Academy/Pace operations.....

[PACE NORTHWEST]

This morning I drove Nabi #6632/6634 out to Inland Diesel in Carol Stream from there they will be assigned to Pace West Garage.

6634 is on the 606 right now.

[Guest]

Really!! Wow!! I was told every Nabi we had from #6604 to #6634 was gone. That they were going to West. Ive been away from Academy for almost two weeks, but Ill be there Thur. morn. I have to check this out. Also, today I made a business trip to Pace North Shore. I met up with a friend there, he gave a tour of the facility. He showed me the drivers trainroom, the garage area. I got to sit in and play around with Nova Classic #2397. They have one 35ft Nabi, #6670. Nova #2390 was sitting in the north driveway area. I saw about five Novas there. Orions, both 35 and 40ft., Nabi 40ft buses and El Dorkos. The Nabis in the new paint scheme, I found they have better drivers seating. In the 6600s, the problem with the drivers seat is that it dosent move up forward far enough, which is a problem for shorter people like myself. In the newer #6200 Nabis they go all the way up to the steering wheel. Bus drivers there have personal lockers for their belongings which I thought was cool. I met a couple of the drivers there, my friend introduced me to them. They were really nice to me. This garage really takes care of its drivers, I really enjoyed my visit there today. Incidentally, while waiting in the Pace office I spotted a six car train of 5000s on the Swift, one of the married pair sets had large CTA logs on the side of the carbody. It looked pretty cool.

[west towns]

it shows, North Shore does provide good customer service, the staff does seem to care

[Guest]

6634 is on the 606 right now.

Just got home from Academy, Nabi #6634 was in the yard this morning. Apparently, it came back tuesday.

The Pace/Academy bus fleet as of 2/24/10

Nabi 35ft.

#6632,6634,6635,6641,6642,6645,6646,6664,6681.

Nabi 40ft.

#6249,6250,6254.

Orion I

#2290,2293,2301,2372.

[PACE NORTHWEST]

This morning I drove Nabi #6632/6634 out to Inland Diesel in Carol Stream from there they will be assigned to Pace West Garage.

6632 is back at Academy. It's on the 606 right now.

[Railwaymodeler]

it shows, North Shore does provide good customer service, the staff does seem to care

Yeah, well a guy from North Shore management is here at North now. We need him too! Management seems a bit lacking up here...

[Guest]

6632 is back at Academy. It's on the 606 right now.

I saw that it was on the roster board the last day I worked.

[PACE NORTHWEST]

According to webwatch, bus 2666 is doing route 234 right now. Apparently, west division didn't need that bus anymore.

[PACE NORTHWEST]

And 2630 is doing a high school run on route 240.

[PACE NORTHWEST]

2635 on route 226. 2600 is back at the Fox Valley Garage.

[PACE NORTHWEST]

Assuming the two Orion's have been out of service for some time the only Orion's I haven't seen on West routes in the last three months are 6040, 6061 and 6069

I just checked webwatch and 6069 is on the 330.

[Busjack]

I just checked webwatch and 6069 is on the 330.

So I guess that the 2 pictured wrecks are 6040 and 6061.

[rotjohns]

2635 on route 226. 2600 is back at the Fox Valley Garage.

So West decided to trade El Dorados to NW for 35-foot Nabis from Academy. I agree it made more sense sending the Eldos to NW to run low budget routes. But we're still trying to figure out what buses are running 326, a former Academy route. I bet'cha any kind of money 2665 and 2666 were sent to NW specifically for that route. But we can't confirm because webwatch can't pull up 326 unless somebody physically sees them.

[Guest]

So West decided to trade El Dorados to NW for 35-foot Nabis from Academy. I agree it made more sense sending the Eldos to NW to run low budget routes. But we're still trying to figure out what buses are running 326, a former Academy route. I bet'cha any kind of money 2665 and 2666 were sent to NW specifically for that route. But we can't confirm because webwatch can't pull up 326 unless somebody physically sees them.

Lately from traveling around Harlem/Irving, all I have witnessed on the 326 up to now have been the Orion Is/NW.

[MetroShadow]

So West decided to trade El Dorados to NW for 35-foot Nabis from Academy. I agree it made more sense sending the Eldos to NW to run low budget routes. But we're still trying to figure out what buses are running 326, a former Academy route. I bet'cha any kind of money 2665 and 2666 were sent to NW specifically for that route. But we can't confirm because webwatch can't pull up 326 unless somebody physically sees them.

I've seen many a 6000 being used on 326 out of Rosemont

[rotjohns]

I've seen many a 6000 being used on 326 out of Rosemont

Then that route is busier than all of us were thinking.

[RJL6000]

So West decided to trade El Dorados to NW for 35-foot Nabis from Academy.

West does need those 35-foot NABIs even though they have the exact same number of seats (27) as the ElDorados primarily due to the fact that some of the West routes (including the 319, which has had lower ridership than many of the other West routes) enter the City of Chicago. And a little-known City of Chicago ordinance (which went into effect back when the CTA was formed in 1947) requires a public mass-transit bus to have a rear exit door in addition to the front door in order to be legally operated within the city limits. (When the ordinance went into effect, the CTA had many buses without rear exit doors as a result of the acquisitions of other bus companies in the years since the agency's formation; however, those buses were allowed to be operated until they could be replaced since the ordinance mainly applied and still applies to new bus purchases.) This meant that the 30-foot ElDorados, which have no rear exit doors, had to be reassigned elsewhere in Pace territory. It also explains why the CTA's 30-foot Optima Opuses have rear exit doors but seat only 23.

[Guest]

Then that route is busier than all of us were thinking.

The route is not busy at all. A couple trips in the morning picks up quite a few. But pretty much the buses are almost empty.

[rotjohns]

West does need those 35-foot NABIs even though they have the exact same number of seats (27) as the ElDorados primarily due to the fact that some of the West routes (including the 319, which has had lower ridership than many of the other West routes) enter the City of Chicago. And a little-known City of Chicago ordinance (which went into effect back when the CTA was formed in 1947) requires a public mass-transit bus to have a rear exit door in addition to the front door in order to be legally operated within the city limits. (When the ordinance went into effect, the CTA had many buses without rear exit doors as a result of the acquisitions of other bus companies in the years since the agency's formation; however, those buses were allowed to be operated until they could be replaced since the ordinance mainly applied and still applies to new bus purchases.) This meant that the 30-foot ElDorados, which have no rear exit doors, had to be reassigned elsewhere in Pace territory. It also explains why the CTA's 30-foot Optima Opuses have rear exit doors but seat only 23.

Now that's new to me. I figured that rear doors were important and thought that's why the Eldos were sent away, but didn't realize that was law to the city of Chicago. And considering other routes including 302, 309, 313, and 320 among others from West all go to the west side of Chicago, it makes sense. My only thing was 2665/2666 were almost always on the 319 every day (whichever bus was not running the now defunct 645) so I wonder why that was the case unless they their end point was before it got to the city. Now given the fact Academy only has 600, 606, and 616 at the moment, why would they need 35-foot Nabis? Everybody knows about the complaints about how heavy 606 was when they are on that route, especially during rush hour. And I'm sure the 600 is probably the same way. And I'm sure the 616 can easily be ran by Eldos. I can't see why Pace wouldn't just send the remaining 35 footers to West and swap them for 40-footers. Maybe take buses from 6241-6248 (1/2 of them are former Joliet buses).

[RJL6000]

Now that's new to me. I figured that rear doors were important and thought that's why the Eldos were sent away, but didn't realize that was law to the city of Chicago. And considering other routes including 302, 309, 313, and 320 among others from West all go to the west side of Chicago, it makes sense. My only thing was 2665/2666 were almost always on the 319 every day (whichever bus was not running the now defunct 645) so I wonder why that was the case unless they their end point was before it got to the city. Now given the fact Academy only has 600, 606, and 616 at the moment, why would they need 35-foot Nabis? Everybody knows about the complaints about how heavy 606 was when they are on that route, especially during rush hour. And I'm sure the 600 is probably the same way. And I'm sure the 616 can easily be ran by Eldos. I can't see why Pace wouldn't just send the remaining 35 footers to West and swap them for 40-footers. Maybe take buses from 6241-6248 (1/2 of them are former Joliet buses).

Sorry that I misinterpreted the City of Chicago ordinance. Pace West Division only traded Eldos for 35-footers in order to make things more "uniform" as far as rear exit door equipped buses are concerned. The ordinance actually applied to the CTA itself. This meant that the use of Pace buses with rear exit doors in the city is voluntary, but new CTA bus purchases are required to have those rear doors. Pace complied to the CTA practice only to minimize passenger complaints.

In addition, although both Northwest and North Shore have some Eldos, they seldom run them on routes which operate into the city.

[Busjack]

In addition, although both Northwest and North Shore have some Eldos, they seldom run them on routes which operate into the city.

Since the cutbacks, that is all that NS has run on 423, which goes into the city.

Also that supposedly had no effect when 2665 and 2666 ran on 319.

From a legal standpoint, since CTA is supposedly its own municipal corporation, it is hard to see how a city ordinance could affect them, except with regard to traffic regulations. Of course, the operative word has always been "supposedly."

[Busjack]

...Saw a burned out Nabi #2453....

pace2322 mentioned that, then withdrew his post, and disappeared. I wonder what happened to him.

[Guest]

Heres some fun pics taken friday while on a trip to Pace South. Orion #8906 was making rounds at the garage, an MCI arriving after the morning rush, Nabi #6184 making a pullout, couldnt get a pic of the burned out hulk of Nabi #2453. Inside I got a closeup of the MCIs and Novas in the shop. Heres a pic of Orion #2293, my bus!.

[rotjohns]

Heres some fun pics taken friday while on a trip to Pace South. Orion #8906 was making rounds at the garage, an MCI arriving after the morning rush, Nabi #6184 making a pullout, a burned out hulk of Nabi #2453, got a closeup of the MCIs and Novas in the shop and Orion #2293, my bus!.

So is 2293 on the verge of scrap after being from Academy? It's recent because of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid sign.

[Guest]

So is 2293 on the verge of scrap after being from Academy? It's recent because of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid sign.

Youre absolutely correct! It should be scrapped sometime in the near future. No doubt the bus is on its last legs but they still continue to run it. I was certain it was going to disappear after the Feb 7 service cuts.

But instead some Nabis were lost to West as well as Orion #2289.