TTC Orion VII Retirement Tracker

[Mar_AC_23]

If you guys are having issues with other members, there is a report button that you can use. It's better to solve your issues in a manner that doesn't throw a thread off topic with those type of conversations.

[T3G]

5 hours ago, Turtle said:

I don't care if they are a CTPDB wiki editor, or a forum moderator or admin, if I feel they are wrong I'll point it out. That you take offence to me challenging "authority", I'm sorry I hurt you.

Thank God we delusional plebs have people like you to show us the right truth.

[Turtle]

6 hours ago, T3G said:

Thank God we delusional plebs have people like you to show us the right truth.

If you say something that is incorrect or misleading, I will point it out. There was another wiki editor here that had a huge problem with me doing that. They had a huge issue with me when it turned out they were wrong about the signal system on line 6. I have said a lot of things that are wrong, and don't have a huge problem accepting that once I see where I was wrong. Speed limits across St Clair is one example, but I turned out to be correct for the most part during patio season, and I turned out to be correct in the long run-Yonge to Gunns is 40 all the time now.

On 8/3/2024 at 2:31 PM, kitortransit said:

Most importantly, Im a “He” by the way, not “They” Please get my identity right next time you mention me.

quit calling me a “Confused Superfan” I have autism which is a special need and i may not understand 100% everyone says correctly without rewording what they mean. Im really confused why you post your unnecessary posts that is targeting other members in the board. I reached my breaking point. You are a bully. 

GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE.

Finn

You are my "confused superfan" because every post I make in the past two months you react with the "confused" emoji. I said that before I saw any posts where you mentioned autism. I will not refer to you by any gender, I don't need to because I can structure my words where it isn't required or relevant, and you can't make me. 

10 hours ago, KingOfVP said:

Karen, just go away. You are being a very annoying parasite on the forum, and once again, you are trying to derail a normal discussion after myself and others got it back on track following your previous temper tantrum.

That's offensive, sexist, and against the rules here. 

 

Let me make this post on topic: I wonder how much mold is in those plywood floors after 20 years on the road. 

[T3G]

I didn't say anything incorrect or misleading, I said that posting information about an imminent retirement on Twitter would cause interest and buzz, which is absolutely true. It happened with the Hawker subway cars, it happened with the ALRV and CLRV trips, it happened with the big party they threw for the SRT at STC last September. It happened with every doors open and United Way open house. Everytime the restored GM bus is out in the streets people turn their heads and take pictures. And perhaps you'd like to explain to me why the TTC has seen fit to save not one, but two Orion VIIs, if apparently no one but me cares?

Your dismissive assertion that it's a "bunch of plywood and fibreglass, who cares, etc" (and therefore it's not worth the effort to make a singular tweet?) is one that is patently not shared by a visible chunk of the population. Any assertion to the contrary is disconnected from reality. And the fact that you view yourself as some kind of challenger to authority tells me everything I need to know about your stance. You're not challenging authority, I'm not authority, you're just wrong.

[Turtle]

19 minutes ago, T3G said:

I didn't say anything incorrect or misleading,

You misunderstood what I wrote? It was a general statement referring to any member that posts here, and I mentioned correcting members with authority or responsibility here that I have no problem pointing out where I think they are incorrect or have misinterpreted something. It was not specific to anything you said recently.

 

19 minutes ago, T3G said:

I said that posting information about an imminent retirement on Twitter would cause interest and buzz, which is absolutely true. It happened with the Hawker subway cars, it happened with the ALRV and CLRV trips, it happened with the big party they threw for the SRT at STC last September. It happened with every doors open and United Way open house. Everytime the restored GM bus is out in the streets people turn their heads and take pictures. And perhaps you'd like to explain to me why the TTC has seen fit to save not one, but two Orion VIIs, if apparently no one but me cares?

Because they aren't special like a railcar is. The fishbowls were special because of how long they ran on the streets. A lot of drivers think they were the best bus to drive.  Light, easy to drive, cool sounding. Predictable in the snow.

 

19 minutes ago, T3G said:

Your dismissive assertion that it's a "bunch of plywood and fibreglass, who cares, etc" (and therefore it's not worth the effort to make a singular tweet?) is one that is patently not shared by a visible chunk of the population. Any assertion to the contrary is disconnected from reality. And the fact that you view yourself as some kind of challenger to authority tells me everything I need to know about your stance. You're not challenging authority, I'm not authority, you're just wrong.

 

I didn't say anything about "challenging" authority, I mentioned "correcting" them.

 

Orion VII's were okay in the regular diesel version, the hybrids were absolute trash. Poor braking, problematic electronics and batteries. Noisy. Can't count how many times I had to do a battery reset on one of those things to get them going again. I can understand why the ttc is handling their retirement this way. The only bus they ever did anything special for was the fishbowl. What about the rest of the buses they retired over the century and a bit that they have been the ttc? The trolleys were far more iconic than the Orion VII.

 

They never tweeted when they sent the Edmonton Fishbowl Trolleybuses back after the lease ended.

[Turtle]

55 minutes ago, Turtle said:

 

I didn't say anything about "challenging" authority, I mentioned "correcting" them.

Oops, I did use the word challenge. I meant correct, sorry

[New Flyer]

8104 8113 8114 8204 might be retired. 8114 has been idle for a week behind the garage. All the others have been parked inside the garage for 3+ days, in the area where the buses are decommissioned.

[KingOfVP]

42 minutes ago, New Flyer said:

8104 8113 8114 8204 might be retired. 8114 has been idle for a week behind the garage. All the others have been parked inside the garage for 3+ days, in the area where the buses are decommissioned.

That would be unfortunate. Have the NG Diesels been having more reliability issues than the OG Orion 7s they replaced? I didn't expect to see the NGs start getting retired so soon after being relocated to Queensway. 

[Toro]

15 minutes ago, KingOfVP said:

That would be unfortunate. Have the NG Diesels been having more reliability issues than the OG Orion 7s they replaced? I didn't expect to see the NGs start getting retired so soon after being relocated to Queensway. 

No they're super reliable. TTC just wants any excuse to get rid of diesel buses to replace them with electric buses.

[KingOfVP]

13 minutes ago, Toro said:

No they're super reliable. TTC just wants any excuse to get rid of diesel buses to replace them with electric buses.

Which is very stupid if you ask me. The current e-buses can't last on all-day runs from let's say 4 30 am to 2 30 am. The maximum the XE40s can put out is 4 round trips on 24 Victoria Park before they have to head back to the division for a full recharge. Their traction control during snowstorms is garbage too. At best, the e-buses are good for peak hour filler runs to help out on the routes, but for all day runs, only the diesel buses can handle the task.

[Xtrazsteve]

It’s called replacing cheaper good buses with crap expensive buses in the name of environment friendly.

[fierypanther]

18 minutes ago, Xtrazsteve said:

It’s called replacing cheaper good buses with crap expensive buses in the name of environment friendly.

Sadly TTC has no choice or else Trudeau gonna clamp down on them

[Totti]

7 hours ago, Toro said:

No they're super reliable. TTC just wants any excuse to get rid of diesel buses to replace them with electric buses.

I don't get why they are retiring those buses fast so that they can become zero-emission by 2040. There's still 16 more years until 2040 but im sure those Orion VII NG Diesel has a few years left before they are going to the retirement yard

[81-717]

15 hours ago, Turtle said:

I will not refer to you by any gender, I don't need to because I can structure my words where it isn't required or relevant

Yeah, "they" doesn't have to mean a specific identity, it can also mean a gender-neutral all-inclusive broader term.

15 hours ago, Turtle said:

They never tweeted when they sent the Edmonton Fishbowl Trolleybuses back after the lease ended.

To be fair, there was no twitter (or internet*) back then.

*at least widely available to the public

9 hours ago, Toro said:

No they're super reliable. TTC just wants any excuse to get rid of diesel buses to replace them with electric buses.

Guess that explains why there are still so many NG HEVs left.

[via_foamer]

9 hours ago, KingOfVP said:

Which is very stupid if you ask me. The current e-buses can't last on all-day runs from let's say 4 30 am to 2 30 am. The maximum the XE40s can put out is 4 round trips on 24 Victoria Park before they have to head back to the division for a full recharge. Their traction control during snowstorms is garbage too. At best, the e-buses are good for peak hour filler runs to help out on the routes, but for all day runs, only the diesel buses can handle the task.

What I hope is that since the new orders have larger batteries and (hopefully) improved tech they won't be as much of a hassle operationally
also the hybrid buses work well on all day runs as well (but tbf those are still diesel)

[Toro]

17 hours ago, 81-717 said:

Guess that explains why there are still so many NG HEVs left.

Yup. Also why they killed off the og diesels faster then the og hybrids when the diesels were way more superior from reliability to emissions. Yes emissions. 

[bus_7246]

At least 2 decommissioned VII OG hybrids were towed away to the scrapyard today

[fierypanther]

1 hour ago, bus_7246 said:

At least 2 decommissioned VII OG hybrids were towed away to the scrapyard today

Do we know which units? Really sad news.

[bus_7246]

15 minutes ago, fierypanther said:

Do we know which units? Really sad news.

Hard to tell since the spots where the vehicle numbers were can’t be easily seen unless up close. I’ll try to get the numbers of what’s been decommissioned, but still left on property in the morning

[GZ6113PHEV5]

2 hours ago, Toro said:

Yup. Also why they killed off the og diesels faster then the og hybrids when the diesels were way more superior from reliability to emissions. Yes emissions. 

Do they really think that the OG hybrid emit less than diesel ones do? They got no diesel particulate filters and are only called “hybrid electric”. Often time you could see black smoke coming out of their exhaust pipes.

[Toro]

13 hours ago, GZ6113PHEV5 said:

Do they really think that the OG hybrid emit less than diesel ones do? They got no diesel particulate filters and are only called “hybrid electric”. Often time you could see black smoke coming out of their exhaust pipes.

They probably know the diesels are better but they just want to show off their new toys and flex that they have the biggest hev/e fleet. I never understood the hype on e vehicles. They are literally not better then diesels.

[buswizzard]

18 hours ago, GZ6113PHEV5 said:

Do they really think that the OG hybrid emit less than diesel ones do? They got no diesel particulate filters and are only called “hybrid electric”. Often time you could see black smoke coming out of their exhaust pipes.

So many times I've been waiting for the light to change behind a 1xxx bus, and turn off my AC when that GIANT puff of black smoke poofs out

[bus_7246]

On 8/6/2024 at 8:19 PM, bus_7246 said:

Hard to tell since the spots where the vehicle numbers were can’t be easily seen unless up close. I’ll try to get the numbers of what’s been decommissioned, but still left on property in the morning

All 10xx units that were recently retired, appear to have been hauled away to the scrapyard as of 8pm. 1032 & I assume 2 additional units were taken away today. 1130 & 1147 remain on site.
 

1118 is in the shop being decommissioned 

8051 (2024 Caribana Bus) left Wilson today, following the truck around 4pm

[New Flyer]

51 minutes ago, bus_7246 said:

All 10xx units that were recently retired, appear to have been hauled away to the scrapyard as of 8pm. 1032 & I assume 2 additional units were taken away today. 1130 & 1147 remain on site.
 

1118 is in the shop being decommissioned 

8051 (2024 Caribana Bus) left Wilson today, following the truck around 4pm

Does this make 8051 retired?

On another note, I passed by Queensway Yard briefly today and I can confirm that 8025 and 8091 are still parked in the dead lot. 

[bus_7246]

56 minutes ago, New Flyer said:

Does this make 8051 retired?

The bus was driven on its own power. Possibly to another division