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900's OOS


andrethebusman

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900-904,908-909 now stored unserviceable as of 7/11/14. 906 now officially retired, 905,907 still shown as active.

Damn that sucks. #909 I never got to see after the upgrades and was hoping to see one last time and the best part about it was I saw it in the loop about 2-3 months ago and could've rode it but didn't. :(

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Never rode them once!

I have. I always found them sluggish compared to riding on one of the 800s or 1000s. If not for the test to compare series drive hybrid technology against parallel drive hybrids that was part of the contract for the 1030 diesel models I'd say this is one model New Flyer could have kept when selling buses to CTA.

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I have. I always found them sluggish compared to riding on one of the 800s or 1000s. If not for the test to compare series drive hybrid technology against parallel drive hybrids that was part of the contract for the 1030 diesel models I'd say this is one model New Flyer could have kept when selling buses to CTA.

IIRC, somebody posted a link that the 900 requisition of articulated hybrids included a gasoline series hybrid.* Now that would really have been a waste.

_________

*BusHunter's and my post incorporating the concept. The link, predictably is dead, and points to some Japanese gibberish.

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900-904,908-909 now stored unserviceable as of 7/11/14. 906 now officially retired, 905,907 still shown as active.

Stick a fork in them pretty much.... done in by Chapter 11. It's not a big lot of buses, so the CTA will most likely let them sit alongside the 5900's which still are here(since 2000) until they authorize them for scrap(which won't probably be until 2019, which is their 12th year of service life, but look at the aforementioned 5900's still sitting around... they should've been hauled away years ago).

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IIRC, somebody posted a link that the 900 requisition of articulated hybrids included a gasoline series hybrid.* Now that would really have been a waste.

_________

*BusHunter's and my post incorporating the concept. The link, predictably is dead, and points to some Japanese gibberish.

Gasoline hybrids were big in California. A gasoline engine is better at meeting California smog standards than any diesel available until very recently, but none have been built recently as diesel technology has evolved.

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804 is not OOS its on 82 Kimball/Homan right now.

Nice see one on one of Kedzie's routes that come up to the north side. Ever since Kedzie took on the 35 and 39, they seem to be found more on the routes that serve Kedzie's downtown and southern areas of coverage.

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The 900s are being taken out of service, not the 800s. Unlike with the 500s, I rode a couple of the 900s.

I know only put the two together because there almost the same bus (different transmission and motor) but I was giving the good news of 804 being washed for next day service

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

905, 907 still running (until next failure, I would assume...)

Countdown is almost at 0 now.... last roster update shows only 907 as the sole 900-Series bus operating at Kedzie Garage. All the other 9 buses are at South Shops most likely long-term holds for eventual scrapping/parting out of body/interior supplies for other New Flyers that can use parts.

I doubt it'll last into 2015.

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... That being said, it makes me wonder why would they scrap the #800's too as they should have plenty of parts. Maybe the maintenance is just not worth it as they are 7 years old. So then if the FTA service life is 12 years I guess they have 5 years at least at south shops.

The things that have to be asked are:

  • Were these paid by FTA at all? The Optimas weren't., for instance.
  • What was meant by a 1 year trial, which supposedly these had and the XE40s eventually will have. If it was in fact a 1 year trial, and they lasted 7, that's a heck of a lot better than the hydrogen fuel cell buses. However. there should be replacement parts for the Allison buses, or else the artics are doomed (but 150 are still on a 12 year financial lease, so they aren't going anywhere).
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No doubt, the DE60LF's will get some form of rehab in the next few years(this will probably be a multi-step rehab as you might have New Flyer of America as part of the rehab team, Cummins N-Power as another part of the rehab team and a TBD third member that will specialize in rehabbing the Hyrbid Technology powertrain part of the engine). The DE40LF's were pretty much bought for the grander scale(the DE60LF's which started to come in 2008), this gave the CTA time to determine through the 800 and 900-Series road tests whether to build the 4000-Series DE60LF's using the GM/Allison HybriDrive Technology or use the ISE-Thundervolt Technology. Can you imagine the peril they would be in had they went with ISE-Thundervolt for the 4000's? This was one good decision on the CTA Brass' part.

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...Can you imagine the peril they would be in had they went with ISE-Thundervolt for the 4000's? This was one good decision on the CTA Brass' part.

Since this order was made essentially before the ISEs barely got a workout, I'm sure the only motivation (besides hiding that the NABIs were going) is that the only way to get a bus quick was to take the Seattle spec. Remember, these were not bid.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Above being auctioned 11/3 on "publicsurplus.com". $8000 min bid for lot. Being sold as metallic scrap, only scrap dealers may bid.

Link.

With regard to "All (8) units are in "not possible to operate condition and sold as one lot. " I wonder what put them in that condition, or if CTA is just saying that so as not to make a representation to potential bidders.

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