Caesar La Rock
OBS Chief
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2011
- Messages
- 716
I've rode Greyhound as a kid in the 90s, years after the bankruptcy took place. I never got a dirty bus, but I have seen buses that looked shabby on the exterior. I made trips from Florida to New York City, then from New York City to Montreal and back. For the bus fans, I rode on 102A3s coach and an MC-9 in 1996, which were the workhorses of the fleet at the time, while the MC-12s were the new kids on the block. The D3s and DL3s had not yet appeared for Greyhound yet.
When I see Greyhound now, and I hear all the stories. Like the drama that happens on the bus, the shabby bus terminals, the buses being beat up, and the many cuts they've made over the last two and half decades, I look back on my experiences riding them as a kid. Despite reducing their fleet by 1/3 of what it use to be, the Hound seemed to go everywhere even in the 90s.
That to me folks is where I choose to remember Greyhound, even if it wasn't as good as it use to be in the previous decade. To revisit an older post on what happens to Greyhound buses after they retire, it's a very broad question. Up until recently, Greyhound sold large numbers of buses off to whoever bought them.
Everyone on this forum, their maybe an old Greyhound bus still running around in your state. I've lost count how many ran in Florida. The process to retire buses, first they painted the buses all white (except for the stainless steel sides as that is suppose to remain silver cause why paint over stainless steel).
Then they were sold in large batches to bus leasing merchants such as ABC Companies or Hausman Bus Sales to name some examples. The leasing companies would then advertise these buses to anyone who wanted them, whether someone wanted a motorhome, charter and tour bus companies, and for export to countries like Canada and South America. Old Hounds went everywhere.
Greyhound up until the bankruptcy, usually kept buses for about 12-16 years (with exceptions of course). After the bankruptcy, they ran their buses for as long as they could until replacements arrived. Many of the old MC-9s were over 20 years old when they retired in 2000.
These days, Greyhound has sold many of their buses directly to scrap merchants, due to how badly worn out and corroded they get. The lack of maintenance doesn't make the situation any better. I'll conclude this post for now and hope I gave some insight.
When I see Greyhound now, and I hear all the stories. Like the drama that happens on the bus, the shabby bus terminals, the buses being beat up, and the many cuts they've made over the last two and half decades, I look back on my experiences riding them as a kid. Despite reducing their fleet by 1/3 of what it use to be, the Hound seemed to go everywhere even in the 90s.
That to me folks is where I choose to remember Greyhound, even if it wasn't as good as it use to be in the previous decade. To revisit an older post on what happens to Greyhound buses after they retire, it's a very broad question. Up until recently, Greyhound sold large numbers of buses off to whoever bought them.
Everyone on this forum, their maybe an old Greyhound bus still running around in your state. I've lost count how many ran in Florida. The process to retire buses, first they painted the buses all white (except for the stainless steel sides as that is suppose to remain silver cause why paint over stainless steel).
Then they were sold in large batches to bus leasing merchants such as ABC Companies or Hausman Bus Sales to name some examples. The leasing companies would then advertise these buses to anyone who wanted them, whether someone wanted a motorhome, charter and tour bus companies, and for export to countries like Canada and South America. Old Hounds went everywhere.
Greyhound up until the bankruptcy, usually kept buses for about 12-16 years (with exceptions of course). After the bankruptcy, they ran their buses for as long as they could until replacements arrived. Many of the old MC-9s were over 20 years old when they retired in 2000.
These days, Greyhound has sold many of their buses directly to scrap merchants, due to how badly worn out and corroded they get. The lack of maintenance doesn't make the situation any better. I'll conclude this post for now and hope I gave some insight.
