captaintrolley

I think there's something up with that location, why is it 'snagging' buses lately ? Also the switch outside the Shaw Conference Center was giving grief today. Mark noticed it yesterday (it has been acting up lately). Of course Control gave Mark the 'Dennis Treatment'...."First we've heard of it...you're the only one so far...". Lance got kicked off, and he watched the Route 120 behind him 'split' his poles there. So yeah, something's not quite right there. I also saw a line truck coming out of 108 Street SB to turn East onto Jasper Avenue. All trolleys on the Route 5 that I could tell. Mostly diesel on the Route 135, a trolley or two but that's about it. About half and half on the Route 3. Ken and Pally both had D40LF's Nick said he's gonna sign out of Ellerslie Garage when they build that, as it will be close to home for him. So he's gonna enjoy the trolleys up till then.

No worries

Train # 4, Church NB at 1510 T/F off, excellent.....you can come to an ETC meeting

My source just returned and said that the 'break' was WB at 147 Street and Stony Plain Road (by the short turn loop). The power was out along 102 Avenue / Stony Plain Road from just west of 124 Street to 156 Street and North on 156 Street to 107 Avenue. The trolleys weren't really dead, they were probably Route 120's that had gotten changed over because of the wire break at 147 Street and Stony Plain Road. It is always unfortunate when this happens. It makes the innocent trolley look very unattractive to the public. 2008 is approaching and these incidents are probably going to escalate. Somebody went too fast at the above location, dewired, and didn't stop soon enough (or else deliberately didn't stop right away ~ I hope that's not the case). There has been an increase in these 'incidents' lately. I truly hope that they are not intentional, but there are evil forces at work against the trolleys and the trolley system. The trolley is a noble beast that keeps it's pride in the face of adversity.

That was Gord's # 135. He had a trainee with him too. John had Unit # 128 this morning. Mark had Unit # 183. The switch by the Shaw Conference Center kicked Mark off once and split his poles once. He called it in but the controller was convinced that it was his shoes. Mark said it wasn't his shoes, the WW van came out and gave his shoes a clean bill of health. A wire break near WW this morning (non-revenue /garagebound wire) resulted in a fair number of Route 5's being diesel. Runs 506 (Mike) and 508 (Lance) were trolleys. Lance had Unit # 121 and I believe Mike had Unit # 193. There was also a wire break in the West End. I think it may have been at 156 Street and Stony Plain Road Southbound. This occurred sometime on or after 1630 (guess who was at the pool ) I am just waiting to get confirmation on this. Anyhow, the Route 3's and Route 120's ended up getting dieselised.

Ah yes, the 'lazy 3' is being even more lazy

This isn't really a 'spotting' but if anyone is up early (on Thursday March 15th) and wants to join me, I plan to catch Geoff on the Route 7 WB on 107 Avenue and 124 Street at 0647.

Run 302 started off with Unit # 146. He dewired at 97 Street and 102 Avenue. Says the curve runner was 'twisted' causing his dewirement. At first he thought his rope broke, but the rope was intact, the eyelet at the end of his pole broke off. Run 318 also had a D40LF.

That damaged curve segment either caused Unit # 146 to dewire at 0542 this morning, or # 146's dewirement caused damage to the curve segment

And some red & cream ones

Unit # 172 ended up getting a D40LF C/O today. Not sure what for. Kelly had a trolley, and so did Run 503, but Janice swapped places with Ken on the golf course. Unit # 124 was on Run 504. Nick (on Run 504) said he DID keep his trolley on Saturday (I figured he would) Here's his take on Saturday's incident. [Trolleys were bunched up North and South bound on 95 Street either side of the blazing house effectively paralyzing service. I saw the bus ahead of me (south of 111 Avenue at 95 Street) with it's hazards on, so I had time to move my poles over to the Route 3 wire. Everything was all cleared up when I came back. Service could easily have been maintained using 97 Street for a portion of the route. ] I asked him why more drivers didn't do that (I'm surprised Glen and Mitch didn't). He replied "Not everyone is a Trolley Trooper "

That is SO cool. Thanks for sharing.

Ken is back from his golf tournament with Geoff. Ken has a trolley today Pally should be driving Mike's Route 5 (run 506 ~formerly Granger's run) on Friday (March 16). So he'll have Janice in front of him and Don behind him. What a Super Friday Night on the Nickel that is going to be

Same here. I accidently threw out a cup at the esthetician's without checking the rim It probably had the grand prize under the rim

Here's a pic that I took of Unit # 100 at Southgate TC on it's first day of revenue service. The pic is currently hosted on barp.ca That's the first thing I said when I heard the news. And when I told Don on Sunday...that's the first thing he said too ! (Great minds think alike).

My neighbor has it.

It is indeed sad to see Southgate sans wires. My son's dad drove the Route 9 trolley for years (until it died and became a diesel route). That was sad enough, but yeah, a few tearz in my beerz tonight as I looked at those pics too

There could easily have been some future politicians at the Community Conference

Dennis began with Unit # 128 this morning but the r/h signal gave up and he wound up with a D40LF. He actually wanted a trolley today so he could experiment with the switch at 95 Street and 111 Avenue (Sundays are quieter). He has a couple of things he wants to try with it. Oh well, that means Pally will get a D40LF today , what else is new ? Mitch on run 502 has a D40LF also. Run 501 has a trolley, Unit # 121 (I think). Wire work at Southgate TC didn't happen yesterday, it's going on right now at this very moment.

Like they washed # 113, # 102, and # 155. Oh wait, they only wash trolleys that are earmarked for charters. That would have been fun !

Pally would have had Unit # 180, but he had a function to go to and sold it to Mike (who normally does a night run on run 506 with S/S off). Pally wouldn't trust his work to just anyone. Mike is very pro trolley too, and likes to put trolleys in a good light at every opportunity. We had a great discussion. I also revealed the trick to working the switch at 95 Street and 111 Avenue for which he was grateful because it didn't work for him on his first trip. He did some pondering about the river last week and said it is not only a clear division of the city physically, but also trolley wise. Except for one (past tense) tripper from Southgate and a handful of Route 133's, no one on the South Side has any inkling about trolleys. All they know is a bus that travels slow on both the bridges and slow across 83 Avenue, 76 Avenue and 65 Avenue. So most of them don't know much about trolleys or what the fuss is all about. A handful of Bel-Macs are fond of the trolley's quiet unobtrusive nature. But that's about it. Very few remember the days of pre-horizon 2000, and if they did, they know that's all over with. I've never thought of it in those terms before. So yeah, interesting conversation and an interesting slant on the trolley issue. I saw Unit # 121 on the Route 5 and Unit # 124 being driven by a service person (our one and only Super EVM).

It doesn't have the pretty wrap job A real world experience for those in the Communtiy Conference that aren't regular bus riders

Dennis had Unit # 183 today. Afternoon guy on Unit # 183 just 'ran out of wire' on 97 Street and 111 Avenue. Just waiting for Pally now....... .......I hope he's got a 'bunny bus' (Lance's 5 year old calls them that).

Yup. I (and others from our office) signed the petition(s) that they had.

Like the LRT