Articulated Moves
The Seattle Metro runs a large number of articulated (or "accordian-style") coaches. However, Chicago may have something even better. During my recent trip there, my friend Jason demonstrated the a Chicago-Style Articulated Spotting Move. While waiting at Broadway and Cornelia, Jason sensed a #36 coming from the north. In an effort to see if the bus really was coming, he performed a contortion act and twisted his body up-down-and-around -- much like the articulated bus moves -- in essence making a 270-degree turn in a beautiful snake-like fashion. The #36 was not in sight, but Jason's dance left me in awe.
New 4200 coach spotted!
While on a rare trip by (gasp!) auto, Smile43 and I spotted 4213 Northbound on route 49 on 10th Ave East. What a nice "welcome back to Seattle" from Metro. Lets hope more 4200's role off the line in the near future!
lessons from chi-town
on a recent trip, I had the oppportunity to make some cross-sytem comparisons as regards bus operations. While its common to disparage Seattle's bus system, I would have to say its got a few things going for it.
That said, one thing the CTA bus rider has going for him or her is the assurance that, once on the bus, the driver will do everything possible to reach the end of the line as quickly as possible. Smile43 and I rode the Belmont line in heavy traffic and found that the driver conceeded no ground to the surrounding autos and trucks. Metro drivers please take note
On the other hand, I have returned to Seattle with an appreciation for the way Metro maintians its signage and posts current schedules. I found it frustrating that the CTA actually pays completetly uninformed employees to sit at L stations. We were incorrecrlty told that out train would run until 2AM when in fact it stopped at 12:30. This resulted in trip by cab - always the last choice of a true bus-spotter!
Vintage Party Bus
I recently returned from an extensive roadtrip with M*A*N. The focus of this trip was transportation.
The most exciting moments of the trip included several rare spots of vintage buses. One happened just outside of Spearfish, South Dakota, en route to Billings, Montana. A decrepid vintage coach was parked between two buildings just off highway 212.
I also engaged in a minor fleet spotting exercise in Billings, Montana. I believe we may have identified a significant portion of the Billings MET's #1800 series in about 10 minutes of active spotting.
The final spot was "on paper" in a free weekly and included the photo to the left. Apparently, the latest pre-football game craze in Missoula, Montana, is riding this man's M*A*N-style bus which has been converted into a party-mobile. Note the palindromic numbering (e.g. 2112).
Bus Karma
I have not been having good bus karma this week. First, my bus didn't come on Tuesday after work. I kept thinking it would come so I waited, and eventually I had waited so long that I caught the next bus, 30 minutes later. (Usually I walk home in these situations but I was real tired -- I had worked an uncharacteristic 9 hour day!) So then yesterday they decided to close off a bunch of streets around Harborview so I went to where the new bus stop was supposed to be, but that bus didn't come either. Having learned my lesson, I walked home -- sure enough, the #60 passed me about 4 minutes into my walk. And now this morning my bus was 10 minutes late, which I don't really care about, but it's sketchy since I get on at the first stop.
HOwever, in all of my bus waiting, I have been making massive amounts of spots -- #4205 many times, #4212, #4204 twice, and many #4000 series. Sadly I haven't seen #4026 (my favorite bus!!!) in several weeks. Maybe that's the cause of my bad bus karma?
vintage only?
following smil43's useful links (see sidebar), I've learned about a major divisision in the busspotting world bewteen "vintage only" spotters and the rest. Now, while I don't consider myself a vintage only snob, certain styles interst me more than others. For all you newbies, let my try to break down the basic styles in use on Seattle Metro:
Best to Spot (in my humble opinion):
4000: "vintage" articulated trolley buses with a lot of character and variety b/w coaches
4200: articulated trolley buses with awesome angular style recently resurrected from the former "dual power" buses that ran in the bus tunnel
Honarable Mention:
4100: late-model trolley buses: nice vehicles but there are a ton of them and there all essetially in good shape and pretty indestinguishable (there goes 4139 on North on Summit right now!!)
Diesel buses just bore me for the most part
Weekend < Weekday
It is truly rare when a weekDAY has anything better to offer than a weekEND, but this is the case when it comes to bus spotting. The Seattle Metro opts out of using the trolley system on Saturdays and Sundays -- M*A*N can elaborate on this more -- so the best buses are stuck at base all weekend.
Perhaps this is why it is even more satisfying to see #4200 (08/15/05, 8:05am, route #49 north on Broadway) as your first spot on a Monday morning.
Seattle Times spots #2341!
From the local news section in today's ST:
"...shown driving route 15 from downtown to Ballard."
missing link filled
spotted one of the crucial missing links in the 4200 series this week: #4205. It has the nice blue paint job and the brilliant lighting (see also #4212) charactistic of the better-rehabbed ex-bus tunnel coahes.
The crucial spot was made Tuesday moring at 8:45 AM. 4205 was headed East on E. Pine on the 49 route. Shortly after I sighted #4205 , it made the left turn onto Broadway, then headed North where it was sighted by none other than Smile43! An historic day in Seattle bus spotting history!
Sell Out
Yesterday I was sitting in Top Pot on Summit and noticed a #14 heading north with a completely black front panel! A new rogue bus, I wondered?! As it crossed in front of me I realized that it was merely a bus with a full-body WB advertisement. Awesome in the front, lame Dawson's Creek-style everywhere else. No bus number was able to be spotted. Next time.
#60 CFS
A true bus spotter attempts to spot every bus within a specific fleet, or sub-fleet if you will. Though my #60 route does not include very memorable buses (i.e. low floor only), I am forced to ride these buses once or twice a day. Today, therefore, I initiated my #60 Complete Fleet Spot (CFS) with the goal of spotting/riding each bus dedicated to the route.
08/11/05, 8:10am, #3651 Broadway/Republican to Harborview
08/11/05, 2:24pm, #3616 H'view to B/H
08/12/05, 8:10am, #3634 B/R to H'view
08/12/05, 1:17pm, #3651 H'view to B/H (repeat!)
08/13/05, 2:41pm, #3649 B/R to Broadyway/Union (rare weekend use!)
08/15/05, 8:10am, #3623 B/R to H'view
08/16/05, 5:24pm, #3653 H'view to B/R
08/17/05, 8:10am, #3625 B/R to H'view
08/18/05, 8:10am, #3620 B/R to H'view
08/18/05, 12:54pm, #3620 H'view to B/R (same bus twice in one day!)
Bus Stop Partners 4 Life?
Today was Day #6 in the newest chapter of my life -- "Bus Stop Partners." See, I have always cherished my solo morning bus rides. Whether it's reading the paper, drinking my coffee, listened to some tunes, whatever...I like to do it alone. Enter Bus Stop Partners. These are the folks you meet at non-bus-related social functions who proclaim, "OMG you are at my bus stop every morning! We take the same bus!" And now you are forever faced with the dilemma of: a) sitting by them every morning, thus giving up your preferred peaceful morning commute, but making a friend in the process (which 95% of the time is a good thing), or b) retain the private bus ride by pretending not to see your bus partners but do so at the expense of being labelled the Snob (or worse) of Broadway and Republican for the duration of your bus-riding life.
Lately, I have been choosing option A with remarkably good results. I may even go so far as to recommend it.
more like blood-spotting
Bus 4206 - Route 49 to Broadway ~10:00 PM. Smile43 and I boarded at Harvard and Eastlake after a long wait. Metro operator calmly informed us that there was some blood on the seats and floor and to be careful. We did. It was gross. An interesting use of the handicap-seatbelt barricaded off the affected seats.
The Book
On Route #26, 8/6/05 at 8:18pm, I spotted Seattle Metro's
The Book on the dashboard while boarding. It appeared to have an upwards of 800 pages, possessed a dark green cover, and probably included the whereabouts of buses #4205 and 4207. M-A-N did not spot the book initially but intended to upon bus departure. At that point
The Book was nowhere to be seen.
Rogue bus spotted!
#4044 on route 49 going west on PINE (formerly, Olive) at 11pm 8/5/05.
Note: edited to reflect bus spotting skills acquisition
