Author Archives: Oren

Bus Photo of the Month: May 2020

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Neoplan AN460LF 1132

Neoplan AN460LF 1132

Location: South Station, Boston, MA
Operator of Vehicle: Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority
Date of Photo: January 28, 2018

The MBTA Silver Line is certainly a curious hybrid within one of the few transit agencies in the United States to operate such a wide variety of route types.  The line is served by buses, but portions of the line operate in a tunnel where the buses are powered by electricity rather than diesel.  There are named stations with signage in the style of the agency’s rail lines, and the route appears in its own color on the system map.  But once the buses reach the Boston Waterfront district, they operate on the surface seemingly like any other MBTA bus service would.  

The dual powered Neoplan buses on the SL1, SL2, and SL3 routes are reaching retirement age, and the MBTA is already testing battery powered New Flyer buses that could replace the original Silver Line fleet.  While the exact plans for replacing the Neoplans are still undecided from what I understand, there will only be so many more opportunities to ride these buses on this one of a kind line in Boston.

For more photos of the MBTA’s Neoplan AN460LF buses, please click here.

 

Rail Photo of the Month: May 2020

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R32 3521

R32 3521

Location: 125th Street/St. Nicholas Avenue Station, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: December 23, 2018

There is to be no suggestion that a subway car is somehow a Covid-19 “victim.”  However, the retirement of New York City’s oldest subway cars and the oldest subway cars in operation anywhere in the United States came unexpectedly as a result of modified fleet requirements to provide essential service in response to the ongoing pandemic.  Due to needing fewer cars to maintain peak service right now and the arrival of the final R179 cars, the R32s were officially retired on April 27, 2020.  This photo, which I took in December 2018, was one of the last ones I would ever take of this car type in revenue service.  

A total of 600 R32 cars were built and delivered in 1964 and 1965.  These cars are actually older than the MTA itself, as New York City Transit was not a part of the former agency until 1968.  Over the course of their service lives, these cars operated on just about every B Division (lettered) line at one time or another.  In their final years, they could be found on the A, C, J, and Z lines.  They outlived the R38, R40, R42, and R44 cars, all of which were built after the R32. 

The retirement of the R32 sadly also marks the end of an era on the New York City Subway, as these were the last cars in service to have a true railfan window at the front of each train.  I have fond memories of standing at the front of the Redbirds and other New York City subway cars, feeling the dank breeze coming through the storm door and watching the signals and other trackside signage go by.  Unfortunately, that is is an experience that can only live on as a memory now.

Rail Photo of the Month: April 2020

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3200 Series 3274

3200 Series 3274

Location: Quincy/Wells Station, Chicago, IL
Operator of Vehicle: Chicago Transit Authority
Date of Photo: July 9, 2014

As of this writing, the Chicago Transit Authority is the largest transit system in the United States that is still running normal weekday service despite the Covid-19 Health Crisis.  Ridership is down 82 percent on CTA trains and about 76 percent on CTA buses according to local news reports.  Transit workers are considered essential employees, so despite the “stay at home” order in place in Illinois and many other US states, they are still reporting to work in order to help other essential workers, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics, firemen, and police officers to their jobs.  Determining how much service ought to run in light of lower ridership numbers and the desire to maintain social distancing protocols is a challenge that agencies will be wrestling with as this crisis continues.  However, regardless of how much service is operated in Chicago or wherever you are, be sure to thank the transit employees and other essential employees for their service, especially in these times (assuming you yourself have essential business, otherwise, please stay home).  Being a transit employee is challenging enough in normal circumstances as it is, so your thanks will be even more appreciated now.

For more photos of CTA’s 3200 Series trains, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: April 2020

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BredaMenarinibus M321 108

BredaMenarinibus M321 108

Location: Via Torre de Argentina at Largo Argentina, Rome, Italy Operator of Vehicle: ATAC Date of Photo: February 5, 2008

There’s no sugarcoating what is on my mind right now.  I spent five months living in the heart of Rome in early 2008.  When I picture the streets of Rome, I picture bustling sidewalks and piazzas full of people.  The streets are filled with vehicular traffic, and buses go by packed with people to the point you always have to be aware of potential pickpockets.  The photos I’ve seen from Italy (among other places) in the world in light of the current Covid-19 health crisis are surreal.  I haven’t been on a transit vehicle in two weeks.  Who knows when I’ll next take a transit ride.  And let’s be honest, that’s a pretty trivial question right now.  However, I do hope that as a society, we are able to return to our normal ways of life as soon as it is safe to do so, and that the streets of Rome look more like they did at this time in 2008, pictured here, than they do today. For more photos of Rome’s BredaMenarinibus Buses, please click here.  

Bus Photo of the Month: March 2020

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NABI Metro 45C 8392

NABI Metro 45C 8392

Location: Arcadia Street at Main Street, Los Angeles, CA
Operator of Vehicle: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA)
Date of Photo: July 11, 2014

As mentioned in this post, I recently took the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle from Los Angeles to Austin.  However, in order to catch the train, I had to fly out to Los Angeles where I had about 10 hours to fill before the train departed.  I ended up making an impromptu trip out to the Southern California Railway Museum, but my previous plan had been to use most of those 10 hours for transitfanning, and at the suggestion of a good friend, focus my transitfanning on the Silver Line BRT route.  The Silver Line extends 38 miles from El Monte to San Pedro, with much of the route utilizing two transit ways in the middle of interstate highways.  As a result of this setup, the Silver Line (and the other buses using these transitways) have dedicated stations in the interstate medians that give off a “full fledged” transit station look from afar.  It is certainly a unique operation!

While I have no regrets about how I spent my Sunday in Los Angeles, I wound up taking no photos of LA transit other than some photos of Angels Flight, which was closed during my previous visit in 2014.  However, I did get a photo of the Silver Line on its street running section in Downtown LA on that same 2014 trip, which I offer as the Photo of the Month for March 2020.  On a future visit to Los Angeles, perhaps I will have the opportunity to check out the Silver Line in actuality (I did see the Harbor Transitway from the Flyaway Bus that operates between LAX and Union Station) and get additional photos of it.

For more photos of LACMTA Buses, please click here.

 

Rail Photo of the Month: March 2020

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Budd Frota A 1287

Budd Frota A 1287

Location: Paraiso Station, São Paulo, Brazil
Operator of Vehicle: Companhia do Metropolitano
de São Paulo
Date of Photo: July 24, 2010

Last week, I saw a video of all the various rolling stock types on the São Paulo, both past and present.  After watching the video, it became clear that there is now quite a bit of equipment that had not been built when I was in São Paulo nearly ten years ago.  In addition, some of the trains I rode in 2010 have been fully modernized.  The Frota A (or A Stock), seen here, was the inaugural fleet for the São Paulo Metro.  It entered service in 1974.  Starting in 2009, the trainsets were gradually withdrawn to be rebuilt in to the modernized Frota I and Frota J types.  These rebuilt trains have AC traction CBTC signalling, a full width cab, improved internal circulation for passengers, and air conditioning, among other features. However, they still retain their slanted fronts, which remind me of the front ends of the R40 Subway Cars that used to operate in New York City.

For more photos of São Paulo Metro Rolling Stock, please click here.

 

Rail Photo of the Month: February 2020

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Genesis P40 824

Genesis P40 824

Location: North Station, Boston, MA
Operator of Vehicle: Amtrak
Date of Photo: August 29, 2002

If you follow this website on Facebook, you may have noticed I took a trip on Amtrak from Los Angeles to Austin last month.  During our service stop in Tucson, AZ, I discovered that one of the two engines pulling our train was Genesis P40 824.  That number seemed familiar to me, as I thought this engine might have been on the lead end of the California Zephyr when I took that train in 2014.  It turns out my trip on the Zephyr was pulled by 823, but I had crossed paths with 824 on at least one other occasion.  In August 2002, I did a daytrip on the Downeaster, which had only started service about 9 months prior.  While I’m not sure if 824 was the engine on my train in either direction (it could have been 810 based on my photos), I did get photos of it back on this rainy August day in 2002.  At this time, 824 was painted in the “Phase IV” scheme and was a few years away from being put in long term storage.  824 is one of about fifteen P40 locomotives that was refurbished using stimulus funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, at which time it was repainted in the “Phase V” livery that it currently wears.

For more photos of Amtrak Genesis Diesel Locomotives, please click here.

 

Bus Photo of the Month: February 2020

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New Flyer E800 5208 & ETI Sakoda Trolleybus 5495

New Flyer E800 5208 & ETI Sakoda Trolleybus 5495

Location: Market Street at Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA
Operator of Vehicle: San Francisco Municipal Railway
Date of Photo: January 9, 2006

If you ignore the fact that neither bus in this photo is still in revenue service, you might think I took this photo in recent days.  A fair amount of digital ink has been devoted ot the fact that Market Street, one of the main thoroughfares in San Francisco, is now only open to public transit vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.  I took this photo in 2006, long before the “Better Market Street” plan was implemented last week, much less devised.  It just so happens that there was basically no other traffic captured in this photo, but it might be a fascinating project to try recreating the photo with the current rolling stock and reconfigured street the next time I am in San Francisco.  

For more photos of SF MUNI buses, please click here.

 

Bus Photo of the Month: January 2020

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Proterra Catalyst 3001

Proterra Catalyst 3001

Location: New Hampshire Avenue at Sunderland Place, NW, Washington, DC
Operator of Vehicle: District Department of Transportation
Date of Photo: September 7, 2018

Yesterday, I shared a photo of a vehicle type that will not be serving passengers in the new decade.  Today, we will turn our focus towards the future and look at a vehicle that I expect to be serving more and more people in the next ten years.  

There has been a longstanding desire in the transit world to operate electric vehicles due to their energy efficiencies.  While electric powered trolley buses or trackless trollies have been around for many years, I think it is only recently that bus manufacturers have developed rubber tired battery powered vehicles that do not need to run under a wire all or most of the time.  Although 99 percent of the world’s electric buses currently operate in China, they are gradually becoming more widespread elsewhere.  While it is a far cry from the 421,000 electric buses in China as of 2019, there are about 300 electric buses serving transit agencies in the United States and that number is growing.  In fact, as of November 2019, American demand for electric buses has exceeded manufacturing capacity for the first time, and only five states (Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia) do not have a single transit agency planning to procure electric buses if they have not done so already.

I’ll hopefully write about my first time on board one of DDOT’s Proterra electric buses that have been a part of the DC Circulator fleet since 2018 sometime soon.  But in the meantime, enjoy one of the first photos I took of an electric Circulator bus in late 2018.

Have you been on an electric bus yet?  If so, where was it and what did you think of it?  Post about it in the comments below!  

For more photos of DC Circulator Proterra buses, please click here.

 

Rail Photo of the Month: January 2020

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CLRV 4016

CLRV 4016

Location: Spadina Avenue at King Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Operator of Vehicle: Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
Date of Photo: March 11, 2007

It is the start of a new (Gregorian) year and decade, but some transit vehicles will not be seeing revenue service in either one.  There are several vehicle retirements one could choose to profile here, but today, we are looking at the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) fleet that made its final run this past Sunday, December 29.  These cars, and their articulated ALRV counterparts, were designed and ordered when the TTC’s fleet of PCC streetcars were at or near the end of their useful lives.  The first CLRV arrived on TTC property on December 29, 1979, exactly 42 years to the day before they would be retired. 

The CLRV was designed with the intention that it could be used as a standard streetcar design across all of Canada.  However, like similar attempts to design a universal transit vehicle in the United States, this did not prove to be a successful venture.  Although the MBTA in Boston leased three CLRV cars to test on their Green Line, they ultimately opted not to purchase CLRVs.  Ultimately, the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority was the only agency to purchase light rail vehicles from the Urban Transportation Development Corporation that built the CLRVs.  Due to the specialized parts on the CLRV that were not mass produced due to the fact no other systems operated these cars, the TTC found these cars increasingly difficult to maintain over time.

As the CLRVs approached retirement age, the TTC opted to replace them with Bombardier Flexity Outlook streetcars rater than refurbish the CLRV cars.  The last ALRV was removed from service on September 2, 2019, and the final CLRV was removed from service this past Sunday.  The TTC is retaining some cars for inclusion in a historical fleet, selling a handful of cars to transit museums, and scrapping the remainder.

I had the opportunity to ride these cars in 2007, which is the only time I’ve been to Toronto (though I’d like to go back some day).  It also turns out I got a photo of CLRV 4046 during that trip; 4046 is the only streetcar of this type to have air conditioning installed (it was done as a trial that was not carried over to any other cars).  

To see a news report from the CBC about the retirement of these cars, click here.  

For more photos of the TTC’s CLRV streetcars, please click here.