Orion V 9441 Posted January 24, 2014 Share #1 Posted January 24, 2014 From the Woodstock Sentinel-Review: City of Woodstock retires antique bus 2 By Codi Wilson, Woodstock Sentinel-Review Monday, January 20, 2014 5:14:41 EST PM Woodstock Transit employee Ray Harrison stands beside the oldest member of Woodstock Transit's fleet, a 1976 GM Canada bus, which will soon be retired now that the city has purchased a new NOVA bus. (CODI WILSON, Sentinel-Review) Change text size for the story Print Report an error The oldest member of Woodstock Transit’s fleet has finally reached the end of the line. The 1976 antique GM Canada bus will be official retired as soon as the city’s newly purchased Nova Bus vehicle is ready for service. “These things were the backbone of the fleet for many, many years,” said Ray Harrison, lead hand for Woodstock Transit. “You can’t kill them.” Harrison said he has driven the antique bus a thousand times since he began working for Woodstock Transit 15 years ago. “I’ll be sad to see it go,” he said. Harrison said that the bus, which was made in London, Ont., hardly ever shows its age and has been great to drive over the years. “You get great vision all the way around,” he said. “They go like mad. When they are in good physical shape, they can keep up to any traffic. You don’t have to worry about the bus crawling in front of you.” The bus has also been a crowd-favourite with transit-goers, he said. “These are way more comfortable. The seats on the new buses are really hard. These are well-padded and it is not a bumpy ride.” Although the old bus is not used in regular service, over the past month, the antique GM has had a bit of a last hurrah after some minor problems occurred with some of the newer members of the fleet. “It always runs,” Harrison said. “These things are just kind of indestructible.” City of Woodstock engineer Harold de Haan said over the years, the bus has developed a bit of a following. “We do have some fan groups that kind of come every so often to take a look at it,” he said. The bus, which was purchased new and has been rebuilt twice, is still in good working order but de Haan said it is not financially feasible to keep it in the fleet. “It is fairly expensive to keep a piece of equipment up and running legally that is not going to be used on a regular basis,” he said. “It still has to be serviced and safetied and everything on a regular basis so if you aren’t using it… you really can’t make an economic argument for it.” The new Nova bus, which cost the city approximately $460,000, still needs a few additions before it will be ready to roll. “The newer buses, the advantage, in addition to them being new, is they are fully accessible to all the current regulations and guidelines and today’s standards,” de Haan said. “A few years ago we had the oldest fleet in the province pretty much so the city has been working hard the last decade to update the fleet and is slowly buying newer buses and getting rid of older ones.” The city is looking into the possibility of donating the antique bus to a transit museum in Hamilton. “That would be a good place for this old girl,” Harrison said. This is the final end of the line for the GM Fishbowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ MC Posted January 24, 2014 Share #2 Posted January 24, 2014 Wow, this is the end of an era for real. Since 1959 there has been thousands of GM Fishbowls running around in the US and Canada. Here is a link to a video about this story. http://london.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=281572 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo19 Posted January 25, 2014 Share #3 Posted January 25, 2014 Yeah I seen this before. Truly a feat to keep it running in service for this long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ MC Posted January 25, 2014 Share #4 Posted January 25, 2014 Yeah I seen this before. Truly a feat to keep it running in service for this long. 38 years of service is something no bus built today will ever match. Have to thank many people for building a product, which has stood the test of time. Also have to give thanks to Woodstock for keeping 14 in such great condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theaveragejoe Posted January 25, 2014 Share #5 Posted January 25, 2014 You can still go to Calgary and ride the Spruce Meadow shuttle during big race events that is run by Red Arrow and ride the Fishbowls and Classics that are used on the shuttle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion V 9441 Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share #6 Posted January 25, 2014 That is true, but Thise are specials services. I am talking about buses that operate normal revenue service. From that definition, that MTA would still have GMs active on route M42, but that is just a special service around christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ MC Posted January 25, 2014 Share #7 Posted January 25, 2014 You can still go to Calgary and ride the Spruce Meadow shuttle during big race events that is run by Red Arrow and ride the Fishbowls and Classics that are used on the shuttle. That maybe true, but that will never compare to when thousands of them ruled the roads of the US and Canada. When you could ride them on a regular basis as well as see them on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo19 Posted January 25, 2014 Share #8 Posted January 25, 2014 That is true, but Thise are specials services. I am talking about buses that operate normal revenue service. From that definition, that MTA would still have GMs active on route M42, but that is just a special service around christmas. That is true. Granted this unit has lasted as long as it did, I wonder how long until a similar statement holds true for say the RTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ MC Posted January 26, 2014 Share #9 Posted January 26, 2014 That is true. Granted this unit has lasted as long as it did, I wonder how long until a similar statement holds true for say the RTS. Well OCTA did retire their RTS after 30 years if I'm not mistaken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo19 Posted January 26, 2014 Share #10 Posted January 26, 2014 Well OCTA did retire their RTS after 30 years if I'm not mistaken. Yes, and many are still on the road, but imagine 4 decades in service. Shit, might not even happen at this rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion V 9441 Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share #11 Posted January 26, 2014 Here in toronto, our 1998 RTS' will be retired next year in 2015. After that, the TTC will only have low floors in active service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted January 29, 2014 Share #12 Posted January 29, 2014 38 years of service is something no bus built today will ever match. And you can prove that how exactly? If a bus gets built today you cant say whether or not its gonna stand the test of 38 years service time. VDL Ambassadors built since 2003 are running in most areas (in various countries!) without a single breakdown, so far. The oldest from 2003 (most of em, at least) are running 11 years without a single breakdown. So its not like as if we cant built buses today that will match so many years of service. I mean: 11 years and counting without ever breaking down seems to me like 20 years of service would be feasible, and possibly 30 with a rebuild in which case it comes close to the Fishbowls. Unless you meant 2014 by "today", in which case it's hard to say. If something gets build today, how do you know if it's gonna stand the test of time unless it proves to be a crap bus from the get-go? OT: wow, this is absolutely great news! I love those Fishbowls! Hopefully a transit museum will take good care of this baby Yes, and many are still on the road, but imagine 4 decades in service. Shit, might not even happen at this rate. Depends. This one, for example, is 30+ years old now and still in service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ MC Posted January 29, 2014 Share #13 Posted January 29, 2014 And you can prove that how exactly? If a bus gets built today you cant say whether or not its gonna stand the test of 38 years service time. VDL Ambassadors built since 2003 are running in most areas (in various countries!) without a single breakdown, so far. The oldest from 2003 (most of em, at least) are running 11 years without a single breakdown. So its not like as if we cant built buses today that will match so many years of service. I mean: 11 years and counting without ever breaking down seems to me like 20 years of service would be feasible, and possibly 30 with a rebuild in which case it comes close to the Fishbowls. Unless you meant 2014 by "today", in which case it's hard to say. If something gets build today, how do you know if it's gonna stand the test of time unless it proves to be a crap bus from the get-go? OT: wow, this is absolutely great news! I love those Fishbowls! Hopefully a transit museum will take good care of this baby Depends. This one, for example, is 30+ years old now and still in service. Most buses built today in the US won't see 30 years of service with the same transit system. The MTA for example is pushing to retire buses every 12 years now (God knows if they can actually pull it off, but time will tell). Some systems might squeeze 15-20 years out of them depending on the TA itself (I know Canada will be pushing 18-20 years on their low floors). Also comparing buses from other counties outside of North America is like comparing an apple to an orange. They maybe buses, but buses in other countries are built very differently compared to here and duty cycles are also different. The quality of buses now is not as good as it use to be. When Disney Transport recieved it's first Nova LFS models in 2000-2002, they were plagued with problems and still are to this day. They were regarded as junk by the drivers. Now for Gilligs, they're okay, but not perfect either as breakdowns happen across the state. Couldn't tell you the many times I've seen and heard of the newer Gillig BRTs breaking down around my area, then to be replaced by 14 year old high floor buses. I can't comment on the Xcelsior models yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttcsubwayfan Posted January 30, 2014 Share #14 Posted January 30, 2014 And you can prove that how exactly? If a bus gets built today you cant say whether or not its gonna stand the test of 38 years service time. VDL Ambassadors built since 2003 are running in most areas (in various countries!) without a single breakdown, so far. Really? Not a single breakdown, or no significant ones? I find it hard to believe that a bus - any bus - can go 11 years without so much as a minor failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vistausss Posted January 30, 2014 Share #15 Posted January 30, 2014 Really? Not a single breakdown, or no significant ones? I find it hard to believe that a bus - any bus - can go 11 years without so much as a minor failure. Most of those VDL Ambassadors have not had a single breakdown in 11 years. I know it s hard to believe but its true. The new VDL Citeas are going without a single breakdown for 1,5 years now, I wonder how they will hold up but since I'm a VDL fan I have good hopes (but don't mistake me: I'm also a New Flyer fan, esp. the Xcelsior which is my second favorite bus in the world!) @DJ MC: I was talking about a particular model, namely the VDL Ambassador. Sure, there are modern crap buses here too like those Mercedes-Benz Citaro's that keep breaking down very frequently ever since they reached 4 years old. What do you mean with "duty cycles" in this case? You mean the distances traveled? Some rural routes here are very long, easily comparable to an NYC city bus route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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