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Seems Kelowna has sent away their 5 original Nova;s (9201-9205). Two Orion V's are still active and they are 602, 603. 8080, 8081 were also at the Kelowna yard, but I did not see those two go out. I got to see most of the fleet between my garage visit and my travels throughout the system and did not see a single unit from the original 9201-9205 batch at all. Spoke with a Supervisor downtown and he did know about those Nova's being sent away and he mentioned that some may have gone to Nanaimo, but was unsure of other locations. He seems to recall that 6 buses were sent away, so I cannot think of what other bus besides those 5 Nova's that would've been sent out. All 3 of the 2002 (#'s 0251-0253) are still at the yard, however, I did not see those in service at all today. Did not see Dart #'s 9924 or 0230, so maybe these have been sent to another property as well. All the others, #'s 0101-0107, 0228, 0229 (Listed on the Wiki), seem to be still around. Many of the 0100's were in service today.

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Seems Kelowna has sent away their 5 original Nova;s (9201-9205). Two Orion V's are still active and they are 602, 603. 8080, 8081 were also at the Kelowna yard, but I did not see those two go out. I got to see most of the fleet between my garage visit and my travels throughout the system and did not see a single unit from the original 9201-9205 batch at all. Spoke with a Supervisor downtown and he did know about those Nova's being sent away and he mentioned that some may have gone to Nanaimo, but was unsure of other locations. He seems to recall that 6 buses were sent away, so I cannot think of what other bus besides those 5 Nova's that would've been sent out. All 3 of the 2002 (#'s 0251-0253) are still at the yard, however, I did not see those in service at all today. Did not see Dart #'s 9924 or 0230, so maybe these have been sent to another property as well. All the others, #'s 0101-0107, 0228, 0229 (Listed on the Wiki), seem to be still around. Many of the 0100's were in service today.

Never heard someone who puts a yearly fleet on the Darts, particularly the 01 and 02.

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Did not see Dart #'s 9924 or 0230, so maybe these have been sent to another property as well.
Found #9924 running in Vernon earlier today. So that explains that one. Now did Kelowna ever even have #9930 ?? If so, I have never seen it there. Anyone know more about 9930?

http://www.busdrawings.com/Transit/British...2vernon9924.jpg

Edited by MBTA9244-9640b
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  • 1 month later...

Just flew out of Kelowna this morning after having spent 3 days there, so I may as well post a few little notes.

I managed to get photos of all ten new Enviro 500s, all three DE40LF hybrids and both Orion Vs. The hybrids seemed to appear most often on the Rutland routes (10/11) and the route 7 Glenmore (which I believe interlines with the 10/11). Though I did get a big surprise on Wednesday night when I ended up riding 9103 back to Kelowna from Westbank! I was under the impression that those buses were not used on the routes that go to Westbank and Lake Country, much like the Victoria hybrids are not used on routes that go up the Saanich Peninsula. I have a feeling that was a one-off.

The 97 Express has been largely decker-ized. The new Enviro 500s hang out on that route a lot, but they are thrown elsewhere as well, everywhere from the 10 and 11 Rutland, to the 7 Glenmore, to the 9. Shopper Shuttle. The traditional hangout of the old deckers was always the 8 University, but they have now been mostly relegated to peak hour service. I did not see 0251 in service during my stay, though I spotted 0252 and 0253 several times. I also rode one of them on the route 1 Lakeshore.

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  • 8 months later...
Just arrived in Kelowna for the night (on my way to Vancouver currently), spotted 9717, 9720 and 9747 so far, and 2 other D40LF's that I couldn't see the numbers on.

But you didn't see a single Nova??!? I am sure you have hardly had a chance to actually spot much since you just arrived, but I am still sorta surprised you didn't see a Nova.

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  • 7 months later...
Just a bump...

Anybody who resides in or near Kelowna, what is the status of the Enviro 500 fleet? Have they all been transferred to Victoria, or are some still present? I wish to update the wiki, and merge the two fleets into one page. (To make things simpler)

I will be able to provide you with an answer likely by next weekend. I will be departing on a road trip heading east on April 11th, and will be making brief stops in Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon to gather information on the state of affairs in those systems.

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Just a bump...

Anybody who resides in or near Kelowna, what is the status of the Enviro 500 fleet? Have they all been transferred to Victoria, or are some still present? I wish to update the wiki, and merge the two fleets into one page. (To make things simpler)

Why would they be going to Victoria? Kelowna has just built a bunch of new bus stops/stands along Hwy 97 through town and are remodifing them for the Enviros because of rear door clearance concerns.

Anyways, seeing I'm down there every second day, they're still in regular use around town.

I will be able to provide you with an answer likely by next weekend. I will be departing on a road trip heading east on April 11th, and will be making brief stops in Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon to gather information on the state of affairs in those systems.

Don't ask for the state of affairs in Vernon ... its too depressing <_< Give me a shout when you're up.

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9924 said:
Why would they be going to Victoria? Kelowna has just built a bunch of new bus stops/stands along Hwy 97 through town and are remodifing them for the Enviros because of rear door clearance concerns.

Anyways, seeing I'm down there every second day, they're still in regular use around town.

Don't ask for the state of affairs in Vernon ... its too depressing <_< Give me a shout when you're up.

The reason Sidneytransitfan is wondering whether there were still deckers in Kelowna is because of something he spotted last month and posted about in another thread. I don't recall if anyone ever positively confirmed how many of Kelowna's deckers were temporarily redeployed to Whistler for the Olympics, but after the Olympics, for reasons which we don't quite know, at least 7 of the original-to-Kelowna 9517-9526 batch of deckers turned up in Victoria. Sidneytransitfan may be able to report if any of them were ever actually used in service, unless they were just getting post-Games inspections in Vic before being quickly hustled back up to the Okanagan. I have photos of Kelowna deckers running in service in Whistler that I took when I made a trip up there during the Games, but I haven't edited any of them yet so I didn't get a head count. There may have been a couple of Vic deckers running up there too, I don't remember.

Check your PM inbox shortly, too...

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Bus numbers mean nothing to me, except for our own of course ... :P

I do know (as a fact) that Kelowna does have Enviro500s driving around on their regular routes ... if there's less I don't know. Might very well be that Kelowna's buses didn't get banged up as much during the Olympics, so Victoria being BC Transits favourite child, got those ones while the more banged up ones are still being worked on and then given to Kelowna. Just a theory, but plausible.

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I do know (as a fact) that Kelowna does have Enviro500s driving around on their regular routes ... if there's less I don't know. Might very well be that Kelowna's buses didn't get banged up as much during the Olympics, so Victoria being BC Transits favourite child, got those ones while the more banged up ones are still being worked on and then given to Kelowna. Just a theory, but plausible.

Could be? However, they didn't look banged up at all when I saw them operating in Squamish and Whistler during the Olympics. They looked no different from Victoria's own 9500 series Deckers.

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Could be? However, they didn't look banged up at all when I saw them operating in Squamish and Whistler during the Olympics. They looked no different from Victoria's own 9500 series Deckers.

No idea ... was just a theory <_<

Anyways, I saw a good six of them within 30 minutes today running on the 8, 21 and 97 Express routes.

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Passed through Kelowna earlier today on my way to Kamloops where I am spending the night.

The following deckers were parked at the garage: 9514, 9515, 9516, 9518, 9519, 9525. So there are six deckers still in Kelowna, since the other seven Kelowna originals have all been accounted for in Victoria.

Also noted that Kelowna now has at least three 2008 Novas. 9275 and 9286 were at the garage, and a third one was on the road though I wasn't able to get its number. Probably one of the other ones that ran in Whistler during the Olympics, like 9276 or 9277 (Kamloops originals). I did not spot 9267, which was an ex-Kamloops bus that moved to Kelowna in December. (Its brethren, Kamloops originals 9265 and 9266, are both in Abbotsford.)

Also at the garage was 9202, whose last known location was Abbotsford. And that's a good enough segue to what I found next, rather than starting a new thread... 9203 and 9205 have turned up in Kamloops, as has 9231 (EDIT: 9230 is in Kamloops as well). 9201 is definitely still in Abbotsford, as I saw it this morning.

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  • 1 month later...

9249 is now at the Kelowna yard, also parked were 9286, 9275 and 9267. 9277 was not seen but I spotted it in service in West Kelowna at the start of this month. 9281 (ex Whistler, Comox, Victoria) is also now in Kelowna, I presume it was moved when the other 08's were shuffled in.

No sign of the Ex-Montreal Nova that was here last month, but 602, 603, 8906 are still there along with the 2 lone remaining '95 Flyers 8080 and 8081.

Also interesting to note that ex-Nelson #'s 6711 and 6714 have appeared; they had temporary operating permits.

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  • 3 months later...

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