OC Transpo/STO Fan

Here's another interesting photo (by Sylvia Buchholz) that I found: 9133 is seen parked while a driver leaves to go to a memorial service on April 18, 1999 that was held for Pierre LeBrun and four other employees who were unfortunately killed during the shooting two weeks prior. Note: This bus, coincidentally enough, was the first Orion V (and second bus overall iirc) repainted into the maple leaf livery in early 2000 after five others were rebuilt but repainted before the new livery took effect. @Loud-Invero, you were close! 9011 was also repainted in 2000 but the other D40s didn't get refurbed until 2002-early 2004ish. The 1991-1992 Orion Vs were the first to get refurbed in the new livery in 2000-2001.

1652 and 1674 moved back to Malvern, while 1534 is currently driving down Warden Ave. according to Transsee.

1200-1684 used an older revision of the PCS that was slightly more reliable. Starting with 1685 (and carrying over to the 1700s), they moved to a new PCS which was slightly less reliable. In addition, the major reason why they specifically chose to rebuild the 1200s instead (while they were still deciding to keep some NGs and retire the others) was because of the PCS reliability. They later did some 1500s too but those rebuilds are a bit more limited in terms of scope. None of the 1500s actually got a full rebuild. They merely had repaints, some body work, and a replaced engine on some (according to an old post on here from three years ago, albeit done before the actual refurbishment), but that was it (no new rear doors on any of them either). In addition to that, the 1200s that were rebuilt got new rear doors and modified heaters, as well as an entirely rebuilt powertrain (which explains the bumpers having fleet numbers that are not the same as the recipient body they're put in). I'm not sure what else was done with the 1200s or the 1500s. It's not specifically the rebuilds that made the earlier ones more reliable, but due to the PCS revision on the 1700s instead. I thought the Novas were supposed to replace the S50 OGs?

1128 is still at Malvern, but 1633 moved back to Mount Dennis.

It's been scrapped according to someone's post on Instagram. Here is a photo by user transit.enthusiast:

I believe 8222 was first. According to someone on Twitter, (https://mobile.twitter.com/oc_transpo/status/669894701986807808?lang=en), @JCL rode 8222 in 1998 (the CPTDB wiki also says it was acquired in 1998 and then rebuilt shortly afterwards, looked at the Trainweb website and they also say 1998). As far as I know, the first Orion VI didn't come until spring 1999 or so. I wonder if this means the Maple Leaf livery was actually introduced in 1998 instead of 1999 like I previously thought.

Found this photo on Facebook of 9253 at St. Laurent garage in April 1999 (photographer unknown, came from Bruce Deachman's "20 years later: OC Transpo shooting spree" Ottawa Sun article)

The S50 VIIs aren't a really good example to use as they were retired prematurely due to emissions concerns. They would have lasted a few more years otherwise. The ISL OG VIIs are only 13-14 years old right now, so I think they still have some life left in them. Historically, buses with major issues (eg. CNG VIs, D40-87s, D40-90s, CNG 1990 Vs, etc) were the only ones that were retired prematurely (14-15 years old), due to structural issues and in the case of the VIs, difficulty with converting them to diesel. The 7900s/8000s don't have any real issues so I can see them going until 2023 or so.

6401 is done, saw it on somebody's Instagram post

True... I forgot about that revised model. The first run PS3s are hard to come by in perfectly working condition. I actually found mine in a Value Village for $10 and it was working perfectly. The Wii, regardless of model (except for the Wii mini), is extremely easy to hack with homebrew. Fun fact: Wiis without GameCube ports actually DO have the hardware inside them to play GameCube games (the motherboard was literally unchanged, Nintendo even left solder pads on for the ports haha) but Nintendo simply cheaped out by changing the disc drive and removing the ports. The software to play GameCube games and delete/copy/transfer memory card saves was even left in but it's unaccessible.

I had another console enter my collection! This one is a limited edition blue Wii (it's really hard to find here in Canada, it's slightly more common in the US, Europe, and Australia). I really like the colour, but it's a shame that Nintendo took out the GameCube ports and compatibility on the blue Wiis, as well as the revised black and white ones. Oh well, I have another Wii I could use so not a big deal.

And here's another difference these have: Six seats in the priority seating area that are identical to those on the Novas (no longer the Anerican Seating Vision model). I wonder if these come with no padding on the other seats as well...

I believe all the existing 8100s already have that, not sure about the 8000s.

Interesting. If some fishbowls were rebuilt in the very late 1990's and got white bottoms, then how come some of them later got the maple leaf livery? If I recall correctly, 8114, 8118, and 8239 briefly had white bottoms before getting repainted in the leaf livery sometime in the early 2000s.

Some interesting bugs I found: When logged out, I noticed that the National Capital Region section has disappeared (tried refreshing and opening a new tab). However, when I log back in, it shows up fine. I was using that section earlier today while logged out and it was working fine. Speaking of logging in, I noticed that I couldn't log in with either the red or blue themes. I have to go into the Chameleon theme and log in fron there. This is a very minor bug, but I also noticed that all the sections just randomly had the word "New" next to them and they were bolded as if I hadn't read them.

Here's some interesting photos I found on Jan Boic's Flickr page! The photos of 9238 and 9144 were taken on September 2, 2005. The photo of 7711 was taken on Feburary 3, 2005, while the photo of 9863 was taken the day before. 9238 is shown retired and partially stripped. It may have been the first 1992 V retired. Can anyone identify this area? Not sure of where 9863 is. 9144 is shown retired and partially stripped. 9134, 9137, and 9138 were also retired at this point. 7711 may have been one of the last few silverside fishbowls to see service in 2005. I don't know if this bus ever got a full rebuild at some point.

Also looks like they replaced the original fleet numbers below the destination sign with numbers in the new Frutiger font.

I just found out that a new friend I have been speaking to on another forum for a few weeks online is unfortunately likely no longer with us. She made a post saying that she wanted to let her friends and family know that she did not want help or support and that she was seriously considering suicide. I spoke to one of my other online friends who knew her online (she had been unresponsive which was very unlike her) and she said that she tried to contact our friend after seeing the message that our friend posted about her thinking of suicide but our friend kept stonewalling her and dodging her questions although she did start opening up at some point in our conversation. I really thought we were going to talk her out of suicide but it sadly didn't work. Despite us both trying last night to make her feel better by telling her that we would always be available for her to talk any time and offering to help with whatever she was going through, she sadly was intent on suicide. The last known message she sent was at 10:30 last night and in that message, she said something about sneaking out of her house (where her boyfriend also lives) last night and "going somewhere". She also apparently "timed everything out". She hasn't responded to our messages since. I hope she's still alive... ?

5077 is wrapped for IHSA.ca (orange wrap)

1204 also has the 'Hybrid Electric" wording as well.

I noticed that on the wiki, 8161-8179 has been listed as having ISL9 engines in them. I thought they had L9s in them since they are 2020 models? I also find it interesting that 8144-8160 have EPA 2013 ISL9 engines despite being 2017 models and 2017 being the year that the L9 replaced the ISL9.

My chemistry teacher told me that I'm the first (and likely only) person in the history of his teaching career who he has taught not twice, not three times, but four times. He says that getting him five times is basically impossible so it doesn't look like anyone will beat my record any time soon. I previously had him for grade 9 academic science (my very first semester in high school), grade 11 university chemistry (two semesters ago), grade 12 university biology (last semester), and now grade 12 university chemistry (this semester). This is also the third semester in a row I've had him and they were all also coincidentally second period except for grade 9 (I recall having him last period). He has taught grade 9 academic science, grade 10 applied science, grade 11 university chemistry, grade 11 university biology, and the grade 12 university versions of chemistry and biology as far as I know, so I've had him for almost every possible class that he teaches except for grade 11 bio and grade 10 applied (obviously). My teacher often gets repeat students (mostly twice) but almost never three or four times according to him. All of the other people in my small chemistry class have only had him for grade 9 so I have much more experience with him than everyone else. I didn't think it was actually possible to have a teacher four times because it's so unheard of and because most teachers at my school only teach two or three different classes at most afaik and never deviate from them. I know of a handful of people who've had a teacher three times (including me with this same teacher at one point) but damn. For all I know, I could actually be the first person in the history of my school to have ever had a teacher four times.

I notice that they've gone back to the older fleet number font that they used on the 8000s as well. It also appears that they're using it on all sides of the buses instead of only front or only side. Minor detail, but interesting nonetheless. They only put one rear fleet number this time instead of two. One observation I had was that 8101-8160 have inconsistent fonts for fleet numbers, using both the font for the 8000s but also the new font as well in some places. 8101-8111 in particular only use the new font for the large fleet number at the rear if I recall correctly. I think the new livery definitely gives these buses a much-needed refresh but I'm still used to the older livery. The back though, I'm not too impressed with. Edit: I also don't see any cameras on the rear this time.

6402 is back in service, saw it this morning.

It's really rare when it occurs for me. This may have been just a random one time thing. However, I think I know the cause of the two previous events (they both occurred in 2017 fairly close to each other). At the time, I was taking some medication for a few months that made it difficult for my kidneys to get rid of all the protein that accumulated. To compensate for this, I had to drink almost 4 litres of water (along with some soda, juice, or milk) every day (doctor's orders). Because I found it difficult to drink in the morning because I was nauseated, I would often have to drink most of my water during the evening/night hours. I often stayed up until 2AM to get my required intake in. The two bedwetting incidents were most likely caused by me drinking way too much during nighttime. As for this most recent incident, I have no idea. I don't recall drinking a lot before I went to bed that night. After doing some research, I found that it's a somewhat common phenomenon (called "false awakening") to have your mind somehow incorporate the signal that you need to go into your dream, causing your bladder to sometimes actually release urine in real life when you dream that you're in the washroom for example. It's most common among bedwetters from what I've read but it's not unusual to have it happen once or twice.