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Orion V

By Orion V
in Western US

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codedude

codedude

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WOW! That's a shocker that 60 footers would be placed on line 66...I didn't know the ridership on line 66 was high enough to warrant 60 footers. Line 4 must have had a serious decline in ridership...it looks weird to see neoplans and 40ft NABIs on line 4. On wikipedia, it says that the 9400s are now assigned to divisions 1, 5, and 15. I guess they moved the ones at division 10 to division 1.

I think 9413-9419 were moved from the valley to division 10 a while back because they started appearing on line 4 along with the upper 9400s. So I'm assuming the 233 partially stopped using them.

Division 10 must not be left with many buses.

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LosAngeles7

LosAngeles7

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I think 9413-9419 were moved from the valley to division 10 a while back because they started appearing on line 4 along with the upper 9400s. So I'm assuming the 233 partially stopped using them.

Remember that Division 15 doesn't need as many articulated buses as it used to since Line 902 and its silver 45Cs replaced some of the service on Line 233 during rush hour.

An oddity to note: A couple times recently, I spotted a lone Neoplan (I believe a 6300 series) formerly out of Division 10 working in the San Fernando Valley during rush hour.

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George L.

George L.

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An oddity to note: A couple times recently, I spotted a lone Neoplan (I believe a 6300 series) formerly out of Division 10 working in the San Fernando Valley during rush hour.

San Gabriel Valley Division 3 has a few ex-Division 10 Neoplans as well in the 6500-Series. They also used to have a few Neoplans in the 4500 and 4700-Series but I doubt they're still there because most of the Neoplans from 1995/1996 have now been retired.

The San Gabriel Valley (division 9) has a lone neoplan too...it's 6463

They also have a New Flyer C40, I think it's #5164. I spotted it on the Line 260 (which is an SGV Division 9 route) last month while I was in Monterey Park. I don't know if #5164 or #6463 are still at the yard after the latest shakeup...

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George L.

George L.

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So here's some updates and some corrections:

Line 30 does use Neoplans, although less often in favor of using NABI 40-LFW's

Line 220 now operates using WSC Division 7 Neoplans (I'll have an update on this on Sunday)

Line 439 also uses an occasional Neoplan alongside the 8200/8300-Series NABI 45C-Metro's

Line 534 now mostly uses NABI 45C-Metro's in the 8100/8200-Series as well as occasional NABI 40-LFW's to handle excess capacity

Line 705 no longer uses NABI 45C-LFW's now instead using NABI 40-LFW's and New Flyer C40LF's

Line 733 operates using WSC Division 10 NABI 60-BRT's

Line 751 operates NABI 45C-LFW's only during rush hour, using NABI 40-LFW's all other times

Line 780 now near constantly uses the NABI 45C-LFW's

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ATE2

ATE2

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I went to bus spotting at Artesia Transit center and Aviation Green line station today. I noticed that some of the NABI 31LFW have transferred from Veolia to First Transit, and some of them are on the 214, 625, and 626 today

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Plus other shots

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ieko

ieko

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I had one of the worst rides ever in one of those Blue Birds on Line 96.. gaahhh

Anyway whoever is in charge of making destination signs for the new 45C's is having a field day with colors it seems... or they're just screwing up quite badly.

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A. Wong

A. Wong

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Anyway whoever is in charge of making destination signs for the new 45C's is having a field day with colors it seems... or they're just screwing up quite badly.

Yeah the sign on 6490? looks like it is malfunctioning - not sure if it's the programmer's fault in that one.

In that first picture above displaying NABI 31 LFW, it looks great with LAX Restyled NABI 35 LFW featuring in the background of the picture

Agreed! But isn't that a 31LFW as well?

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R. McConnell

R. McConnell

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Yeah the sign on 6490? looks like it is malfunctioning - not sure if it's the programmer's fault in that one.

8400 :) I've noticed that with a lot of LACMTA's multicolor destination signs -- it's probably just malfunctioning, but it should work a bit better if it's a brand-new sign...

Agreed! But isn't that a 31LFW as well?

The LAX shuttle buses are all 35-LFWs (compare the window arrangement, it's a bit different.)

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George L.

George L.

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I had one of the worst rides ever in one of those Blue Birds on Line 96.. gaahhh

Ugh, I hate to say to things like this but, the ride on Veolia Transportation's Thomas TL960 is pretty rough too. I rode one for the first time yesterday on Line 96 from Olive and Venice, and I didn't like it too well, though I have to admit, it's got a real kick to it... Also, I noticed that all of the Metro logos were removed, all that was left was the painted "Metro Local" words and the APTA "America's Best" decals (could this be a sign that retirement is close?).

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ieko

ieko

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No idea but now that you mention it.. maybe it was that Thomas... it was a hot summer day and I felt like that was the longest bus ride.. ever...

Tomorrow morning I'll be riding 626 so I hope to catch one of the new NABI 31LFW's.. Will try to take some video.

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George L.

George L.

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No idea but now that you mention it.. maybe it was that Thomas... it was a hot summer day and I felt like that was the longest bus ride.. ever...

Tomorrow morning I'll be riding 626 so I hope to catch one of the new NABI 31LFW's.. Will try to take some video.

It's been a while since I've busfanned by LAX, I usually use LADOT Express Line 438 to get there, stick around for half an hour or so, and continue on with my fanning trip. Last time I was there, I still saw the El Dorado cutaways servicing Lines 625 and 626, my thoughts are that now they're retired... I want to try to catch the NABI 31-LFW's on Lines 96 or 603, but this seems like too much of a guaranteed chance to give up, so I'll be sure to try it out soon :(

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A. Wong

A. Wong

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I meant NABI 31-LFW look great with also Restyled NABI 35-LFW along in that picture as well
Yup! I got what you meant but:
The LAX shuttle buses are all 35-LFWs (compare the window arrangement, it's a bit different.)
That's what I was comparing but I guess at the angle that first window above the wheelwell must be bigger on the 35 footer and I didn't notice. Thought it would be a lot more noticeable (like another large window a la New Flyer). :(

 

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George L.

George L.

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So here are some more updates from my latest observations: (Edit: Added rail fleet notes)

Line 18 now exclusively operates using New Flyer C40LF's.

Line 254 uses Gillig Phantoms on Weekdays and uses NABI 40-LFW's on weekends.

Line 620's operations are now split between SGV Division 9 and WSC Division 10 (who had previously operated this line). Neoplans are now used alongside the usual Div 9 NABI 40-LFW's.

Line 720 now uses NABI 40-LFW's alongside the NABI 60-BRT's to assist with the overcrowding during peak hours.

Line 760 has now stopped using the NABI 60-BRT's, using New Flyer C40LF's and Ex-Division 3 NABI 40-LFW's instead.

Also, a quick rail fleet related note:

The Blue Line Nippon Sharyo P850's are receiving upgraded pantographs which are red colored, but I haven't seen their interiors yet. If I see anything different, I'll be sure to note it in my next fleet observation post.

In addition, the Gold Line is starting to see newer AnsaldoBreda P2550's enter service. The fleet range of the P2550's now extend all the way up to 741 (from my observations at least, if anyone spots a higher numbered one in service or parked outside the yard between Lincoln Heights and Chinatown, please post it here :()

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R. McConnell

R. McConnell

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Line 720 now uses NABI 40-LFW's alongside the NABI 60-BRT's to assist with the overcrowding during peak hours.

I've seen both NABI 40-LFWs and Neoplans (!) on rush hour 720 trips in the past few years. I guess they need all the buses they can get!

Speaking of the rail fleet...

From what I've read from various other sources, the Gold Line's P2000s will move to the Blue Line upon delivery of enough P2550s to serve the entire Gold Line. This will allow for the retirement of at least some of the P850s. Does anyone know if this is intended to happen any time soon? With the P2550s coming in at a snail's pace (the first ones sat around for more than three years before entering service), and the P850s' pantograph replacement, this seems unlikely in the near future.

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codedude

codedude

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I wonder where all the NABI 60 footers went? It seems like they've been discontinued or extremely reduced on lines that used to use them.

It appears that divisions 1 and 10 a large number of buses during the shake-up. The 9400s (NABI 60ft locals) moved to division 1 and a large number of 7300s (NABI 40ft locals) went from division 1 to division 10. Yesterday I noticed a lot of low 7300s working line 4 and were labeled division 1. I know that line 4 operates out of divisions 6 and 10. Also, line 4 is using occassional rapid NABI 40 footers. I guess division 10 does not have enough local buses to accomodate line 4.

On another note, I noticed all of the training and retired buses were missing from that corner lot at Cesar Chavez and Vignes Road (I think that's the street name). All that was parked there were about a dozen NABI 60 ft rapids. In the back area where they do rehab on buses, I noticed a 9213 was parked back there and badly damaged. This was the bus that caught on fire on the orange line over a year ago. The rear quarter of the vehicle is badly burned and looks like a mess of melted plastic and twisted metal. I looked like they had some sort of tape or wrapping around it. There were some other damaged buses back there too.

On the note of malfunctioning headsigns, there are quite a few NABI 60 footers with the same problem. Some don't work at all and the driver has to place a sign in the front window. As we all know, the new 8100-8400s have a lot of malfunctioning headsigns as well. I wonder if MTA is aware of this problem and what's being done to remedy it?

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ieko

ieko

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I've seen both NABI 40-LFWs and Neoplans (!) on rush hour 720 trips in the past few years. I guess they need all the buses they can get!

Speaking of the rail fleet...

From what I've read from various other sources, the Gold Line's P2000s will move to the Blue Line upon delivery of enough P2550s to serve the entire Gold Line. This will allow for the retirement of at least some of the P850s. Does anyone know if this is intended to happen any time soon? With the P2550s coming in at a snail's pace (the first ones sat around for more than three years before entering service), and the P850s' pantograph replacement, this seems unlikely in the near future.

From what I understand there are no plans to retire the P850's, only to rehab them. Metro still hasn't ordered any new rail cars for all the lines that will be opening up, it's actually a real serious issue -- if they don't approve going out for bids on cars in the next few meetings then they may end up not having enough cars for their new lines.

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