Greyhound seats and fleet questions

[Swadian Hardcore]

During Thanksgiving, were there any third sections? Obviously second sections, but what about more?

And why are Greyhound Canada buses always losing paint and getting very dirty on the outside?

 

[railiner]

During Thanksgiving, were there any third sections? Obviously second sections, but what about more?

And why are Greyhound Canada buses always losing paint and getting very dirty on the outside?

Any third sections?....Hahaha....the 10:00 AM schedule, No. 250, from New York to Toronto and intermediate points departed in twenty seven sections! Just one schedule on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It took two hours to load those. You would have to see it to believe it.....

As for losing paint...just a guess, they use a lot of sand for traction on icy roads. The sand literally 'sandblasts' away paint. Dirt comes from wet roads....

 

[rickycourtney]

Yes, I remember the Adirondack Trailways buses have a plugin at the back of each seat where you stick in some headphones and you can listen. I aslo remember a number with an up and down arrow, not sure what that meant.

Greyhound Canada dosen't have that AFAIK, so I guess line haul pax have to deal with the annyoning audio. Here's a back view of some G4500 seats showing the video monitors: http://www.barraclou.com/bus/greyhound/greyhound1199_lift.jpg

The first pic I linked was of a 102DL3 interior, the G4500 seems to have a very similar interior, except with the bigger parcel racks and a flat ceiling instead of the rounded one on the 102DL3. I would still like to know more about these seats.

I got all them pics from here, check out some of those weird interiors: http://www.barraclou.com/bus/interior/.

When they introduced the X3-45 Greyhound made a big deal about the fact that they had eliminated in the middle seat in the last row. IMHO, that was a great move because almost everyone hates to be squeezed between two people.

But seeing these pictures... why did they leave the middle seat during the refurbishment of the 102DL3 coaches? Are these new seats just sitting on the old frames or are they leather covers over the original seats? That would be a logical technical reason for leaving them. But if these are new seats... why would they order a 3-across back row and why would they order a different seat model than what they use on the D4505 & X3-45?

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Wow, 27 sections! I bet our New Year's Eve run would have 2 buses due to the popularity of winter sports here.

Greyhound Canada buses in the old Red, White, and Blue seems to lose the red on their Maple Leaf a lot. Look at this: http://www.barraclou.com/bus/greyhound/greyhound1060_2.jpg. The leaf is supposed to be red but it's faded to white yet the rest of the coach looks to be in good condition.

With the help of Railiner, I determined that the 102DL3 has the Amaya-Astron Patriot PT seats. These seats were installed in the 102DL3 during the Elevate Everything refurbs conducted from 2004 to about 2008, not the latest rebuilds. During the latest rebuilds, all these seats were taken out of the bus and resurfaced with leather. Then they were put back into the bus, minus one row for extra legroom. That's why there's still the three seats in the back. Here is a view of the current 102DL3 interior: http://busride.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Napp-web-2.jpg.

The newer D4505 and X3-45 coaches have American Seating Premier LS, they don't have the middle seat in the back. But these seats are harder and less comfortable than the Patriot PT, so I still prefer the 102DL3. Interior of a D4505: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43535605@N00/5369434956. You can see it's different from the 102DL3.

I actually like the three seats for overnight trips, if you can "take them over", you can sprawl out and sleep. Then again, I've never been squeezed into the middle.

Right now, not very happy at the hate mail against Greyhound by fans of Scania and Irizar, which are known for making luxurious but mechanically flawed buses. I would rather ride a Greyhound 102DL3 before I ride a Irizar PB Sleeper.

I'm still trying to find out the make and model of the Greyhound Canada seats.

 

[railiner]

Agree that the newest type seats are not as comfortable as the older type...part of it may be because they are of a DOT mandated "containment" design, similar to school bus seats, that will keep passengers from being thrown out even if they don't use the integral seatbelts......

As for the red Maple Leafs,,,,it seems that certain applications of red paint or coloring tend to 'bleach out' from the sun over time.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Ah, I'll have to ask on GTE about the Greyhound Canada seats. Nobody seems to check GTE anymore, which is giving me problems. Even when I asked for a roster, no one replied with anything.

I wonder why that New York-Toronto was so popular, the Canadians don't celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time as us. And Sked 250 must be a daytime run, I thought the overnights were more popular.

 

[railiner]

Ah, I'll have to ask on GTE about the Greyhound Canada seats. Nobody seems to check GTE anymore, which is giving me problems. Even when I asked for a roster, no one replied with anything.

I wonder why that New York-Toronto was so popular, the Canadians don't celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time as us. And Sked 250 must be a daytime run, I thought the overnights were more popular.

Schedule 250 was just chosen as an example, during the middle of my shift.....most of the travel was to Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.....especially Syracuse.

It also served as a connection to Erie, Cleveland, and points west, as there is no Cleveland express until 5:45 PM, and this particular schedule seems to get more Cleveland's than the somewhat shorter route thru Pittsburgh.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Ah, I'll have to ask on GTE about the Greyhound Canada seats. Nobody seems to check GTE anymore, which is giving me problems. Even when I asked for a roster, no one replied with anything.

I wonder why that New York-Toronto was so popular, the Canadians don't celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time as us. And Sked 250 must be a daytime run, I thought the overnights were more popular.

Schedule 250 was just chosen as an example, during the middle of my shift.....most of the travel was to Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo.....especially Syracuse.

It also served as a connection to Erie, Cleveland, and points west, as there is no Cleveland express until 5:45 PM, and this particular schedule seems to get more Cleveland's than the somewhat shorter route thru Pittsburgh.....

That Cleveland coach at 5:45 PM is the Limited to Detroit, right? I guess all pax to Detroit would take that run, but it's not so good for arriving in Cleveland in the middle of the night. Better off taking the Chicago Limited at 10:15 PM.

From what I can see, the Limiteds are much faster than any schedules with transfers. The Chicago Limited gets to Cleveland in a mere 8.5 hours. Greyhound should run more and more Limiteds. We need more in the West. One up to Portland should be very popular considering that route is already packed. Then Dallas-Los Angeles would be a great idea too.

 

[railiner]

They have another Cleveland express during the busy summer months that departs NYC at around 1 PM, so it gets most of the earler travel going that way....

As for Dallas - Los Angeles......IIRC, at one time they did run a 'Latinos's' express from Chicago to Los Angeles, that basically stopped only for rest stops and driver changes...

not that familiar with its operation other than it was obviously targeted towards migrant workers heading home...or vice-versa.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Chicago-Los Angeles?! Which route did that take? I heard about Latinos a long time ago but I thought they ran Chicago-Nuevo Laredo with 102DL3's #6200-6205. Apparently they were disbanded due to poor profits and the buses went onto other very long Greyhound routes.

I think they really need a Limited on Dallas-Los Angeles, the route is really popular. Looking at the scheduel, it should go something like Dallas-Fort Worth-Abilene-RS Van Horn-El Paso-Lordsburg-Tucson-Quartzsite/Blythe-Los Angeles. Considering they've already got Limiteds on other popular LD routes, this should be a natural progression.

Edit: How are the current Limiteds doing? There's quite a bit from New York, going to Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, and Miami.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Wow, very weird stuff going on here! The morning departure to SFD (8309) is sold out, but the red-eye is also sold out! Yep, Schedule 8317, departing Reno at 8:30 PM and getting to San Francisco at 1:30 AM, is sold out! Well, looks like plenty of people want no sleep.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I'm still trying to find out what's behind that big rear grille on the 102DL3. It appears to be the air intake and the radiator. After seeing more engine vids, there's a big pipe leading from the top along the left side of the engine. That looks like the air intake pipe. I learned that radiator fans can double as the air intake. So I think I got it down now, and I'm slowly understanding why a D is more reliable than a G.

 

[railiner]

Holiday time!

A sure indicator of holiday time was the "exotic's" Greyhound had parked in the Hoboken lot this morning.....2245, an MC-12 "shop truck"...I took a look inside...it had 16 seats, the last two rows arranged around tables. Further back was the equipment area, and behind that a surprise...four bunks!...then another work area and the lav. On its roof was a motor home style external air conditioning unit. The coach can also be used as a mobile "command post" for operations supervisor's to coordinate large charter operations, such as shuttles for Olympic games, etc...

Also there was an old 'T' model Van Hool number 3300 something. Also an old white 40 foot D3 with a lift. Also thrown into the mix were two D4505's among the X-3's and DL3's.

No 'G's ( ).

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Nice, a 102D3 with lift. Looks like Greyhound haven't retired them all yet. Why would Greyhound have a Van Hool Tourer? I thought they only had a few old C2045's.

Where's the Hoboken lot? Are you expecting heavy traffic for Christmas? Greyhound posted this on thier website: http://www.greyhound.com/en/newsroom/viewrelease.aspx?id=554&year=2013.

Since I'm travelling with three guests right before New Year's Eve, should I arrive an hour before departure?

BTW, last spotting I did was two weeks ago when I saw a 102DL3 (I think) on the highway running Sked 8311 to SFD.

Edit: Oh yes, I see that all the Sacramento-Portland schedules are sold out, but only one San Francisco-Reno is sold out. Why is Sacramento-Portland so popular? It was a G4500 route but it could have been upgraded due to high demand.

 

[railiner]

The Hoboken lot is Academy's 'Lot Number Three', which Greyhound shares with Trailways of New York....they jointly pay rent to Academy for its use....it is three miles from The Port,

Yes, we are experiencing heavy travel. Not as intensely concentrated as the Thanksgiving weekend, but sustained over a much longer period, as schools are closed for a week or two, and colleges for a month. Also passenger's travelling further, and with a lot more baggage and packages.

So yes....get there early!

I can't guess why one Western route is more popular than another, although I will speculate that the Reno to San Francisco route has lost somewhat from long haul travelers since Greyhound has abandoned service on I-80 for a large chunk of the country.....

 

[rickycourtney]

Interesting note from here in California's central valley... I'm starting to see the G4500 again. The D4505 is still the dominant coach used on the California routes but instead of seeing the occasional refurbished 102DL3... I'm seeing the occasional G4500.

This is probably my last report on Greyhounds in California. I'm moving to Seattle at the start of the new year.

I'll take your advice Swadian and avoid the rampant G4500's at all costs... but I'm looking forward to jumping on one of a BoltBus X3-45 and taking a trip to go visit my friend in Vancouver.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Ricky, if you move to Seattle, you could watch and see when Greyhound decides that those G4500's need rebuilding and pull them out. I'm interested in the Seattle situation right now, because those G4500's are basically flanked by D's from Vancouver Garage and D's from Los Angeles Garage.

I have two spotters here that also call themselves "Swadian" but they're not as experienced with Greyhound as me.

Railiner, I know Greyhound has lost LD pax but the Reno-San Francisco route is much shorter than Sacramento-Portland. Plus, it's cheaper per-mile and and has a lot of population density. Personally, I've observed good loads on this route except for the badly-timed schedules. Not sure what's going on to make SAC-PUT all sold out.

Today's SAC-PUT is not all sold out but most runs are. Meanwhile, SFD-RNO has one sell-out and the RNO-SFD has no sell-outs.

I'm just watching loads because I have to travel with 3 guests.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Here's a nice old Christmas bus from Greyhound Canada. It's a 102C3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/21747890@N05/2106037188.

Merry Christmas! Go Greyhound!

 

[railiner]

Nice..... !

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I'll be riding Greyhound again in a few days. I'll do a lot of spotting to see what's going on with the interesting situation in the West. Hopefully I can ride a 102DL3 again because I haven't ridden much this year and it's a comfortable coach.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I've always wondered what happened to the MCI MC-10 and MC-11. I think the MC-10 ended up as the 96A3 but what about the MC-11? Did that become the unsuccesful 102B3?

 

[railiner]

I've always wondered what happened to the MCI MC-10 and MC-11. I think the MC-10 ended up as the 96A3 but what about the MC-11? Did that become the unsuccesful 102B3?

The answer to that question remains unclear....only someone that designated model names at MCI could probably give the proper answer...

Logically, the MC-12 should have been designated as a MC-10 or perhaps an 'MC-9A', following their past practice assigning names to modifications or new models. But the fact that the 'letter series' came out between the MC-9 and the MC-12 probably had something to do with skipping those numbers.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I've always wondered what happened to the MCI MC-10 and MC-11. I think the MC-10 ended up as the 96A3 but what about the MC-11? Did that become the unsuccesful 102B3?

The answer to that question remains unclear....only someone that designated model names at MCI could probably give the proper answer...

Logically, the MC-12 should have been designated as a MC-10 or perhaps an 'MC-9A', following their past practice assigning names to modifications or new models. But the fact that the 'letter series' came out between the MC-9 and the MC-12 probably had something to do with skipping those numbers.....

I thought the MC-9A was similar to the MC-9J, the commuter version MC-9 for New Jersey Transit. But I can't find good info on the differences between the MC-9A, MC-9B, and MC-9J. I did find this: http://www.ttmg.org/pages/tmci/njt-mcie.html.

Man, I haven't seen one of these in a long time! When did NJT retire them?

 

[railiner]

Didn't know there was an MCI officially designated MC-9A, B, or J name for the "Jerseycruiser's", as NJT called them. But whatever, the MC-12 should have been designated by either the next available letter, or called an 'MC-10', following the past practices MCI employed in designating new models or major mods of existing models.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Didn't know there was an MCI officially designated MC-9A, B, or J name for the "Jerseycruiser's", as NJT called them. But whatever, the MC-12 should have been designated by either the next available letter, or called an 'MC-10', following the past practices MCI employed in designating new models or major mods of existing models.....

But I also saw somewhere that the MC-10 entered production as the 96A3, the first "letter model". So I think MCI was going to call it the MC-10 but decided to swtich the naming and call it the 96A3 and 102A3.

What I don't understand is what happened to the MC-11. And the MC-12 should have indeed been called the MC-9C or something like that, it was basically the same thing. Heck, the engine started with the same 6V-92TA that the MC-9 had ended with.

The interior did have some changes.

MC-9 interior: http://www.ttmg.org/photos/tlogan/Rockland_MCI_MC9-Interior.jpg

MC-12 interior: http://www.ttmg.org/photos/tlogan/Greyhound_MCI_MC12-Interior.jpg

Apparently there's the MC-9 Gold Version but I don't understand what that is.

On yeah, just for fun, I found this picture of a trackless trolley in Philadelphia: http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?139073. The weird thing is, it's labeled a "PCC"! You can see the rubber bus tires.