TTC CLRV/ALRV updates and discussion

[CLRV4002]

52 minutes ago, dowlingm said:

Suburban councillors will claim 4178's paint job amounts to disruptive pattern material and so drivers can't see the car somehow.

I often wonder how it works when the PCC cars go out on occasion in service, like last September on Queen. Considering a huge number of drivers probably didn’t live here, didn’t drive yet or weren’t even alive when the PCC cars were still in regular service, do they even know it’s a streetcar?

I’m not sure if most people can even tell considering so many people drive past open doors on regular streetcars that have been on the road for 40 years, let alone vehicles that they’ve never seen before. 

[2044]

58 minutes ago, splendidwizardplayer said:

I the middle of the night it makes sense because the back is black but in the middle of the day that makes no sense drivers can't see the big black thing in the middle of street, that makes no sense

Doesn’t make sense any time of day. You don’t notice the various lights, reflectors and huge moving mass with windows lit up? You are a terrible driver.

[Doppelkupplung]

That in addition to the fact that this isn’t the first time streetcars have had darker shades of adwraps. It’s a friggin train running down the middle of the street. 

[Ed T.]

1 hour ago, CLRV4002 said:

I often wonder how it works when the PCC cars go out on occasion in service, like last September on Queen. Considering a huge number of drivers probably didn’t live here, didn’t drive yet or weren’t even alive when the PCC cars were still in regular service, do they even know it’s a streetcar?

I’m not sure if most people can even tell considering so many people drive past open doors on regular streetcars that have been on the road for 40 years, let alone vehicles that they’ve never seen before. 

Would-be riders waiting for a streetcar try to board PCCs or even Witts that pause at a regular stop while on charter. Obviously transit riders can recognize a streetcar when they see one. Can we assume car drivers are as knowledgeable?

[leylandvictory2]

1 hour ago, splendidwizardplayer said:

I the middle of the night it makes sense because the back is black but in the middle of the day that makes no sense drivers can't see the big black thing in the middle of street, that makes no sense

based on your logic, people shouldn't park their vehicles on the street especially darker vehicles.  I guess some people don't use headlights at night.

[Wayside Observer]

4048 was on Bathurst this morning.  I think I saw 4094 as well but am not 100% sure on the fleet number.  And three, not one, not two, three vehicles in a row illegally making right turns on red against the sign prohibiting that at the bottom of Fort York Blvd. on to Lakeshore which is one example why it’s difficult to read off fleet numbers when having to contend with some of the other drivers out there.

[CLRV4094]

16 hours ago, CLRV4002 said:

I often wonder how it works when the PCC cars go out on occasion in service, like last September on Queen. Considering a huge number of drivers probably didn’t live here, didn’t drive yet or weren’t even alive when the PCC cars were still in regular service, do they even know it’s a streetcar?

I’m not sure if most people can even tell considering so many people drive past open doors on regular streetcars that have been on the road for 40 years, let alone vehicles that they’ve never seen before. 

The PCC cars have such a nostalgia appeal that I feel and would suspect that most people would recognize and be able to confirm it's existence as a streetcar. 

16 hours ago, CLRV4002 said:

I often wonder how it works when the PCC cars go out on occasion in service, like last September on Queen. Considering a huge number of drivers probably didn’t live here, didn’t drive yet or weren’t even alive when the PCC cars were still in regular service, do they even know it’s a streetcar?

I’m not sure if most people can even tell considering so many people drive past open doors on regular streetcars that have been on the road for 40 years, let alone vehicles that they’ve never seen before. 

The PCC cars have such a nostalgia appeal that I feel and would suspect that most people would recognize and be able to confirm it's existence as a streetcar. 

[leylandvictory2]

22 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

4048 was on Bathurst this morning.  I think I saw 4094 as well but am not 100% sure on the fleet number.  And three, not one, not two, three vehicles in a row illegally making right turns on red against the sign prohibiting that at the bottom of Fort York Blvd. on to Lakeshore which is one example why it’s difficult to read off fleet numbers when having to contend with some of the other drivers out there.

if you have internet on your cell phone, you can use transee to figure out the fleet number.  That's what I use when I see a streetcar with a wrap from a far distance.  

[HB_1024]

50 minutes ago, leylandvictory2 said:

if you have internet on your cell phone, you can use transee to figure out the fleet number.

Not while you're driving.

[dowlingm]

On 10/9/2019 at 3:40 PM, splendidwizardplayer said:

I the middle of the night it makes sense because the back is black but in the middle of the day that makes no sense drivers can't see the big black thing in the middle of street, that makes no sense

It was sarcasm my dude. But given the statements some of these guys make, you think it has to make sense to those guys who can’t stand spend on streetcars? (Or public art for that matter)

[CLRV4002]

14 minutes ago, dowlingm said:

It was sarcasm my dude. But given the statements some of these guys make, you think it has to make sense to those guys who can’t stand spend on streetcars? (Or public art for that matter)

*cough Rick Leary *cough 

Speaking of, does anyone know if they plan to run 4178 as part of the CLRV trippers on Carlton or will they continue to have it in regular service? 

[FabianColeyLOVESBUSES]

I think its safe to say that 4011 is  retired. It was most likely pushed inside the shop at Russell for decommissioning on Tuesday.

[T3G]

4030 and 4146 are stripped. The former, which has been gone for months and presumed to be retired, was being pushed around Russell by 4145 today.

4075 was wired up to dead car 4108, and 4189 had its pole down and a pusher bar sticking out of its ass. I don't remember if I marked that one as retired as I'm writing from my phone.

4011's whereabouts are unknown.

[Wayside Observer]

17 hours ago, leylandvictory2 said:

if you have internet on your cell phone, you can use transee to figure out the fleet number.

I do but I don’t have the app and that’s a far greater level an effort that I’m willing to go to.  I’m happy with making casual observations but I’m not going to put any serious kind of work into it.

So, going by good old fashioned plain, visible observation, this morning I saw 4048, 4069, 4104, and 4132 on Bathurst.

On 10/9/2019 at 6:13 AM, Robert Lubinski said:

They didn't want to keep a hometown Boeing car so I don't think they'd want a CLRV of similar vintage. Apparently the focus is on pre-1954 cars for the historic fleet.

Yeah, that was disappointing.  From a “world stopped in 1960” point of view, their collection fits the bill for the most part, but on the other hand, time makes the heart grow fonder.

If you don’t set aside the more recent cars now because they’re too new, they can’t be set aside later because there’s no way to un-cut up something that’s been scrapped, chopped up and recycled after the fact.  Plus, with the F line slated to be extended, there’s a limited supply of traditional, single ended streetcars out there of which the CLRV is an example.  There aren’t many PCC or other misc.  vintage hulks to send to Brookville or Gomaco.

[bus_7246]

Yesterday’s observation: 4191 pulling 4190 back to Russell, crossing Greenwood. Was following the PCC 4549

[nfitz]

3 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

I do but I don’t have the app and that’s a far greater level an effort that I’m willing to go to.

It's not an app. You just use the website. Looking at https://www.transsee.ca/predict?s=ttc.511.2380 (for example), and you can quickly see that the next 5 vehicles eastbound on Fort York are 4091, 4098, 4160, 4156 and 4069.

Or just look at the raw Nextbus data where http://webservices.nextbus.com/service/publicXMLFeed?command=vehicleLocations&a=ttc&r=511&t=0 lists all 12 CLRVs currently pinging 511 (including 4098 which isn't tracking properly at that moment, but is at Exhibition Loop, so presumably on 511).


 

[John Oke]

I might go looking for 4178 on Monday, will it be on the 501 or the 506?

[TTC4120fan]

42 minutes ago, John Oke said:

I might go looking for 4178 on Monday, will it be on the 501 or the 506?

506 on Weekdays, 501 on Weekends

[John Oke]

11 minutes ago, Matthew TTC 4120 said:

506 on Weekdays, 501 on Weekends

It's just that Monday is a holiday so... Which one will it be?

[TTC Guy]

19 minutes ago, John Oke said:

It's just that Monday is a holiday so... Which one will it be?

Chances are 501, possibly 506. Check TransSee that morning. That’s the best solution. 

[nfitz]

46 minutes ago, Matthew TTC 4120 said:

506 on Weekdays, 501 on Weekends

With the new board starting Sunday, things might get changed up. Particularly as 506 is scheduled to be 100% Flexity as of Sunday (except for 6 short-turning peak-hour weekday trippers).

They are probably a couple of cars short to achieve this on weekdays, but they currently only need 116 Flexities to run everything except 511 on Sundays.

[Wayside Observer]

6 hours ago, nfitz said:

It's not an app. You just use the website. Looking at https://www.transsee.ca/predict?s=ttc.511.2380 (for example), and you can quickly see that the next 5 vehicles eastbound on Fort York are 4091, 4098, 4160, 4156 and 4069.

Or just look at the raw Nextbus data where http://webservices.nextbus.com/service/publicXMLFeed?command=vehicleLocations&a=ttc&r=511&t=0 lists all 12 CLRVs currently pinging 511 (including 4098 which isn't tracking properly at that moment, but is at Exhibition Loop, so presumably on 511).


 

Oh ok, I thought it was an app.

If I was feeling really adventurous, I guess I could knock together something crappy in XCode to pull down the Nextbus data for all of the streetcar lines via the http access, extract all the table data from the HTML and shove it into a single matrix and provide some way of running queries on it to find any given specific vehicle, all members of a class of vehicle that are out, and so on and make an app out of it.

In all honesty though, I’m happy with casually observing what I happen to see in the course of day to day life.  I don’t feel any need to resort to any big data algorithmic approach to determine the exact fleet number of a CLRV that I didn’t quite catch while I was driving down the street.

[CLRV4094]

7 hours ago, John Oke said:

I might go looking for 4178 on Monday, will it be on the 501 or the 506?

4178 if out should be on 501 as that's what is scheduled to do on weekends. Then again, that's if it leaves the carhouse physically and emotionally and this is the TTC we are talking about 

9 hours ago, bus_7246 said:

Yesterday’s observation: 4191 pulling 4190 back to Russell, crossing Greenwood. Was following the PCC 4549

Just a question : Is 4190 retired? Been awhile since it was last in service 

[John Oke]

Just looked at Transsee and all 6 ALRV's are still tracking and 4230 is live and the rest haven't been seen since Thursday

[Downsview 108]

17 hours ago, Matthew TTC 4120 said:

506 on Weekdays, 501 on Weekends

Glad I got the shot of it on the 511 then.