Hamilton Street Railway

[TTC Guy]

2 hours ago, Seashore_518203 said:

Not the best picture, but here it is at the garage. The Denso unit, common in Australia and eastern Asia, is being tested.

Thanks

[lip]

Honestly if the Danso HVAC unit cant correct the poor A/C circulation inside these Novas, than the problem is more so related to a flaw in the design of the LFS series overall. Carrier HVAC units are pretty damn bad in the LFS, while Thermo King makes good products but even that couldnt correct the issues.

I dont know what Danso units are all about, but i'm curious to see how they perform.

[Hybrid0920]

In my opinion, It’s a design flaw. There’s not much lining between the engine and the passenger area which makes the rear of the interior hot. Heat gets into the bus also from the lack of engine ventilation. 
 

New flyer has way more vents and a better fan system than nova. Maybe nova can design a fan system that is lower and closer to the engine to help the heat escape before it rises into the bus?

I don’t think it’s anything to do with the air conditioning unit, I’ve ridden on 1511 during a hot day with it’s new Denso unit and it didn’t feel any different from the others. 

[lip]

If the Denso units aren't correcting the heat issues, than it's most definitely a design flaw.

I dont know how much a new fan design will help in this mater, because frankly Nova cramps the engine into such a small compartment (compared to virtually every other bus manufacturer) so it doesnt give much space between the rear of the bus. I guess that's why the back seats always feels like one is always sitting on a sauna. This is where having an extra 1 foot of space really comes in handy on a 40 foot bus design. Orion made ~42 foot long buses, New Flyer ~41 foot.

The thing that irritates me is how NovaBus wouldn't check these poor air flow circulation issues in their product testing. Either they found it and ignored the issue, or just geuninely dont know about it which i highly doubt. Maybe more vents would help, but clearly Nova doesnt seem to care much.

[ViaRail6440]

Hi All:

Looking through some old HSR pictures and noticed that the 14xx's CNG Xcelsiors have a plaque/info label to the right of the passenger headlight in between the license plate. Does anyone know what it says, or have a detailed picture?

[Articulated]

1 hour ago, ViaRail6440 said:

Hi All:

Looking through some old HSR pictures and noticed that the 14xx's CNG Xcelsiors have a plaque/info label to the right of the passenger headlight in between the license plate. Does anyone know what it says, or have a detailed picture?

Instructions for use of the bike rack. All HSR buses have them installed.

[CLRV4094]

DE60LFR 0610 has returned to service today on the 10, 55 and 58 after being down since September.

Edit-On December 29th, 0615 also returned to service on the 2 after also being down since September as well.

Edited December 29, 2020 by CLRV4094

[H4 5600]

Vicinity 1840 is tracking on the 2 barton.

[Wonka]

On 1/11/2021 at 2:08 PM, H4 5600 said:

Vicinity 1840 is tracking on the 2 barton.

 

I saw it yesterday at Barton and Woodward running mostly empty. Very weird.

[newflyerinvero]

I'm wondering whether or not they'll return to to serving the 6/7/8?

[JRM1000]

13 hours ago, Wonka said:

 

I saw it yesterday at Barton and Woodward running mostly empty. Very weird.

Could have been a wrong assignment. It was changed off with 714. 

[newflyerinvero]

Just seen a few minutes ago, via Transee, that 2009 DE60LFR #922 is on 44-Rymal.

[JRM1000]

On 1/13/2021 at 4:40 PM, newflyerinvero said:

Just seen a few minutes ago, via Transee, that 2009 DE60LFR #922 is on 44-Rymal.

It’s more than likely a regular assignment due to COVID. It shows, twice, that run was assigned 1210, then changed off with an artic, and 1606, then was changed off with an artic. It’s got an artic on it tonight as well. 

[CLRV4094]

XN60 1433 is on the 44 

[Wayside Observer]

2 HSR workers fired because of COVID-19 complications related to organ transplants: union

I read this article top to bottom and wow.  Wow.  Just wow.

How separated is HSR management from the city of Hamilton?  Is there a board/commission like the TTC has or do they take instruction directly from the city?  The callousness here makes me think it's the second with the way Hamilton's run by a nasty old boy's club that behaves like it fell right out of 1950.

[Hamilton]

From 2021 HSR Budget

For 2021 the following enhancements are scheduled to be implemented September 2021:

 

• Service enhancements on Route 44 Rymal and Route 20 A-Line 
• Routing changes and improved connectivity on the Stoney Creek mountain
• 13 additional buses
• 35 new staff
• Approximately 46,000 additional service hours A fare increase of $0.05 as of September 2021

Director of Transit, Debbie Dalle Vedove, also provided Committee with information related to the major trends and issues HSR is facing in 2021 and beyond. Highlights of the trends and issues include:

• HSR’s role in helping to address the climate emergency – HSR has one of the greenest fleets in Canada. Currently 51 per cent of HSR buses run on compressed natural gas.
• Long term impacts resulting from COVID-19, recovery planning and the Safe Restart Agreement Funding that will support transit agencies with revenue resulting from the pandemic
• The construction and completion of a second maintenance and storage facility. HSR is over capacity at the Mountain Transit Centre on Upper James and requires additional space to accommodate and maintain its fleet.
•  

From the Spectator

In Hamilton, councillors voted Tuesday to never again buy another diesel bus — but that was mostly a formality, since all new buses purchased since 2013 have run on cleaner-burning compressed natural gas (CNG).

Nearly half of the 267 buses in the HSR fleet still run on diesel, although some are hybrids. Regardless, all of the aging diesel buses will need to be replaced within four years.

An electric bus costs up to $1.2 million compared to an $700,000 CNG equivalent — and charging infrastructure is pricey, too. The federal and provincial governments put up more than $40 million toward Oakville’s recent commitment to replace dozens of diesel buses with electric over six years.

[Seashore_518203]

16 hours ago, Hamilton said:

For 2021 the following enhancements are scheduled to be implemented September 2021:

Just a word of caution, the enhancements are only proposed at this time and have not been approved. The enhancements coincide with year 5 of the 10 year transit service plan, which was postponed in 2020 due to Covid-19. The budget approval is not expected until March or April so at this time, it is a proposal only.

[TTC4120fan]

Pardon my ignorance, but I noticed that wiki was updated to list 0601 and 0602 as retired. I thought that these were still in storage along with a group of early 07’s. Has this been confirmed, or is it someone simply editing the wiki because they have been out of service for such a long time?

[Wayside Observer]

2 HSR bus drivers reinstated

"The City of Hamilton can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted."

With apologies to Winston Churchill.

[Seashore_518203]

18 hours ago, TTC4120fan said:

Pardon my ignorance, but I noticed that wiki was updated to list 0601 and 0602 as retired. I thought that these were still in storage along with a group of early 07’s. Has this been confirmed, or is it someone simply editing the wiki because they have been out of service for such a long time?

Buses 0601, 0602, 0701-0709 are not officially retired at this point. They are in storage. If City Council approves expansion plans for September, then the vehicles will be required and put back in service. No new bus deliveries are planned before that time. So, the answer is, technically they are not retired at this point.

[buschic]

Thanks for the update.

I’m missing my hometown so bad, but might be moving back in the next year or so, as my employer is moving to Hamilton (Amazon)

[Vekoma]

17 hours ago, buschic said:

Thanks for the update.

I’m missing my hometown so bad, but might be moving back in the next year or so, as my employer is moving to Hamilton (Amazon)

It does make me wonder, with the amazon DC opening in Mount Hope, what should the HSR do with this corridor? I imagine alot of these employees will use transit and currently the A-Line is the only route that services Airport road. The proposed enhancements to route 20 for September would need to include all day service as well as weekend service. Perhaps it would also make sense to extended the 27 to the Airport.

[Thomasw]

Before somebody undoes my edit to the wiki like last time.. 932 is officially retired! It was wrapped around a pole on the 12th during a snowstorm. I have screenshots from the operator who wrapped it around the pole. Repairs were estimated at 1.2 million so it was considered a write off.

[Chris W]

29 minutes ago, Thomasw said:

Before somebody undoes my edit to the wiki like last time.. 932 is officially retired! It was wrapped around a pole on the 12th during a snowstorm. I have screenshots from the operator who wrapped it around the pole. Repairs were estimated at 1.2 million so it was considered a write off.

Hopefully everybody on the bus was okay. That's the main thing.

Now onto the tone of your post. I had to revert the changes you made prior after getting confirmation from my HSR contact about the 0700s and 0600 hybrids, which you erroneously listed as retired. You also listed 932 as retired on February 12, 2020, which is a typo I have since corrected. Your attitude in the above post (particularly the beginning) is very defensive and I'd recommend changing it and double-checking your sources prior to posting. 

[Thomasw]

24 minutes ago, Chris W said:

Hopefully everybody on the bus was okay. That's the main thing.

Now onto the tone of your post. I had to revert the changes you made prior after getting confirmation from my HSR contact about the 0700s and 0600 hybrids, which you erroneously listed as retired. You also listed 932 as retired on February 12, 2020, which is a typo I have since corrected. Your attitude in the above post (particularly the beginning) is very defensive and I'd recommend changing it and double-checking your sources prior to posting. 

When I made the edits someone had provided me with screenshots that the buses hadn’t been in service for over a year and a half so I assumed they were retired. I don’t live on Hamilton so I wasn’t aware that these buses were in storage. I appreciate that someone changes they’re status to stored to avoid confusing. Regarding my tone. I didn’t someone to automatically think that because I messed up once, this new edit must also be false and remove it. Sorry if you misinterpreted it.