Coney Island Av

Thoughts:

-It's ironic that they eliminate the BxM11 (or turn it into the BxM5 rather) yet they don't even bother fiddling with the Bx39 which also runs directly under the ...

-The Bx15/M125 split is honestly a bad idea just like the M5/M55 fiasco. Same thing with the M100 being cut to Amsterdam/125th. 125 St is such a major corridor, and the only way this could work is if the M60 SBS is heavily increased in service.

-The Bx6 SBS change is something I honestly agree with. Having visited Hunts Point before, it's literally an industrial wasteland with little residential houses. The only places in Hunts Point where there's a considerable amount of housing is west of the Bruckner. Anything east of that is literally tumbleweeds. I don't think anyone would care if the Bx6 SBS were to be rerouted because given the area is very low-density, the Bx6 Local and Bx46 would do fine there. 

-The BxM17 is actually interesting and not bad. It provides support to the BxM7, and gives Co-op City express access to Lower Manhattan. 

-Cutting the Q50 to PBP is honestly a bad idea. That route is very crucial in connecting not just Co-op City with Queens, but also the East Bronx in general. If the Q50 were to be cut back, it would lose a significant amount of ridership... Not to mention that the Bx23 might have to be heavily increased in order for it to be the sole Co-op City Loop service. Also, the Bx26 and Bx28 don't need to have their Co-op City terminals changed. They work fine as-is and it wouldn't really make a difference slightly cutting them back.

3253-3257 is now being delivered to NYC. 

The amount of five-car sets we have now are:

3010-3019, 3238-3252, and now 3253-3257.

Honestly, MTA did have to retire the RTS at some point regardless of how long they could last, but what they should've done was keep at least half or one-third of the RTS in service until the XD40 and LFS orders were completed. That way, we wouldn't have had to worry about any shortages, and the additional RTS could've been used as storage in case of an emergency. 

Plus it's not like every single neighborhood complained about them. ENY and Brownsville were the only neighborhoods mainly complaining. The rest of the neighborhoods weren't complaining a lot, and even if they did, complaints there were in the minority. And besides, they were the best buses that could hold up at such a long lifespan. There were other buses that were in much worse condition than the RTS at even just 15-16 years of age. 

3190-3193 and 3206-3209 are apparently now on the  

This weekend I got quite a few shots of the R179s and R32s on the  (I mean )...

This was the first time that not just the R179s, but also NTTs in general have run on one of the shuttles. The R179s actually looked good running on the shuttle for once.

Anyways...

I will really miss the RTS. They were my absolute favorite buses, even moreso than the D60HFs and Orion Vs. I've caught them on many, many routes, out of many, many depots. I sadly didn't make it to the display at 2 Broadway mainly because of school, which I couldn't afford to skip. However, I waited at Quill for the RTS to show up, so I could catch them heading back inside the depot. After a little while, I saw both 5241 and 5249 on the West Side Highway, not too far away from the Circle Line ferry terminal (the M42/M50 terminal). What I didn't expect was that the two buses layed over for a little while at the terminal for photo shoots. 

I'll try and post more pics later. But for now, enjoy, and see if you can spot the difference between 5241 and 5249!

What's with all this commotion about the RTS being displayed on Monday?

Is there a specific time it will be on display because I might wanna check it out if I have the chance? I already know it'll most likely be at 2 Broadway. 

I mean even though the RTS are "retired" there's still a lot of nostalgic buses left.

The buses I will focus on now are:

Short-Term

2001-2002 MCI D4500 (out of CP, YUK, ECH, BP) 

2002-2004 Orion VII Hybrids (out of MHV and QV)

Both of these will retire soon, and the 2001-02 MCIs will most likely be the first ones to be killed by the new express order given how old they are.

Long-Term

2004-2007 MCI

2004-2007 Orion VII Hybrids

2010-2019 LFSA 

2017-2019 XN60

2011-2019 LFS

Things I won't fan:

Orion VII NGs (least favorite bus)

XD40s 

XN40s

42 minutes ago, Autocar said:

It's a very sad day that the end of the RTS Era has arrived.  It only proves my theory that the NYCT still lives by the credo of "Scrap First and Ask Questions Later ". They never learn. The reporter who wrote the now infamous article about the RTS model buses in my opinion belongs in prison and the Transit Executives who are responsible for pulling perfectly serviceable buses from doing what they were supposed to be doing should join the reporter in jail because they are guilty of Criminal actions.  This is a grave injustice. 

The wound isn't deep lmao. It's not like the doctors have bad band-aid maintenance...

Back on topic...

Although 7815 and 7817 may still be at WF, there most likely just waiting to be scrapped or moved to ECH because none of the Orion VII CNGs at WF have seen service since last week...

9 hours ago, MHV9218 said:

5221 en route to scrap from Quill (under its own power). All others on hold.

One RTS (5240) was out of Quill this morning.

Edit: posted same time. I think that bus just stayed out over night after breaking down on the M72, but maybe it ran.

Very unhappy about this whole thing. These buses should not have been sidelined in working service, and shame for a great era to end because of Daily News politics. Buses should be scrapped as necessary, not fleets at a time. 

I'm very disappointed about this as well. The MTA pulled the RTS from service fast over petty complaints just over broke residents from the Brownsville and ENY area yet wealthy UES residents didn't complain about the Quill RTS. Besides, the RTS obviously had a lot of life, and they could've made it to 25 years of service if maintained/rebuilt properly. Now in June or July that constant want to get rid of the RTS will come back to bite them in the a**  as there's most likely gonna be a shortage by then. 

The article about residents complaining was also highly inaccurate, and was most likely just done without any prior knowledge or research. I swear the agency can't do anything right nowadays smh...

Other than that, I'll really miss the RTS. They were my favorite buses by a long shot, and I would hunt them down often over fanning the subway and catching XD40s (which I find to be inferior). I caught them at ENY, Quill, Jamaica, Flatbush, Fresh Pond, Grand Av, and LGA on a lot of routes. They've also outlived both the D60HFs and Orion Vs, and they even also outlived the Orion VII CNGs (although not officially retired, they've been a no-show throughout the last few days, so it's safe to say there done). 

My rarest catches:

-1996 RTS 9307 on the Q69, Q72, Q101 (when there were only two-three 1996s left, they mostly ran on the Q102 shuttle)

-1998-1999 RTS 5204 on the B26

-2002-2003 D60HF 114 on the M14A (after Quill lost its D60s)

-2003-2004 Orion VII CNG 7819 on the Bx19 (snow loan)

-2002-04 Orion VII Hybrid 6415 on the M1 and M7 (green-signed) 

-2002-04, 2006-07 Orion VII Hybrids on the Bx8, Bx11 and Bx35 (green-signed, plus the orange-signed 2006s) 

-2001 MCI D4500 2209 on the QM31 (rare now since there are just two 2001s left in the city) 

-2002 MCI D4500 2848 on the BM3 (recently when BP loaned 2848 to SC) 

-2017-2018 Alexander Dennis SuperLo 0022 and MCI CRT LE 0023 demos (caught both on the X17J)

I know most, or all of these catches weren't rare back in the day, but to me they're rare since I only started busfanning recently (mid-2018).

31 minutes ago, Orion6025 said:

Damn 20 to 10 in one day they're really on their stuff lmfao

Actually, they went from 20 to 14, then it dropped to ten. These scrap moves happened over the weekend and today. 

1 hour ago, S78 via Hylan said:

Which bus lines are or have been your home routes?

For me:

Staten Island: S40, S42, S44, S52, S74, S76, S78

Brooklyn: B13, B26, B43, B44, B52, Q24, Q56

And now that I just moved to NJ: 13 and 27

 

On the subject of getting rare catches without using Bustime, I can recall the following:

-Catching an MCI or Prevost on the S89 before it became common

-Riding an RTS on the S62 (the summer of 2013 when SI was really short) and on the S78 back when YU had RTSes 

There’s probably more that I can’t remember at the moment.

Home routes:

Bx19, M3, M10

Rare bus catches for me:

RTS:

-9307 on the Q69, Q72, and Q101 (in November-December 2018, so rare as only 9307 and 9348 were remaining back then) 

-5204 on the B26 (rare even before the RTS started retiring)

D60HF:

-114 (ex-5559) on the M14A (in January 2019, way after Quill lost its D60HF)

-1098 (a 1996-1998 D60) on the M15 back in 2009, the only pre-2002 D60HF I caught since I didn't really do a lot of busfanning back in the day 

Orion VII:

-7819 on the Bx19 (only happened due to snow loans, January 2019) 

-6415 on the M1 and M7 (same reason above)

Didn't catch a lot of rare stuff since I only got into busfanning seriously last year. 

Ulmer is clinging onto it's nine remaining RTS, Quill still has 19 RTS, and FB has 13 RTS, so altogether, there's still 41 in active service. 

Overall, I've caught the RTS out of these depots:

ENY 

Flatbush

Fresh Pond

Grand Av 

Jamaica

LGA 

Quill

Ulmer Park 

Is it just me or do I think that tomorrow's gonna be a full blown disaster along the ? Remember the weekend  shutdown starts tomorrow.

While FB and MJQ have been mass retiring the RTS as of late, it's been slow the last few days for Ulmer Park. 4996 and 5090 are both out right now on the B6 and B3 respectively and it remains to be seen if the last eight RTS out of Ulmer make it through the weekend (knowing MTA, they probably won't). 

If the XD40 order for WF is already complete, then what's gonna replace the last five remaining Orion VII CNGs there? 

Are 7816-7818 dead? They haven't run in a while. 

11 hours ago, R68OnBroadway said:

My guess is that they didn’t want to preserve a 4 car set and figured that they would just preserve an R46 (my guess is that they will keep one of the 2 car sets). It’s also possible that the cars were so deteriorated that they didn’t want any more or that they couldn’t secure a set in time. 

Speaking of that, do they plan on doing anything with 3350-3351 and 4665-4460? The cars have been sitting at CI for quite some time and the latter doesn’t seem to be looking too good...

Thing is, the 4665-4660 pair had some cosmetic work done to it a few years ago. A blue stripe was installed on the front of 4665 I believe and it was done to make the pair look pre-GOH like. Besides that, the pair doesn't seem to be looking too bad, as last I checked, I only saw minor rust on the roofs.

In addition to 3350-3351 and the R40M-R42 pair, there are also two R16s (6305 and 6339) and one D-Type (6112) that are also preserved. The R32 is in excellent condition. With the two R16s, however, not too good. Although 6305 got a repaint into the blue/white MTA livery back in 2013, the paint has since chipped off. As for 6339, it's missing number plates with corrosion on the side. The D-Type (6112) is in good condition, and the reason why it's at Coney Island is because it had motor problems at the Parade of Trains last year. However, that set should be up and running soon. 

8 hours ago, East New York said:

Good afternoon fellas! After a long hard decision, I have decided to retire from NYCTF for multiple reasons. I’ve been extremely busy lately, and have a business to tend to. I will try to comment here and there and help out with information when and if I can. It’s been a great 11 years, and I want to thank everyone who helped and contributed to making this place what it is today. 

I did say long ago that I would retire when the RTS did. I guess that time has finally come! 

Thanks a lot for your contributions, and valuable information for the past decade or so.

You had a good time here on the forums. Goodbye for now.

5070, 5160, 5165, and 5191 are all apparently still on hold out of JA, (not scrap yet, according to the TTMG roster).

Never mind, delete.

19 hours ago, ABOGbrooklyn said:

The MTA just updated their website on The Sea Beach construction completion from Spring 2019 to Summer 2019. Next thing we know they'll change it to Fall 2019 then Winter...

What about never...

*sarcasm* 

2848: Baisley Park to Spring Creek

(according to the recent TTMG roster update)

I was on a transit museum tour of Hale Depot a few days ago, and our tour guide (who works for the bus side of MTA) said that the transit museum hasn't preserved a D60HF (or articulated bus) yet. He didn't say they won't preserve one at all. Also said that at least one type of each retired type of bus would be saved (like 5249, 93001, 2185, etc.) 

There's also no issue with not preserving a D60HF since they run on diesel fuel. Plus, the D60HF are an important part of history since they were the first successful artics. The Orion VII CNG is kinda understandable given they run on diesel fuel, but with the D60HFs, there's absolutely no problem with preserving one.