BusHunter Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Kind of cool is this shot of a New Flyer trolley bus testing with an electric generator behind it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Kind of cool is this shot of a New Flyer trolley bus testing with an electric generator behind it.10572304_10152622297644793_1182408796_o.jpeg Where was that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Where was that? Most likely Seattle. They have both trolleybuses and that livery (if it's King County Metro). I'm not surprised by this picture though. Their trolleybus fleet is a bunch of high-floor old-looking Breda and Gillig trolleybuses. From what I saw, it wasn't a matter of if they get new trolleybuses, it was a matter of when. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Our two buses are just sitting around at Kedzie Garage as far as I know... we got them I believe last month sometime, but have yet to receive and/or build the charging stations, so they're pretty much 1.1m paperweights right now. No word on any press release(which there will have to be one before they start service) or any testing even... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 Our two buses are just sitting around at Kedzie Garage as far as I know... we got them I believe last month sometime, but have yet to receive and/or build the charging stations, so they're pretty much 1.1m paperweights right now. No word on any press release(which there will have to be one before they start service) or any testing even... They aren't even trolley buses. I bet you weren't around when the north side actually had trolley buses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 They aren't even trolley buses. I bet you weren't around when the north side actually had trolley buses. I was & I wish we still had them. They were quiet & had better suspensions than the current buses. When a current bus, especially an artic hits a bump, the entire bus shudders. Only the old Motor Coach Co. buses had a smoother ride, along with the buses the CTA bought for the Keeler garage, which were the last buses that didn't jar you to death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sw4400 Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 They aren't even trolley buses. I bet you weren't around when the north side actually had trolley buses. No I wasn't. But they are the next generation of trolley buses.... trolley-less electric buses, if you will. Internet has gone wireless, TV's have gone plasma.... transit buses will one day have a 100% all-electric w/ no trolley wires bus option. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted August 14, 2014 Report Share Posted August 14, 2014 No I wasn't. But they are the next generation of trolley buses.... trolley-less electric buses, if you will. Internet has gone wireless, TV's have gone plasma.... transit buses will one day have a 100% all-electric w/ no trolley wires bus option. Not really as the definition of a trolley is what contacts the wire. The most particular definition of a trolley is a trolley wheel, although there are also references to trolley shoes. The Bredas mentioned had some dual mode operation, and some SF trolley buses had batteries for short deviations from the route, but a battery bus has to run independently of the wire. Some streetcar books show a New York battery streetcar, but it wasn't horribly successful, according to that source. Note that whoever is buying the bus being tested didn't buy a battery bus, and it has trolley poles (to which the generator is connected). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrabs74 Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 Where was that? That photo was most likely taken at the testing facility in Winnipeg, where there is not ETB infrastructure. The coaches are bound for Seattle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctrabs74 Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 Not really as the definition of a trolley is what contacts the wire. The most particular definition of a trolley is a trolley wheel, although there are also references to trolley shoes. The Bredas mentioned had some dual mode operation, and some SF trolley buses had batteries for short deviations from the route, but a battery bus has to run independently of the wire. Some streetcar books show a New York battery streetcar, but it wasn't horribly successful, according to that source. Note that whoever is buying the bus being tested didn't buy a battery bus, and it has trolley poles (to which the generator is connected). The ETB's in Philadelphia have a Cummins ISQ engine to enable buses to operate off wire in case of a detour (though, from past experiences and observations, they've run off wire for yard movements as well). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 No I wasn't. But they are the next generation of trolley buses.... trolley-less electric buses, if you will. Internet has gone wireless, TV's have gone plasma.... transit buses will one day have a 100% all-electric w/ no trolley wires bus option. Not anytime soon with big oil still holding a lot of political power and influence in this country and the rest of the world. You can't even get elected to Congress in some states if you lean too far toward solutions that exclude fuels made from crude oil, an all electric bus falling in that category of such a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 Not anytime soon with big oil still holding a lot of political power and influence in this country and the rest of the world. You can't even get elected to Congress in some states if you lean too far toward solutions that exclude fuels made from crude oil, an all electric bus falling in that category of such a solution. I don't think that's horribly relevant. What might be relevant is if Elon Mosk can get somebody to invent a battery that stores the equivalent of a 125 gallon diesel fuel tank. I don't think that the oil companies have much skin in electric power used to power trolley wires used to send electricity to trolley buses. Also, transit authorities don't seem to be under the thumb of the Roger Rabbit GM/Firestone/Standard Oil/National City Lines conspiracy, which, btw, wasn't the reason why CTA dropped both trolley cars and trolley buses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 I don't think that's horribly relevant. What might be relevant is if Elon Mosk can get somebody to invent a battery that stores the equivalent of a 125 gallon diesel fuel tank. I don't think that the oil companies have much skin in electric power used to power trolley wires used to send electricity to trolley buses. Also, transit authorities don't seem to be under the thumb of the Roger Rabbit GM/Firestone/Standard Oil/National City Lines conspiracy, which, btw, wasn't the reason why CTA dropped both trolley cars and trolley buses. You still cannot deny that the oil companies do hold enough influence currently to make sure diesel is still used in some capacity when the manufacturers build a bus, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 You still cannot deny that the oil companies do hold enough influence currently to make sure diesel is still used in some capacity when the manufacturers build a bus, I don't know that, in that all the solicitations say what the transit authorities want. While I am sure that they can only solicit what is available, I don't think that Conoco-Phillps is telling New Flyer not to build hybrids or trolley buses for King County. Besides that, BP claims to be involved in solar energy, besides dumping its crud in South Chicago. Instead, it looks like $2.5 million in government grants were necessary to get 2 battery buses for Chicago, which New Flyer willingly built, but aren't on the street yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geneking7320 Posted August 20, 2014 Report Share Posted August 20, 2014 What is the price of an electric trolley bus these days? Is it less than $1.25 million? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethebusman Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 Not really as the definition of a trolley is what contacts the wire. The most particular definition of a trolley is a trolley wheel, although there are also references to trolley shoes. The Bredas mentioned had some dual mode operation, and some SF trolley buses had batteries for short deviations from the route, but a battery bus has to run independently of the wire. Some streetcar books show a New York battery streetcar, but it wasn't horribly successful, according to that source. Note that whoever is buying the bus being tested didn't buy a battery bus, and it has trolley poles (to which the generator is connected). New York had a whole bunch of battery streetcars in the 1920's. they were used on some minimal routes in the south end of Manhattan that were too minimal to justify installing the underground conduit that Manhattan had instead of trolley wire. All the lines were gone by the late 1920s, mostly replaced by city-operated early buses. They were good enough on routes that were only a few miles long round-trip, but not for any long-distance running. Chicago's single biggest attempt at battery streetcars was the original Vincennes-111th carline in the 1890's, operated by the Chicago & Interurban Traction from 63rd via Halsted-Vincennes-Monterrey-111th to Sacramento and via Vincennes-127th-Western to Blue Island and Harvey. Lasted maybe 10 years before getting conventional streetcars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted August 21, 2014 Report Share Posted August 21, 2014 I don't know that, in that all the solicitations say what the transit authorities want. While I am sure that they can only solicit what is available, I don't think that Conoco-Phillps is telling New Flyer not to build hybrids or trolley buses for King County. Besides that, BP claims to be involved in solar energy, besides dumping its crud in South Chicago. Instead, it looks like $2.5 million in government grants were necessary to get 2 battery buses for Chicago, which New Flyer willingly built, but aren't on the street yet. I'm not denying that the cost issue isn't a large part of the equation. I'm just saying the energy sources that TA has access to plays a part of it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 No I wasn't. But they are the next generation of trolley buses.... trolley-less electric buses, if you will. Internet has gone wireless, TV's have gone plasma.... transit buses will one day have a 100% all-electric w/ no trolley wires bus option. Seoul, South Korea has fully electric battery buses on a small scale operation. They're called "Peanut Buses" due to their shape. Never before have I called a bus "cute". Image 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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