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Eldorado Trolley Bus Coming Soon To Elkhart, indiana


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Just when you thought you saw it all. Now they are going to have an Eldorko dressed as a trolley. It actually looks not too bad. Hmm... I wonder if Streets Of Woodfield would be interested in this?

http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/2015/03/26/MACOG-adds-seven-buses-to-interurban-trolley-system.html

Since that appears to be a 32BRT (maybe 35BRT), and the article says "A bus typically costs about $390,000" if that is what Elkhart is paying, Pace is not going to pay that when it paid ~$311K for the similar 2826-2829.

  • The trolleys are owned by Pace, not The Streets of Woodfield.
  • If Pace wanted this, they would have gone along with the prior plan to wrap a couple of Eldos.
  • Gillig has had something similar.
  • That's probably too big for what Schaumburg wants (apparently the "trolley" is Elkhart's regular bus system).
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Since that appears to be a 32BRT (maybe 35BRT), and the article says "A bus typically costs about $390,000" if that is what Elkhart is paying, Pace is not going to pay that when it paid ~$311K for the similar 2826-2829.

  • The trolleys are owned by Pace, not The Streets of Woodfield.
  • If Pace wanted this, they would have gone along with the prior plan to wrap a couple of Eldos.
  • Gillig has had something similar.
  • That's probably too big for what Schaumburg wants (apparently the "trolley" is Elkhart's regular bus system).

Yeah, I know they are run by Pace, I looked it up they are ran by First Student Glen Ellyn. That being said, I wonder how many are on the roster?

That Gillig bus is a trip, oak seating? Seems they might have Eldorado beat on this bus.

On the size limitations, the Niles free bus went from Chances to Eldos so I guess they are using a bigger bus. There's also a question of what is out there to replace the streets of woodfield trolley. If there is no trolley, then they face a question of increasing the bus size or scrapping the design.

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Yeah, I know they are run by Pace, I looked it up they are ran by First Student Glen Ellyn. That being said, I wonder how many are on the roster?

That Gillig bus is a trip, oak seating? Seems they might have Eldorado beat on this bus.

On the size limitations, the Niles free bus went from Chances to Eldos so I guess they are using a bigger bus. There's also a question of what is out there to replace the streets of woodfield trolley. If there is no trolley, then they face a question of increasing the bus size or scrapping the design.

Your last point goes to that Chance/Optima is now out of business. That's also why Niles didn't get more Chance RT-52s in 2007.

The Schaumburg trolleys themselves are owned by Pace. This was a sweet deal Pace set up for itself to fudge the recovery ratio, as Schaumburg has to pay all the "fares" and First Student provides the drivers. At one time, Schaumburg had to pay 100% of the cost, but the budget (page 13) indicates that the deal is similar to that with Niles ("fares" paid by the village have to cover 36% of the cost).

There were originally 7 trolleys on the roster, but it is not clear how many are still operating after the hours were cut back. The 2015 Pace budget says "The [capital] program contains $41.3 million for the purchase of 75 fixed route buses including seven replacement trolley buses" (page 3). The budget does not break out the 7 trolleys separately.

A possibly relevant aside regarding the cost: There was a federal grant for about $800K to buy 3 trolleys for a similar setup for Oak Park, but Oak Park canceled its service during the recession.

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Your last point goes to that Chance/Optima is now out of business. That's also why Niles didn't get more Chance RT-52s in 2007.

The Schaumburg trolleys themselves are owned by Pace. This was a sweet deal Pace set up for itself to fudge the recovery ratio, as Schaumburg has to pay all the "fares" and First Student provides the drivers. At one time, Schaumburg had to pay 100% of the cost, but the budget (page 13) indicates that the deal is similar to that with Niles ("fares" paid by the village have to cover 36% of the cost).

There were originally 7 trolleys on the roster, but it is not clear how many are still operating after the hours were cut back. The 2015 Pace budget says "The [capital] program contains $41.3 million for the purchase of 75 fixed route buses including seven replacement trolley buses" (page 3). The budget does not break out the 7 trolleys separately.

A possibly relevant aside regarding the cost: There was a federal grant for about $800K to buy 3 trolleys for a similar setup for Oak Park, but Oak Park canceled its service during the recession.

hmm with Pace being so ga ga over eldorados, they might actually be picking some up then contrary to what you said before. If not who else besides Gillig could they go to?
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Oh wow, those are ugly looking buses. I have to give Gillig props for the oak seating, but as usual (IMO) they've once more made an ugly bus. Only their Standard LF, Standard LF BRT and BRT+ buses have a good design.

hmm with Pace being so ga ga over eldorados, they might actually be picking some up then contrary to what you said before. If not who else besides Gillig could they go to?

I don't acutally think there is anywhere else to go. King St Trolley here got the gillig trolley bus, complete with *announcer voice* custom oak seating.

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hmm with Pace being so ga ga over eldorados, they might actually be picking some up then contrary to what you said before. If not who else besides Gillig could they go to?

They could get an actual trolley replica. I don't know, for instance, who supplies the trolleys to Chicago Trolley and Double Decker. Doing a rough search indicates such sources as Supreme Corporation. Specialty Vehicles of Nevada is their distributor.*

Doing a search, the MACOG specs said it has to hold up to transit service, including urban and suburban express. Pace doesn't need that in Schaumburg.

________

*I might have misread it earlier, confusing Chance Rides with Chance trolleys.

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  • 1 month later...

Just when you thought you saw it all. Now they are going to have an Eldorko dressed as a trolley. It actually looks not too bad. Hmm... I wonder if Streets Of Woodfield would be interested in this?

​Well, I guess those are a tiny improvement over the existing hideous StarTrans 'Trolley' units.

FWIW one of this model operates in Joplin, MO as well. There are photos in a thread on another discussion board, but I don't think they are viewable by non-members.

Tuscaloosa took a more sensible approach, simply going with a wrap on a regular ElDo EZR BRT: Photo by 'Buzz'

 

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They could get an actual trolley replica. I don't know, for instance, who supplies the trolleys to Chicago Trolley and Double Decker. Doing a rough search indicates such sources as Supreme Corporation. Specialty Vehicles of Nevada is their distributor.*

 

Doing a search, the MACOG specs said it has to hold up to transit service, including urban and suburban express. Pace doesn't need that in Schaumburg.

 

________

*I might have misread it earlier, confusing Chance Rides with Chance trolleys.

​If you're going to buy a replica trolley, then go with the ACF-Brills that the CTA used to have.

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​If you're going to buy a replica trolley, then go with the ACF-Brills that the CTA used to have.

​In that ACF-Brill no longer seems to exist, I assume you only mean in the sense of a wrap that looks like a CSL streetcar, but I don't think any of the current bus operators are interested in that. Also, I don't think they mean an actual trolley bus (nobody is going to string wire in Schaumburg).

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