Busjack Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 I remember Colonial was not too cooperative in the beginning when I applied there but they eventually called me back after I resigned because of one person there who had just passed recently, Bob Thomas, god rest his soul! He was a retired CTA operator who understood my situation, he saw that I still had interest in the job and he managed to work out a schedule for me. ... I was kind of hoping for the same at Pace NS, but unfortunately it wasant to be. ... I suppose that another difference is that Colonial is a private business that has drivers on call for their various types of work (coach, sightseeing, corporate shuttles, and formerly transit), while Pace is stuck with union rules governing picks, plus whether they have a schedule block policy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 This morning coming home from the firehouse, I was driving up Harlem ave, I saw #6612 on the 318, It was weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotjohns Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 This morning coming home from the firehouse, I was driving up Harlem ave, I saw #6612 on the 318, It was weird. Not weird, it just means that the Academy buses are making their way west. Maybe it seemed weird to you because you've known and driven that and other buses out of Academy for so long and it takes getting used to. What may be weird though is that a 35-footer is running on the 318. That's a route that tends to have overcrowding problems with it's 40-footers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 Not weird, it just means that the Academy buses are making their way west. Maybe it seemed weird to you because you've known and driven that and other buses out of Academy for so long and it takes getting used to. What may be weird though is that a 35-footer is running on the 318. That's a route that tends to have overcrowding problems with it's 40-footers. It does for me because youre right, these are buses I spent a lot of time driving and to see them operating on other parts of the Pace system, for me just dosent seem real. I did take part in transferring a few of the buses from Academy to West after the feb 7 cuts. Ill say this, Pace West did a fine job cleaning and polishing those buses up and make them look new again. When I saw #6612 that day, I was amazed by its cleanliness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 UPDATE! Some good news, It looks as though we may not be losing the #606 for the time being. I read a memo at Academy this morning that the #606 will not be taken over by Pace NW but that they may be only taking over the weekend service only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 ... I read a memo at Academy this morning that the #606 will not be taken over by Pace NW but that they may be only taking over the weekend service only. That would seem similar to when NW ran 696 Saturday only. I don't see the point to that, unless NW doesn't have the staff to take over 600, 606, and 616 completely, or Academy made some sort of contract concession, but stranger things have happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwantae Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 UPDATE! Some good news, It looks as though we may not be losing the #606 for the time being. I read a memo at Academy this morning that the #606 will not be taken over by Pace NW but that they may be only taking over the weekend service only. It means that on weekends that 606 would maybe running with 6000s Orion VIs and a one or two 1993 Orions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotjohns Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 It means that on weekends that 606 would maybe running with 6000s Orion VIs and a one or two 1993 Orions. Don't look for the 93 Orions to run that route at all. None of them run the weekends now and NW has plenty of Orion VIs to take care of that. Probably will only see about 4 buses on Sat and maybe 2 on Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 10, 2010 Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 Don't look for the 93 Orions to run that route at all. None of them run the weekends now and NW has plenty of Orion VIs to take care of that. Probably will only see about 4 buses on Sat and maybe 2 on Sunday. Pace assigns five drivers as well as buses to cover the route on sat. and I believe four for sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 Looks like the Orion VI's at NW are really starting to look beat up. Seen about 3 or 4 of them with suspension problems. I wonder if they'll live on at NW in June. They almost look as if there on there last days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotjohns Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 Looks like the Orion VI's at NW are really starting to look beat up. Seen about 3 or 4 of them with suspension problems. I wonder if they'll live on at NW in June. They almost look as if there on there last days. I'll bet the 1993 Orions (I assume that's what you meant, you put in Orion VIs meaning the 2000 ones) be at or near dead. They'll be a handful of them left, but most of them will be at Evanston or Waukegan. Once Academy dumps theirs and send their Nabis to West (as we assume they will), West will most likely send whatever Orion VIs they have left to either Bridgeview or NW. And there's also a chance the 3 40 foot Nabis Academy has could also head to Evanston to take out some more Orions there. In any event, probably better get your rides in on the Nova Classics and 93 Orions NOW, I don't see them lasting once the weather really gets warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwantae Posted May 17, 2010 Report Share Posted May 17, 2010 Looks like the Orion VI's at NW are really starting to look beat up. Seen about 3 or 4 of them with suspension problems. I wonder if they'll live on at NW in June. They almost look as if there on there last days. Looks like SW Garage doesn't take much care of their Destination Signs on most of their Orion VIs along with their Nova's as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwantae Posted May 17, 2010 Report Share Posted May 17, 2010 I'll bet the 1993 Orions (I assume that's what you meant, you put in Orion VIs meaning the 2000 ones) be at or near dead. They'll be a handful of them left, but most of them will be at Evanston or Waukegan. Once Academy dumps theirs and send their Nabis to West (as we assume they will), West will most likely send whatever Orion VIs they have left to either Bridgeview or NW. And there's also a chance the 3 40 foot Nabis Academy has could also head to Evanston to take out some more Orions there. In any event, probably better get your rides in on the Nova Classics and 93 Orions NOW, I don't see them lasting once the weather really gets warm. SW Garage, especially Midway Station is definetly the best to catch the Nova Classics there plus sometimes one or two on 381. Even though I miss 2398-2400 at West (like on 747), at least they're still active at SW, I do be seeing them most than other Classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted May 17, 2010 Report Share Posted May 17, 2010 2393 was sitting behind the North Shore garage on sunday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotjohns Posted May 17, 2010 Report Share Posted May 17, 2010 SW Garage, especially Midway Station is definetly the best to catch the Nova Classics there plus sometimes one or two on 381. Even though I miss 2398-2400 at West (like on 747), at least they're still active at SW, I do be seeing them most than other Classics. I went by SW garage for the 1st time Friday and saw 3 Novas in their lot and this was during the p.m. rush hour. I didn't see the numbers, but all of them were inside so I would assume they are still good. They could have ran the UPS routes earlier as that's where you'd normally see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotjohns Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 I found out today@South Holland that 2301(among other Orions) is on the scrap line and won't be returning to service. I saw 2301 at South Holland yesterday. If good looks could kill, it need not to worry Speaking of which, I've noticed on Webwatch that now none of the Orions are even showing up on the Academy routes and it's not June 1st yet. Have all of the Orions been sent to South Holland because I saw at least 15 of them there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 I saw 2301 at South Holland yesterday. If good looks could kill, it need not to worry Speaking of which, I've noticed on Webwatch that now none of the Orions are even showing up on the Academy routes and it's not June 1st yet. Have all of the Orions been sent to South Holland because I saw at least 15 of them there? We still have Orions #2290, 2293. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 Well I just got back from Academy. I drove Orion #2372 to South Holland, Retired! On the way back we stopped at West and brought #6606 back home. Our last two Orions #2290 and #2293 may be gone very soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 I guess one personal (which you don't have to answer) and one not. Are you getting regular enough work from Academy? On picking up 6606, does it look like 6605 and 6607-6611 are still sitting in the West yard, as implied by their not showing up on WebWatch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2010 Report Share Posted May 28, 2010 I guess one personal (which you don't have to answer) and one not. Are you getting regular enough work from Academy? On picking up 6606, does it look like 6605 and 6607-6611 are still sitting in the West yard, as implied by their not showing up on WebWatch? Not to worry! It looks like the Orions are gone from Academy, only two left! The work is still very slow but Im hanging in there. Its possible we may be picking up some buses again. Heres the scoop! This morning I was told by my supervisor that we may be getting 28 more buses in August! On top of the 15 we already have. Something will happen in August that may or may not help us at Academy. Im keeping my fingers crossed but thats what I was passed down this morning, "We may be getting 28 more buses!" From where, still uncertain right now. We have a run pick going on right now, it will be effective until August. We did lose weekend #606 runs during this pick, but no layoffs are planned or shortage of manpower. In my opinion I believe we will get some of our Nabis back from West plus a few 40 footers. More to come..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Today route #696 is being ran out of NW, it's all #6000's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PACE NORTHWEST Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Today route #696 is being ran out of NW, it's all #6000's. NW has had 696 since February. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Today route #696 is being ran out of NW, it's all #6000's. The #696 route was revamped, a small portion now covers the old #699 route along Roselle Rd. to Harper College. Hopefully we will get it back if the changes take place in August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 The #696 route was revamped, a small portion now covers the old #699 route along Roselle Rd. to Harper College. Hopefully we will get it back if the changes take place in August. I suppose you'll have to get more inside poop to know what was indicated for August. The only thing that is a contractor job that needs that many buses is Naperville. With regard to NW contracting out any work, union contracts usually prohibit that. I see that the Lisle contract is still in play, so maybe Academy put in a bid on that, but that's 15 buses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2010 Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 I suppose you'll have to get more inside poop to know what was indicated for August. The only thing that is a contractor job that needs that many buses is Naperville. With regard to NW contracting out any work, union contracts usually prohibit that. I see that the Lisle contract is still in play, so maybe Academy put in a bid on that, but that's 15 buses. The Lisle service, was my first thought too but I dont know if that will be it. It doesnt make sense to run buses from our terminal in Mt. Prospect to serve Lisle. Too much fuel would be burned up, too much wear and tear on the buses. But we'll just have to wait and see, were down but not out! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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