Bus Photo of the Month: November 2021

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MAN NG-363F 44420

Location: David Remez at the Old Train Station, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle: Egged
Date of Photo: May 25, 2018

In many places, bus systems are operated on a tender basis by various companies.  In these systems, a transportation ministry or some other oversight entity puts out a call for bids from interested parties to operate the service.  The idea is that the cost of operating the service will be lower if it is operated by a transportation company rather than directly by the oversight agency.  Sometimes, a company is able to maintain its tender for many years, and it is notable when a change in operator occurs.  

Egged had a near monopoly on bus services within Israel for many years, though in the past twenty years or so, many other companies have won tenders that Egged historically operated.  However, Jerusalem intracity service remained with Egged, as it had dating back to some of Egged’s predecessor companies that merged when Egged was formed.  This Friday, the second phase of transitioning some of Jerusalem’s intracity service to other companies will take effect.  In July, Superbus took over four routes serving the Old City and started operating a new route to the Old City as well.  This Friday, three new routes will be established, and two routes, 74 and 75, will transfer from Egged to Superbus.  The 74 and 75 are not nearly as “historical” as some other transport routes in the city, but the 74 is notable for being the first “rapid” route to be launched in the city back in 2008.  Seeing Superbus vehicles on this route, rather than Egged vehicles, is certainly going to take some getting used to.

For more photos of Jerusalem MAN NG-363F Buses, please click here.

Sepia Vibes in Santa Fe’s Railyard

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MPI MP36PH-3C 107 leaving Santa Fe Depot, August 3, 2018

Just south of the Santa Fe Depot in Santa Fe, NM is an area called the Railyard.  This area has been the terminal of a train line since the 1880s, and the Railyard area was in fact the rail yard serving the adjacent train depot.  As was the case in many places throughout the United States, after the construction of the Interstate Highway System, rail traffic diminished and eventually, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway discontinued service to one of its namesake destinations (though service was maintained via the short line Santa Fe Southern Railway until 2008, and then by the New Mexico Rail Runner Express).  The area became blighted due to the significant reduction in the railyard’s importance to the city.  Redevelopment plans were announced in 2002, when it was decided to make the 50 acre area an arts district owned by the City of Santa Fe that would retain the historical, industrial feel that the area had been associated with for so many years.  The area is now host to a Farmers Market, Hispanic cultural center, teen art center, restaurants, performance spaces, shops, art galleries, cinema, and residences.

Southbound New Mexico Rail Runner Express trains to Albuquerque pass through the Railyard immediately upon departure from the historic Santa Fe Depot.  When I was walking through this area in 2018 and saw the water tower adjacent to the tracks, I figured a photo of a train passing through this part of the development would be a stunning one.  Although I rarely do this, I applied a sepia tone to the photo for this post in order to give the photo a vibe that might be reminiscent of the area from a bygone era.

What do you think of the sepia tone photo?  You can compare it to the original version by clicking here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: October 2021

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MPI MP36PH-3C 102

Location: Santa Fe Depot, Santa Fe, NM
Operator of Vehicle: Herzog Transit Services (under contract to the New Mexico Department of Transportation and Rio Metro)
Date of Photo: August 3, 2018

Staying in New Mexico for the rail photo of the month, we head up to the state capitol of Santa Fe.  This is the terminal of the state’s lone commuter rail line, the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, which connects Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  Service began in 2006 on a portion of the route from Albuquerque to Sandoval County, and reached Santa Fe in 2008.  The Santa Fe Depot serves as the northern terminal of the line.  The depot building was the namesake of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, founded in 1880, but was only connected to the mainline railway by a spur due to steep grades making it difficult to connect the mainline to Santa Fe itself.  The station was little used for many years, housing the offices of the short line Santa Fe Southern Railway until 2008.  This past July, it was announced that the depot building will be overhauled and restored in accordance with the historical preservation guidelines that the station falls under.

The area around the Santa Fe Depot, known as the Railyard, has been a focus of urban renewal since 2002.  A “Viewfinder” post about that development will be coming later this week.

For more photos of the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: October 2021

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New Flyer DE40LFR 976

Location: 1st Street at Gold Avenue, Albuquerque, NM
Operator of Vehicle: ABQ RIDE
Date of Photo: August 6, 2018

As transit agencies attempt to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, some of them are turning to fare free operations to create an incentive for riders to return.  The pros and cons of fare free transit are many, and won’t be discussed here.  However, back on September 20, Albuquerque became one of the largest cities in the United States to pilot a fare free program when the city council voted on the issue.  The buses in New Mexico’s largest city will be fare free throughout all of 2022.

Although I took this picture back in 2018 when fares had to be paid to ride ABQ RIDE, it is likely that the agency is still looking to hire bus operators, as many transit agencies are currently short staffed.  I don’t think I’ve seen many agencies using their bus headsigns has a recruitment tool, but maybe I just haven’t been to the right places to see that.

What do you think of fare free pilots and/or using the bus destination sign to announce operator job openings?  Leave a comment with your opinion!

For more photos of ABQ RIDE buses, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: September 2021

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Flxible Metro-E 6177

Location: Madison Street at Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL
Operator of Vehicle: Chicago Transit Authority
Date of Photo: July 30, 2007

It has been over ten years since my last proper visit to Chicago.  I’m not sure when my next one will be, but one thing that won’t be there is a Flxible Metro-E such as this one.  The CTA retired its last Flxible Metro buses in 2010, and the fleet now consists solely of New Flyer and NovaBUS models.  

For more photos of CTA buses, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: September 2021

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Class 7200 locomotive 7273

Location: Gare d’Austerlitz, Paris, France
Operator of Vehicle: SNCF
Date of Photo: March 22, 2008

When one thinks of the national railroads of Europe, people often think of high speed trains such as the TGV.  However, there are other types of trains in Europe.  For example, the French national railroad company, SNCF, operates electric locomotives such as this one on a variety of non-TGV passenger services, as well as freight services.  Although slower than their high speed counterparts, the Class 7200 locomotives are capable of reaching speeds of 120 MPH (200 KPH) on long distance express services.  This particular locomotive was photographed at the Gare d’Austerlitz, which is currently undergoing major construction work to accommodate TGV services.

For more photos of SNCF locomotives, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: August 2021

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R46 5994

Location: Broad Channel Station, Queens, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: September 3, 2019

In late June, the first of the new R211 cars was delivered for acceptance testing, While they probably won’t enter revenue service until some time in 2022, their delivery does mark the beginning of the end for what are currently the oldest subway cars in New York, the R46s. The R46s certainly reflect the 1970s when they were built in terms of interior color scheme and other features such as transverse seating, wood paneled windscreens, and a lack of traditional straps for commuters to hold while standing. Fittingly, the R211s that will replace the R46s are also meant to revolutionize subway car design with new LED front end signage, open gangways, interior LED lighting and wider doors.

For more photos of the R46s, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: August 2021

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Orion V 69

Location: King Street Station, Alexandria, VA
Operator of Vehicle: Alexandria Transit Company
Date of Photo: June 17, 2009

The DC transit scene used to be dominated by the Orion V.  They made up a sizeable portion of WMATA’s bus fleet, and also had a significant presence at Ride On and Fairfax Connector.  Now, the only local agency to operate the bus type is DASH, and even those days are numbered.  DASH, the local bus system in the City of Alexandria, is about to undergo other changes, too.  In addition to the imminent retirement of what remains of the Orion V fleet, starting next month, DASH will be launching its redesigned bus network and going fare-free.  Along with new articulated buses from New Flyer and electric buses manufactured by Proterra, transit in Alexandria is not going to look like this come next month.  

For more photos of DASH buses, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: July 2021

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Gillig Advantage 6200

Location: Lincoln Street at Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO
Operator of Vehicle: Regional Transportation District (RTD)
Date of Photo: January 24, 2020

I typically try to post the photos of the month on the first two days of each month.  The calendar flipped to July 2021 while I was in the middle of nearly three consecutive weeks of travel (for a mix of business and pleasure), and I wasn’t able to queue up a bus photo to run ahead of time.  So here is a photo from my last pre-pandemic travels, which included a weekend in Denver to celebrate a friend’s wedding.  No other stories to share on this one, just enjoy the photo (and that I/we are back to traveling again)!

For more photos of Denver RTD buses, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: July 2021

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Type 12G 820

Location: Dam Square, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Operator of Vehicle: Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf Amsterdam (GVB)
Date of Photo: June 3, 2008

Last week, I saw an article about the retirement of two tram types in Amsterdam.  The first tram type, the Type 12G, is seen here.  These were among the first low floor trams to operate in Amsterdam, although only the middle section of the tram was actually low floor.  They were also notable for having pedal controls, due to their design being derived from the HTM 3000 Series trams in The Hauge where pedal controls are used widely.  Like most Amsterdam trams, the Type 12G Trams were single ended and required a loop at each end of the line to turn around.  The Type 12G trams were retired without fanfare on January 2, 2021.

The Type 11G trams were much more unique.  They were double ended trams assigned exclusively to Line 5, which did not have a loop at its southern end for trams to turn around.  Line 5 shared the southern portion of its route with Route 51, a hybrid Metro and tram line, at which stations would have two platforms.  A high level platform would serve Route 51, and a low level platform adjacent to the high level platform would serve Route 5.  Due to construction projects in the vicinity of the Amsterdam Zuid railway station (where routes 5 and 51 merged), the connection between Line 51 and the hybrid route to the south was severed in 2019.  Therefore, it was decided to convert this line to one that would only serve low floor trams.  As part of this conversion project, new Type 15G trams were ordered from CAF to operate on both Route 5 and new Route 25 (the replacement for Route 51) that will replace the Type 11G trams.  Although the plan had been for these cars to be retired as of early 2021, some remain in service as of this writing.

A local museum, the Elektrische Museumtramlijn Amsterdam, is acquiring one Type 11G and one Type 12G tram for preservation.  The Type 11G car that they are acquiring is #919, and the Type 12G car that will become a part of their collection is #820, seen here in 2008 at Dam Square in the center of the city.  I have a photo of 919 in my collection as well, which can be seen below.

For more photos of the Amsterdam Type 12G trams, please click here. 

For more photos of the Amsterdam Type 11G trams, please click here.