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87XX Charter Initiative


SMS

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Was it just me, or did that Charter last a bit longer than planned?

Well I had fun, and THANK YOU VERY MUCH M.Wright and Double_T for helping and organizing the best Charter Ottawa has ever had.

Hopefully, you guys will plan another one!!

(Still unsure who the Montréalers were that came)

Point55. :lol:

It did last longer then planned, a hour and 30 minutes longer. But luckily the original agreement with OC Transpo was that I would not pay any time overruns so I didn't lose anymore money with that time overrun.

I just got it now and 8 of us after wards went transit fanning. Also after I split off from everyone, I saw two broken down buses while heading home. First was a D60LF on the tow truck heading to St. Laurent (if you montreal guys who were with us waited just 2 minutes longer you guys would of seen it too). The next was sadly a D40 just north of Billings on the Transitway. The D40 was 9051, which I remember we saw during the charter, so it's kind of sad to see it broken down after. The D60LF was 6154 case anyone was interested.

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Here are 25 pictures of 8769 during today's charter (note: if you look at the URL of my pictures, you'll find out the location of the photo stops):

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7..._St_Laurent.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7..._St_Laurent.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7..._St_Laurent.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...gs_Cyrville.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...gs_Cyrville.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...lise_Mutual.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...treal_Begin.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...rter/15_RCW.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7.../17_Portage.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7.../18_Portage.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...9_Chaudiere.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...0_Chaudiere.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7..._Parliament.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7..._Parliament.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...Elgin_Hotel.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...us_Terminal.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7..._Carleton_U.jpg

< Lunch Stop at Billings Bridge, 12:20 to 12:40 >

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...born_Beaver.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7.../29_Gladwin.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7.../32_Gladwin.jpg

< Deadhead from Gladwin (Science and Tech Museum) to Baseline Station via St. Laurent, Hwy 417 west, Woodroffe, Iris, Transitway to Baseline Station >

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...35_Baseline.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...randherd_PR.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...an_Townsend.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7...r_Baker_Ctr.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2/jcl_7.../48_Hurdman.jpg

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I have uploaded all 149 pictures of the charter, & i had a great time helping with the route & i had an ever better time on it, It was pretty good for first time planning eh? Kudos to mike, he did more work than me haha i just did the west end :lol:

Heres one of the 149 pictures

Picture_810.jpg

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Oh also I'm still trying to get over the fact that I planned such a awesome thing so I might not be thinking right for the next little while. Please excuse any stupid posts I post for now.

And trav, as a little joke between friends, of course I did, I made this thing happen on the 13th, not the 27th.

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Wow! Just returned from yet another great successful bus fan trip to Ottawa. This is a good start for Ottawa Transit Charters. I don't think one has happened in the capital since the MBS convention of Fall 2001. I hope that the next charter will not be seven years later. I sincerely hope that you guys will organize more in the future.

Sorry we couldn't fan with the rest of you guys - I have to now prepare for tomorrow and everything. These are definitely great memories and most of the Montreal bus fans never had the chance to ride a GM Classic all together. I think today is the first day that some of the prominent fans from Montreal got to fan OC Transpo all together.

So to Mike and Trav big thanks! Please consider a STO Fishbowl charter. A lot of people from Montreal would like to see that!

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(Still unsure who the Montréalers were that came)

Point55. :lol:

The people from Montreal were:

SMS

stm_5307N

David D.

mtltransitguy

Matt Demers

kellergraham

Ayobe

80-040 Guy-Concordia

I had a good time.. I hope you guys can get more Ottawa area charters happening in the future.

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Wow! Just returned from yet another great successful bus fan trip to Ottawa. This is a good start for Ottawa Transit Charters. I don't think one has happened in the capital since the MBS convention of Fall 2001. I hope that the next charter will not be seven years later. I sincerely hope that you guys will organize more in the future.

Sorry we couldn't fan with the rest of you guys - I have to now prepare for tomorrow and everything. These are definitely great memories and most of the Montreal bus fans never had the chance to ride a GM Classic all together. I think today is the first day that some of the prominent fans from Montreal got to fan OC Transpo all together.

So to Mike and Trav big thanks! Please consider a STO Fishbowl charter. A lot of people from Montreal would like to see that!

Yes, it was awesome, and again, congrats for pulling it off. It was kind of a special opportunity and honor of riding in the same bus with Montreal and Ottawa fans, and hopefully Mike, please do another one some time soon, and yes, a silver side New Look would be the best, yet!

Point55. :lol:

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And some random fact from my end of things, this was actually the first 8700 bus I rode that wasn't really total "crap" so I think OC did some work before this because also I heard 8769 had less power like a week ago. Usually the 87's don't give that good of a ride. So it was unusual but it was a great experience.

I'm quite amazed we hit 95 on the 417. Also that 417 stretch I found was pretty good, not sure how everyone else found it but I found it wasn't too long or too short. It was just right :lol:

I liked the "wtf" look we got from most people, that was the best

Oh and I didn't really tell anyone this but when we were waiting at the stop before anyone else came, the special constables came and told us "No buses serve that stop" then I was like "I'm waiting for a charter" "Oh a charter, okay dokie" that was so funny how quick his tone of voice changed.

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Some highlights of the 8769 CHARTER for those who couldn't show up:

- Everyone went to stop 3C, it was stop 3B at the St.Laurent Station, not 3C :) so that was quite funny.

- The ride on 8769 was extremely nice.

- "MIKE!!! THE BUS IS LEAKING COOLANT!!"

- Photo-op locations were very good, and placed at locations that a GM Classic would be hard to locate.

- We drove along a number of old historic bus routes such as:

Route 11

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/point55/tim...11_19970421.bmp

- Had a blast in Gatineau, QC

- Posing the bus in front of the Parliament Building was the best idea yet.

- Spotted a number of D40HF's and Orion V's out on the streets.

- Lunch break at Billings Bridge went well.

- Doing 95 Km/h on the Highway 417

- Matt Demers fell asleep on the bus while heading to Barrhaven (Farrhaven), and was getting his picture taken by Mtltransitguy :P

- Spotted Trav's mother driving what-I-though was his Buick.

- "Strandhurd? More like Stranded Station to me."

- Drove all along the South Transitway from South Keys to Hurdman.

- Group Photo at St.Laurent.

- Everyone spilt, good day, good ride, met lots of people.

Point55. :lol:

Edited by Point55
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7901 would be the perfect STO fishbowl for a charter, i'm not that good with gatineau so i wouldnt know a route yet haha

One problem with Gatineau is that it's a bitch to get from A-B-C-D-E without having to go through one of them twice, if not more.

Ex. My understanding of this charter was to try and get to most of the places that OC serves/has served. Say you wanted to hit all the 6 areas STO serves (Cantley, Chelsea, Old Gatineau, Hull, Buckingham/Masson (I tend to lump them into one), Aylmer), it would be pretty difficult. Ex. there's no way to get from Chelsea to Cantley without either the bus becoming an actual fishbowl, or going through Gatineau, or perhaps La Peche/Wakefield (Which would defeat the purpose, and add a good 40km). I personally don't see the point of going up to one area just to do a U-Turn and come back, but that's just me.

Lunch stops aren't a problem. Most areas (even Buck/M-A) have a ton of restaurants. Though, I wouldn't recommend Masson, you'd spend more time bitching at the staff that f*cked your order up than eating. Greber/Fournier would be a good spot, as there's also a lot of restaurants there, as well as a lot of sex shops for those who have time to kill :lol:

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Some highlights of the 8769 CHARTER for those who couldn't show up:

- "MIKE!!! THE BUS IS LEAKING COOLANT!!"

That freaked me out, last thing I wanted was 8769 to break down on us. But at least it gave us all a little bus mechanic lesson about the overflow. Though before the driver did start saying that I tried telling you that it looked to be the overflow. (Lots of drivers have called that in to control thinking it was a leak)

This is why if you look at Google Maps at the bus lanes we have in this city, the roads are darker then the car lanes, because they always top up the coolant. So that is from years of engine coolant overflow.

Here is a perfect example of what I'm talking about at Hurdman, you can see where all the buses go:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UT...mp;t=h&z=18

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For those interested about what I said about the 417 in the Alta Vista area, here is a quick drawn up map of the exact location where they planned on putting the 417: http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?hl=en&ie...mp;t=h&z=12

You can easily see how the curvy part of the 417 coming into Ottawa was planned at the last minute after rerouting it, and curves are interesting, straightaways are quite boring on highways.

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Mike, thanks again for organizing a great charter. I was able to get a lot of good shots of 8769 along with a few in service buses (a couple of D40's) along the way. I also enjoyed riding the bus along the 417 and the south busway.

I agree with SMS and hope you consider doing more in the future. I think with a lot of advance notification, you could probably get an even bigger crowd from the greater Toronto area.

Kevin

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