7900-series Nova LFS - Updates

[garmon757]

Finally, more shots without being on #77!!! 

[mel bernero]

8200's were operating on almost every route.out of Jefferson Park this afternoon.

[BusHunter]

4 hours ago, garmon757 said:

Finally, more shots without being on #77!!! 

aw come on I know you wanted more shots on the #77 Well here's some not on the #77, including #8251. Ah they had the nice seats again. They look just like the #7900's. Someone got smart on #8241, they opened the hatch.

#8251:

#8241:

A #152 operator had some problems with #8215 at Long eb, they put their riders on the follower. i think it was their first time on the new bus outside of familiarization. They asked the follower something but they said they didn't know anything about the new buses either. So much for familiarization!!

[sw4400]

3 hours ago, BusHunter said:

aw come on I know you wanted more shots on the #77 Well here's some not on the #77, including #8251. Ah they had the nice seats again. They look just like the #7900's. Someone got smart on #8241, they opened the hatch.

#8251:

#8241:

A #152 operator had some problems with #8215 at Long eb, they put their riders on the follower. i think it was their first time on the new bus outside of familiarization. They asked the follower something but they said they didn't know anything about the new buses either. So much for familiarization!!

Obviously a relief. What probably happened is the original operator was relieved at Addison and Central, the relief probably couldn't figure something about the bus to operate it then, the original operator got it working for him/her, and they started east. About two blocks later at Addison and Long, the driver couldn't get the bus moving again, and here they sat. It probably had something to do with the ZF Transmission, or the rear door issues that some have mentioned about the 7900's. That's probably what caused #8215 to go OOS.

Training 500 Forest Glen Operators in a month's time is tight..... they probably got the abridged version of the training.

[XE NewFlyer]

On 7/8/2016 at 5:44 AM, BusOps said:

Yeah!! #8250 & #8251 both have cloth seats. Someone got smart.

i saw the cloth seats on 8250 on route 84 when i just missed it

[BusOps]

How long had FG been under the curse of having the worst fleet in service? Cause  the compliments were flowing last night on #8247 when it was on 81W. One lady praised all the extra stop request buttons it has and even said that it's alot nicer than even Paces newer buses. Didn't hear any complaints about the seats either.

[Busjack]

54 minutes ago, BusOps said:

How long had FG been under the curse of having the worst fleet in service? Cause  the compliments were flowing last night on #8247 when it was on 81W. One lady praised all the extra stop request buttons it has and even said that it's alot nicer than even Paces newer buses. Didn't hear any complaints about the seats either.

Basically after the 60 or so 1000s it received after the Archer closing were moved out, and it became all 6400s. Grumblings were exacerbated when 77th sent its 6400s to FG, and, after becoming all NF, getting the 7900s when it theoretically didn't have any 6400s to replace.Complaints here (maybe not on the street) reached the crescendo when C got about 78 8100s to replace about 40 6400s, and, again, the 30 or so 1000s were not transferred north. Somehow, FG was saved for stage 1 of the swap-apocalypse (what was the purpose of the swap-apocalypse?), and got the oldest of the 1000s.

If you want to go back to the 90s and 00s (I don't know if you do go back that far),. it was the opposite. FG had the usual average age until 2001, when it was decided that the "outdoor garages" would have, to the extent possible, buses with preheaters, to eliminate idling overnight. The only buses so equipped were the rehabbed 4400s (which NP got) and buses acquired in 1995. To implement the 1995 cutoff, FG got K's 6000s. In 2001, the 6400s were allocated to 77, C, and A on the basis that those garages would have 5300s and 6400s, but someone must have forgotten that FG got the 6000s, so FG got the 6400s in 2002 and K ended up with nothing but junk until it got 1100s,

I would say that since the 1970s, average age across the system was about even, except 69th (predecessor to 74th) was the orphan, first because it was the last all propane barn until converted to diesel in 1973, and then the only nonaccessible route barn, because there wasn't room to cycle a lift in the old trolley door bays (the doors were replaced at Archer and 77th), remedied by the move to 74th, and then, for some reason was made almost all 6000s (got only 30 NFs) until a swap, presumably because the 6000s were the only buses then equipped for BusTracker and all 74th routes were in on the pilot.

The other pattern (now that A is out of the picture) is that 77th generally gets the new buses, just to run them into he ground and then pawn them off on someone else, and, for some reason also had the right to pawn its artics off on someone else, instead of running them where it could and did on 3 and 79.

Now, if you know  who makes these allocations, we would like to know.

 

[sw4400]

I think there's always going to be a "Junk Garage" in the CTA during new bus arrivals.

During the 6400-Series arrivals, it was Kedzie, like Busjack alluded to.

During the 1000-Series arrivals, Forest Glen became the "Junk Garage" and remained so until the final 125 of the 7900-Series Novas started to roll in.

Whenever the next set of new buses roll in(which is tentatively the 27 All-Electric Buses that are yet to be procured)..... we'll see who becomes the "Junk Garage". I have my theory, but I'll keep it to myself for now.

[Busjack]

5 hours ago, sw4400 said:

I think there's always going to be a "Junk Garage" in the CTA during new bus arrivals.

During the 6400-Series arrivals, it was Kedzie, like Busjack alluded to.

During the 1000-Series arrivals, Forest Glen became the "Junk Garage" and remained so until the final 125 of the 7900-Series Novas started to roll in.

Whenever the next set of new buses roll in(which is tentatively the 27 All-Electric Buses that are yet to be procured)..... we'll see who becomes the "Junk Garage". I have my theory, but I'll keep it to myself for now.

Aside from what the theory of the swap-apocalypse is, there seem to be several points:

• Until we know what the whole order is, it is hard to tell if a garage is being shorted or not. I guess you were not around in 1972 when the New Looks (1000s) came, but NP, 69th, Limits, and Beverly were shorted. This was made up in 1973-4 when the 7400s arrived, and pretty much all garages got the benefit of the 9000s New Looks. Similarly, there were various options for the NF 1000s, and it looked again like 74th was going to be shorted, but eventually it was not. FG, though was, but it did not have as big a need for new buses at that time.
• There were the special requirements for accessibility, BusTracker, etc., and now for (1) TSP equipped buses on Ashland and (2) new buses for the Belmont test, as @BusOps confirmed in response to your post.

What seems new, and affects both CTA and Pace is the trend to limit series in each garage, starting when the Huberman administration made Archer all Nova, which spread to FG when Archer was closed and Novas were swapped for 6000s then at FG. The situation is probably worse at Pace in that once the other 71 CNGs come in, most of South's fleet, which like 77th fleet gets the worst wear and tear, will have to go to other garages, while Southwest is about the only garage that is mostly Orion VI. BusHunter has also commented about North, although I don't think it is quite the same situation. The only 2 garages that have traditionally had mixed fleets are West, because it is so big, and North Shore, which somehow does get short series (in the recent case, 10 Axess buses).

[BusHunter]

14 hours ago, BusOps said:

How long had FG been under the curse of having the worst fleet in service? Cause  the compliments were flowing last night on #8247 when it was on 81W. One lady praised all the extra stop request buttons it has and even said that it's alot nicer than even Paces newer buses. Didn't hear any complaints about the seats either.

Pretty much since they got the #6400's in 2002. They got Optimas in 2006 but those were junk. FG has never had more than 69 #1000's ever, a feat that still is unbroken to this day.

As far as the ladies praises, I don't know if I would go that far to say these are the greatest buses ever. I think Eldorado makes a good bus with the Axess and EZ rider models. They sure beat the pants off Optima. I think Eldorado is actually more in league with NF. Don't know why they don't have more customers, maybe they are just a small company. I think the Xcelsiors are the best. The AC is better designed with vents that are curved to hit at 45 degree angles, the only thing that I'm concerned with is the body roll on those buses.

Don't know why anyone would like the seats, it's like the CTA went backwards in tech instead of forwards. The #8250's are much better.

[BusHunter]

Here's shots of #8250

[garmon757]

23 hours ago, BusHunter said:

aw come on I know you wanted more shots on the #77 Well here's some not on the #77, including #8251. Ah they had the nice seats again. They look just like the #7900's. Someone got smart on #8241, they opened the hatch.

Watcha doing over there where I donate Plasma at on Kimball and Lawrence??? 

[BusHunter]

8 minutes ago, garmon757 said:

Watcha doing over there where I donate Plasma at on Kimball and Lawrence??? 

Checking out the brown line what else?  They need a plasma place by SS, this way you can tell me what came in new over there.

[garmon757]

24 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Checking out the brown line what else?  They need a plasma place by SS, this way you can tell me what came in new over there.

You a damn fool!  At least there's one on 87th and Kedzie but they pay too cheap out there! Back to the topic, any news about #8215?

[XE NewFlyer]

On 7/9/2016 at 10:04 AM, XE NewFlyer said:

it might have been 8225 but i have not seen one on the 206

8241 will be on the 206 today!

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, XE NewFlyer said:

8241 will be on the 206 today!

Maybe the most lightweight route on maths22's tracker is:

8239 68: Northwest Highway 81W-404 F (Forest Glen)

[Busjack]

14 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Don't know why they don't have more customers, maybe they are just a small company.

Seems to be a combination of capacity and whether venture capital wants to invest in a business dependent on government spending. ENC's Axess page only depicts Pace as a large customer; most of the rest are airport and college shuttles. LaDot Dash is only a downtown (update: and neighborhood) shuttle. Pace is maybe 90 buses a year, while NF has a capacity of about 1500.

I also wonder how actively the smaller companies are  seeking business; for instance Gillig has a 29' trolley, but only ENC bid on the Pace solicitation.

[ajm522]

I THINK I saw 8271 today at SS. 

[Busjack]

Speaking of the days of the Optimas, you would not have seen:

8213 85A: North Central 56 -411F (Forest Glen)

i.e. a 56 Milwaukee pullout on 85A.

[sw4400]

1 hour ago, ajm522 said:

I THINK I saw 8271 today at SS. 

Better be sure..... incoming memo from Vince for you if you're wrong....  

j/k: @garmon757 or @BusHunter will investigate this in the future in a South Shops trip I'm sure.

[Busjack]

21 minutes ago, sw4400 said:

Better be sure..... incoming memo from Vince for you if you're wrong....  

j/k: @garmon757 or @BusHunter will investigate this in the future in a South Shops trip I'm sure.

WWE site says Mr. McMahon is returning to RAW, However, since associates of Ari Emanuel now own UFC, maybe you ought to change your allegiances, or his brother will send Brock Lesnar after you. On the other hand, the cited  article says that Ari's backers can't afford to buy out Miss Stephanie's empire.

[BusHunter]

7 hours ago, ajm522 said:

I THINK I saw 8271 today at SS. 

Yeah but garmon didn't see IT He was too busy giving oplasma (Rolls eyes)

[BusHunter]

Damn you can drive a #8200 with the partition open. I just saw someone do that here at jeff. An operator told me the bus wouldn't go in gear if the partition was not closed but that's when the #7900's were new.

[BusHunter]

Here's some pictures from my new phone #8248, #8247 and #8229 which I finally tracked down.

Notice how the jeff destinations are different versus what type of bus is driven. Also it's a nice picture of new versus old or the for the Nova bus scrapbook. Yes this is still Nova country over here!!

The other phone's seems to be crashing and burning, i had a picture of #8242 from yesterday on it. Maybe I can get that posted if it decides to come back to life.

[BusOps]

2 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Damn you can drive a #8200 with the partition open. I just saw someone do that here at jeff. An operator told me the bus wouldn't go in gear if the partition was not closed but that's when the #7900's were new.

That has never been true about the bus not going into gear if the partition wasn't closed. That operator was telling you a story. Which unfortunately alot of them do that to the public.  The other operator who had the partition open at Jeff Park is causing a very hazardous condition for the public and I wish a supervisor would of caught him/her doing so and would of put a stop to it.