900-series DE40LF - Updates & Retirements

[andrethebusman]

Here is an odd one for you guys to figure out. Hybrid 907 sold to "Warren Barr" 12/15. Only Warren Barr I can find is a chain of nursing homes. Did they buy this as a "training aid" for people to learn how to get on and off buses? If so, where is it?

Note that 900-904,906,908,909 were sold to Complete Coach Works 11/14. So 905 appears to be only one still around somewhere. Is it still at SS?

 

[sw4400]

45 minutes ago, andrethebusman said:

Here is an odd one for you guys to figure out. Hybrid 907 sold to "Warren Barr" 12/15. Only Warren Barr I can find is a chain of nursing homes. Did they buy this as a "training aid" for people to learn how to get on and off buses? If so, where is it?

Note that 900-904,906,908,909 were sold to Complete Coach Works 11/14. So 905 appears to be only one still around somewhere. Is it still at SS?

 

Warren Barr could also be a person who bought the bus from CTA(a practice I don't think they do). But maybe he's taking the bus, taking off the CTA livery and using it for his own private use.

I know ISE is out of business, but if this is an individual buying the bus, maybe he's changing the propulsion unit to another Hybrid series or just going with a diesel engine and ditching the Hybrid material.

[BusHunter]

But he would have to come up with an ISE repair place with parts. That sounds like he'd be walking on water.

Could be they want it for parts. If it's an upscale nursing home it probably has it's own bus to take seniors out on trips, maybe shopping, so they can attempt to keep their independence. The only way to really know is go over there and see if they have a bus.

[andrethebusman]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 11:49 AM, andrethebusman said:

 

Note that 900-904,906,908,909 were sold to Complete Coach Works 11/14. So 905 appears to be only one still around somewhere. Is it still at SS?

 

Here is what SS has to say: 900-905, 908-909 still in the back. Apparently sale to CCW fell thru. 906 however is "MIA" - can't be found. Might still be at Kedzie, as best as anybody can come up with. So can those who go by SS check this out?

[dailycommuter62]

On 2/15/2016 at 11:49 AM, andrethebusman said:

Here is an odd one for you guys to figure out. Hybrid 907 sold to "Warren Barr" 12/15. Only Warren Barr I can find is a chain of nursing homes. Did they buy this as a "training aid" for people to learn how to get on and off buses? If so, where is it?

Note that 900-904,906,908,909 were sold to Complete Coach Works 11/14. So 905 appears to be only one still around somewhere. Is it still at SS?

 

Randomly web surfing and stumbled on what happened to 907

 

[BusHunter]

On 8/4/2020 at 5:15 AM, dailycommuter62 said:

Randomly web surfing and stumbled on what happened to 907

 

I don't get it, zooming up the picture shows the bus only goes to the length of the wall it's protruding through. There's like one aisle of seats passed the wheel well and that's it. So I wonder why they would go and acquire the bus for that?

Kind of interesting, CTA was going to sell the #900 buses to an electric bus rebuilder, CCW, and the deal fell through. I wonder why then they wouldn't step up to the plate and rebuild the buses themselves for that purpose. They could try it out. It's cheaper and you would have extra buses to run. They could easily do a complete  63rd and Chicago electrification of buses and see at the same time is this really viable? Just think they could have 32 electric buses.

[Shannoncvpi]

55 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

I don't get it, zooming up the picture shows the bus only goes to the length of the wall it's protruding through. There's like one aisle of seats passed the wheel well and that's it. So I wonder why they would go and acquire the bus for that?

Kind of interesting, CTA was going to sell the #900 buses to an electric bus rebuilder, CCW, and the deal fell through. I wonder why then they wouldn't step up to the plate and rebuild the buses themselves for that purpose. They could try it out. It's cheaper and you would have extra buses to run. They could easily do a complete  63rd and Chicago electrification of buses and see at the same time is this really viable? Just think they could have 32 electric buses.

Yea I see they cut the front end off the bus but you right about that 

[NovaBusFan]

On 8/5/2020 at 11:29 PM, Shannoncvpi said:

Yea I see they cut the front end off the bus but you right about that 

I found some extra pics off Facebook it just randomly popped up when I was scrolling on Facebook. Anyways why can’t they just keep the entire bus hole? Cutting the back off isn’t necessary especially to a Hybrid?. #907 was sold to “Warren Barr” on December 2, 2015 leaving #905 the only one left on CTA. RIP to the back part of the bus that isn’t showing but the front part in once of these pictures, you’ll notice that the flooring is changed. Address is 66 west Oak street in Gold Coast near the northside.

[NovaBusFan]

On 8/5/2020 at 10:34 PM, BusHunter said:

I don't get it, zooming up the picture shows the bus only goes to the length of the wall it's protruding through. There's like one aisle of seats passed the wheel well and that's it. So I wonder why they would go and acquire the bus for that?

Kind of interesting, CTA was going to sell the #900 buses to an electric bus rebuilder, CCW, and the deal fell through. I wonder why then they wouldn't step up to the plate and rebuild the buses themselves for that purpose. They could try it out. It's cheaper and you would have extra buses to run. They could easily do a complete  63rd and Chicago electrification of buses and see at the same time is this really viable? Just think they could have 32 electric buses.

That’s sad it made me wonder where is the other half of the bus? That’s unnecessary.

[NovaBusFan]

On 2/15/2016 at 11:49 AM, andrethebusman said:

Here is an odd one for you guys to figure out. Hybrid 907 sold to "Warren Barr" 12/15. Only Warren Barr I can find is a chain of nursing homes. Did they buy this as a "training aid" for people to learn how to get on and off buses? If so, where is it?

Note that 900-904,906,908,909 were sold to Complete Coach Works 11/14. So 905 appears to be only one still around somewhere. Is it still at SS?

 

It’s on the 9th floor of the building I believe. 

[Shannoncvpi]

8 minutes ago, NovaBusFan said:

That’s sad it made me wonder where is the other half of the bus? That’s unnecessary.

I'm just still kinda shocked how they got knocked off so soon & the 800's with 804 being knocked off last year 

[NovaBusFan]

On 9/7/2021 at 11:03 PM, Shannoncvpi said:

I'm just still kinda shocked how they got knocked off so soon & the 800's with 804 being knocked off last year 

The #900s were retired because of them breaking down a lot which happened since they were new and throughout their service lives, that is why they were so rare to catch while the #800s were a bit easier to catch, the #800s did a good job. Also both series were retired because they were also test order buses, they wasn’t expected to last 12 years like their D40LF brothers #1000-2029.

[Shannoncvpi]

32 minutes ago, NovaBusFan said:

The #900s were retired because of them breaking down a lot which happened since they were new and throughout their service lives, that is why they were so rare to catch while the #800s were a bit easier to catch, the #800s did a good job. Also both series were retired because they were also test order buses, they wasn’t expected to last 12 years like their D40LF brothers #1000-2029.

I know the 900's was retired early cuz was breaking alot & lack of parts the 800's did much better I liked driving 804 but they wanted it gone cuz they fixed it sent it back to K & k just let it sit in the garage then put itin the lot then it went back to the boneyard

[YoungBusLover]

3 hours ago, NovaBusFan said:

The #900s were retired because of them breaking down a lot which happened since they were new and throughout their service lives, that is why they were so rare to catch while the #800s were a bit easier to catch, the #800s did a good job. Also both series were retired because they were also test order buses, they wasn’t expected to last 12 years like their D40LF brothers #1000-2029.

Credit goes to @jajuan Hopefully his insight clears up any further confusion about the 800/900s. 

"800-809 and 900-909 were purchased as test buses during the time that they purchased and took delivery of 1000-2029. At that time, CTA was running a test on which hybrid bus technology worked best on Chicago streets and could survive Chicago's sometimes brutal winter conditions better. The two choices were parallel hybrids (800-809) and series (900-909). CTA liked the parallel drive hybrids' performance more. So it's not much of a surprise that the next purchase of hybrid buses after that that CTA had sayso on the specs, NF artics 4000-4207 ended up being parallel drive hybrids. I don't count 4300-4332 out of the 4300s purchase, because the 4300s were purchased as part of a piggyback deal CTA made to purchase part of options originally meant for the Seattle area's King County Metro and therefore probably wouldn't have had much say on engine specs if any. Also because 800-809 and 900-909 were considered as test buses, they weren't as bound by the 12 year minimum rule that 1000-2029 are bound by. That's why 900-909 were able to be retired and sold off for scrap when those buses hadn't even reached ten years of service. CTA could have retired them at any time after the test on their technologies were done. CTA decided to keep them around for a while though, and the maintenance folks at Kedzie used their expertise to help the 900s in service for eight years and the 800s for thirteen and counting through the survival of now lone wolf 804."

 

[NovaBusFan]

32 minutes ago, YoungBusLover said:

Credit goes to @jajuan Hopefully his insight clears up any further confusion about the 800/900s. 

"800-809 and 900-909 were purchased as test buses during the time that they purchased and took delivery of 1000-2029. At that time, CTA was running a test on which hybrid bus technology worked best on Chicago streets and could survive Chicago's sometimes brutal winter conditions better. The two choices were parallel hybrids (800-809) and series (900-909). CTA liked the parallel drive hybrids' performance more. So it's not much of a surprise that the next purchase of hybrid buses after that that CTA had sayso on the specs, NF artics 4000-4207 ended up being parallel drive hybrids. I don't count 4300-4332 out of the 4300s purchase, because the 4300s were purchased as part of a piggyback deal CTA made to purchase part of options originally meant for the Seattle area's King County Metro and therefore probably wouldn't have had much say on engine specs if any. Also because 800-809 and 900-909 were considered as test buses, they weren't as bound by the 12 year minimum rule that 1000-2029 are bound by. That's why 900-909 were able to be retired and sold off for scrap when those buses hadn't even reached ten years of service. CTA could have retired them at any time after the test on their technologies were done. CTA decided to keep them around for a while though, and the maintenance folks at Kedzie used their expertise to help the 900s in service for eight years and the 800s for thirteen and counting through the survival of now lone wolf 804."

 

Aw ok, thx for the assist I was struggling a little on that

[Shannoncvpi]

4 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

Credit goes to @jajuan Hopefully his insight clears up any further confusion about the 800/900s. 

"800-809 and 900-909 were purchased as test buses during the time that they purchased and took delivery of 1000-2029. At that time, CTA was running a test on which hybrid bus technology worked best on Chicago streets and could survive Chicago's sometimes brutal winter conditions better. The two choices were parallel hybrids (800-809) and series (900-909). CTA liked the parallel drive hybrids' performance more. So it's not much of a surprise that the next purchase of hybrid buses after that that CTA had sayso on the specs, NF artics 4000-4207 ended up being parallel drive hybrids. I don't count 4300-4332 out of the 4300s purchase, because the 4300s were purchased as part of a piggyback deal CTA made to purchase part of options originally meant for the Seattle area's King County Metro and therefore probably wouldn't have had much say on engine specs if any. Also because 800-809 and 900-909 were considered as test buses, they weren't as bound by the 12 year minimum rule that 1000-2029 are bound by. That's why 900-909 were able to be retired and sold off for scrap when those buses hadn't even reached ten years of service. CTA could have retired them at any time after the test on their technologies were done. CTA decided to keep them around for a while though, and the maintenance folks at Kedzie used their expertise to help the 900s in service for eight years and the 800s for thirteen and counting through the survival of now lone wolf 804."

 

Hit it right on the head

[Sam92]

5 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

Credit goes to @jajuan Hopefully his insight clears up any further confusion about the 800/900s. 

"800-809 and 900-909 were purchased as test buses during the time that they purchased and took delivery of 1000-2029. At that time, CTA was running a test on which hybrid bus technology worked best on Chicago streets and could survive Chicago's sometimes brutal winter conditions better. The two choices were parallel hybrids (800-809) and series (900-909). CTA liked the parallel drive hybrids' performance more. So it's not much of a surprise that the next purchase of hybrid buses after that that CTA had sayso on the specs, NF artics 4000-4207 ended up being parallel drive hybrids. I don't count 4300-4332 out of the 4300s purchase, because the 4300s were purchased as part of a piggyback deal CTA made to purchase part of options originally meant for the Seattle area's King County Metro and therefore probably wouldn't have had much say on engine specs if any. Also because 800-809 and 900-909 were considered as test buses, they weren't as bound by the 12 year minimum rule that 1000-2029 are bound by. That's why 900-909 were able to be retired and sold off for scrap when those buses hadn't even reached ten years of service. CTA could have retired them at any time after the test on their technologies were done. CTA decided to keep them around for a while though, and the maintenance folks at Kedzie used their expertise to help the 900s in service for eight years and the 800s for thirteen and counting through the survival of now lone wolf 804."

 

Just sad cause I felt the 900s had better acceleration 

[YoungBusLover]

5 hours ago, NovaBusFan said:

Aw ok, thx for the assist I was struggling a little on that

Yeah no problem, I vaguely remember the #900s being a suitable match for future purchases but with the main supplier for parts going out of business the maintenance for them became a bit challenging with limited resources. 

1 hour ago, Shannoncvpi said:

Hit it right on the head

Yessir.

13 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

Just sad cause I felt the 900s had better acceleration 

They did? I wish I could of taken a ride on one of them then.

[Shannoncvpi]

10 hours ago, Sam92 said:

Just sad cause I felt the 900s had better acceleration 

I dont remember the 900's acceleration I never drive those last time I was on a 900 it was like 09 when I was getting ready to graduate 8th grade

[NovaBusFan]

11 minutes ago, Shannoncvpi said:

I dont remember the 900's acceleration I never drive those last time I was on a 900 it was like 09 when I was getting ready to graduate 8th grade

I rode majority of the bus series including the #900s, the sound of the buses when accelerating makes a cool electric whine noise in my opinion reminds a little of the #500s. The #800s sounded similar to the #4000s since they make a growling sound when accelerating and they have the same GM Parallel drivetrains. I rode all of the #800s more often including #804 while I rode 9/10 buses in the #900s.

[Shannoncvpi]

3 hours ago, NovaBusFan said:

I rode majority of the bus series including the #900s, the sound of the buses when accelerating makes a cool electric whine noise in my opinion reminds a little of the #500s. The #800s sounded similar to the #4000s since they make a growling sound when accelerating and they have the same GM Parallel drivetrains. I rode all of the #800s more often including #804 while I rode 9/10 buses in the #900s.

Yea I remember the sounds just dont remember the take off of the 9's cuz I drove 804 in jan of last year before it was parked & bounced back & forth between SS & K

[Sam92]

28 minutes ago, Shannoncvpi said:

Yea I remember the sounds just dont remember the take off of the 9's cuz I drove 804 in jan of last year before it was parked & bounced back & forth between SS & K

It wasn’t by much and I could be tweaking cause I’ve ridden more 800s than 900s

[Shannoncvpi]

3 hours ago, Sam92 said:

It wasn’t by much and I could be tweaking cause I’ve ridden more 800s than 900s

Same way with me

[Bus1883]

On 9/11/2021 at 1:03 AM, YoungBusLover said:

Yeah no problem, I vaguely remember the #900s being a suitable match for future purchases but with the main supplier for parts going out of business the maintenance for them became a bit challenging with limited resources. 

Yessir.

They did? I wish I could of taken a ride on one of them then.

I remember riding #901 eastbound on Roosevelt back in 07 or 08 when they were spicy new, the sound of the bus reminds me a bit of the #500’s. However I miss the DE40LFs, I rode 14 out of 20 of them. They were like the hybrid versions of the #1000’s to come in mind.

[Bus1883]

On 9/7/2021 at 10:48 PM, NovaBusFan said:

I found some extra pics off Facebook it just randomly popped up when I was scrolling on Facebook. Anyways why can’t they just keep the entire bus hole? Cutting the back off isn’t necessary especially to a Hybrid?. #907 was sold to “Warren Barr” on December 2, 2015 leaving #905 the only one left on CTA. RIP to the back part of the bus that isn’t showing but the front part in once of these pictures, you’ll notice that the flooring is changed. Address is 66 west Oak street in Gold Coast near the northside.

I’m know I’m 2-7 years late. It’ll been better if it was never sold there in the first place otherwise it would have looked like what 905 looks like now, but however the 900s were all retired in that time the date it was sold. But still they could either have bought another bus to butcher in half that could have been non-CTA or just not bought a bus at all. Take a car or something lol. If you could compare 2753 now known as “555” at madhouse team store it show that the 2600 was also sliced. Back to the 907, I’ve never seen such a nursing home acquire a bus just to use it as a training purpose to teach the elderly on how to board or get off buses. If I ever visit I will definitely do lots of looking around and get a few pictures