Greyhound seats and fleet questions

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Don't know the particulars on the tranny, only that it was manual. Every time I tried to talk to the driver someone else was talking to him.

Well, if you do ever find yourself out this way you have yo go to the museum. Its also part of the aaca antique car and motorcycle museum
 
Not sure, but the tranny should be the same as the one's that were in the GLC buses. The last examples were seven-speeds. IIRC, MCI only offered one type of manual as a factory option. That is, unless you would classify our Eaton-Fuller semi-automatics as 'manuals'...

I did see your 'Old-Look' parked over there next to the visiting historic NJT fleet. It looked as good as new! :)
 
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The semi-automatics you guys have. Are they the auto shift it ultra shift from Eaton fuller? If so then yes

They are technically manuals.

Thanks. My boss just mainly had to paint it when he got it. That's the first bus he ever drove.
 
We got rid of our last Eaton-Fuller a few years ago. Most of our driver's, especially the younger ones who never drove our full manual four or five speeds, hated them.

They had a clutch pedal which you had to use to get started from a stop, or to go into reverse. I hated them because their ten speeds took forever to accelerate compared to our four or five speeds, or our fully automatic Allison's. Its the same thing today...we have ZF and Volvo I-shift semi-automatic 12-speeds, that while they no longer have a clutch pedal, they too take much longer to accelerate than our Allison's....

Perhaps I saw you too, I noticed several guys wearing the 'Quinn' caps ....
 
I agree with u on those god awful trannies. Lol. When I drove truck I had both with and without clutches. Hated both of them. The clutchless was really horrid trying to back into a dock door because you couldn't hold the truck in to see the brakes let a line ease it in without bouncing off the dock a dozens times.

I was the youngest one there with the Quinn hat. I'd say shortest but my boss is shorter then me, plus I'm the only one that had a beard
 
We have one bus with an Allison backing up a 50 series Detroit. Compared to our Cummins with voith transmissions it takes forever to accelerate. But I wouldn't trade it for the other junk we have. Lol
 
A GTE member explained to me that the Fuller T-11605D was a 5-speed and the Fuller T-11607D was a 7-speed. GLC had T-11607Ds on their silverside 102D3s and 102DL3s, but I think the 5-speed was also an option. I don't believe GLI ever used these, their DL3s all had Allison B500s or ZF 12-speeds. I think all the rebuilt DL3s have B500s.

ADI's Eaton-Fullers were on the 102D3s, right? I just don't see why operators keep ordering 10-speed and 12-speed transmissions. Do they really save fuel compared to the B500? I thought the axle ratio was more important.

Greyhound's late-model MC-12s had the Detroit 50 engine with Allison B500, but the last gear was locked out, so they ran as 4-speeds.
 
I have driven GLC's with 5 speed manuals...they were in their late MC-9's and some 102C3's.

ADT and PHK equipped Eaton-Fuller's were in the 102D3's...so you are correct there. They do save marginally on fuel, compared with a torque converter automatic like the Allison. Or at least they did back then. I believe the latest Allison's are very competitive with the automated manuals in recent tests....and they are certainly smoother and faster accelerating.

An interesting tidbit...ADT never had an Allison 'World Transmission' (B500), until we got our state funded three D4505's. And then our newest Van Hools also came with them.

Our driver's love that tranny....

Our early MCI and Eagle Allison's were the earlier model HT-740....
 
I'm guessing GLC ordered 5-speed manuals on the MC-9SP and 102C3, then switched to 7-speed manuals for the 102D3 and 102DL3. How did those old manuals compare to the HT-740 and B500?

Greyhound is currently publically supporting the B500. I think the only Greyhounds with other transmissions are some 2006 D4505s with the ZF As-Tronic and maybe some second-hand buses. There were a few ZF-equipped DL3s for sale not long ago.
 
I have driven GLC's with 5 speed manuals...they were in their late MC-9's and some 102C3's.

ADT and PHK equipped Eaton-Fuller's were in the 102D3's...so you are correct there. They do save marginally on fuel, compared with a torque converter automatic like the Allison. Or at least they did back then. I believe the latest Allison's are very competitive with the automated manuals in recent tests....and they are certainly smoother and faster accelerating.

An interesting tidbit...ADT never had an Allison 'World Transmission' (B500), until we got our state funded three D4505's. And then our newest Van Hools also came with them.

Our driver's love that tranny....

Our early MCI and Eagle Allison's were the earlier model HT-740....
My bad....I was just re-reading this post, and it struck me....our early model 'J's' have the World tranny..... :blush:
 
Got the pics.

So I figured out that #6611 was on overnight layover for the next day's departure to SLC (Sked 1308) and UT86398 was the bus to DEN (Sked 1314). And of course, the other D4505 would be going to SFD.

IMG_5413.JPG

IMG_5414.JPG

IMG_5415.JPG
 
Any one know if mci has always had bus leasing? I noticed at our station today that Fullington trailways had a bus leaded from mci
 
I was at Frenso last November. Indeed, the service there is very lacking. There is a lot of empty space and no food service.

Joe, I think all the major manufacturers offer bus leasing. GLI leased some Setras and Silver State leased some Van Hools. But it probably isn't a good deal for long-term use. Fullington probably just needs extra capacity and is short of cash. Though, overall, Fullington seems to stagnating.

Saw GLI hiring ads. No newbies seen around here. Last year I saw newbie Loewy, but only once. Maybe he didn't get the job because he got lost repeatedly, somehow "broke" the computer, and drove aggressively. We waited by the curb while he troubleshooted the D4505 computer. He also failed to cool down the bus before boarding passengers and we were all sweating our [edited] off.
 
Any one know if mci has always had bus leasing? I noticed at our station today that Fullington trailways had a bus leaded from mci
I can't answer for sure...I recall when the old Greyhound Corporation owned MCI, they also owned Hausman Bus Sales, which was MCI's factory 'dealership'....Hausman was very active in bus leasing. Even New York City's MTA leased a bunch of white-painted ex-Greyhound MC-8's from them, when they had the 'grounding' of the Grumman 870's around 1980....

MCI, like most manufacturer's, also has a small fleet of 'demo buses', that they loan to prospective clients for evaluation....
 
This case should be over already. It the SUV hadn't overturned in the first place, Greyhound wouldn't have crashed into it. Oh well.

And the driver had to have been wearing glasses. I wear glasses and can't drive without them at all. No way he would have his glasses in his pocket when driving. That pair must have been spares. The pair on his face could have been destroyed in the accident.

As for speeding, I doubt 5 mph over the limit would be enough to singly cause a crash. Many road vehicles go 5 mph over the limit at night when traffic is low. We're not talking about going 85 mph in a 65 zone. Visibility at night is poor and the D4505's maneuverability is very poor. Its responsiveness is also reportedly poor and has a "stiff" steering wheel intended to avoid overcorrections (as compared to the 102DL3).
 
Probably a good move for Greyhound. They have probably have no need for the size of their current terminal, which receives a mere shadow of the service it once had. And they probably got a 'really good deal' on their rental fee for the new location...
I was at Frenso last November. Indeed, the service there is very lacking. There is a lot of empty space and no food service.
I can't say I ever stepped foot inside the old Fresno Greyhound station. It was a big building, but from the outside it looked like a dump.

I'm sure the City of Fresno, which owns the Santa Fe Depot, will give Greyhound a really good deal. Greyhound will be moving into space on the north end of the station that has sat vacant for years. Even if Greyhound pays below market rate (which they likely will), that's still better for the city than the nothing they were getting.

The Santa Fe Depot is a beautiful building and the surrounding area is much nicer than the area around the Greyhound station. Passengers will be within a short (<5 minute) walk to a Starbucks and a few restaurants (both affordable like Subway and nicer). The only major issue is that the long-term parking lot at the station fills up fast on most days and unless things have changed there's no other good option nearby for long-term parking.
 
I covered this story extensively when I worked there... and all these years later it's still interesting to follow the case.Admittedly I haven't been following it closely the last couple of years so I can't speak on any authority about any of the facts.

I will note though that a judge tossing a jury's verdict is rare... very rare. To my understanding, it really only happens when the judge thinks that the jury failed to consider a key piece of evidence or misinterpreted the law.
 
I can't help but feel that the judge may harbor personal feelings against Greyhound or big companies in general. Of course the judge would never say so publically, but I've just got this gut feeling. After all, Greyhound haters are everywhere and I've never seen a case when the judge tossed the jury's verdict.

At this point, as I see it, if Greyhound broke any laws, it would be going 5 mph over the speed limit. Some claim the D4505 had bad brakes, but there is no evidence and GLI is know for never deferring brake maintenance (they can defer anything other than brakes). Some claim the driver wasn't wearing his glasses, but that's inconceivable from my view as someone who also has poor vision. The evidence of the bent glasses from Jewett's pockets could have been his spares. I sometimes carry my glasses in my pockets when not in use, but there's no way I'm driving without glasses.

And again, most states consider vision as bad as 20/40 to be safe for driving without glasses. Anything worse than 20/40 without glasses would be nigh impossible for the driver to try without immediately crashing.

And then is 5 mph over the limit enough to cause a crash? Could going 5 mph slower have prevented the crash when the SUV had already overturned over the highway? Even if the SUV driver was sober Gonzales instead of drunk Garay, the SUV had still flipped over across the road before the D4505 hit it.
 
Regarding Greyhound's new ad about the new amenities being on every bus, I've heard reports that Greyhound "lightly-refurbished" the remaining White G4500s with new seat covers and possibly a Wi-Fi router added. I doubt the White G's would have outlets installed, which would cost more money.

This may mean that Greyhound is not retiring the White G4500s until the next order of new buses.
 
Thanks guys, just seemed odd to see a D4505 that was plain white except for the wording operated by mci Inc on the bottom of the luggage bays. Or was kind of beat up so I doubt it was a demo bus but who knows.

That lawsuit you guys are talking about. Is it a criminal case or a civil case?
 
I think it is a civil case over money, rather than a criminal case. The D4505 driver and two passengers died in the crash, along with everyone in the SUV.

BTW, Greyhound is running some plain-white G4500s. Maybe these are the ones with the "lightly-refurbished" interior.
 
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