Daytonbuses

To celebrate Dayton RTA's 50th anniversary they wrapped Kiepe 1968 with photos of the different trolleybuses the RTA has operated. They did the same with Gillig 1719 but with different diesels. I'll have to get a better photo of the diesel version. Later this month there is going to be a public event for the 50th anniversary celebration, so more photos to come.

It seems like I update things in November. Anyways, cw.daytontrolleys.net is updated with photos from this years Hoosier Traction Meet in August and two new photos celebrating Dayton RTA's 50th anniversary, which is tomorrow. Dayton RTA is planning on having a public celebration later this month, so more photos to come. I also have some YouTube videos going up. Enjoy!

The Hoosier Traction Meet is coming back to Dayton, OH this year on August 19th-20th and on August 21st there will be a fan trip. Attached is the prospectus. You must attend Friday or Saturday or both to be able to attend the fan trip on Sunday. The session line up is a good one this year which includes a 50th anniversary of the Greater Dayton RTA. More information on The Hoosier Traction Meet and The North American Transit Historical Society can be found here - https://www.hoosiertractionmeet.com/ The Greater Dayton RTA pulled out all the stops last year by bringing out the historical fleet (Flyer 937, BBC 110, and ETI/Skoda 9835) plus two NexGens. Pics of that fan trip can be found here - http://cw.daytontrolleys.net/ and http://www.daytontrolleys.net/pictures/fantrip_202108-htm.htm

Hello all, I've updated cw.daytontrolleys.net with photos from the most recent fan trip from August, the Hoosier Traction Meet. I've also sorted more recent photos of the new fleet on their respective pages, so be sure to check them out. Lastly, I've uploaded two new videos recently to YouTube of the fan trips this year. Enjoy!

That's good to hear that 31 Kiepe trolleybuses are on property! Thanks for keeping us up to date on what Skodas are left. I heard 9845 is in the building across the street. If I have this down correctly 9813, 9814, 9839, & 9844 should still be around. Unless they were sent off.

Thanks for the update. I've seen 1964 in revenue service. What are the fleet numbers of the Skodas still left in the barn? What happened to the others?

Yes, actually all 12 remaining ETI-Skodas are officially retired. I was there to hear the news and I have a list of all the remaining ETIs. ETI-Skoda 9835 will be the only one kept and added to the historical fleet. The bad Fall construction schedule in downtown and the recent revenue service of the new Kiepe trolleybuses have finally parked the ETIs for good. GDRTA is planning an event in the Spring for a last ride on ETI-Skoda 9835. I leave you all tonight with my last video of the ETI-Skodas and the very last known video of the ETI-Skoda trolleybuses in revenue service. Date taken October 4th, 2019 - Dayton RTA ETI-Skodas 9803, 9809 & 9835 Eastown Hub 10-4-19

Today history was made. Kiepe 1951-56 saw revenue service at some point in the day. I got video of 1952 operating off wire to get around lane closures on Third St. Stay tuned for photos on my site. Video here - Dayton RTA Kiepe Trolleybus 1952 on Third St. November 25th, 2019

Today marks a milestone, Kiepe 1954 entered revenue service today on Rt. 4 - Dayton RTA Kiepe Trolleybus 1954 - First Day in Revenue Service Next week we should see more running on Rt. 4. Stay tuned for more photos and video.

One of the ETI-Skodas has been donated to a group in the Czech Republic. They have the trolleybus but need funds to transport it back home. Here is the story with a video - LET'S GET BACK THE CZECH TROLLEYBUS FROM THE USA! This also includes a link to their crowdfunding site in the article.

I misreported the above new paint scheme was going back to the drawing board because I heard reports that board members didn't like the paint scheme. I was originally under the impression that the whole board didn't like it. I was wrong. With that said here is an article from Dayton Business Journal - https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2018/04/24/greater-dayton-rta-unveils-design-for-electric.html

Dayton RTA revealed a new paint scheme for the new NexGen dual-mode battery electric trolleybuses today. This scheme will be used on the production units that we should start seeing next year. Attached is a photo of Vossloh-Keipe 1404 in the new scheme. More photos from today at cw.daytontrolleys.net

For those following what's going on in Dayton. Here are a few updates from etbetb's website: http://www.daytontrolleys.net/pictures/dtnet_sub_misc_trolleystatus.htm & here are some pictures and information from my portion of the site: http://cw.daytontrolleys.net/ Lots of good news coming from Dayton! I think we need another "tour of trolley operations", since most of the wire is live! (except Rt. 2 westbound) Enjoy!

No problem. I'm just glad that things are getting done around here. I've also just got a report that RTA had worked all morning to hang wire at Woodman and Patterson for Rt. 7. They still need to finish the turning brackets for the wire, but progress was made today. I'm not sure if when this is all complete if they'll run trolleys out there or if they will wait until the next driver pick three months from today. I do expect a test run once finished. More updates and pictures will be posted on etbetb's website and mine too.

Just wanted to give a brief update on things. Starting tomorrow Rt. 8 will be back as a trolley. It will be using the new one mile of wire that was installed as seen in etbetb's post on his page. The only catch that we've heard is that they only plan to run trolleys on 8 for an hour. They just don't have enough drivers trained yet to run the full day. I plan to be out and about tomorrow afternoon/early evening to see what I can spot. As for other operations 1/2 franchise run is back to diesel due to bridge construction on Rt. 2. To my knowledge 3 is still ran as a trolley during it's three runs and 4 has been off and on depending on which driver is running the route. As of recent Rt 5 has returned as trolley since Brown St. construction is completed. So the next trolley to come back is 7 but we've haven't heard much on that story. RTA still needs to install wire around Woodman and Patterson turn around. You'll find more updates and pictures here: http://daytontrolleys.net/pictures/dtnet_sub_misc_trolleystatus.htm http://cw.daytontrolleys.net/

Sign-in sheet can be found here: http://proc.greaterdaytonrta.org/

Article from the local newspaper about new dual-mode trolleys: http://www.daytondai...al-funds/nP2Yw/

That's correct. This is the second round for the proposal, however, some specs have changed: 4 Dual-Mode ETBs (2 battery, 2 diesel), 39,100 GVWR max., 40' coach, seating capacity 40, and 60mph off wire down to 55 mph for express service.

Lot of news from Dayton since the post. Luckily etbetb has been keeping a current blog selection on his Dayton site: http://daytontrolleys.net/pictures/dtnet_sub_misc_trolleystatus.htm Also I've been keeping a good count of what ETIs we've seen on the road. Thanks to the local group for spotting a few: http://cw.daytontrolleys.net/ Of course out of all the good news there is bad. Route 5 will be put back as a diesel due to more construction projects on Brown St. Statement can be seen here: http://www.i-riderta.org/service_advisory_brown_street_.aspx

None that I know of. The only buses that I know that were sold to other systems are the six 40" New Flyers and a hand full of 97 NovaBus RTSs went to Nigeria.

Noticed the last two 30-foot New Flyers are out in the retired coach yard the other day. Got some pictures of them: Just like the Novas and other 30-footers I'm sure we'll see them show up on govdeals.com

A. Wong - You're correct about what you heard on the Yahoo! Group. I was actually gonna post similar to what you heard. I got the same information you got; Dayton and Seattle will be looking for a vendor this year for trolleys. So we'll see where this goes in the coming months. Hopefully a demo is produced. Cimon8000 - 9602 was in the process of being fixed up when all the trolleys were down last year, but no new information has surfaced to whether it is going to be fixed or not. Also some other news to report, 4 30-foot Gillig Hybrids 1201-1204 have arrived and should be in service soon. (picture credit to JH)

Roy, The following trolleys have been spotted last week: (I'm pulling this information from etbetb's website and from the ones I saw and photographed) 9802 9806 9811 9814 9816 9821 9822 9824 9831 9832 9835 9837 9839 9842 9845 9847 9853 As for the 30-foot New Flyers you're correct 2120 and 2122 are they only two left. They will soon be replaced by 3 or 4 30-foot Gillig Hybrids, which should be arriving soon. Not a problem Roy, I enjoy keeping everyone in the loop of things here in Dayton. Did anyone notice the operations on Saturday or Sunday? Was Route 4 a diesel or trolley? Also do they run the 4 trolley on the night runs during the week?

I would say the best time for everyone to make a trip here would be in the Spring. By that time 7 & 8 should be back as trolleys. Who knows if we get enough people together maybe we can have another fan trip? This time you'll get to see the whole network. I have pictures up on the website of 3 & 4 from yesterday. Some didn't come out too good but they're there. Enjoy!

Thanks for the information Roy. I was going to give an update myself. Both Route 3 and 4 are back as trolleys effective 1/23 I plan on getting some pictures tomorrow. During the day we have Route 1/2 franchise run, Route 5 AM/PM run, now Route 3 AM/Noon/PM run and Route 4. It's not going to be hard to spot a trolley in Dayton anymore. As for the last two trolley routes 7 & 8 I've been informed by another local that pole planting is in the works for 7 and construction on the westside for 8 is almost complete.