Prologue:
In the fall
of 2004, Kingston Transit only had one General Motors fishbowl bus left in
revenue service. Someone decided to charter it. I contemplated going to
I got up early and arrived at Union
Station at
This train was running as a
J-train; VIA train 640 bound for
Meanwhile, VIA crews were service
snacks and beverages. I bought something to eat when they came past. The train
stopped in
Once the train had departed, I went
into the station. I met another charter attendee, Mark Walton who had come on
train 641 from
At the garage, most people attended
the charter were waiting, including many regular people from the
No more patrons joined the charter
at this point. We soon left, and visited the Kingston Centre mall where several
{Photo coming soon?}
We were at the mall for about 10 minutes. After taking a few photos, I ran inside and bought a bottle of Coke. We had some more photo stops throughout the morning. At one point, as the bus was going through an intersection, we saw some man being arrested by the local police! However, we weren’t sure what for.
At one point, we went to
Eventually, we stopped at a Husky restaurant in Joyceville for lunch. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, fries, a candy bar, and a drink. I ate it on the bus. Before I got back on, I took a couple photos of the bus.
{Photo coming soon?}
After lunch, we headed around, having several more photo stops. At some points, we were in rural areas. At one point, we stopped at a scrapyard where we could barely see two other Kingston Transit GM Old looks awaiting their fate off in the distance. We then stopped at a second scrapyard with an ex Kingston Transit fishbowl awaiting its fate.
Next, we stopped at a drive-in movie theatre where the projector was inside of a former Kingston Transit 30 foot Orion 1. There was also a CN caboose nearby.
{Photo coming soon?}
Throughout the afternoon, we made a few more photo stops. We ended up at the Cataraqui Centre mall where a couple Kingston Transit bus routes converge. Throughout the day, I was talking to some of the people on the charter. At the mall, I brought up the topic how five years earlier, the driver of a Niagara Transit fishbowl offered to sell me the bus for $5.00! Upon hearing what I said, the driver of our charter bus said he’d sell me 7975 for a nickel! A couple people said, “Show me the papers!” while I searched for a nickel. Somehow, he was most likely kidding, but I was thinking deja-vu.
After a group photo, the charter ended back at the Kingston Transit garage where many people on the charter took some photos of retired buses as well as buses waiting to go into service.
Among the retired buses was Kingston
Transit Classic #8383. That bus was the first Classic to be sold to a transit
property in
Meanwhile, our charter bus #7975 was actually put into service on a Saturday, despite the fact there were plenty of newer buses that were ready and waiting. It was nice to see a 25 year old bus being used on a Saturday, but then again, GM buses are very reliable.
After the garage tour, I was driven back to the VIA station. I was hoping that I would see some trains before my train would arrive. However none came. At one point, I tried to get some candy from a machine, but it ate my quarter.
Meanwhile, the sun went down. The
first train to finally come by was VIA train 64 heading for
I boarded an LRC economy coach and when I found my assigned seat, there was a woman sitting in it. She quickly moved however and I sat down. We left on time, and soon, dinner was being served. I bought a cheese sandwich and a drink which I ate at my seat.
The train ride was uneventful as we
passed by the TTC’s
Conclusion:
Despite the early start, (I’m not a morning person), the day
was good with the exception of loosing a quarter in the candy machine. In 2005,
Kingston Transit bought a Fishbowl and three Classics from
