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| The "Pennliner" SEPTA Neos as delivered | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 8 2012, 01:56 PM (5,253 Views) | |
| NeoArtic7101 | Jul 10 2012, 11:32 PM Post #11 |
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rest in peace to all AN440's that ran the Philadelphia area streets
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I miss those Neoplans. And I remember those Neoplans with the white baseboards, those were the days Germantown was open. Rode those a lot on the 18, Horrible and XtraHorrible, a few on the K, R and 26... growing up I rode those routes a lot. |
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| thelemaque87 | Jul 11 2012, 01:30 AM Post #12 |
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Transit Fan
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How bizzare that was for the 8289 and 8299 to sound a little like the Neo ZFers...huh what a difference when you think that a bus with an Allison trannie could sound like a ZFers because they had the ZF transmission buttons on the dashboard. Did you ever find out how come SEPTA retrofitted those two AKs with the ZF transmission panel? Thats kinda odd. |
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| CACrafter88bk2504 | Jul 12 2012, 05:49 PM Post #13 |
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Transit Historian
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The 8289 and 8299 MAY have been retrofitted with ZF transmissions. By the early 1990s, the Neo AK fleet, for the most part, was still in excellent condition. However, when Comly, Southern and Frontier depot got the Neo AKs in early 1983, they had to run them endlessly to make schedules, and many of the Neo AKs racked up some mileage(Comly had the express routes that ran on I 95, Southern and Frontier had deadheads from end to end, for example, Neo 8422 on a deadhead from Frontier to Telford on the 96). The maintenance in those years was just starting to get to A 1 status. So, there may have been several levels of transmission trouble with those Neo AKs. Neos 3134 and 3467 caught fire @ Allegheny depot sometime in the early 1990s. Finally, I guarantee you would have like the following buses that were assigned to Victory depot: Neo BD suburbans 8563 and 8569. I called them mechanic's specials. 8563 had it's transmission nearly skip second gear and stretch through third gear. The 8569 had an "extended third gear." |
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| philabob1 | Jul 13 2012, 11:56 AM Post #14 |
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Foamer
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I rode the AK's quite a bit but did not like the transmission shifting, which was delayed a bit and always resulted in a little 'kick'. With the longitudinal seat on the driver's side for the length of the bus, a ride on these could result in a bit of a push-and-shove with anyone sitting next to you on the long seat. This seemed to get a little less severe over time. |
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| TransitChuckG | Jul 13 2012, 08:22 PM Post #15 |
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Foamer
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I loved any type of Neoplan on the 75. That's why we had that farewell to The Neos with #3427
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| CACrafter88bk2504 | Jul 13 2012, 11:03 PM Post #16 |
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Transit Historian
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The AKs were never assigned to Allegheny depot so where did you get your daily fix of Neo AKs? |
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| philabob1 | Jul 14 2012, 08:42 AM Post #17 |
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Foamer
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Before I moved to Allegheny territory I lived in South Phila and rode the 5 every day to school and work for about 8 years. The AK's were standard equipment (got 'em from both ends - Southern and Comly - back then, Comly/Frankford often shared equipment) on the route from the time they showed up in '83 until I moved in '86. Then I got Volvo artic 'fixes' on a regular basis on 27. |
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| CACrafter88bk2504 | Jul 14 2012, 05:04 PM Post #18 |
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Transit Historian
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@ philabob1, thanks. I'm curious on two things: A. When Southern got the Neo AKs, did they run them on the 2? B. Did the Neo BMs and CDs assigned to Southern also become standard on the 5 with the Neo AKs? C. When Frankford and Comly swapped equipment, did they do this will all of their buses, like Neo AKs or Neo CDs coming over to the 3, 5, 8, 26, the trackless routes, J, K and R in conjunction with the Neo BDs running regularly on the 14, 20, 28, 58, 70 and 84? In those years, the 1, 19, 24, 67 and 88 were split between Frankford and Comly so if one saw an AK, BD or CD on any of these routes it was like oh well. A ride on any 8000 on the 20 must have been a treat in itself, whether it was 8290, 8490 or 8790. I suppose the 3390 was a fixture on the 20 wasn't it?. |
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| philabob1 | Jul 15 2012, 10:16 AM Post #19 |
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Foamer
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My recollection of the AK's at Southern was that they were pretty much assigned to all the routes in some numbers. The 5 seemed to get a good deal of them, but then again it was getting some from both Comly/Frankford and Southern. The 12 might have been the only route that didn't get them regularly based on my observations - even though it was a Center City route, the 12 seemed to get second-line equipment for many years (as did the 5 before the Neos showed up, but the 5 certainly wasn't a Center City route). After the BM's and CD's showed up, my days of regular rides of the 5 were ending, although I recall seeing these on the route on my infrequent observations. As I recall, the Comly/Frankford 'co-mingling' was an on-again, off-again thing. It seemed to stop when Frankford got its big assignment of BM's but picked up again later in the 80's. |
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| CACrafter88bk2504 | Jul 15 2012, 11:52 AM Post #20 |
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Transit Historian
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@ philabob 1, thanks. Frankford got the big assignment of Neo BDs(8435-8561). 8435-8444 were assigned to Luzerne shortly after Frankford's order of BDs was complete, but eventually Luzerne got 8435-8444, and Luzerne kept the 8435-8444 until Germantown closed to bus operations in May 1993, then the 8435,8436, 8437, 8439, 8441, 8442 and 8444 were re assigned to Frankford. The 8435-8444 group was mainly intended for Frankford usage, but got re assigned to Luzerne after the 6 went bus in January 1986(the 53 went bus in May 1985). By the time Germantown's faced it's impending closure, the 8440 was long gone after an accident in Huntingdon Valley either in 1988 or 1989(someone stole the bus and drove off with it, eventually crashing the Neo 8440). the 8438 had gotten fully overhauled sometime in 1990, received the engine cover that was prevalent on the Neo 3000s. what happened to the 8438 and 8443, I am not sure. Germantown received the big Neo BM order(8601-8665). 8666-8670 were orignally assigned to Southern but were probably re assigned to Germantown after the S/26 were seperated and the S became the 18 in June 1985. The 26 was extended to Bridge and Pratt. Orignally, the S/26 routing went as far as Frankford and Harbison(Bridge and Harbison on rush hour trips?) |
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8:01 PM Jul 10