled out of it's foundation and was just laying on the side but that's it so far. 51st is like a bus hunters paradise especially at California they have the 47th making right hand turns west to north #52's turning right south to west the #51 and the #94 and the #52a all passing through. It's like a mini downtown!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted July 9, 2014 Report Share Posted July 9, 2014 From what I saw yes there is work being done but it all seems to be on the grassy areas. A fire hydrant was pulled out of it's foundation and was just laying on the side but that's it so far. 51st is like a bus hunters paradise especially at California they have the 47th making right hand turns west to north #52's turning right south to west the #51 and the #94 and the #52a all passing through. It's like a mini downtown!! I guess they haven't started the heavier construction yet. But if they took a fire hydrant out of its foundation, the heavy work is right around the corner. But yeah I bet it is like a bus watcher's dream in the vicinity of 47th and California with so many buses turning through there, especially with the 47 and 94 running along 47th between California and Western, and the 47, 52 and 52A on 51st between California and Kedzie for example. So I guess you're right that it's going to be like a mini downtown through there for the rest of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrabs74 Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 From what I saw yes there is work being done but it all seems to be on the grassy areas. A fire hydrant was pulled out of it's foundation and was just laying on the side but that's it so far. 51st is like a bus hunters paradise especially at California they have the 47th making right hand turns west to north #52's turning right south to west the #51 and the #94 and the #52a all passing through. It's like a mini downtown!! Even if there isn't a lot of work being done right now, at least CTA initiated the detours at the start of the summer pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 I was informed by a fellow friend that #6572 was on #146 about 2 hours ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Finally saw a Nova working the 12 Tuesday morning. I didn't get to get the fleet number when passing the intersection of Ashland and Roosevelt, but I did determine that for that run Chicago Garage deployed a Nova instead of an artic like it usually has done for its assigned morning runs on Roosevelt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted July 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 CTA has a new insurance partner.... Aflac. The mascot even rides the bus!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Has anybody realized that GM #1257 had the city flag painted on it? It's still at the South Shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted July 10, 2014 Report Share Posted July 10, 2014 Guess what guys.....I DROVA NOVA!!! Get it?? Lol but today I did it was 6611 out of 74th for my recertification which we have to do every 2yrs of course. I know that bus is the oldest in the fleet but they drive pretty good and I was hoping to God that I would be able to actually drive one before they were all retired and now I can officially say that I have and put that under my belt lol. I now have officially drove every bus in the current fleet for the exception of the 800 and 900 series which are the same as the 1000's so it still counts lol. Just wanted to share that with you guys I'm obviously excited about it and wanted to share it with my fellow bus fans. Also got to see some really old buses at 77th I didn't even know they still had the fish bowls in their green limousine livery as well as a 4400 and 6000 series buses. Of course I got to see a few new Novas too one was behind us as I was pulling into 77th this morning couldn't get the number though wasnt close enough. But great day over all passed my test and I'm good for another 2yrs lol. Has anybody realized that GM #1257 had the city flag painted on it? It's still at the South Shop. Ok, where on the property are these buses? I've driven by many times and have never seen them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Guess what guys.....I DROVA NOVA!!! Get it?? Lol but today I did it was 6611 out of 74th for my recertification which we have to do every 2yrs of course. I know that bus is the oldest in the fleet but they drive pretty good and I was hoping to God that I would be able to actually drive one before they were all retired and now I can officially say that I have and put that under my belt lol. I now have officially drove every bus in the current fleet for the exception of the 800 and 900 series which are the same as the 1000's so it still counts lol. Just wanted to share that with you guys I'm obviously excited about it and wanted to share it with my fellow bus fans. Also got to see some really old buses at 77th I didn't even know they still had the fish bowls in their green limousine livery as well as a 4400 and 6000 series buses. Of course I got to see a few new Novas too one was behind us as I was pulling into 77th this morning couldn't get the number though wasnt close enough. But great day over all passed my test and I'm good for another 2yrs lol. Ok, where on the property are these buses? I've driven by many times and have never seen them. Wow!!! Congrats mate!!! I really wanted to work for them but I don't have a driver's license at all. About #1257 and others, it's in the back of the yard right by the Optimas and some 900s. I think that if you enter the way all the 77th buses enter on 79th then you go straight down until you see the S pod/station. The buses are on the right side from that pod/station. You will see some New Flyers parked right there also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Guess what guys.....I DROVA NOVA!!! Get it?? Lol but today I did it was 6611 out of 74th for my recertification which we have to do every 2yrs of course. I know that bus is the oldest in the fleet but they drive pretty good and I was hoping to God that I would be able to actually drive one before they were all retired and now I can officially say that I have and put that under my belt lol. I now have officially drove every bus in the current fleet for the exception of the 800 and 900 series which are the same as the 1000's so it still counts lol. Just wanted to share that with you guys I'm obviously excited about it and wanted to share it with my fellow bus fans. Also got to see some really old buses at 77th I didn't even know they still had the fish bowls in their green limousine livery as well as a 4400 and 6000 series buses. Of course I got to see a few new Novas too one was behind us as I was pulling into 77th this morning couldn't get the number though wasnt close enough. But great day over all passed my test and I'm good for another 2yrs lol. Ok, where on the property are these buses? I've driven by many times and have never seen them. Now that was a good Nova* sentence. Congrats to the fullest! *Nova is also based off of novus, which is Latin for new. So my sentence can also mean "good new sentence". But for simplicity, I'll keep it about the Nova buses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Guess what guys.....I DROVA NOVA!!! Get it?? Lol but today I did it was 6611 out of 74th for my recertification which we have to do every 2yrs of course. I know that bus is the oldest in the fleet but they drive pretty good and I was hoping to God that I would be able to actually drive one before they were all retired and now I can officially say that I have and put that under my belt lol. I now have officially drove every bus in the current fleet for the exception of the 800 and 900 series which are the same as the 1000's so it still counts lol. But you didn't drive the #7900's. I swear the seat alarm is straight out of Star Trek. Warning Red Alert!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 #6855 was the winner of the cooling bus on behalf of the Taste of Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted July 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 The new mascot of the Red Line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted July 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 CTA is reaching out to the youth with the destination signage on the buses. 36 Bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvwnsd Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 It has to be the M-prefix due to the fact that those are municipal license plates. Actually, the license plate on the far-right Flxible is an "N" suffix, unlike the others which have an "M" prefix. "N" suffix is a type of truck plate. Per the Illinois Secretary of State's vehicle registration count per county list, there are 75 plates with that suffix in Cook County. Here's a link to the list: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/statistics/home.html Perhaps the CTA sold that bus to the organizaton that ran the producemobile. At that point, it would no longer be a municipal vehicle nor would it be a passenger bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Jesus, what is going on with the Blue Line lately? Who knows??? It never gets much attention by the CTA! The cars are old and defective, the stations, particularly along the Kennedy expy portion are in a decrepit state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Who knows??? It never gets much attention by the CTA! The cars are old and defective, the stations, particularly along the Kennedy expy portion are in a decrepit state. Come on now. The stations on the Eisenhower Expressway portion are just as bad if not worse. The tracks along the Ike portion are overrun by weeds either along the side or in some spots in between the ties themselves during the warm weather months. So again the northwest side is not being singled out, even though I do agree with you that CTA should not have slated the Blue Line to be assigned only the cars from what will be the oldest car model once the 2400s are gone later this year (when the brief moment that 2600s were assigned to the Brown Line after that line became one that accommodates 8-car shows what we already knew about 2600s and 3200s being able to train together in one consist, meaning 3200s could go there when 5000s go on the Orange Line) or Forest Glen to have only the current oldest bus model while the bus fleet transitions to include the 7900s as most or all of the 6400s get retired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 Actually, the license plate on the far-right Flxible is an "N" suffix, unlike the others which have an "M" prefix. "N" suffix is a type of truck plate. Per the Illinois Secretary of State's vehicle registration count per county list, there are 75 plates with that suffix in Cook County. Here's a link to the list: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/statistics/home.html Perhaps the CTA sold that bus to the organization that ran the produce mobile. At that point, it would no longer be a municipal vehicle nor would it be a passenger bus. That SOS plate count for Cook County is ridiculously low. It lists only 1695 taxi plates, when there are over 6000 taxis in Chicago alone. Where are the other 4400? They have to be registered to Chicago to get a medallion. It also points out that Illinois is wasting money on having more plate categories that any other state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Actually, the license plate on the far-right Flxible is an "N" suffix, unlike the others which have an "M" prefix. "N" suffix is a type of truck plate. Per the Illinois Secretary of State's vehicle registration count per county list, there are 75 plates with that suffix in Cook County. Here's a link to the list: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/statistics/home.html Perhaps the CTA sold that bus to the organizaton that ran the producemobile. At that point, it would no longer be a municipal vehicle nor would it be a passenger bus. They said that CTA sold the bus. The unanswered question is whether they ever transferred the bus that still has the original M 05--- license plate. I discussed that above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Come on now. The stations on the Eisenhower Expressway portion are just as bad if not worse. .... However, the IDOT project is supposed to take care of that. Both, of course, have the same equipment and the same accidents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Come on now. The stations on the Eisenhower Expressway portion are just as bad if not worse. The tracks along the Ike portion are overrun by weeds either along the side or in some spots in between the ties themselves during the warm weather months. So again the northwest side is not being singled out, even though I do agree with you that CTA should not have slated the Blue Line to be assigned only the cars from what will be the oldest car model once the 2400s are gone later this year (when the brief moment that 2600s were assigned to the Brown Line after that line became one that accommodates 8-car shows what we already knew about 2600s and 3200s being able to train together in one consist, meaning 3200s could go there when 5000s go on the Orange Line) or Forest Glen to have only the current oldest bus model while the bus fleet transitions to include the 7900s as most or all of the 6400s get retired. Sorry I didn't include the west side portion, youre correct. But you also back up my point of the Blue being in such poor condition as far as stations and the fleet. No attention is being given by the CTA for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Little trip down memory lane here(not too far... no more than 20 years about).... 5800-Series New Flyer D40LF(circa 1995-ish based on the condition of the paint job and how brand new it looks) CTA Reject New Flyer DE60LF at SEPTA Roadeo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TripleTransit1 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 I think Luigi found his wife... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 However, the IDOT project is supposed to take care of that. Both, of course, have the same equipment and the same accidents. True. Though as you pointed out, it's anyone's guess as to when the IDOT project along the Ike will finally start. CTA has at least started to work on the O'Hare portion even if it is a Band-Aid in relation to what type of repairs the line itself needs to be back in actual good repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 True. Though as you pointed out, it's anyone's guess as to when the IDOT project along the Ike will finally start. CTA has at least started to work on the O'Hare portion even if it is a Band-Aid in relation to what type of repairs the line itself needs to be back in actual good repair. Yeah, they shouldn't call the project "your new blue" they should call it "the historical blue" LOL!! They are supposed to be doing a line cut again on the Milwaukee elevated corridor two weeks from now. I think there's another one in August and that's it. They did say they would announce in July when they intend to close the Damen and California Blue line stations for rehab. That will hurt those stations as they have decent ridership, but the rest of us will have skip stop service again!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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