Bus Photo of the Month: July 2019

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Oren

New Flyer XDE40 2015

Location: Jefferson Drive and 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC
Operator of Vehicle: District Department of Transportation (DDOT)
Date of Photo: September 14, 2016

In just a few days, thousands will gather on the National Mall in Washington, DC to celebrate Independence Day. Although it doesn’t operate on July 4th due to the various street closures along its route, the DC Circulator National Mall route is a great way to travel between the various museums and monuments that line the Mall. It is also a great way to get photos of transit vehicles and those same landmarks in a single shot! I took this photo in September 2016 because I was able to capture the bus itself using a classic 3/4 roster shot but also the Washington Monument in the background. Although some other area bus operators have routes that travel near landmarks such as the Washington Monument and Capitol building, I think it is fair to say that Circulator has the most plentiful options for transit photography with these national landmarks.

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

Bus Photo of the Month: April 2019

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Oren

New Flyer C40LF 2302

Location: 16th Street, NW at Q Street, Washington, DC
Operator of Vehicle: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)
Date of Photo: July 19, 2007

It may be April Fool’s Day, but this is no April Fool’s Joke! If you’re familiar with DC area bus assignments, you’ll know that C40LF buses were never assigned to Northern Division, the longtime home of the S2 route. I also don’t photoshop my photos in that way. So what’s the deal here? Sometimes in a pinch, a bus from a “foreign” division gets put in to service on a route in order to maintain service in the event of a service interruption. For transit fans and those who enjoy taking photos of unusual circumstances, coming across an instance such as this is quite fun, as it allows for taking photos that are really hard to come by. To my knowledge, this is the only time a C40LF was documented as operating on this route during their service lives. So even though it is April 1st and perhaps not everything on the internet is believable today, don’t forget to take a second look. Sometimes, the unexpected is still legitimate.

For more photos of WMATA’s New Flyer C40LF buses, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: March 2019

Posted on March 2, 2019 by Oren

Van Hool A300K 1133

Location: M Street, NW at Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC
Operator of Vehicle: District Department of Transportation (DDOT)
Date of Photo: March 13, 2015

Yesterday’s post was about a DC area equipment type that is no longer operating. Today’s post is about an equipment type that is still plying the streets of the nation’s capital nearly a year after it was expected to be retired. When DDOT placed its new Proterra electric buses in to service about a year ago, it was assumed that the remaining Van Hool buses would be retired. However, nearly 12 months after the Proterras’ debut, the “baby” Van Hools are still in service. The Van Hools certainly aren’t my favorite bus type in the current DC Circulator fleet; I’d much rather see a New Flyer pull up instead (I have yet to ride a Proterra, but they don’t seem to be operating entire service days just yet). But if you are a fan of a bus type that is rarely found in the United States or buses that seem to have nine lives, you may want to hunt down one of the Van Hool A300Ks while you have the chance. Their days may be numbered, and one day that prediction will be right.

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

Rail Photo of the Month: March 2019

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Oren

CAF 5013

Location: Prince George’s Plaza Station, Hyattsville, MD
Operator of Vehicle: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Date of Photo: July 2, 2007

The DC Metrorail will be celebrating its 43rd anniversary later this month, but one of its newer classes of rolling stock is no longer around to commemorate the occasion. WMATA exercised an option order on its new 7000 Series cars from Kawasaki in order to retire the CAF built 5000 Series trains as opposed to rehabbing them. Typically, a Metrorail car can have a service life of nearly 40 years if it is rehabilitated or overhauled after about 20 years of service. However, the CAFs have been lemons in a variety of ways since they arrived on Metro property. First, their delivery was delayed due to a variety of software and other manufacturing issues. Once they arrived, the CAF cars derailed more often than the other car classes (fortunately, within train yards except on one occasion), they also broke down more often than the other car classes. However, the CAFs left positive impressions on WMATA’s history. They were the first cars to feature the updated interior colors of Potomac Blue, Colonial Burgundy, and Chesapeake Sand, the first cars to have LED exterior destination signage, the first cars to have interior LED next stop displays, the first cars to be delivered with AC traction motors, and the first cars to have a module on the operator’s console to help troubleshoot problems on board the train.

The 5000 Series cars are also notable for being the first heavy rail contract CAF received from a North American agency. The company has won additional contracts in the US since then, including for the construction of MBTA’s Type 9 cars and Amtrak’s Viewliner IIs. CAF has also been contracted to build the light rail cars that will be used on the Purple Line in the Maryland suburbs. I’ve heard other transit fans complain about the quality of CAF products, and they also cite delivery delays on these and other contracts. However, I’ve been on CAF built trains in Spain and Italy in addition to DC. In my experience, the CAF trains I have been on in Europe seem to be well constructed and reliable.

WMATA’s 5000 Series cars were removed from revenue service in October 2018, although some are being used as part of work trains as of this writing. And while they may not be a part of Metro’s story going forward and didn’t even remain in service for 20 years, the CAF cars will always be a part of Metro’s history in the early 21st century.

For more photos of WMATA’s 5000 Series cars, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: November 2018

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Oren

Breda Rehab 3279

Location: Friendship Heights Station, Washington, DC
Operator of Vehicle: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Date of Photo: August 30, 2004

This website rarely delves in to current events that aren’t transit related. However, in thinking what photo to feature this month, my current need for a “comfort image” (think comfort food but in this case it is transit photography) as a result of current events in the wider world won out, and I am opting to feature a photo from my “home station” for much of my childhood. The Friendship Heights station is somewhat unique in that it has entrances in both the District of Columbia and in Maryland. When I was in high school, I would enter the station each morning in Maryland, cross in to DC to board my train, and then find myself back in Maryland moments after the train left the station. Perhaps if you visit this site frequently, you find something comforting about being back at a specific train station or on board a specific bus route, especially if it has been awhile since you had the opportunity to use it. For me, there is something that just seems “right” as I enter the Friendship Heights station and await a train of “legacy” cars to whisk me away to my destination. Then once I board that train it is straight to the front to look out the front “railfan window” as I have done since I was a child.

Is there a transit experience similar to this one for me that evokes the same feelings for yourself? Let me know by sharing it in the comments below!

For more photos of the WMATA Breda Rehabs, please click here.

New Photos from the Land of Enchantment (& More)

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Oren

In August, I visited New Mexico for the first time (unless you count passing through on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief back in 2014). Although I was only there for four full days, I did have some opportunities to photograph the transit available in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and in between. Both cities have sizable bus networks, though the latter is larger than that of the former. In addition, the Rail Runner Express operates commuter rail service between those same cities. Unfortunately, for such a short stay and due to other logistical constraints, I didn’t actually ride any of these systems, though photographing them while trying to capture the local architectural styles in some of my photographs while doing so was fun!

This update also includes photos from around the DC area, including photos of MARC’s newest diesel locomotives, the DC Circulator’s new Proterra electric buses, and more!

Here is the complete list of pages with new photos in this update:

Bus Photo of the Month: October 2018

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Oren

Orion V 70

Location: South Eads Street at South Rotary Road, Arlington, VA
Operator of Vehicle: Alexandria Transit Company
Date of Photo: July 19, 2018

For those of you who know the DC area well, your first reaction to seeing this photo is that one isn’t supposed to be taking photographs at this location. It is a reasonable first reaction, as this photo was taken on the Pentagon Reservation, and photography is generally prohibited there. But notice my use of the word generally. Photography is allowed at the September 11th Memorial adjacent to the Pentagon (though the DoD was reluctant to permit this when the memorial opened). However, this isn’t where the photo was taken. So what’s the secret? I did have authorization to be taking photos at the Pentagon that morning, and there were Pentagon police officers nearby at the time. However, like many things that go on at the Pentagon, I can’t really reveal how I got this authorization or how one might go about doing so (other than to say the circumstances were somewhat unique, so anyone else trying to replicate them is likely to be unsuccessful).

As for the bus itself, as rare as photos of DASH buses of any sort at the Pentagon might be, photos of Orion V DASH buses are becoming a rarity as well. This specific unit is about 16 years old, is among the last high floor buses remaining in the DASH fleet. Catch these while you can anywhere in the DASH service area, because they are due to be reassigned to the “big bus garage in the sky” in the very near future as newer Gillig Advantages arrive.

For more photos of DASH, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: September 2018

Posted on September 2, 2018 by Oren

Gillig Advantage 3710

Location: Campus Drive at Union Drive, College Park, MD
Operator of Vehicle: University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services
Date of Photo: March 30, 2017

The University of Maryland Athletics Department isn’t only making news because of issues regardings its football team. Recently, the Athletics Department announced it would help to fund some weekend services on campus that would otherwise have been discontinued this fall due to budget shortfalls. The University of Maryland has one of the largest student operated bus systems in the United States, with nearly 3 million trips annually on board a fleet of about 60 buses. While the system is overseen by professional staff, many system functions including dispatching, training, and operating are carried out by students most of the time. How many of those student operators might be transit fans?

For more photos of Shuttle-UM, please click here.

Rail Photo of the Month: August 2018

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Oren

Kawasaki 7028

Location: Columbia Heights Station, Washington, DC
Operator of Vehicle: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Date of Photo: August 30, 2015

If you happen to have been on the Washington Metro in recent weeks, you’ve probably heard a train declare “This is a 7000 Series train” as its doors open at each station. This is being done as a safety initiative for passengers with vision impairments, the merits of which will not be discussed here at this time. However, transit fans and frequent Metrorail riders probably do not need to be told when they are boarding a 7000 Series train, as these cars are quite different than any others that have operated on “America’s subway.” The cars are made of stainless steel. They feature the new “disco ball logo” rather than the traditional brown stripe along the sides. The trains have a new interior color scheme, automated announcements, multiple interior LED and LCD displays, an updated cab layout, and numerous other features. Personally, I’m a much bigger fan of the “legacy fleet” than the 7000 Series as the former is what I grew up riding and am most familiar with. However, the 7000 Series cars are certainly recognizable by many riders, not just transit fans, and anecdotally, the riding public has enjoyed riding these cars since they entered service in 2015.

For more photos of WMATA’s Kawasaki 7000 Series cars, please click here.

New Photos from Israel & Washington, DC Added

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Oren

The summer travel season is well underway, and photos from my adventures in May and June are now available for your viewing pleasure here on Oren’s Transit Page.

Most of the new content can be found in the Israel section, where you will find new photos of the Jerusalem Light Rail, Egged buses in Jerusalem (including the Solaris Urbino 18 unit currently on trial), Egged Ta’avura buses in Jerusalem, Afikim buses in Jerusalem, Kavim buses in Jerusalem, and Superbus buses in both Jerusalem and Tiberias. If you haven’t been to Israel lately, with the entry of the Golden Dragon and Yutong bus models from China and Solaris buses from Poland in to the Israeli market, there is quite a bit of diversity in Israeli operators’ fleets beyond the typical MAN and Mercedes-Benz buses that have dominated the scene for years. You can also find photos of the exterior of the new Jerusalem High Speed Railway station (the interior of the much delayed station will be open to the public this fall if you believe the latest rumors).

In addition, new photos of various WMATA equipment types have been added as well.