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Bus 801
Advanced Member
USA
410 Posts |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
 Posted - 11/19/2007 : 10:04:49 PM
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| I'm with 801...Those are Arlington Buses...That Thomas fleet with a light mix of IC and those numbers are almost certain arlington. It helps to see Shirlington appartments in the background! If you want some good pictures, they only have one lot, and they do NOT allow parkouts. Every bus the county owns is in that lot, as far as I know. This includes School Buses, and Activity buses owned by Arlington County Parks and Recreation. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 07:39:19 AM
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just out of curiosity does any one know how many buses Arlington County operates with in there fleet?
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 5:00:45 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by 2006bbvision
just out of curiosity does any one know how many buses Arlington County operates with in there fleet?
120, I believe. |
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722
Senior Member
United States
129 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 6:14:17 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by IC
quote:
Originally posted by 2006bbvision
just out of curiosity does any one know how many buses Arlington County operates with in there fleet?
120, I believe.
Hi Disney,
I am not doing a lot of keyboarding with the carpo tunnel(sic)in both wrist (and the ones here that know me, know that I do hundreds of bus related emails monthly, so this has been tough on me) but I figured I would chime in on these last few post.
Hi Bus Freak, IC, IC 1629, and Bus 801,
Yes, you all are correct, the pictures are from the main parking lot and yes, that is a neat looking row of buses. Arlington is currently running 132 school buses. The schools actually do not have any activity buses, but the parks & rec department has a few activity buses that were purchased for county P & R trips.
True, currently all buses are compounded at a central location for security reasons, and guys you know your buildings well. Would you pay $750,000.00 to look at a bunch of school buses ???. Not me, I have official "no yellow weekends" at the beach, where I won't drive near the schools.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, Frying the big bird this year and staying up north. it gets cold on the water (burrhhhhhhh) |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 7:20:52 PM
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HAHA...I actually looked into buying one of those places, but you're right...seems a bit steep to be paying to look at school buses, when i could be paying just as much to actually live IN the city. I decided to go with a much older place in arlington which not only has MUCH more character, but also has a better location than Shirlington. All of that MUCH less than a Shirlington Condo!
There is also atleast one bus in the county that is used by some kind of county Senior Center. It's a SHARP Thomas HDX with a red white and blue paint scheme. |
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pbfreak30
Senior Member
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2007 : 5:57:50 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by BusFreak
The state specifications do state that the warning lights must have a hooded assembly. They also state, however, that the bus number be placed on the drivers side of the front bumper. Something else interesting, the state only allows the second stop sign to be placed on type C and D buses of 64 passenger capacity or larger. Arlington has been putting them on all of their buses, even the short SE C2s they have.
well up to this year the C2's we bought dont have hoods on the warning lights, but the most recent 2008 C2's we got do have the hoods on them |
ARROW transportation RP..the best out there! |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2007 : 9:11:55 PM
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| I actually saw one of Bedford's C2s in at Powhatan HS last winter, and it looked to be fairly new. It had the new forward mirror on the service side. That C2 looked to be a longer than average conventional bus in Virginia. What size buses is Bedford County ordering these days? |
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LBDboater
Advanced Member
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2007 : 9:24:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by BusFreak
I actually saw one of Bedford's C2s in at Powhatan HS last winter, and it looked to be fairly new. It had the new forward mirror on the service side. That C2 looked to be a longer than average conventional bus in Virginia. What size buses is Bedford County ordering these days?
66 passenger buses for the most part. I know that all of our buses from 1986 through 2004 have the warning light hoods. Then we started getting C2's for 3 years which didn't have the hoods, and then all the buses in the area (Bedford County and Lynchburg City) have the warning hoods. For PBfreak30, I noticed that Lynchburg's new C2's for the year have that small window in the very back of the bus on each side (in the side pillars), I was surprised to see them spec that and not us. We usually trump Lynchburg when it comes to specs. Looks like things might be changing for the county. I also know that they're about to place a huge order for next year's C2's since they've vowed to have all the Vista's off all routes by next year. Should be interesting to see if they pull through with all the expenses this year (MRSA cleaning at the high schools, bad economy, etc.) |
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722
Senior Member
United States
129 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2007 : 7:45:59 PM
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| Several districts are now purshasing 77-passenger conventionals, therefore purchasing less or no transits. The fixed window at the rear is standard, but from hear say, I understand you can order a sliding window in it's place for an additional charge. |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2007 : 11:44:40 PM
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722,
I must know...what is your job title around Virginia? You are certainly a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the student transportation industry across the state! Are you a driver for FCPS? or perhaps Arlington County? I'd love to know about your connections with Sonny Merryman, and the other Virginia dealerships. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2007 : 5:39:40 PM
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| Strobing warning lights and LEDs everywhere! Nice job Hampton! They have always had among the nicest buses in the Hampton Roads area. Are they still shipping high school kids home on HRT buses? Back in the day, i remember seeing PenTran buses with warning arms coming (like the stop sign on a school bus) all lined up in front of bethel high school. Ironic, seeing as they have such a nice fleet. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 12:03:34 PM
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BUSFREAK. YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!!! Hampton has always spec there buses really nice, and they don't generally run the buses for the anticipated state service time, Every since the earlier 90's they have had Air door, Tinted windows, strobing stop arms as standard spec for there bus orders. I to remember seeing the old MCI Pen Tran buses with the stop signs on the side, Since then Pen Tran merge with HRT. DO you know what the state bus age is these days?
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 12:10:54 PM
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| It is still kind of weird seeing VA buses having Double stop signs on them!!!! it looks really good though! |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 4:17:37 PM
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| Yes , Hampton City Schools still use metro Hampton Roads Tranist to be exact for all secondary school transportation to and from home. Well the Bluebird Vision is on round 2 back at the dealership it came back and the first run of the next day the lights started flashing on and off again. This time however I was able to talk with the folks myself at Tidewater Truck and hopefully they have a better understanding of what is happening. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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pbfreak30
Senior Member
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2007 : 7:47:36 PM
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| LBD- Amherst has the small window in back too, and one other thing that i have noticed is that some Lynchburg FS-65's have Strobing stop signs... and it would have to be a HUGE order to get all those Vistas off, because we have a ton of them still running at JF at least...and do you know which engine our C2's have this year? because i heard the previous ones had the CAT in them, but it wasnt available for the 08 model C@, and from what i hear, the C2's this year have alot more power than previous years. |
ARROW transportation RP..the best out there! |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2007 : 8:14:43 PM
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Those last two are most definitely Virginia Beach buses. 192 was possibly the most well kept 1990 Thomas Ford I'd ever seen in the school system. The blue bird ford was an 91. Both had nearly identical specs, with the ford diesel engine, automatic transmission, and air brakes. What a neat find!
I almost want to say that the MVP ER in the first picture belongs to Alexandria City, but I don't know for a fact. The reason for my guess is that it's obviously not a Fairfax Thomas ER because of the placement of the drivers side e-door, and the lack of brush guards on the roof hatches. It doesn't belong to Arlington because of the storage compartments. It could be a Loudoun county bus, but I don't know their numbers off the top of my head. Bus 98 is low enough for me to automatically assume that it is an Alexandra city bus. |
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Edited by - BusFreak on 12/08/2007 12:26:30 PM |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2007 : 07:47:00 AM
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| WOW THOSE BUSES LOOKED NEW AT THE TIME!!!! |
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pbfreak30
Senior Member
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2007 : 2:14:52 PM
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| another interesting this about our new C2's here in Bedford, they have reverse lights that are the exact same size as the brake and turn signals, where the others were about half the size, and the lights stick out more this year from the back of the bus, and like last year are LED |
ARROW transportation RP..the best out there! |
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poor_driver
Senior Member
162 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2007 : 5:56:03 PM
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| Thanks for that pics and you had the right caption. The are gone but i sure won't forget them. Question..........Why are the bus numbers on the c2 place on the front bumper near the entrance door? the last time i saw that was on buses made in the 70's. Ic and Bluebird still place the numbers on the driver side of the bumper. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2007 : 10:29:16 AM
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| your welcome i wish i did have more pics from back in the day but i guess i will be content with what i got. just wish i had more of the old internationals and 4 light fords but that is ok .The Vision is back i got it back on wednesday and it is doing very well this time. it paid to talk with the official tech mechanic working on it. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 2:45:24 PM
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| Well the Vision from Bluebird is gone again with blinking on and off parking lights this makes the 3rd round. However i am getting to drive my old Bus 74 the Bluebird All American Transit from 1999 so far so good. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2007 : 08:17:18 AM
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BSAUND09: Wow any word what could be causing the Vision to have problems? And bus 74 I love that bus I have seen that around many times.... I did not know that was a 1999, are you guys using that as a spare? How many Transit buses does VA BEACH have now a days anyway? and when was the first year you guys starting buying the T-444E motors for the international blue birds?
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BigChief
New Member
United States
6 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2007 : 05:42:46 AM
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| New guy here, work for Loudoun, although not as a driver. Amazing the amount of information you guys have gathered here. |
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Gini
Top Member
USA
1249 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2007 : 08:36:55 AM
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| welcome BigChief! |
1Peter 1:3 |
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IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2007 : 2:34:40 PM
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| Welcome BigChief, you all have a great Fleet!! |
 bus 1980, a 2008 IC RE 300 for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2007 : 4:18:33 PM
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| I second that !I think the top best specd buses in the entire state! |
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
Posted - 12/14/2007 : 6:11:17 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by disneynuts
IC 1629
Williams had been buying all Thomas for several years. Then switched to IC. Now they are going back to Thomas for their new bus purchases.
I wonder why... Thomas is better than IC anyday (and i'm a Blue Bird Fan) so that basically means that anything is better than IC |
Facebook Page: Blue Bird Corporation Fans
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_212311114614&ap=1
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2007 : 10:04:22 AM
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| hey Va Beach finally have gotten the C2 order coming in i have post pics on Flicker if you want to see them under schoolbus. I am happy with the Vision bad bugs and all we are back in it again i am hoping it works this time i havent even driven it longer then 3 days since Nov.8th and i really like the bus. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2007 : 10:43:10 AM
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Check out those sweet C2s! Other than private contractors, that is the first time I've seen a C2 in VA with yellow window posts the entire length of the bus! It seems to me that Virginia is starting to crack down on the unusual standards of the C2, by decreasing the black paint on the roof caps, adding the lamp visors, moving the bus number, etc. My only question now, is when is someone going to notice that the C2s don't have the second rub rail wrapping around the back of the bus. I believe that the state standards at one time required that.
PS, those are the smallest regular ed C2s I've seen in the state as well. It seems that most districts across VA have adapted the larger capacity conventionals to extend their routes. |
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LBDboater
Advanced Member
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2007 : 1:08:56 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by bsaund09
hey Va Beach finally have gotten the C2 order coming in i have post pics on Flicker if you want to see them under schoolbus. I am happy with the Vision bad bugs and all we are back in it again i am hoping it works this time i havent even driven it longer then 3 days since Nov.8th and i really like the bus.
Someone want to post a link, I can't find the pics on Flickr! |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2007 : 4:33:12 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by LBDboater
quote:
Originally posted by bsaund09
hey Va Beach finally have gotten the C2 order coming in i have post pics on Flicker if you want to see them under schoolbus. I am happy with the Vision bad bugs and all we are back in it again i am hoping it works this time i havent even driven it longer then 3 days since Nov.8th and i really like the bus.
Someone want to post a link, I can't find the pics on Flickr!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7372257@N05/2113204358/in/photostream/
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Official Virginia School Bus Thread
