HarvestmanMan Posted February 4, 2015 Share #1 Posted February 4, 2015 TANK can be seen as SORTA/Cincinnati Metro's little brother in some ways. The fleet is smaller overall, ridership is far lower, and routes are much more limited. However, this also means that TANK has fewer buses to maintain, resulting in longer bus life in general: whereas SORTA has retired most of its 2000 Gilligs, all but eleven are still on TANK's roster. (The eleven that were retired are for sale at Midwest Bus and can be viewed on their website.) Most buses in the system are Gilligs and are part of a 2100 numbering series (continuously numbered, so lower numbers = older buses), and unlike most of SORTA's roster, buses are not being retired in numerical order. Also unlike SORTA, all of TANK's buses in the old paint scheme appear to have been repainted simultaneously. As a result, the only immediate feature that distinguishes the older (2000-02) Gilligs from the others is the green destination board. The real oddballs in the fleet are four 2007 Gillig Advantage diesel-electric buses, which use a 600-series numbering scheme, two 2012 Gillig Advantage diesel-electric buses, which (for whatever reason) are numbered 706 through 708, and nine 2006 Gillig BRTs, which serve TANK Express routes. Some 2000-era buses appear to have been set aside for now, but I'm not sure whether they are retired for good, or used for backup/high-demand service. Limited-Service TANK Buses by harvestmanman, on Flickr Limited-Service TANK Buses by harvestmanman, on Flickr In numerical order, here are the TANK buses that I've caught in action around the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. 2108 Buses And Retail: A Winning Combination by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2109 Exposed To The Elements by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2113 TANK 2113 by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2138 TANK 2138 by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2140 2140 - Eastern Expedition by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2142 TANK 2142 by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2147 TANK 2147 by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2159 TANK 2159, Front by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2176 Run Over By A TANK! by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2177 TANK 2177 by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2188 NKU Shuttle 2188 by harvestmanman, on Flickr 2196 (a 2014 model and the newest bus in the fleet) 2196 Mall Run by harvestmanman, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quill Depot Posted February 4, 2015 Share #2 Posted February 4, 2015 Cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvestmanMan Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted February 5, 2015 Cool stuff. Thanks, I appreciate it. Incidentally, there is a park-and-ride right by the employee parking lot at the shop. Buses go past the shop, through an access gate, and into the parking lot. Perhaps some easy access to those retired buses could be gained by just walking across the damn parking lot...but then again, perhaps Kentucky transit cops wouldn't like that sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
161 New York Posted February 5, 2015 Share #4 Posted February 5, 2015 Thanks for sharing! Good to see other TA's being shared here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FamousNYLover Posted February 6, 2015 Share #5 Posted February 6, 2015 Excellent photos! TANK is funny name for bus company! It looks confusing with tanks and TANKS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvestmanMan Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted February 7, 2015 Thanks for sharing! Good to see other TA's being shared here Excellent photos! TANK is funny name for bus company! It looks confusing with tanks and TANKS! TANKs for the compliments. And now for something completely...the same, really. 708 - one of the hybrid buses. I rode on this one for about an hour, it's quieter compared to the normal models. 880 2107 in the shop, it ran a route later but I didn't get a picture. More on this pic later... 2109 2105 and 2123 in the dead line 2133 - pulled over to the side of the shop parking lot for some reason. 2145 2149 2152 2158 Now, about that earlier picture...see the small stripes at the top? Those belong to #1913, a 1995 Flxible that TANK has kept as part of a small "heritage" fleet. This is what the old paint scheme looked like - it was also used on older buses, such as GMC fishbowls. This morning at my job!! by Gillig Bus Images © 2014 Darius Pinkston, All Rig, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.