Greyhound seats and fleet questions

[rickycourtney]

I just heard that Greyhound #86538 had an incident in Arizona when a man tried to attack the driver and the coach swerved into the median. The coach was running Schedule 1454 Los Angeles-Dallas, signed EL PASO, TX.

Apparently the crazed attacker kicked open the driver shield but failed to crash the bus before passengers subdued him.

Article: http://www.kpho.com/story/24527349/bus-driver-praised-after-attack-suspect-idd.

Looks like Greyhound is already suffering attritional losses of their new D4505's even though they have pat-downs for every passenger at major stations and ID requirements for every passenger.

What a crazy story. I covered a very similar story while working in Fresno. A guy attempted to attack the driver and drive the bus off the road but passengers stepped in to subdue the man.
Unfortunately as long as these incidents happen they will only serve to reinforce the negative stereotype of Greyhound passengers and traveling by bus. There has to be something the company to can do or better screen out the lunatics. (Maybe ID checks before boarding buses?)

It's also concerning that the "driver shield" did so little to shield the driver.

As for the D4505... The damage doesn't look too bad. I'm sure Greyhound will have it back on the road soon.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Foru

 

[railiner]

It is always disturbing to hear of these incidents. Fortunately, this one apparently was spared from any loss of lives. Due to the nature of bus transportation, it is nigh impossible to screen all passengers.

The way to prevent further incidents must rest with better securing of the driver, perhaps in a "hardened" operator compartment, along the lines of airliner cockpits....

I think that there should be a full bulkhead separating the driver and entryway from the seating area, with polycarbonate window(s) at passenger eye level to maintain front view for passengers. While loading passengers, a door from the entryway into the aisle would swing over to completely block drivers compartment, similar to the way the 'shield' does now, but with total coverage....

 

[railiner]

This incident reminded me of one back in the late '60's, that had a better ending....

This bus was proceeding down the highway, when a psychotic passenger wielding a knife charged down the aisle, screaming, The quick-thinking driver saw the pending attack in the mirror just in time to floor the brake pedal, sending the attacker crashing into the windshield and dashboard. As the bus slowed down, the driver opened the entrance door, and ****** the wheel to the left, sending the psycho down the steps and out the door. The driver proceeded down the road, to call the police, The culprit was picked up shortly and taken for medical treatment and jail.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Last time I was boarding at San Fran to head back to Reno, all us passengers were patted down with a metal detector and the driver checked each person's ID one by one.

I assume this attacker had valid photo ID and did not have any weapons, but that dosen't mean he was a normal person that wouldn't attack the driver in the middle of the night at 70 mph.

Since the attacker got past the shield anyway, he could've killed the driver if he had a weapon. At least the metal detectors at major stations help a lot because it reduces the chance of something like #6433 happenning again, on #6433 in 2001, a man stabbed the driver at night in Tennessee and the coach flipped over during the struggle.

This incident reminded me of one back in the late '60's, that had a better ending....

This bus was proceeding down the highway, when a psychotic passenger wielding a knife charged down the aisle, screaming, The quick-thinking driver saw the pending attack in the mirror just in time to floor the brake pedal, sending the attacker crashing into the windshield and dashboard. As the bus slowed down, the driver opened the entrance door, and ****** the wheel to the left, sending the psycho down the steps and out the door. The driver proceeded down the road, to call the police, The culprit was picked up shortly and taken for medical treatment and jail.....

Maybe if these attacks happened by day, the drivers could've pulled off that manuever.

I guess we need full composite bulkheads for the driver now. Greyhound is pretty doing all it can to improve and they're still dealing with this.

 

[railiner]

I actually drove a bus one time that the driver was isolated in a separate 'cab'....it was over in Wiesbaden, Germany, and the bus was actually a 'mobile lounge', used at certain airports to transport passenger's from airport gates out to aircraft parked at outer ramp hardstands....

 

[trainman74]

The novel "Ready Player One" from a couple years ago describes an intercity bus trip in a dystopian U.S. in the 2040s -- the bus has not just an armored compartment for the driver, but also roof-mounted compartments for armed guards. (Can't remember if the author actually used the Greyhound name or not.)

 

[railiner]

MCI makes a 'prisoner transport' that could be adapted.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Yeah, in a true dystopia eveything would be armed and armoured or you would probably be dead!

MCI makes a 'prisoner transport' that could be adapted.....

So, the current ISTV based on the 102DL3? They also adapted a few MC-12's into prisoner transports.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Hmm, I was looking at some timetables since I'm interested in getting up to Canada and I saw that there's a Sacramento-Portland run departing at 2:00 AM. This run originates in Sacramento, does not come from anywhere else. It's Schedule 1420.

Well, why does Greyhound even operate this? Do these weird runs get lots of passengers?

I would also like to know what equipment runs the New York-Atlanta and New York-Miami routes, if possible.

Thanks

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I was just on Flickr and I saw this weird photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34446596@N06/12167539823/sizes/l/.

Yep, that's a Prevost H3-45 painted in Greyhound's new livery and with US operating tags. I know Greyhound Canada had some of these but in the US? More interesting is that this one was taken in Vancouver, BC, probably after a run from Seattle.

Does this mean Greyhound is buying H3-45's to replace the Seattle-based G4500's?

 

[railiner]

I was just on Flickr and I saw this weird photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34446596@N06/12167539823/sizes/l/.

Yep, that's a Prevost H3-45 painted in Greyhound's new livery and with US operating tags. I know Greyhound Canada had some of these but in the US? More interesting is that this one was taken in Vancouver, BC, probably after a run from Seattle.

Does this mean Greyhound is buying H3-45's to replace the Seattle-based G4500's?

That's a nice shot! Thanks for the link....The only Greyhound H3-45's that I've seen were the few that GLC bought in the mid nineties. They used to come down to New York from Toronto, on our pool run occasionally.

We sure would welcome those on our pool now....the X3's just don't have sufficient baggage capacity when the kids are returning to college, with everything they own...

 

[railiner]

Hmm, I was looking at some timetables since I'm interested in getting up to Canada and I saw that there's a Sacramento-Portland run departing at 2:00 AM. This run originates in Sacramento, does not come from anywhere else. It's Schedule 1420.

Well, why does Greyhound even operate this? Do these weird runs get lots of passengers?

I would also like to know what equipment runs the New York-Atlanta and New York-Miami routes, if possible.

Thanks

That schedule is 'fed' by schedule 6846 an express from Los Angeles, departing there at 1715 and arriving Sacramento at 0110 (table 630). In the past, they would run a trip like that straight thru, so passengers wouldn't have to change buses at that awful hour. It's like they're doing everything they can to discourage long-haul travel, in favor of shorter hops.....

I'll try to remember to find the answer to your equipment question tomorrow re: NY to Atlanta and Miami.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I was just on Flickr and I saw this weird photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34446596@N06/12167539823/sizes/l/.

Yep, that's a Prevost H3-45 painted in Greyhound's new livery and with US operating tags. I know Greyhound Canada had some of these but in the US? More interesting is that this one was taken in Vancouver, BC, probably after a run from Seattle.

Does this mean Greyhound is buying H3-45's to replace the Seattle-based G4500's?

That's a nice shot! Thanks for the link....The only Greyhound H3-45's that I've seen were the few that GLC bought in the mid nineties. They used to come down to New York from Toronto, on our pool run occasionally.

We sure would welcome those on our pool now....the X3's just don't have sufficient baggage capacity when the kids are returning to college, with everything they own...

But in Reno, I've never seen college kids riding Greyhound. I've seen some in California but never noticed any in Reno. And I do ride Greyhound from Reno a lot. Baggage capacity on the D4505's seem sufficient to handle even the peak loads. Off-peak, you can see packages filling in the rest of the space.

I don't know where the heck Greyhound got the H3-45's, used or new?

Hmm, I was looking at some timetables since I'm interested in getting up to Canada and I saw that there's a Sacramento-Portland run departing at 2:00 AM. This run originates in Sacramento, does not come from anywhere else. It's Schedule 1420.

Well, why does Greyhound even operate this? Do these weird runs get lots of passengers?

I would also like to know what equipment runs the New York-Atlanta and New York-Miami routes, if possible.

Thanks

That schedule is 'fed' by schedule 6846 an express from Los Angeles, departing there at 1715 and arriving Sacramento at 0110 (table 630). In the past, they would run a trip like that straight thru, so passengers wouldn't have to change buses at that awful hour. It's like they're doing everything they can to discourage long-haul travel, in favor of shorter hops.....

I'll try to remember to find the answer to your equipment question tomorrow re: NY to Atlanta and Miami.....

Ah, I see now, well they might as well run it through now or the passengers can take another schedule, plenty of options. They've seemed to take my suggestion on a Sacramento-Portland Limited, since Sked 1440 now skips Grants Pass and Roseburg. It just needs to skip Corvaliss to be a true Limited. For some reason the ride still take 12:40, the same time it took before cutting the stops.

I'm having a lively conversation on GTE right now, you would be welcome to join. Finally got that $&!? Yahoo! Groups to work for me.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Hey guys, with the help of GTE I was able to get Greyhound's fleet roster! Yep, I got the full fleet roster!!!!! But it's a very long 23-page PDF file. I have attempted to attach it to this post. Hopefully you all can see it now.

Edit: Item failed to attach. To access the roster, follow these steps:

1. Texas DMV website

2. Motor Carriers

3. Look up a Motor Carrier

4. USDOT #44110

5. Vehicles

 

[railiner]

http://apps.txdmv.gov/apps/mccs/truckstop/MCCS_Frame_Insurance.asp

Thanks for the tip.....I'll check out that yahoo group later. Sorry, I forgot to see what was on the ATL and MIA trips....will try again Monday.

Back to that registration list....only 1466 vehicles? That is only 25% of what GL owned back when I worked for them in 1971,2, and 3....

Perhaps they have some registered elsewhere? (I'm not counting Canadian buses)......

And I am surprised to see that they have so many Van Hools of various vintage in the fleet, as well as Setra's...

What really caught my eye was fleet number 4000.....what in the world is that? It says manufacturer "Buscar"....the only 'Bus and Car' that I recall was the Belgian plant that built the Eagles from 1961 until 1974, when Eagle Bus opened the Brownsville, Texas plant.

And what are the Dina's listed? "Marcopolo Viaggio's', perhaps?

It looks like GL has a much more diverse fleet than I had imagined......

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Greyhound has subsidiary vehicles that have different registrations, for example, a large number of Americanos coaches are tagged:

OPERATOR: AMERICANOS USA LLC, ALBUQUERQUE, NM USDOT 781086

which would not be listed in the Greyhound roster since they are a separate operator, not 44110. Apparently they have 139 units to add. The other subs probably have a few more here and there.

I'm surprised Greyhound Canada has a USDOT number, 14166, even though the are based in Canada, not the US. Even more confusing, some of their coaches are tagged for BURLINGTON, ON while others display CALGARY, AB. It seems all of them have Alberta license plates.

On GTE, it was reported Americanos' roster is listed on the Texas DMV pag even though they are now based in NM, and their coaches somehow carry California license plates. Super confused right now.....

Also heard from Chris Moore that for MCI VIN numbers, 4th digit is model and 7th digit is engine.

Yeah, you would love GTE!

On yeah, rebuilt G4500 spotted in Atlanta: http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/5274810/or/532537704/name/20140113_200312.jpg. Ha, if you weren't a bus fan, you wouldn't know it's an ex-POS not a D4505! #6998, weird number.

 

[rickycourtney]

That's a great list. It's just a bummer the models aren't listed.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

That's a great list. It's just a bummer the models aren't listed.

On GTE, I'm learning how to decode the model and specs through the VIN, I'm post it here once I get it all.

It's interesting to note that unit #52672 (my current avatar), is actually the last five digits of its VIN, very rarely seen on the roster.

 

[railiner]

I would also like to know what equipment runs the New York-Atlanta and New York-Miami routes, if possible.

Thanks

Checked yesterday's departures from NYD on BOSS.....

New York to Atlanta......sked 1083--86180

sked 1081--86160

New York to Miami........sked 1011--86381

Sorry I took so long to check that.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I would also like to know what equipment runs the New York-Atlanta and New York-Miami routes, if possible.

Thanks

Checked yesterday's departures from NYD on BOSS.....

New York to Atlanta......sked 1083--86180

sked 1081--86160

New York to Miami........sked 1011--86381

Sorry I took so long to check that.....

Gee, thanks! So you can access a BOSS computer now? I thought you couldn't check Greyhound's BOSS computers. Can you check routes that don't depart from New York?

Looks like X3-45 dominant on New York-Atlanta and a D4505 to Miami, probably based from Miami. I'm looking for 102DL3's because I haven't seen one in a long time and the routes above seem to not have them either. What's the westernmost route with some DL3's?

 

[railiner]

My log sign is no longer current, so a GLI person let me check while he was logged on....can't always do that unless things are slow....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Ah, looks like I'll have to try something else if I want to find a DL3. Are they still prominant in the East?

 

[railiner]

Lots of them here....seems like about 30-40% of the fleet used here are DL3's.....the rest are mostly X-3's, with a few D4505's and ever rarely a G...maybe see one of those in a week, usually during holiday periods one of them will slip in here, but (thankfully), getting fewer and farther between sightings.

If you want to ride DL-3's, come here....lot's of 'em.

We also have those white and those red VanHools.

And we still have that MC-12 'shoptruck' parked in Hoboken.....

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Lots of them here....seems like about 30-40% of the fleet used here are DL3's.....the rest are mostly X-3's, with a few D4505's and ever rarely a G...maybe see one of those in a week, usually during holiday periods one of them will slip in here, but (thankfully), getting fewer and farther between sightings.

If you want to ride DL-3's, come here....lot's of 'em.

We also have those white and those red VanHools.

And we still have that MC-12 'shoptruck' parked in Hoboken.....

Aw, too bad. Hopefully Greyhound Canada has quite a bit when I make it up there in some months. Over here, it's about 79% D4505's and 20% G4500's, plus 1% 102DL3's. Haven't seen one in three months, I don't even know if 1% comes around here anymore. Heck, I've haven't seen a single Greyhound DL3 in California either,

On GTE it was reported that Greyhound Canada has retired all of their 900-series 102DL3's and most of their 1000-series too. The remaining 1000's get retired in a few months. They are actively rebuilding their 1100-series, however.

It seems foolish to replace Canada's own 1995-1999 DL3's (900's and 1000's) with the same model buses transferred from the US that are barely newer, instead of rebuilding them. Meanwhile they end up rebuilding a slightly newer batch from 2000-2001.

 

[rickycourtney]

I'm not sure if you're interested in this... But it's been a steady stream of old beat up G4500 coaches here in Seattle the past few weeks (I've seen at least a half dozen.) But today I saw one D4505 going southbound through downtown (couldn't see the headsign). It makes me think these are buses that are making trips from California, turning around and going back south.