New paint job on Cascades Thruway buses

[CHamilton]

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/gordonwerner/11158026926/in/pool-624040@N24/

@amtrak_cascades / @WSDOT / MTR bus #137 at King Street Station, Seattle

 

[rickycourtney]

That's awesome! They are emulating what Amtrak California does with the buses for the San Joaquin/Capitol Corridor does with its buses... matching the buses paint scheme to the trains paint scheme.

Considering the extra pressure the Cascades are getting from BoltBus this seems like a smart move. These buses are now a rolling billboard for the service and helps reinforce to the public that the train offers service to places well beyond the tracks.

 

[fairviewroad]

Very nice. Nice color coordination with the Cascades trains.

That said, does anyone else think it's kind of, well, stupid to have the slogan "Next Time Take The Train" painted on A BUS? It's like

they're undercutting their own service. "Welcome to Amtrak...we hope you enjoy your inferior mode of travel."

 

[Blackwolf]

The new "pavement" side of Amtrak. I like this side-by-side comparison:

​

I sense a new trend. It is not a bad thing to incorporate bus service with train service, but it must be done correctly or else someone might get the dangerous idea to replace the later with the former!

 

[PerRock]

I like the idea, but the execution is pretty poor execution. Like whats with the weird little triangle of white by the drivers window?

Peter

 

[SubwayNut]

I think its trying to emulate the fins on the Cascade Locomotives.

 

[Eric S]

Which Thruway route uses (or will use) these buses?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Which Thruway route uses (or will use) these buses?

If you are asking about the Cascades AmBuses, they will be used on the Scheduled Routes between Portland and Eugene and between Seattle and Vancouver,BC. I'm Not Positive but they May Also be used for Bustitutions to make Connections when the Coast Starlight is Late, when Mudslides Close the Tracks around Seattle and when the Empire Builder is Running Very Late!

 

[CHamilton]

You can see the Thruway bus and train schedule on the Amtrak Cascades website: http://amtrakcascades.com/Schedules.htm

I believe that MTR is the contractor that provides all of the Thruway buses except those going to Canada. I have seen MTR buses used for bustitutions, but don't know if other contractors are also pulled in under those circumstances.

 

[rickycourtney]

You can see the Thruway bus and train schedule on the Amtrak Cascades website: http://amtrakcascades.com/Schedules.htm

I believe that MTR is the contractor that provides all of the Thruway buses except those going to Canada. I have seen MTR buses used for bustitutions, but don't know if other contractors are also pulled in under those circumstances.

That makes since. These buses have a Washington DOT logo so I doubt they'd be used for any service in Oregon. I also doubt they'd have enough buses painted like this to use them on the EB bustitution.

Any word on the amenities provided on these routes? Like do they have WiFi? Power outlets? Leather seats?

 

[PerRock]

I think its trying to emulate the fins on the Cascade Locomotives.

However the Cascades locomotives have a nice sweeping curve, where as this one has an odd chunk randomly taken out of it.

peter

 

[railiner]

I like the idea, but the execution is pretty poor execution. Like whats with the weird little triangle of white by the drivers window?

Peter

If you mean above the blue IFTA sticker, it appears to be a piece of paper or something inside the window.....

 

[rickycourtney]

I like the idea, but the execution is pretty poor execution. Like whats with the weird little triangle of white by the drivers window?

Peter

If you mean above the blue IFTA sticker, it appears to be a piece of paper or something inside the window.....

I think he means this:



Which I agree looks bad. Thanks to the magic of Photoshop you can see that a little more green paint would help:

 

[Eric S]

You can see the Thruway bus and train schedule on the Amtrak Cascades website: http://amtrakcascades.com/Schedules.htm

I believe that MTR is the contractor that provides all of the Thruway buses except those going to Canada. I have seen MTR buses used for bustitutions, but don't know if other contractors are also pulled in under those circumstances.

So these Cascades-colored buses will likely be used on the Seattle-Bellingham buses? Not that it really matters all that much, I was just curious.

I had forgotten that there were Cascades Thruway buses running north from Seattle that did not run all the way to Vancouver. I was only thinking of the regularly-scheduled Cantrail (?) Seattle-Vancouver buses (plus the Portland-Eugene ones, but didn't think WSDOT buses would be running there).

 

[CHamilton]

So these Cascades-colored buses will likely be used on the Seattle-Bellingham buses? Not that it really matters all that much, I was just curious.

Yes, that would be my guess. I think I remember hearing that Cantrail, being a Canadian carrier, is not authorized to carry passengers between two US destinations, only between Canadian destinations and Seattle King Street Station.

 

[PerRock]

I like the idea, but the execution is pretty poor execution. Like whats with the weird little triangle of white by the drivers window?

Peter

If you mean above the blue IFTA sticker, it appears to be a piece of paper or something inside the window.....

I think he means this:[PICTURE REMOVED]

Which I agree looks bad. Thanks to the magic of Photoshop you can see that a little more green paint would help:

[PICTURE REMOVED]

Exactly the spot. After some consideration, I think actually a little more white in in order. Here is what I came up with.

peter

 

[railiner]

So these Cascades-colored buses will likely be used on the Seattle-Bellingham buses? Not that it really matters all that much, I was just curious.

Yes, that would be my guess. I think I remember hearing that Cantrail, being a Canadian carrier, is not authorized to carry passengers between two US destinations, only between Canadian destinations and Seattle King Street Station.

That would be correct....Canadian (and American) carrier's, may only carry international border-crossing passenger's....

So a Canadian carrier could for example pick up at Vancouver, and discharge passenger's at Bellingham enroute to Seattle, but not pick up any passenger's once south of the border. The same would apply for an American carrier....They could drop off passenger's at say, New Westminster enroute to Vancouver, but not pick anyone up there northbound....

Either could both pickup and discharge withing their own side of the border, unless of course there is some local traffic restriction--in the US, deregulation has all but ended that.

 

[fairviewroad]

So these Cascades-colored buses will likely be used on the Seattle-Bellingham buses? Not that it really matters all that much, I was just curious.

Yes, that would be my guess.

If that's the case then they can expect to sit around a lot looking pretty but going nowhere. There's only one SEA-BEL round-trip

per day.