Michael Marriott Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 4243 has it as well. That bus with the nearly-all-white Telus wrap is 4245, saw it on the route 10 today. I have to say that it doesn't make much sense to open up Cromdale as an operating diesel division, especially since everything but storage would be done at Westwood, and the cost of installing the needed ventalation. In addition, with the new SW garage fast tracked, I doubt ETS would go to the trouble of fitting Cromdale up for active service just to decommision it in a couple years. It has come to my attention that ETS is planning on bringing Cromdale back to operations. The idea at the moment is all the old trolleys waiting for scrapping will be parked in the yard and right now theres plans to park the historics out there to rot if room need be. i asked if they would use that as a trolley garage only then and that way they would a) free up room and keep trolleys off to one shop but that wont happen because it would cost over 2 million to run new lines in there. only problem is if they use cromdale with diesel buses, they will only be able to rev them up to 60pounds of air to get the brakes to release and finish building up pressure outside the garage. All buses would still go to Westwood for Fueling, Bathing, Financial Emptying and Maintenance then return to cromdale. While i am all for bringing cromdale back to life, and understand that it isn't a big deal that the trolleys to be parted will be sitting outside, I am very upset that they would put the historic collection to such terror. So here is my suggestion to local fans. Start contacting councillors and people you know and tell them how important they are to be a part of our history and how they should be cared for. let them know that ETS and other City staff are being denied the permission to take care of these and fix them up. Let them know that these members are even offering to do this on there own personal time. We can't let this collection get just parked outside or even scrapped. the weather will just destroy these if the vandalism wont. The city just agreed to spend 15 million more on this new alberta museum. so why cant we get a working transit museum run by a group like most of us. I know im with the ERRS and would love to get the ETS Historical Society restarted. Unfortunatly ive tried this attempt three times already and it seems to be falling on deaf ears with ETS so i will be making some contacts to council myself too..... Sorry had to vent. this has been really bugging me all night about this collection. We have approximatly 17 vehicles in the collection and add 3 or 4 GMC's to it and hopefully a couple bbc's soon. Not a small collection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted February 15, 2007 Board Admin Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 Speaking of tow trucks, Westwood Tow Truck took 635 away from Clareview West this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T6H-5307N Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 To get there, follow the trolley lines east from the end of the Route 3 on 115 Ave. Turn north on 80 St and pass by an LRT substation (a square brick building), a trolley substation (that looks like a haunted house) until you see the big abandoned-looking red building. Ohhhhh...... That building was my recent guess on where Cromdale garage was. It certainly fits your description. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Parsons Posted February 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 It has come to my attention that ETS is planning on bringing Cromdale back to operations. The idea at the moment is all the old trolleys waiting for scrapping will be parked in the yard and right now theres plans to park the historics out there to rot if room need be. Doesn't make sense. The tents at Ferrier are at least kind of purpose built. I can't see that they're such a failure if they're still using them. They're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they should last as the temporary facility they're meant to be. Cromdale probably doesn't hold anymore buses than those tents do. Not to mention at least with the tents there are service people near by to deal with any issues. Presumably a service person or two would be stationed at Cromdale... taking away already seemingly thin staffing levels at all other ETS facilities. Anyways, I'm sure this will have to go through council as it will cost money... various studies may have to be undertaken... Community consulation I would hope. I wouldn't want a bus garage suddenly opening up next to me... As it will require a bit of money to refit the garage... tenders will have to be issued. What I'm getting at is this isn't going to happen overnight. The new garage might be open before Cromdale might be ready to go... and at least will cost a lot of money, not to mention decommissioning costs for the tents. Might as well keep the tents open until the new garage opens. So here is my suggestion to local fans. Start contacting councillors and people you know and tell them how important they are to be a part of our history and how they should be cared for. let them know that ETS and other City staff are being denied the permission to take care of these and fix them up. Let them know that these members are even offering to do this on there own personal time. I would need cold, hard facts to do this. Simply telling them a friend has sources spouting that Cromdale is being reopened, and god knows what's happening to the historic fleet, isn't going to cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 FYI This isn't just a friend telling me this info. This is originating from mouths of an ETS Official and backed up by others. 2nd of all. Um i don't know if anyone remembers recently but they were doing some reno work to the offices at cromdale. Makes sense to renovate to house a booker and probably a mechanic or too there. 3rd of all. You wouldnt have to do community consultation. This is still a bus garage. still owned and operated by ETS. Still zoned as a bus garage. 4th of all. wouldn't need council's permission to use a garage they already have designated for transit. and 5th of all. as mentioned. there is plans to just run the buses up to their moving air pressur then pull them out to finish building up air. The idea is to continue to run with current system still in there. There is a system installed just not being used. sorry thats enough typing for now lol. Listen guys. I don't make this stuff up. I would rather not use cromdale and keep it for historics. Last thing i want to see is stuff being put out. It seems that whenever i say something here, people think that this shit comes from my brain but it doesnt. So if people don't want to hear stuff thats on the flops.. ill just keep it to myself and when it happens and is too late, you will try to blame me for not saying anything. wont be my fault Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Parsons Posted February 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 3rd of all. You wouldnt have to do community consultation. This is still a bus garage. still owned and operated by ETS. Still zoned as a bus garage. Is it? I'm not sure. It was used as a recycling facility, and now storage. 4th of all. wouldn't need council's permission to use a garage they already have designated for transit. and 5th of all. as mentioned. there is plans to just run the buses up to their moving air pressur then pull them out to finish building up air. The idea is to continue to run with current system still in there. There is a system installed just not being used. Even if they just fire up the buses just long enough to get the air built up enough to move the bus, they will still need to install some sort of ventilation. Recently, they've been complaining about the air quality at regular garages which have ventilation systems. Cromdale was used first for streetcars, then trolleybuses and work on diesel buses, then LRT, then a recycling facility, now storage. I don't know if it ever had much of a ventilation system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevlo86 Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 James, no one here is accusing you of making things up. They are simply suggesting that the idea of Cromdale being opened back up is not feasible and pointing out the problems with such a plan. This is a discussion board, so if you post some news then there will bound to be discussion on it. We are discussing the idea of Cromdale being used as a diesel bus garage, not whether or not you are being honest or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captaintrolley Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 A trolley had a pole come out of it's socket today. That hasn't happened in a while. I didn't catch the Unit # (sorry, I am coming down with a cold and had an opportunity to sleep in ~ and invariably miss some of the action). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 had an opportunity to sleep in ). You Slept In?? WOWOWOWOW! lol we know that don't happen much lol.I was surprised the 3's are trolley today with the work on 101 and 104. it seems from a distance they are using up a big area of the road... Lot's of trolleys on the 5 again. at least there were when i came to work at 6am this morning.. ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 I kind of like the idea of James, I've looked thru all of my various sources and see nothing at all, so is this cromdale refurb an ETS/MES 'in-house" operation. If so, I have concerns about somebody being in way over their heads, as they could not even get the ferrier tents properly ventillated.Your information is usually pretty damn accurate, so the whole Cromdale renewal comes as a surprise to me. Yes this is an inhouse operation. Like i said they just did renovations there as most remember the big bin there and thats why i think this has been in the works for a bit and they were rebuilding offices.... even new windows by the first bay doors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T6H-5307N Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 I kind of like the idea of Cromdale returning to it's trolley coach routes. Remember, when we get new trolleys, they will have apu's and will not require garage overhead, much like the new Vancouver garage. When we get new trollies? I like that. It has a nice ring to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 When we get new trollies? I like that. It has a nice ring to it. Yes guys. no more of this IF crap. its WHEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Look Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 6006 was on driver training at 10:30 this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostrider Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 A trolley had a pole come out of it's socket today. That hasn't happened in a while. I didn't catch the Unit # (sorry, I am coming down with a cold and had an opportunity to sleep in ~ and invariably miss some of the action). It was a refurn on route 120 heading west off 82 St., just before Stadium station. Its 4-ways were on and the pole was laying on the sidewalk. No one was around, could have picked up it up as a souvenir but wouldn't fit in my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted February 16, 2007 Board Admin Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 When I passed by at about 7:20 this morning, lights were on (on the office side) of Cromdale. I don't think there is a garbage bin on the trackside though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 When I passed by at about 7:20 this morning, lights were on (on the office side) of Cromdale. I don't think there is a garbage bin on the trackside though. Garbage Bin was taken away a while ago after they finished there work. they were there for around 2 weeks.Lights are regularly on on the office side now... maybe fore security reasons. the 2 windows there are new or at least unboarded lol. maybe they will replace the windows in the bay doors lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted February 16, 2007 Board Admin Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Yeah I noticed the unboarded ones too. I thought maybe someone took one more off to have a look inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board Admin A. Wong Posted February 16, 2007 Board Admin Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Spotted captaintrolley on unit 128 working route 3 at 97 Street and 111 Avenue at about 9:05PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microbus Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 wherever it was mentioned before, the address of Cromdale is 11631-80 St Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modulator Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 I question the 2 million in overhead work though, seems inflated, but could they not bypass the overhead in the entire garage in place of a set of stub lines that end on the north and south ramps. The trolleys could then be pushed or pulled into the garage as required using a truck or tractor type unit (maybe a surplus expedition from tso could be located?). Remember, when we get new trolleys, they will have apu's and will not require garage overhead, much like the new Vancouver garage. It's actually lower than I would have expected, since it'll include (I would expect, anyway) running wire southbound on 80 St and new special work at 118 and 115 Ave. I'd agree with keeping the garage OH simple, but I think that the storage tracks should be wired and connected to the main line at 80 St. Makes it easier operationally--and probably wouldn't cost much more than putting a bunch of rewiring pans on 80 St. Only the maintenance shops at the new Vancouver garage are free of overhead. The storage tracks are fully wired and connected. This is of course all pie-in-the-sky, of course, so we'll see what ends up happening. But I too am starting to like the idea of running the trolley fleet out of Cromdale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captaintrolley Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Spotted captaintrolley on unit 128 working route 3 at 97 Street and 111 Avenue at about 9:05PM. Very good. I was doing a bit of a trip with Ken. 2016-2134. Just touching base. The switch at 95 Street and 111 Avenue worked 4 times for him today. Tuesday he had no luck with it. He likes # 128, says the heat is good, the steering is very good and it also goes VERY smooth and fast (like greased lightning :-) I also touched base with Bill on Unit # 166 this morning (I brought him a couple of 8 X 10 photos of his FTD poses). Then I caught Mark on Unit # 183. I coached Mark on the Dennis Switch Technique at 95 Street and 111 Avenue and the Ken Crossover Technique at 156 Street & Stony Plain Road. Mark mastered both of them. He was so pleased that he didn't dewire at 156 Street & Stony Plain Road because this gave him full layover to run to ESSO for a coffee. He said on Tuesday he spent his layovers repoling and didn't get to treat himself to anything. Mike had Unit # 126, Larry had Unit # 129, and I caught Karl somewhere in all that mess, but I can't remember what Unit he had. A truck hit a power pole on 149 Street and 116 Avenue. It knocked out the power to the pool (for the lights and filtration system, so the pool was closed for almost two hours before everything was functional again. Traffic lights in the area were out causing some chaos, but the trolley power was unaffected. I was surprised the 3's are trolley today with the work on 101 and 104. it seems from a distance they are using up a big area of the road... The buses still have ONE FULL LANE to themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captaintrolley Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 It was a refurb on route 120 heading west off 82 St., just before Stadium station. Its 4-ways were on and the pole was laying on the sidewalk. No one was around, could have picked up it up as a souvenir but wouldn't fit in my car. I once came across a pole by the 101 Street underpass, but had no way to bring it with me. Just a bit awkward. The switch at 82 Street and 111 Avenue was acting up, one guy reported it split his poles every trip. I went through there with Mark and he didn't have any problem. Sometimes when a bus (say a trolley training bus) goes straight through to Highlands, one half of the switch doesn't return, so the next bus through splits his poles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T6H-5307N Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 One awesome day today! Rode 127 and 130 (I think they were driven by "known trolley drivers") And of course, Martin just happens to find me on 101st and Jasper. Another completely coincidental meeting Near the end of the day, I go back through West Edmonton Mall only to find Kevin there! I must have incredible luck or something. On other note, 4407 (the "house bus") is definitly back in service: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Parsons Posted February 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 And of course, Martin just happens to find me on 101st and Jasper. Another completely coincidental meeting Near the end of the day, I go back through West Edmonton Mall only to find Kevin there! I must have incredible luck or something. Well, if you consider running into me incredible luck. Most consider it to be bad luck. Can you post the pic of 133? Dead ELF near Boonie Doon, 1018, 1032 and 1033 have HIDs. 179 was on a 135 so I guess it's at Westwood. Not sure if we knew this or not. 128 on the 120/3 today had an excellent trolley driver. 139 was on the 9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modulator Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 Caught unit 129 on the route 133 this afternoon. At 124 St/107 Ave at about 1535 unit 121 turned left S-->E signed up with no numbers and "Abbottsfield" on the destination sign. Didn't notice whether a driver or service person was driving it, but one of the retrievers had probably jammed since one rope was cut and tied to the other. Usually that 133 is packed, but today it was 'only' a full seated load--because the driver of one of the school specials along 107 Ave that goes express to WEM was running local service. Saw a Ferrier GM (68x on the route 17) with blue and yellow stripes but the newer 'ETS' logo on the side. How many GMs are running around like that now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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