BusTalk

[Q65A]

The TM sponsored a tour of the Grand Avenue Depot/CMF yesterday.
I was one of the 29 visitors who took the 2+ hour long tour, guided very nicely by GS Transportation Donald Houston (depot) and GS Maintenance Bob Sorrentino (CMF).
This was my 2nd time to visit there: the TM also had run a tour back in 2008 shortly after the facility had opened.
This time around, the GA fleet was a lot different, with lots of Orion VII NG HEV's on hand, plus older HEV's and Nova RTS's. We also saw NYCT 1303 (a DesignLine EcoSaver IV) being prepped for service NYCT maintainers and some manufacturer's reps. The rear compartment door on 1303 was left open to reveal a very clean, uncluttered engine bay. We were not able to board the new unit because servicing was in progress. It's still hard for me to get accustomed to these units (especially the rear rooftop spoiler) but then again I probably felt the same way when I first saw RTS's back in 1979. We were able to board NYCT 4527, a brand new Orion VII HEV NG; there's nothing like the look and smell of a brand new bus! The CMF is large, tidy, and very impressive: they already have added another 6 lift stations, now boasting 33 lifts that can handle 40' and 60' buses. We were grateful for the souvenirs of this trip as well: GA depot hats, depot logo decals, and copies of the May/June 2009 edition of The Bus Connection (as The Leader now is known). NYTM tours always are first-rate events, and this one was no exception. I'm already looking forward to hearing about their Spring 2010 calendar.