Vintage Ottawa-Gatineau Transit Photos & Discussion

[tomsbuspage]

15 hours ago, Border City Transit said:

OK, really reaching into the archives here...

Which STO Classic temporarily wore the fleet number 7196?

It was STO's 25th anniversaire, and apparently that was one way of marking the occasion (1971-1996). I vaguely recall that bus had the same specs as 9603. Was it one of the other 9600s -- or perhaps 9603 itself?

Neither; it was 9004.  The CTHF used to have a photo of it on their website, which clearly shows the standard wide exit doors:

http://web.archive.org/web/20061104233717/http://home.istar.ca/~cthf/sto7196a.jpg

While it was numbered 7196 on the outside, the bus kept its original number on the inside of the bus the whole time.

[STO_1601]

STO 9601 seen at Hull Garage in the process of being rebuilt back in June 2003 

 

STO 7901 seen at Hull Garage still with it's old roll sign back in June 2003 

 

STO 9004 seen at Hull Garage with a false fleet number "7196" to commemorate STO's 25th Anniversary back in 1996. Photo taken in June 2003 

 

All photos by Paul A. Bateson

[OC Transpo/STO Fan]

24 minutes ago, STO_1601 said:

STO 9601 seen at Hull Garage in the process of being rebuilt back in June 2003 

All photos by Paul A. Bateson

A seven year old NovaBus Classic already getting a rebuild way back in 2003? Damn. The bus must have had bad quality issues as Classics usually manage to make it at least 10 or more years between rebuilds. The STO 1994-1995 Novas underwent rebuild in 2006 and some 1995s underwent rebuild again in 2014 receiving the new livery in the process.

 

[Bus_Medic]

11 hours ago, OC Transpo/STO Fan said:

A seven year old NovaBus Classic already getting a rebuild way back in 2003? Damn. The bus must have had bad quality issues as Classics usually manage to make it at least 10 or more years between rebuilds. The STO 1994-1995 Novas underwent rebuild in 2006 and some 1995s underwent rebuild again in 2014 receiving the new livery in the process.

 

Seven years is actually a little late if used heavily.

[STO_1601]

OC Transpo ex-Santa Monica Fishbowl 1768 seen at St. Laurent Garage with it's OC Transpo colours applied on. Photo taken in June 2003,  

 

New Flyer D40i Invero Demo seen at St. Laurent Garage in June 2003 

 

OC Transpo 1st gen Nova LFS 9738 seen at St. Laurent Garage in June 2003 

 

 

All photos by Paul A. Bateson

[OC Transpo/STO Fan]

On 3/9/2019 at 12:15 AM, OC Transpo/STO Fan said:

Here's a photo of 8795 after it was recently repainted into the maple leaf scheme:

Photo by Kevin Nicol.

I assume this was in 2004 as the fare card says $2.60.

I take that back. This was taken in June 2003 as I saw a very similar picture of the same bus on Flickr by Paul A. Bateson.

Here's a few more Paul A. Bateson photos also taken in June 2003:

9223 at St Laurent Station. This bus looks to have been recently repainted but it looks as if the paint booth may have rushed it. Half the bumper is still white and the area around the bus' left headlight is still white.

Here's 9804 laying over. Not exactly sure where this is located.

[tomsbuspage]

12 minutes ago, OC Transpo/STO Fan said:

Here's 9804 laying over. Not exactly sure where this is located.

St. Laurent Station stop 3A.

[STO_1601]

STO 0322 & 0325 seen at the Hull Garage in plain white (They were new at the time). Photos taken in June 2003 by Paul A. Bateson 

 

 

[Mark Walton]

On 7/30/2019 at 7:42 AM, Border City Transit said:

OK, really reaching into the archives here...

Which STO Classic temporarily wore the fleet number 7196?

It was STO's 25th anniversaire, and apparently that was one way of marking the occasion (1971-1996). I vaguely recall that bus had the same specs as 9603. Was it one of the other 9600s -- or perhaps 9603 itself?

 

 

That was 9004; see just above: 

 

[tomsbuspage]

Here's an article from the 10 October 1974 edition of the Ottawa Citizen about the dashboard-mounted rollsigns being installed on new buses starting that year:

[tomsbuspage]

I've changed the title of this thread to be more flexible with what gets posted here.  I figured we can post photos of old Ottawa-area coaches or historic newspaper articles if we want to.

[tomsbuspage]

Today's #TBT tweet:

 

Quote

St Laurent Station, seen from above in 1986. #tbt

[Michel]

3 hours ago, tomsbuspage said:

Here's an article from the 10 October 1974 edition of the Ottawa Citizen about the dashboard-mounted rollsigns being installed on new buses starting that year:

Not a lot of photos of those small rollsigns around so I take it the experiment didn’t last long.

On a side note do you know why OC Transpo never had run number rollsigns (and now a digital option) installed like STO and other municipalities do?

[tomsbuspage]

16 minutes ago, Michel said:

Not a lot of photos of those small rollsigns around so I take it the experiment didn’t last long.

These signs were used for several years, as I've seen photos of Fishbowls in 1978 and 1979 with the dashboard signs.  However, from what @MCIBUS and @Mark Walton have posted, they were usually used to denote a limited or express bus.

18 minutes ago, Michel said:

On a side note do you know why OC Transpo never had run number rollsigns (and now a digital option) installed like STO and other municipalities do?

I'm not certain, but I've seen the run tags stored at the OC Transpo dispatch office during Open Doors Ottawa.  This is a good question for the OC drivers in this forum.

[tomsbuspage]

Here a photo from the Ottawa Citizen on 11 May 1973, showing one of the proposed paint schemes for new OC Transpo buses.  This is followed by two photos of a ceremony at the Chateau Laurier on 13 May unveiling the adopted design:

Finally, here's an article from the 27 June 1973 edition of the Ottawa Journal, showing a new Tele Transpo bus being prepared for service:

[andreasv]

On GeoOttawa the bus lane on Heron Rd at the then fairly new Confederation Station was painted red for a time around 2002.

[Oc4526]

Found this in a building I deliver too

Photographer/Info unknown

 

[MCIBUS]

9 hours ago, andreasv said:

On GeoOttawa the bus lane on Heron Rd at the then fairly new Confederation Station was painted red for a time around 2002.

Though more visible to the eye, it's more expensive. They actually put a colour die(what ever colour you want) mixed in I believe at the ash fault plant.Also the die tends to fade after sometime. Weather also has an effect on it. Since we get snow during winter and the city uses salt on the roads the salt tends to cause the paint colour to fade quicker. Though it would be nice to have all Bus Lanes done up like this to make them stand out, it wouldn't be very practical.

 

The better solution would to go 3D like there doing we some cross walks. Have the bus diamond symbol in 3D with 3D Strips across the bus lanes spaced out between the bus diamonds. One it would last longer and be more visible. The only draw back is cost. It cost way more for the 3D effect then it does for just regular painted symbols.

7 hours ago, Oc4526 said:

Found this in a building I deliver too

Photographer/Info unknown

 

I've sen the pic before, if not mistaken I think I've seen that on OC "Historical section" of their web site or one of the books on the Ottawa Electric Street Car Company?

[whistler]

Posted to the “Lost Ottawa” Facebook page today. Taken on McKenzie street with the long gone Daly building in the back. Early-mid 60s archive photo.

Looks to be a Hull fishbowl.

 

[tomsbuspage]

That's the best photo I've seen so far of a pre-CTCRO Hull Fishbowl.  Based on this photo and a few partial Fishbowl pics I've seen, the stripe and front end of the Hull buses were a smoke-grey colour, and the rest of the bus was silverside and white.

[dudebrains]

4 hours ago, whistler said:

Posted to the “Lost Ottawa” Facebook page today. Taken on McKenzie street with the long gone Daly building in the back. Early-mid 60s archive photo.

Looks to be a Hull fishbowl.

 

It is a Hull Fishbowl. The rollsign is set to “Parc de la Montagne”, which is the current route 31.

[andreasv]

11 hours ago, MCIBUS said:

The better solution would to go 3D like there doing we some cross walks. Have the bus diamond symbol in 3D with 3D Strips across the bus lanes spaced out between the bus diamonds. One it would last longer and be more visible. The only draw back is cost. It cost way more for the 3D effect then it does for just regular painted symbols.

 

That or paint the diamonds on the lane in a different colour, or use a different coloured line to border the lane (like how some work zones on highways use orange lines).

[Mark Walton]

On 8/9/2019 at 12:40 PM, tomsbuspage said:

Here a photo from the Ottawa Citizen on 11 May 1973, showing one of the proposed paint schemes for new OC Transpo buses.  This is followed by two photos of a ceremony at the Chateau Laurier on 13 May unveiling the adopted design:

Finally, here's an article from the 27 June 1973 edition of the Ottawa Journal, showing a new Tele Transpo bus being prepared for service:

 

The OC was for the then-Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton; the Transpo was after Transpo 72, the public transit exhibition in Washington, DC in May-June 1972.

[tomsbuspage]

Today's #TBT photo:

 

Quote

If you see the Rider Rooster, tell him that OC Owl would love to catch up someday… #tbt

[Loud-Invero]

An MCI/GM classic seen starting/ending its run on the 4,7 or 117 on Library Road, just under a passing talent in 2002. Photo from OC Transpo 2002 website.