King County Metro - Seattle, Washington

[pnwelevator]

I've ridden this one before, but regardless, great to see ole' 724 ('68 GMC New Look) being displayed up in Greenwood on Saturday, even convinced Doug, who was watching over the bus to give my friend & I a look at the 8V71!   It was amazing to see how many people reacted surprised to hearing how this bus can easily do 70MPH when they visited the bus that's for sure, although it doesn't surprise me. 

I have an old video of this bus from 2013, here it is, if anybody hasn't seen it, enjoy!

 

[northwesterner]

5 hours ago, roamer said:

I'm not sure if that's what happened on the Newport trip that was tacked on to a tunnel tripper but from my recollection, it didn't last long.   

Don't forget, that immediately before Bellevue Base opened, routes 212, 225, 227, 229, 266 (as well as surface routes 250 and 268) operated out of Central Base for a year or two due to space constraints at East Base. 

Depending on the year we're talking about, the tripper could have been changed because the main route family it operated on moved to Central Base...

[EvergreenRailfan]

7 hours ago, pnwelevator said:

I've ridden this one before, but regardless, great to see ole' 724 ('68 GMC New Look) being displayed up in Greenwood on Saturday, even convinced Doug, who was watching over the bus to give my friend & I a look at the 8V71!   It was amazing to see how many people reacted surprised to hearing how this bus can easily do 70MPH when they visited the bus that's for sure, although it doesn't surprise me. 

I have an old video of this bus from 2013, here it is, if anybody hasn't seen it, enjoy!

 

Great photos. Although I am partial to Trolleybuses myself, I like the restoration job on these coaches.  Also, a couple of weeks ago, I thought I saw this bus going down Martin Luther King Jr Way, complete with a vintage rolls ignore saying 42-Empire Way. During this buses tenure with Seattle Transit and later Metro, that was the street's name.

[pnwelevator]

4 hours ago, EvergreenRailfan said:

Great photos. Although I am partial to Trolleybuses myself, I like the restoration job on these coaches.  Also, a couple of weeks ago, I thought I saw this bus going down Martin Luther King Jr Way, complete with a vintage rolls ignore saying 42-Empire Way. During this buses tenure with Seattle Transit and later Metro, that was the street's name.

That was probably for the AKCHO Meeting & tour that MEHVA put on. This Bus seems to be one of MEHVA's more populary used Buses.

5 hours ago, EvergreenRailfan said:

Great photos. Although I am partial to Trolleybuses myself, I like the restoration job on these coaches.  Also, a couple of weeks ago, I thought I saw this bus going down Martin Luther King Jr Way, complete with a vintage rolls ignore saying 42-Empire Way. During this buses tenure with Seattle Transit and later Metro, that was the street's name.

Also, Thank you for the kind comment! If you're into TrolleyBuses, I'll have some photos on the 4th from the MEHVA TrolleyBus Tour so I'll definitely share them when I can

[rickycourtney]

15 hours ago, pnwelevator said:

I love the ad for speed on the side of the coach... so fitting!

It is a bit sad that in your recent picture the ad is starting to fade.

[anonymous guy]

King County Metro featured coach 6999 in the Pride Parade yesterday. Cheeky little nod from Metro.

[pnwelevator]

3 hours ago, rickycourtney said:

I love the ad for speed on the side of the coach... so fitting!

It is a bit sad that in your recent picture the ad is starting to fade.

Yeah, and it's a really rare ad too, Doug said he hasn't seen another of that exact ad since he found it...  

[roamer]

On 6/25/2017 at 6:08 PM, northwesterner said:

Don't forget, that immediately before Bellevue Base opened, routes 212, 225, 227, 229, 266 (as well as surface routes 250 and 268) operated out of Central Base for a year or two due to space constraints at East Base. 

Depending on the year we're talking about, the tripper could have been changed because the main route family it operated on moved to Central Base...

Good grief, once again you've shown how sharp your memory is  ...just incredible, as always.   I do faintly remember that but wouldn't have had you not mentioned it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 6/25/2017 at 5:37 PM, pnwelevator said:

I've ridden this one before, but regardless, great to see ole' 724 ('68 GMC New Look) being displayed up in Greenwood on Saturday, even convinced Doug, who was watching over the bus to give my friend & I a look at the 8V71!   It was amazing to see how many people reacted surprised to hearing how this bus can easily do 70MPH when they visited the bus that's for sure, although it doesn't surprise me. 

I have an old video of this bus from 2013, here it is, if anybody hasn't seen it, enjoy!

 

Yeah, as you know, they were purchased specifically for "Blue Streak" service when they were expected to do 70 MPH as was the speed limit on I-5 at the time from the Northgate area to downtown.

I think it was because of that accident where a one bus rear ended another on the express lanes coming into town that they started to examine the prudence of doing 70 MPH.  They really restricted the speed on the Express Lanes approaching downtown after that.

Even when I started working for Metro in the mid-70s, they were still considered the "hot rod" bus and was without an exception, the favorite piece of equipment among drivers.  The majority of the Seattle Transit System equipment wouldn't do over about 45 MPH (specifically the 200s and 500s), so the 700s really stood out as exceptional. 

[northwesterner]

6 hours ago, roamer said:

I think it was because of that accident where a one bus rear ended another on the express lanes coming into town that they started to examine the prudence of doing 70 MPH.  They really restricted the speed on the Express Lanes approaching downtown after that.

Speed restrictions are still in place, I believe, for inbound trips on the express lanes going under the convention center.

Also, speed restrictions continue to be in place on the NE 42nd St exit off the express lanes northbound because of a separate accident involving a 700 losing control on that exit ramp.

[Atomic Taco]

32 minutes ago, northwesterner said:

Speed restrictions are still in place, I believe, for inbound trips on the express lanes going under the convention center.

Also, speed restrictions continue to be in place on the NE 42nd St exit off the express lanes northbound because of a separate accident involving a 700 losing control on that exit ramp.

These are the only ones that are explicitly called out in The Book.  There are dozens, if not hundreds, more in the Route Book.  Full policy, as I'm sure someone lurking here will be interested:

Quote

Coaches traveling southbound in the inside HOV lane of the I-5 express lanes must begin to decelerate and be traveling no faster than 40 mph when passing the Mercer Street off-ramp and must not exceed this speed until arriving at the exit or the approach to the tunnel exiting onto Fifth Avenue at Cherry Street. Use extreme caution in the tunnel area and be prepared to stop as traffic can suddenly back up in the tunnel. Coaches traveling in lanes other than the inside HOV lane may continue to travel at the posted speed limit.

NE 42 Street off-ramp (I-5 express lanes northbound): The speed limit for coaches operating northbound on the I-5 express lanes exiting at the NE 42 Street off-ramp is 20 mph or less. Deceleration must begin at or before the crest of the I-5 freeway bridge and the coach must not be exceeding 20 mph when the front of the coach passes the speed limit sign.

They're not specifically called out as slow orders, but these exist too:

Quote

The following restrictions apply to transit operations on the Alaskan Way Viaduct:

• 25 mph or less on the Alaskan Way Viaduct between S King Street and S Atlantic Street in both directions.
• Coaches must operate in the right lane only in both directions, S Massachusetts Street – Battery Street (northbound [N/B] right two lanes, S King Street – Seneca Street).
• Coaches entering the Alaskan Way Viaduct S/B at Columbia Street need to merge to the right lane as soon as safely possible.

 

[jay8g]

2420, which has obviously been retired for quite a while, was being towed around downtown this morning -- presumably a tow driver training bus:

 

[roamer]

1 hour ago, northwesterner said:

Speed restrictions are still in place, I believe, for inbound trips on the express lanes going under the convention center.

Also, speed restrictions continue to be in place on the NE 42nd St exit off the express lanes northbound because of a separate accident involving a 700 losing control on that exit ramp.

Hah! Yeah, I got my first, what was called at the time, "RDA" (Record of Disciplinary Action) on the 42nd off ramp for doing 26 MPH as supervisors were sporadically hiding behind the pillars taking radar.  

[roamer]

Because of my rather limited internet skills, can somebody who either remembers these accidents (northwesterner?) or have the skills to find archived reference articles (busdude or mr. taco?) for the following accidents, I'd appreciate a narrative/explanation or old news articles on the following accidents that happened in the 70s as I can't quite jog my memory pertaining to the details:

1.  The rear-end accident involving what I remember as two 700s coming into town that prompted the restricted speed limit for buses on the Express Lanes approaching the CBD.

2.  The bus accident on the 42nd off-ramp to the Express Lanes that prompted the restricted 20 MPH speed limit approaching and on the ramp itself.  20 MPH is awfully slow.  In fact, I thought it a bit dangerous for buses to slow down to that speed when traffic behind wasn't expecting it ...I remember being honked at for slowing to that speed and crawling down the ramp when the speed rule was first instituted.  It was (and probably still is) very slippery when wet but 20 MPH is still awfully slow especially when the pavement is dry  ...at the time, I believed that 25 was more reasonable even when wet.  I should clarify that 20 MPH is fine for the curved part of the ramp itself but the approach I always thought should be 25.

3.  And I've been looking for years for an article on the accident that happened on Jackson Street in 1974 or 75 where an out of control 500 coach went careening through Chinatown hitting vehicles and from my recollection, one person (I believe a pedestrian) was killed.  I knew the driver but never had a chance to talk with him after it happened and, of course, he never did come back to work.  The 500s had the characteristic of the accelerator pedal sticking to the floor where we'd sometimes have to manually reach down and pull the treadle off the floor with our hand as we were driving.  I always thought that the sticking accelerator was the cause but I don't remember if there was a determination as to what exactly happened.  And the sticking treadle problem continued to happen until the 500s were retired so you'd think if that was the cause that they would have made it a priority to fix the problem. 

[northwesterner]

1 hour ago, roamer said:

Because of my rather limited internet skills, can somebody who either remembers these accidents (northwesterner?) or have the skills to find archived reference articles (busdude or mr. taco?) for the following accidents, I'd appreciate a narrative/explanation or old news articles on the following accidents that happened in the 70s as I can't quite jog my memory pertaining to the details:

1.  The rear-end accident involving what I remember as two 700s coming into town that prompted the restricted speed limit for buses on the Express Lanes approaching the CBD.

2.  The bus accident on the 42nd off-ramp to the Express Lanes that prompted the restricted 20 MPH speed limit approaching and on the ramp itself.  20 MPH is awfully slow.  In fact, I thought it a bit dangerous for buses to slow down to that speed when traffic behind wasn't expecting it ...I remember being honked at for slowing to that speed and crawling down the ramp when the speed rule was first instituted.  It was (and probably still is) very slippery when wet but 20 MPH is still awfully slow especially when the pavement is dry  ...at the time, I believed that 25 was more reasonable even when wet.  I should clarify that 20 MPH is fine for the curved part of the ramp itself but the approach I always thought should be 25.

3.  And I've been looking for years for an article on the accident that happened on Jackson Street in 1974 or 75 where an out of control 500 coach went careening through Chinatown hitting vehicles and from my recollection, one person (I believe a pedestrian) was killed.  I knew the driver but never had a chance to talk with him after it happened and, of course, he never did come back to work.  The 500s had the characteristic of the accelerator pedal sticking to the floor where we'd sometimes have to manually reach down and pull the treadle off the floor with our hand as we were driving.  I always thought that the sticking accelerator was the cause but I don't remember if there was a determination as to what exactly happened.  And the sticking treadle problem continued to happen until the 500s were retired so you'd think if that was the cause that they would have made it a priority to fix the problem. 

Not old enough to have been alive for any of these but... I've heard the stories.

 

If I'm not getting them confused (which is possible), it seems that the two 700s was due to a coach running out of fuel and the second one coming up on it and not being able to stop in time.

Regarding 42nd Street, the exit ramp is banked to the outside of the curve. I believe a 700 lost control going around that corner in the rain in the 70s. Because of the geometry there, the slow order is still in place.

 

Don't recall all the details on the Jackson Street wreck. Wasn't a trolley coach involved, or was that a separate accident? I know at least one Twin was totaled in the 70s on Jackson and the good electronics were pulled and put in a different coach that was dragged out of the woods at a museum. The one you remember and the one I'm vaguely referencing could have been the same or different accidents. 

[anonymous guy]

With the incoming 8100s, I have heard that they are to supplant the outgoing 2300s - however some of the 2600s will be retired as well. 

Didn't the 2600s recently receive a battery replacement to extend the life of those coaches?

[rickycourtney]

11 hours ago, anonymous guy said:

With the incoming 8100s, I have heard that they are to supplant the outgoing 2300s - however some of the 2600s will be retired as well. 

Didn't the 2600s recently receive a battery replacement to extend the life of those coaches?

You're correct. Between the 8100, 8200, and 8300 series coaches there will be enough coaches to retire the rest of the 2300 series coaches, the entire batch of 2870 series coaches and begin to retire the 2600 series coaches.

It's my understanding that the 2600 series coaches have been receiving batteries on an "as needed" basis... and not wholesale swap. I would imagine the buses that have received a battery wouldn't be among the first to be retired. It might also be possible to shift the new batteries to the 6800/6900 series coaches. 

[busdude.com]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 10:38 PM, northwesterner said:

Don't recall all the details on the Jackson Street wreck. Wasn't a trolley coach involved, or was that a separate accident? I know at least one Twin was totaled in the 70s on Jackson and the good electronics were pulled and put in a different coach that was dragged out of the woods at a museum. The one you remember and the one I'm vaguely referencing could have been the same or different accidents. 

That coach 622(1) started life out as 900, renumbered 640 in 1964, and finally 622(1) in 1971. It was wrecked post 1974. 622(2) started life out as 905, renumbered 643 in 1964, retired 1966 to ORHS, reacquired from the woods in Issaquah where it had a tree growing through it post 1974, rebuilt as 622(2) with the electrical controls from 622 (1) and served out its days until 1978 when it was retired for the system rebuild, and later preserved by MEHVA.

[roamer]

On 6/28/2017 at 10:38 PM, northwesterner said:

Not old enough to have been alive for any of these but... I've heard the stories.

 

If I'm not getting them confused (which is possible), it seems that the two 700s was due to a coach running out of fuel and the second one coming up on it and not being able to stop in time.

Regarding 42nd Street, the exit ramp is banked to the outside of the curve. I believe a 700 lost control going around that corner in the rain in the 70s. Because of the geometry there, the slow order is still in place.

 

Don't recall all the details on the Jackson Street wreck. Wasn't a trolley coach involved, or was that a separate accident? I know at least one Twin was totaled in the 70s on Jackson and the good electronics were pulled and put in a different coach that was dragged out of the woods at a museum. The one you remember and the one I'm vaguely referencing could have been the same or different accidents. 

Yes!  I now remember that express lane accident was caused by a bus running out of fuel and being rear-ended by another bus.  I do recall it was quite prominent at Metro at the time with lots of internal buzz within management.  I seem to recall that it changed the way the equipment service workers recorded their fueling of the buses at night as, of course, buses do not have physical on-board fuel gauges.  

For some reason --and it's frustrating-- I don't remember any of the details at all on the bus sliding on the 42nd off ramp.

There could have been a trolley involved in that Jackson Street incident with the out of control 500.  I'm not sure if busdude's account clarifies it was coach 622 or not.  Not only is my memory shot, my reading comprehension also seems to getting worse as the years roll by  ...again, it's so frustrating.   

 

I sure appreciate the memory jog.  I'm trying to chronicle in a loosely-kept memoir, my recollections from the past about Metro history and buses in general.  I'm keeping a section on accidents that happened but, again, it's just a mostly false and very scant compilation of my recollections.  My memory is really fading fast.  Therefore, word-of-mouth accounts or actual news articles are what I'm attempting to gather.

Thanks, again.

[anonymous guy]

On 6/28/2017 at 8:30 PM, jay8g said:

2420, which has obviously been retired for quite a while, was being towed around downtown this morning -- presumably a tow driver training bus:

 

Its interesting to see the shape of coaches relegated to wrecker training duty. They don't see daily revenue service, but they look like petrified shells of what they used to be.

[busdude.com]

19 minutes ago, anonymous guy said:

Its interesting to see the shape of coaches relegated to wrecker training duty. They don't see daily revenue service, but they look like petrified shells of what they used to be.

I don't think 2420 even runs. it was looking in pretty sorry shape in 2014 when I first saw it being used as a tow trainer at SB, where it appears to have been retired for a few years prior, now it looks even worse. My guess she's a non runner and all they use her for is dragging around for tow training. in 2014 it was direty and even a bit rusty inside, I wonder what she looks like today.

[busdude.com]

On ‎6‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 2:06 PM, roamer said:

Yes!  I now remember that express lane accident was caused by a bus running out of fuel and being rear-ended by another bus.  I do recall it was quite prominent at Metro at the time with lots of internal buzz within management.  I seem to recall that it changed the way the equipment service workers recorded their fueling of the buses at night as, of course, buses do not have physical on-board fuel gauges.  

For some reason --and it's frustrating-- I don't remember any of the details at all on the bus sliding on the 42nd off ramp.

There could have been a trolley involved in that Jackson Street incident with the out of control 500.  I'm not sure if busdude's account clarifies it was coach 622 or not.  Not only is my memory shot, my reading comprehension also seems to getting worse as the years roll by  ...again, it's so frustrating.   

 

I sure appreciate the memory jog.  I'm trying to chronicle in a loosely-kept memoir, my recollections from the past about Metro history and buses in general.  I'm keeping a section on accidents that happened but, again, it's just a mostly false and very scant compilation of my recollections.  My memory is really fading fast.  Therefore, word-of-mouth accounts or actual news articles are what I'm attempting to gather.

Thanks, again.

I think these came from @northwesterner many moons ago now and I'm not sure where he found them, but here is 643's before and after shots. Kind of amazing they would go to some of the lengths a museum would take to restore trolleybuses to active service during the fuel crunch of the 70's.

[northwesterner]

50 minutes ago, busdude.com said:

I think these came from @northwesterner many moons ago now and I'm not sure where he found them, but here is 643's before and after shots. Kind of amazing they would go to some of the lengths a museum would take to restore trolleybuses to active service during the fuel crunch of the 70's.

Duuuuuuuuuude....

How many hard drives have you moved those files across over the years?

I'm certain I scanned those, circa 1999. From a copy I made, probably from whatever Metro's monthly employee newsletter was at the time, from the stacks either at the downtown library, or more likely, out at Suzzallo at the UW.

[busdude.com]

7 minutes ago, northwesterner said:

Duuuuuuuuuude....

How many hard drives have you moved those files across over the years? I'm certain I scanned those, circa 1999. From a copy I made, probably from whatever Metro's monthly employee newsletter was at the time, from the stacks either at the downtown library, or more likely, out at Suzzallo at the UW.

I have no idea, i'm not even sure how I managed to keep them after a couple of drive failures, but there they are!

[pnwelevator]

2 hours ago, busdude.com said:

I think these came from @northwesterner many moons ago now and I'm not sure where he found them, but here is 643's before and after shots. Kind of amazing they would go to some of the lengths a museum would take to restore trolleybuses to active service during the fuel crunch of the 70's.

AMAZING Shots I have to say  

[northwesterner]

On 6/30/2017 at 2:06 PM, roamer said:

Yes!  I now remember that express lane accident was caused by a bus running out of fuel and being rear-ended by another bus.  I do recall it was quite prominent at Metro at the time with lots of internal buzz within management.  I seem to recall that it changed the way the equipment service workers recorded their fueling of the buses at night as, of course, buses do not have physical on-board fuel gauges.  

For some reason --and it's frustrating-- I don't remember any of the details at all on the bus sliding on the 42nd off ramp.

There could have been a trolley involved in that Jackson Street incident with the out of control 500.  I'm not sure if busdude's account clarifies it was coach 622 or not.  Not only is my memory shot, my reading comprehension also seems to getting worse as the years roll by  ...again, it's so frustrating.   

 

I sure appreciate the memory jog.  I'm trying to chronicle in a loosely-kept memoir, my recollections from the past about Metro history and buses in general.  I'm keeping a section on accidents that happened but, again, it's just a mostly false and very scant compilation of my recollections.  My memory is really fading fast.  Therefore, word-of-mouth accounts or actual news articles are what I'm attempting to gather.

Thanks, again.

Talked to a friend who is a senior operator. Of course "senior operator" these days mean an early 80s start date, very few left with a 1970s seniority date (and, I think, we are down to one operator who predates Metro). 

His recollection of the stories passed down through the years.

1) A 500 had a throttle pedal stick on Jackson Street and rear ended Twin Coach 622 (1). 

2) It was two 700s in the collision on the express lanes, one ran out of gas. 

3) The one with the fewest details is the NE 42nd St accident, all he recalls hearing is that a coach came down the ramp too fast in the rain and ended up striking the guardrail on the outside of the turn, hard. Thus, the slow order.