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Post your Daily Sightings III; IMPT Please Read
Topic Started: Sep 22 2007, 08:33 AM (19,513 Views)
TransitChuckG
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Route 75, 2101 block had a Nabi- 5353. That driver always has a Nabi.
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CACrafter88bk2504
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TransitChuckG
Oct 26 2007, 05:45 PM
Rode 5138 from West Chester to 69th Street this morning. 5 minutes early at West Goshen and 8 minutes early getting into 69th street. My motto with Red Arrow is get to your stop early, I've seen this happen before.

In Philly, Bus 3425 Rte. 59 (2001 block) at Castor & Cottman broke down in middle of the intersection. The driver heard a big bang then it quit. He was able to get the bus re-started enough to move it out of the intersection and called control. At 7:00 AM they brought him another bus, 3422, with no heat or defroster, Supervision is mighty thin in Frankford. It takes forever to get something done up there.

On Route 75, 3421 had a hot front wheel, smell and all. The driver checked it, and the wheel/rim was hot to the touch and the smell was pretty bad. The driver missed his 7:40 trip, his follower pulled a double headway and led at 7:47(split the street). Finally he was told to take the bus in and the Frankford mechanic noted that the wheel had cooled down but gave him another bus , 3443.

The rails on the EL were slick, our train slid one car length past a station this afternoon

I had a very fast and loud New Flyer on thew 104 on the way home toda.

Chuck Greene

Mr Greene,

That is a shame. I used to ride these same 3400s when they were assigned to Callowhill depot. I rode 3425 on the 65 in the September of 1996 on a Saturday morning. Bus was a "speed demon". Smooth as can be.

I rode 3425 on the 40 back on Monday August 17,1998. 3425 is a bus I thought would never die.

3421 Wow :blink: No heat on 3422? :huh: That's terrible. And they're back at where they started from: Frankford.

Is this any way to welcome a loved one back home(3420 for example- Frankford then Callowhill leading back to Frankford)?
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TRANSIT_FREAK
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to Life, Love & LOOT
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it is time for the neo's to go MIDVALE
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Van2006ko
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Neoplans = Crap!
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TransitChuckG
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Quote:
 
Neoplans = Crap!

Depends on which drivers you talk to.
The Neo's are wearing out, but a lot of their problems are shoddy Frankford maintenance.
When you know a bus is nearing retirement, you do very little to keep it running.
Most of the Frankford operator's would rather drive a Neo than a Nabi.
A few drivers say the Nabi is the worst bus every made. A Midvale mechanic described the 8600 series Neo's as a fine piece of machinery.

Chuck Greene
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TransitChuckG
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Quote:
 
since when do the neoplan an 440's kneel

They always kneeled. My Frankford operator confirmed it. And the wheelchair lifts in the back door still work, most of the time. Give the poor babies a break, they are old, and they don't care about them too much anymore.

Chuck Greene
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TransitChuckG
Oct 25 2007, 11:22 AM
Quote:
 
next week i am going to try to get on a neoplan


Ride the 75 , the operator of 2102 block always has one.

3372 is a good bus,mostly everything works on it.

3427 has malfunctioning center doors. My operator had 3427 and had to switch it for
another bus, and they gave him 3372. The doors were supposedly fixed on 3427, but messed up again so he had to switch. The Neo's continue to fall apart.

Chuck Greene

What "time" is this block?

It seems to be a trend with these malfunctioning rear doors...I think the problem always seems to be that they open but won't stay closed. I remember "helping" an operator out on the 23 by pushing the rear door button (as if he had to tell me what button to push) as he saw what was going on.

Turning the bus off automatically closed the rear door, and we ran to Chestnut Hill using only the front door.

That is the closest I'll ever get to operating a Neoplan in service :(. Also, although most remember the 23 as a trolley line, I'll always remember it as my Neo line.
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Van2006ko
Oct 26 2007, 10:35 PM
Neoplans = Crap!

Oh please...why not take a 1996 Gillig Phantom and try to run it for 18+ years under these conditions! THAT's crap.

I agree with Chuck - Frankford isn't maintaining them well anymore. The problems he's mentioning just weren't so common a year ago before Frankford knew that their new trackless trolleys were coming.

I remember my first year at the SEPTA Roadeo, I overheard two drivers talking. They were talking about the NABIs, and said their suspensions weren't good. In fact, "the old buses" had a better suspension.

Fast forward a couple years later, when I would ride the 23 regularly to my violin teacher in Mt. Airy. That section by the Trolley Car Diner (which was recently paved over) was horrendous. The Neos handled it pretty well, the NABIs and New Flyers were quite the rattle traps.

In New Orleans, although they had to retire a lot of donated buses due to their unreliability, our Neoplans still shine (under layers of dust and dirt).

Our artics are pretty decent too, besides the suspension and acceleration (and that odd screeching noise on some of them). In their first few years, up until right before the time they got overhauled, they didn't really rattle, even though the ride was very rough.

Van2006ko, all I have to say to you is..."18 years, my friend. 18 years."

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TheOneCalledA1
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At this years roadeo, two Frankford mechs were talking inside the RTS, and I mentioned something like "Should've brought a Neo up here". One of the guys , as he was walking off the bus, said something like "Those things are a real pain in the butt to work on"
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SEPTA SHOULD JUST OPEN A MUSEUM end of story
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