May 22, 2010:

 

 

            I got up around 7:00 am and went downstairs for breakfast. I went back to my room and got ready for the charter. I left around 8:00 and headed to the bus stop. I caught a bus to the Crowne Plaza hotel which is where the charter would be meeting up. I was there early.

 

            After awhile, people started showing up. A few minutes before 9:00 am, Gillig hybrid bus #1006 showed up. 1006 would take us to RTA’s Longworth garage where we would get on 110. I photographed 1006 before I got on.

 

 

            I got on the bus and we soon left. The automated announcements still made advertisements even though the bus wasn’t in service. I noticed the yard I had seen the day before was just a storage yard filled with retired D30LFs and RTS’s. We pulled into the garage and we saw 110 at the end. We got off and I photographed 1006.

 

 

            We would be given a tour of the garage before the charter. I photographed various buses including RTA’s few remaining active D30LFs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then walked over to where 110 was sitting. I photographed it.

 

 

            I then headed back and along the way, I photographed RTS 9712 and 1006 again.

 

 

 

            We then went into the maintenance area where I photographed Skoda trolley #9802 on a lift. 9802 is the other Skoda to be painted in RTA’s new Livery. I also photographed other Skoda buses in the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            We looked around the garage and I photographed a few diesel buses.

 

 

 

            I then made my way to where 1006 dropped us off. I saw that 110 had been moved I photographed it before I got on.

 

 

 

Click here to see a comparison between the BBC coaches in Edmonton vs. Dayton:       Edmonton vs. Dayton.

 

 

            I got on and photographed 110’s interior. 110 had been modified since it arrived. Its front doors were altered to allow for the instillation of a wheelchair lift. However I’ve heard the lift didn’t always work. They also put a wheelchair tie-down area inside 110. They also covered some of 110’s orange seats with black covers though several seats still were orange.

 

 

 

            I sat down at the back of the bus and opened the window. Slowly, other people got on. There was a group of people gathered at the front of the bus. I didn’t know it yet, but they were installing a BBC builders’ plate which someone had obtained from a scrapped BBC in Edmonton.

 

            I also saw a sheet showing the fare dated 1995; when 110 entered service with RTA.

 

            Everyone soon boarded 110 and we left. Before we left, we saw a Skoda being moved under battery power within the garage. Someone else pointed out 9-10 year old graffiti carved into the window! As we drove, we got lots of stares from bus drivers and people on the street. At various points on the charter, we explained to people about the trolleybus. 110 is 15 years older than anything else RTA has active!

 

            Our first photo stop was RTA’s Northwest Hub at the other side of the city. We photographed 110.

 

 

 

 

            Adjacent to the Northwest hub is the building where RTA keeps their historical fleet. This is where 110 had been stored for the past nine years. We were allowed inside the building. The first bus I saw was BBC #109 which was missing various parts and in sad shape.

 

 

            The next bus I went to see was Flyer E700 #900. 900 has a link to Toronto as after the TTC completed its trolleybus rebuild program in the early 1970s where they installed components from aging Brill Trolleybuses into Flyer built bodies, they did installed components into the body of coach 900. However 900 was the only E700 Dayton ever bought.

 

 

 

 

 

            There were three Flyer E800s in the storage area. One of them; 937 was the last Flyer to run in Dayton. They were all missing bits and pieces. I photographed them.

 

 

 

This is Flyer #937. You can’t tell, but the destination sign reads “Last run”.

 

 

 

            Also inside were the three prototype Skoda trolleybuses: 9601-9603. They were 8 inches narrower than the production Skoda buses and had a wheelchair lift at the rear doors instead of the front. Dayton didn’t like that. They have more comfortable seats. I heard they are missing some parts, but are in good shape. I photographed them.

 

 

            Beside 9601 was the body of an old interurban car. I photographed it.

 

 

            I then took a few more photos of BBC #109 both inside and out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then photographed the oldest bus in the garage.

 

 

            I had heard of a museum that has former Dayton Brill trolleybus #515 on display. They were originally to get another coach, but when that coach was being transported, it was involved in a rollover accident and was deemed a loss. However coach 515 was still at the garage, so it took the place of the coach lost in the accident.

 

            I went outside and photographed 110 some more.

 

 

 

            I got back on the bus and we soon left. As we were driving along, I heard that all the work to make 110 operational was done at the Longworth garage. Plus 110 was actually pushed across town to the Longworth garage; not towed.

 

            Our next stop was in downtown Dayton. This would be our lunch stop. We stopped at the intersection of East 5^th Street and Main Street. I took some photos of 110.

 

 

            Across the street we saw Skoda trolleybus 9845 show up. It was not in service. As a result of roadwork going on in Dayton, many trolleybus routes were temporarily dieselized and no trolleybuses went out in service on weekends. This reminded me of Edmonton in the final years of trolleybus service. This has given many of Dayton’s remaining Novas a brief reprieve.

 

            I crossed the street and photographed 9845.

 

 

            The charter group was having lunch at the Spaghetti Warehouse a block away. Inside the restaurant was the body of an old Dayton streetcar! Our charter group would be eating inside the streetcar. I photographed the car body.

 

 

            My lunch was okay. Usually on charters we stop at either a mall food court or a fast food restaurant for lunch. After I paid for my lunch, I went out and returned to 110. 9845 had been moved so it was now behind 110. I took some photos of the two trolleybuses.

 

 

            9845 was then moved so it was beside 110. I took some more photos.

 

 

            Soon, everyone got back onto 110 and we were soon off. Someone commented saying they’d like to see what 110 would look like in RTA’s new livery. A few minutes later, we passed by the intersection of Brown and Wyoming. As we crossed the intersection, we hit a stretch of dead wires. We couldn’t go any further! We got out while we pondered what to do next. I took a photo.

 

 

            The driver pulled the poles off the wires. We decided to push the bus backwards across the intersection! From there, we would try to make a right turn as there were trolleybus wires on the Wyoming Street. I photographed people pushing the charter back.

 

All right everyone, PUSH!!

 

            Many people laughed during the pushing move. This reminded me of a scene from one of the late Ray Neilson’s videos of a TTS charter on TTC Flyer trolleybus #9200 that happened a few years before trolleybus service in Toronto ended. On that charter, 9200 missed a turn and came off the wires and the coach had to be pushed back by TTS members!

 

            I went to help push the bus, but I couldn’t find anywhere to push. So I filmed the people pushing the bus.

 

            We got the bus across the intersection. However, there was no wires that would allow us to turn right from Brown Street onto Wyoming Street. We would try to make 110 get a good run and someone would pull the poles off at the right time and hopefully, we’d get onto Wyoming Street. We failed the first time, but the second time with the aid of many people on the charter pushing the bus; we got 110 around the corner.  We cheered as we raised the poles and put them on the wires.

 

            However our celebrations were premature. The wires on Wyoming Street were dead too! We put the poles down and we decided to push 110 back across the intersection then onto Brown Street and head back the way we came. Someone handed me their video camera so I could film them pushing 110. I held his camera in one hand and filmed with my camera on my other hand. After pushing 110 backwards across Brown Street, we pushed it forwards onto Brown Street.

 

            I handed the camera back to the person who asked me to film. 110’s poles were put onto the live wires and we boarded the bus.

 

            Our next scheduled photo stop was the downtown terminal. We took some pictures of the trolleybus.

 

 

 

 

            While at the terminal, many more people asked about 110. We soon got back on the bus and we soon left the terminal.

 

            Our next photo stop was along a river on a residential street. While we were there, a couple route 8 buses passed.

 

 

 

 

            When we got to this stop, we were told not to go in one yard, but the homeowner was out, and other people asked if they could use his yard and he said it was okay.

 

            Our next photo stop was where the route 1 trolley turns around. There was a diesel bus in the loop when we got there.

 

 

 

            The diesel bus departed a few minutes before we did. We departed and we headed to where the route 4 trolleybus loops. I took some photos.

 

 

 

 

            On request, 110 was moved a few feet ahead for better angles. This was also where the group photo was taken. I took an “unofficial” group photo.

 

 

            Moments later, a maroon Chevy Caprice pulled over and the two occupants got out. They were curious as to what was happening and wanted to be in the group photo. We let them even though they weren’t on the charter. They soon left. We boarded 110 and departed a couple minutes later.

 

            Our next photo stop was at the Westown Hub which is by the Westown mall. I photographed 110. While we were there, we saw a Gillig hybrid and D40LF #2309 which is in a unique livery.

 

 

 

 

 

            While we were at Weston, I bought a bottle of Pepsi from a vending machine as it was hot and I was thirsty. After the hybrid and 2309 departed, we got back on 110 and headed downtown.

 

            As we entered the downtown terminal, the trolleybus dewired. Strangely enough, this didn’t occur at a junction where most dewirements occur. We held up several buses waiting to enter the terminal while the driver put the poles back on the wire.

 

All these buses couldn’t enter with 110 dewired in front of the terminal entrance.

 

 

            Once we put the poles on the wires, we drove through the terminal non-stop. We stopped the intersection of East 5^th Street and Main Street. This was where the charter would end for today. However, there would be a second charter on 110 the next day which I would be going on. I took a few more shots of 110. The BBC plate was removed from 110.

 

 

 

            I stood across the street and waited for 110 to depart. When it did, I filmed it passing and then took one more photo.

 

 

            I wandered around the area looking for an internet café or any place with internet access without success.  I walked over to a railway overpass and waited around. A few minutes later, a CSX freight passed which I photographed.

 

 

 

            I had dinner at a McDonald’s a few blocks away. After, I looked around some more for a place with internet access without luck. The only place that I found wasn’t open on weekends. At one point, a homeless guy asked me for money. I gave him a Canadian quarter! The guy thanked me. I don’t know if he realized I gave him foreign currency.

 

I caught a route 19 bus back to my hotel. I watched TV for a little while. At one point, I opened the door and saw the door of the room across from me was open and a little kid was standing in the hallway completely naked! I went back into my room.

 

            This reminded me of a charter on TTC 8257 (which I saw on both my trips to Timmins) a few months before it was retired in 1999. At one photo stop, we were on a residential street when all of a sudden a little kid ran out of a house completely naked. The kid’s father came out wearing only a towel moments later followed by the fully clothed mother. It was pretty bad timing for them as there was a TTC bus parked across the street and 25 people with cameras and video cameras! I didn’t take any pictures of that.

 

            A little while later, I decided to go for a swim in the hotel’s pool. After, I bought some milk from a gas station across the street before I watched a little more TV. I soon called it a night.

 

Click here for part 2 of the charter:  BBC 110 charter part 2.