northwesterner Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 I feel like the Grant County coaches all went over in a group right when the 1100s entered service, which displaced a bunch of 3200s to Ryerson where for a couple of shakeups from late 98 to late 99, all 157 3000s operated out of a single base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznichiro115 Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 7200 isn't on the tracker yet, but i saw it returning to Bellevue Base earlier today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
118 Vashon via EXPRESS Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 This evening at Fauntleroy ferry terminal: King County Metro 3751 (New Flyer XDE35) and 7123 (Orion VII) at Fauntleroy ferry terminal by planet_lb, on Flickr King County Metro 3751 (New Flyer XDE35) and 7123 (Orion VII) at Fauntleroy ferry terminal by planet_lb, on Flickr I believe this is only the second time an Orion VII has been assigned to a Vashon express route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymous guy Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 A bit of a strange/uneducated question: When the 2600s were around for several years, I never noticed the increased rotations that occurred during the regenerative braking process. When the 6800s/7000s first arrived, I noticed the increased noise that these coaches would make when braking. Not long after, I noticed the same thing with the 2600s. Was this something that was always there, or was it something that was updated onto the 2600s onboard computer system via firmware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradfordbrian Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Allison Hybridrive as a parallel hybrid system uses the Engine Brake/Jake Brake feature as the dynamic braking is not itself nearly as strong as a hydraulic retarder. BAE is a series system so the electric motor provides a strong-enough dynamic brake effect to stop the coach. These differences are also why Allison hybrids have significantly better acceleration, but can't keep the fire stoked for an extended period, while the BAE is slower off the line, but can climb anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwesterner Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 When delivered, the engine brake on the 2600s was very notable. Inside the coach, in the rear, you could hear the dynamics at work. I guess I'm so used to the engine brake noise on the 2600s I don't pay attention to it any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puget Sound Rider Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Westbound Stewart between 3rd Ave and 2nd Ave. Overhead wire work happening. The bus accelerates, then a worker runs alongside it and pulls the poles off the wires. When the bus rolls past the work zone, the poles are re-attached to the wires by the worker. In this case, the only advantage the XT60s will have is the battery power (vs. accelerating enough to roll through the work zone) to drive through the work zone. The driver may be able to retract the poles, but I don't see how they could be put back up onto the wires without human intervention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonba Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 If it's easy to quickly install and uninstall them, they could just put up the pole-catchers right after a construction area (probably cheaper to have them installed/uninstalled than the current situation with an extra worker - if they are extra). They can use some temporary spray to indicate to drivers where they have to stop the bus and press a button to release the poles. Did they have this functionality included - release poles with a button? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Taco Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 When the bus rolls past the work zone...uphill!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwesterner Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 ...uphill!? It's not much of a grade... In the old days they would pull the poles then jump on the rear bumper and ride. I don't think L&I wants them doing that any more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Didn't somebody say in an earlier discussion that they will be able to install temporary pans at the end of the work zone? These pans can evidently be installed and then disassembled quickly? I also read somewhere that permanent pans would be installed wherever re-racking is common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwesterner Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Didn't somebody say in an earlier discussion that they will be able to install temporary pans at the end of the work zone? These pans can evidently be installed and then disassembled quickly? I also read somewhere that permanent pans would be installed wherever re-racking is common. Someone mentioned they were thinking about it. Keep in mind the following: 1) Not only will the pans have to be installed, but stop bars, for both 40ft and 60ft coaches will have to be painted on the pavement. 2) In addition to stop bars, the driver will need some indication of how to align the coach laterally at the stop bar. In many places the wire is not directly centered over the lane of travel. If the wire is off-center (typically to the left of the lane of travel), then the bus may have to straddle two lanes in order to use the pans... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why would you install them when those buses are going to replacement with XT40 and XT60 within a year? By the way, have anymore XT40 arrived in Seattle? Have the protype for the XT60 arrived in Seattle yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Someone mentioned they were thinking about it. Keep in mind the following: 1) Not only will the pans have to be installed, but stop bars, for both 40ft and 60ft coaches will have to be painted on the pavement. 2) In addition to stop bars, the driver will need some indication of how to align the coach laterally at the stop bar. In many places the wire is not directly centered over the lane of travel. If the wire is off-center (typically to the left of the lane of travel), then the bus may have to straddle two lanes in order to use the pans... Definitely good points. It sure doesn't sound practical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwesterner Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why would you install them when those buses are going to replacement with XT40 and XT60 within a year? By the way, have anymore XT40 arrived in Seattle? Have the protype for the XT60 arrived in Seattle yet? Production models have arrived. No prototype artic. The pans would be more useful (well, maybe) with the new coaches so the driver wouldn't have to get out and put the poles up. The current coaches had the poles up/poles down switch deleted from the driver's area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Bus Fan Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Production models have arrived. No prototype artic. The pans would be more useful (well, maybe) with the new coaches so the driver wouldn't have to get out and put the poles up. The current coaches had the poles up/poles down switch deleted from the driver's area. I think KMC would keep the pole people still in play with scheduled detours because I know TransLink does this with our Trolley bus system scheduled detours and it works will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymous guy Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Production models have arrived. No prototype artic. The pans would be more useful (well, maybe) with the new coaches so the driver wouldn't have to get out and put the poles up. The current coaches had the poles up/poles down switch deleted from the driver's area. If the XT60s are showing up, what's the timetable on working those coaches in and replacing the Bredas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwesterner Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 If the XT60s are showing up, what's the timetable on working those coaches in and replacing the Bredas? XT40s are appearing. No XT60s, yet. Remember, parts availability for the powerpacks is better for the Bredas than the 4100s. It is expected the Bredas will outlast them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickycourtney Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 San Francisco MUNI received the prototype XT60 and it's handling the testing. Once MUNI clears the bus, both MUNI and King County Metro should start receiving the production model units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Taco Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 San Francisco MUNI received the prototype XT60 and it's handling the testing. Once MUNI clears the bus, both MUNI and King County Metro should start receiving the production model units.4500 is already in Seattlehttps://twitter.com/Jayson_Peterson/status/593809105061433345 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puget Sound Rider Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Wow! 2 hours late for the 119? Guess the earlier 116 they did really got messed up with the fire that closed Fauntleroy Way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puget Sound Rider Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Wow! 2 hours late for the 119? Guess the earlier 116 they did really got messed up with the fire that closed Fauntleroy Way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymous guy Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 XT40s are appearing. No XT60s, yet. Remember, parts availability for the powerpacks is better for the Bredas than the 4100s. It is expected the Bredas will outlast them. Yup, parts for the Gillig propulsion packages were drying up years ago since they were essentially reworked AMGeneral trolley engines. When the Bredas were pressed back out, they never mentioned having to do any work on the electric motors to keep them running. It's a shame though, since the Gillig shells are in much better shape than the beat up Breda coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northwesterner Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Yup, parts for the Gillig propulsion packages were drying up years ago since they were essentially reworked AMGeneral trolley engines. When the Bredas were pressed back out, they never mentioned having to do any work on the electric motors to keep them running. It's a shame though, since the Gillig shells are in much better shape than the beat up Breda coaches. Gentle correction, engine is not the right word in this situation. There's a traction motor (that's what makes it go), a controller, and a whole bunch of other electrical stuff, that makes up the "power-pack" (Metro's term during the rebuild). I generally stick with "power-pack" when referring to the parts situation with the 4100s, because it isn't a problem with the motor (traction motors are rebuildable). I can't recall off hand if the Randtronics controller was simply rebuild by Alstom, or if it was totally replaced. I hear a lot of complaining about "beat up Breda coaches" but I find them to be in about the same condition now as they were when they came out of refurb (going on a decade for some of them...). They weren't a great coach when they were new, but over 24 years, they're still about the same. You hear a lot of operators complaining about them ... Some of this is rooted back to their days as dual modes, when they had one speed, slow. Others don't like them as trolleys as they are a bit tougher to drive smooth. But the worst part is a lot of drivers hear the bad rep they have, get forced to Atlantic (common to new FT operators) and then never even try and drive them smoothly. I've had some horrifically awful rides on them. However, they can be driven very smoothly. There are quite a few Atlantic operators (including some extremely high seniority guys) that intentionally pick them and operate them as smooth as can be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymous guy Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 From what I've remember reading, the Alstom work on the propulsion packages were more of a refurbish project rather than a replace since the "power packs" are still operating on the same solid state computer boards from the 70's. Since those parts are no longer manufactured, they've been doing a good job of keeping the Gilligs on the road with the parts they are able to cobble together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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