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Message |
Bruce Henderson (Oonrahnjay)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 1:43 pm: | |
__. Have been up in the NoVirginia/DC suburbs for a few days to visit "The Management". She works in a building at "Crystal City", just down from the Pentagon and "Pentagon City". Turns out that this is the time of year for every history teacher to bring his charge of little scropulous bags of hormones to DC to see "history".
__. And nobody rides in Greyhounds anymore. The little snot factories are put into the slickest Prevosts, VanHools, MCI's (the ones with "Motor Coach Industries" cast into the fiber-glass rear engine covers), and the occasional Dina and Setra. To put the icing on the cake, I was driving over to pick MzLauraLee up from work and passed a new Prevost (sign on the side said a DC tour company) with temp "paper plates" on it. A nice little chunk of cash rolling down the street.
__. There are "food courts" at the shopping centers at both "Pentagon City" and "Crystal City" and apparently they love bringing the yard apes over and feeding them on the way back to their (overpriced) hotels. You can drive past either place at 5:30 and see 30-35 coaches/buses parked all up and down the side streets. I love it.
__. But a little question. The newest MCI buses seem to have "Motor Coach Industries" in full script cast into the engine covers. Some fairly newish MCI's (but without the script on the engine covers) have two central engine cover doors that meet in the middle and swing out. There's a full-width upper door that swings down, making the engine access opening a big, wide, flat "T" shape. Some of these buses have rear light clusters with four lights in a square -- two red lights side-by-side above and a yellow and white one below. Also, some of these MCI's have their rear lights in a horizontal string. What are the MCI models that these signify? (The tail light kings are the newer Prevosts that have eight rear lamps on each side!)
__. Ny neck is sore from all the bus spottin' but I'm lovin' it!
Bruce Henderson, Wallace, NC USA |
Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 15, 2005 - 11:58 pm: | |
Hello Bruce.
Remembering that there are makers of fake fibreglass parts that may be glued and screwed onto any bus to make it look like something it isn't....
Go check MCI's website, somewhere there they have pictures of all their stuff, probably in with the used bus info.
The latest MCI models have a one piece engine door that is hinged at the top. These are models 102EL3 and 102JL3. Short name is by the letter E and J. L signifies a 45 foot coach, the 102 is width in inches, the three is number of axles.
The E is the fancy one, three windshields, one across the top and electronic everything, and a tag axle that steers. The J is the poor man's E, fixed tag axle and less complicated stuff inside. Many shared body parts.
The ones you saw with the lights in a row sideways, as well as two high mounted brake lights on either side of the rear cap are 102DL3 or 102D3, with engine doors that meet in the middle, and the panel above the engine doors is a big grated vent with the radiators inside. MCI started engraving the name in the back of these a couple of years ago. The D model dates from the early 90's.
If the coach has the square tailights in the square cluster of 4, and the panel above the engine doors is solid, that is an earlier 102A,B or C. There are two radiators mounted on the sides at the rear of the older MCI, behind large intake screens. The A model was also available as a 96 inch wide body, so they could be 96A3. The destination signs were above the windshield on the A, later models it was an add-on mounted inside the windshield.
There were not very many B or C models compared to A and D, and exactly which models and when certain visual cues were changed is somewhat confusing, as a carrier could order the newer coach with the older stainless, and from year to year in the late 80's, early 90's, you need to be careful what you say is what.
There were two axle commuter models in the A's, and their model number would show a 2 instead of a 3.
So, a bit of a coach spotters guide for you!
happy coaching!
buswarrior |
Craig (Ceieio)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 12:35 am: | |
I have seen a fair amount of MCI transits in the Seattle / Tacoma area and British Columbia that have the "MCI Script" on the engine doors. |
Bruce Henderson (Oonrahnjay)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 7:29 am: | |
__. Thanks for the info, Buswarrior, that helps a lot. Your description of relative dates of manufacture falls into line with my guesses of age of vehicles.
__. I'll check out the buses that I see with the "MCI Script", Craig, but I'm pretty sure that almost all that I see around here are "over-the-road" buses, not transits.
Thanks to both, BH |
Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 9:05 am: | |
Sound Transit in the Seattle/Tacoma area are running a fleet of D4500 buses as transits.
As far as I can tell, the D4500 are an updated version of the DL3. Which we all know is a 102" X 45' coach with three axles, the third of which may or may not steer.
They look to be pretty nice buses-great graphics, LED lights, projector beam headlights, etc.
I have seen them on runs on I-5 between Seattle and Tacoma. The last one I saw was running on a Sunday afternoon with almost no passengers.
It is so nice to see your tax dollars at work.
Mark O. |
Doug Roote
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 9:26 am: | |
Bruce,
I live quite literally "right down the road" just outside of Alexandria. You should see the drivers trying to manuever those beasts down by the waterfront.
On the lighter side, it's easy to find the source of a traffic jam, just look for a bus. I was down by the Torpedo Factory (artist co-op that is a must see) a few weeks ago where two busses were unloading (and stopping traffic), when a woman standing next to me swore she counted over 70 people getting off one bus. I told her I was under the impression that the 45 foot coaches only hold 55-60. Correct me if I'm wrong. Am I?
They were not bad looking coaches either, but I would LOVE to see something with some style come pulling in like an old Scenic Cruiser. Even a finely polished MC-7 with the dip in the roof has something "different" about it. You just don't see many of those cruising here. Wonder why?
Anyhow, enjoy your stay!
Doug |
James Maxwell (Jmaxwell)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 11:49 am: | |
Doug: You don't see many of "those" because they are old, wore out, and un-reliable for revenue service, not to mention, un-comfortable by modern standards. Today's 45 footer is far more manueverable than any Scenic Cruiser, MCI-7, or any other comparable bus of those era's. |
Craig (Ceieio)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 16, 2005 - 12:48 pm: | |
Mark - I think you are right based upon what I see when I pass through the area:
http://www.mcicoach.com/newcoaches/publiccoaches/publicCommuter.htm
Craig - MC7 |
FAST FRED
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 17, 2005 - 6:19 am: | |
Doug:" You don't see many of "those" because they are old, wore out, and un-reliable for revenue service, not to mention, un-comfortable by modern standards. Today's 45 footer is far more manueverable than any Scenic Cruiser, MCI-7, or any other comparable bus of those era's."
Actually with only about 4000 converted coaches in the US you dont see them because there spread out so thin.
Some 45ft may have better cut angles than the Classics , but there are an awfull lot of campsites I have been to that NO 40 ft will ever enter , never mind a 45 behemoth.
" wore out," is an owner choice , and there are more garbage newer busses , rented from the bank for the charter season , returned at the end , that get NO MAINT for 6 months (not even an oil change or break adj) than Clasics in that condition.
The Classic owners have their own butts in their own coaches ,
the rented from the bank "New" junk operators have a driver dumb enough to take the trip , and just paying suckers, they simply incorperate again next year after a crash.
Old does NOT mean wore out , unless the owner wants it that way.
New does not mean SAFE or reliable , unless the owner keeps it that way.
Do it YOUR WAY,
FAST FRED |
David Dulmage (Daved)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 2:43 pm: | |
It's all in the maintenance. My wife and I routinely have gotten hundreds of thousands of miles use from our cars and pickup trucks without any major failures. An old bus properly maintained my actually be newer in terms of its condition than a neglected late model.
DaveD |
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