July 17 2011:

 

            The bus left on time. Shortly after we left, the mother said she didn't have a charger for her cell phone. I pulled out the charger for my Ipod. She asked if she could use it. I lent it to her, but it didn't work.

 

            I then pulled out my laptop and worked on this report some more. The mother whose name was Nateille was able to charge her phone with the aid of my laptop. She was lucky I was on the bus. If I had been able to get a ride, she would have been out of luck. It reminded me of how a change of plans led me to overnight in Ottawa instead of flying out there led me to meet Osy at the hostel I stayed at and was able to give him the address and intersection of a police station in Gatineau after he had told he how he was arrested after being mistaken for someone who was breaking into cars.

 

            I tried to lie down and rest during the ride. The bus made a stop at a gas station in Sturgeon Falls to let someone off. Shortly after we left, we were flagged down by two people.

 

            Meanwhile, Nateille also charged her son's Ipod on my laptop. After awhile, I unplugged both and returned them to her. She was grateful to have been able to charge her phone and Ipod.

 

            Soon we were approaching North Bay. I packed up in preparation to get off.

 

            The bus arrived into North Bay a few minutes early. I got off and photographed the bus.

 

 

            I got my suitcase and went inside the building. I saw an HO scale model train on a display case and filmed it. I then phoned a cab to take me to my hotel. It showed up a few minutes later. I was able to check in and went to my room and called it a night.

 

            I got up at 9:00 am and went to the lobby for breakfast. After breakfast I went to my room and got my backpack. I then headed out and walked to the transit terminal which was a few blocks away. I photographed a couple D40LFs.

 

 

 

            I was waiting for a bus to take me to the garage. However, Kevin Nicol showed up.   I was able to get a ride with him to the garage. I noticed equipment from a railway museum in North Bay. I took a picture from the terminal and planned to return after the charter.

 

            I got a ride with Kevin to the bus garage. At first, I couldn't see any buses. We were also the first people to arrive. The driver for today's charter also arrived. He asked if one of us was Ryan. Kevin said no. Our driver then pulled out the first bus which was Classic #T760. I photographed it.

 

 

            We then headed to the back and I photographed ex Connecticut Classic T725.

 

 

            I photographed some buses in the garage before we headed to the very back and photographed some retired buses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

            I then headed back to our charter bus. By now, more people had arrived. I took some interior shots of T760. Finally Ryan arrived and paid for the charter. Today we would have Classic T760 for a couple hours then switch to Orion 5 #T754 which is North Bay Transit's last active Orion 5. Our driver said that T754 was the most hated bus on account it gets really hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

 

            We then got on T760 and we headed out. Our first photo stop was on the route 3 Ski Club route in front of a school. We photographed T760.

 

 

            Our second photo stop was at the North Bay airport which is served by Air Canada Jazz and Bearskin Airlines. I photographed T760 from atop a hill.

 

 

            We then got on and then stopped in front of a military jet on a pillar. This was another photo stop.

 

 

            We then headed out and had our next photo stop at Nipissing University.

 

 

 

            We then posed the bus in front of an apartment building on the route 5.

 

 

 

            Our next photo stop was also on a street served by route 5.

 

 

 

 

            We then headed back to the bus garage to switch to the Orion 5. I took some photos at the garage.

 

 

 

 

 

            We then got Orion 5 #T754 and backed out of the garage. We then left and went to a truck stop just north of town. This would be a washroom stop and we could also buy drinks. I took some photos.

 

 

 

            Our driver from the day before, Dave who is also a bus fan showed up.  He got on our bus and we headed off. We then stopped at an intersection which happened to be near my hotel. We took some photos.

 

 

 

            We then headed out and drove along the waterfront and by a beach. I saw a miniature railway. There was also a full sized caboose up there as well. We then stopped in front of a park with another mounted aircraft. I took some photos.

 

 

 

 

            The bus was repositioned for more photos.

 

 

 

            We then headed out into the country.  We stopped by a golf club but someone at the stop thought we were an in-service bus. We told him it was a private charter and had a photo stop at the next bus stop.

 

 

 

            We then returned to the bus garage. I was able to get some interior shots of T754. I then took some photos.

 

 

 

 

            Meanwhile T760 was pulled out and posed with T754 for some photos. I took a photo of our charter buses side by side. I took some photos.

 

 

            Meanwhile, our driver pulled out D40LF #T768 and posed it with T54 and T760. I took some photos.

 

 

 

            Meanwhile, they did the group photo for the charter.

 

 

            Meanwhile our driver put our charter buses and T768 away. I filmed them being put away. I spoke with our driver. I found out that there is just enough D40LFs to cover the weekday service requirement if none were down with mechanical problems. He implied that I’d see some Classics out in service the following day.

 

            I mentioned that if I saw T754 in service I would buy a lottery ticket. He said it was unlikely that it would be in service.

 

            Our driver then pulled out second-hand Classic #T724 out. I photographed it.

 

 

 

            Our driver then moved T724 back and pulled out Classic T737 which was also bought second hand. I took some photos.

 

 

 

            I overheard that North Bay Transit will be getting two new buses. They will be New Flyer Xcelsiors. They will be replacing Orion 5 #T754 and Classic #T724. Our driver put T737 away. This was the end of the charter. Some people were going out for wings at some restaurant. However, I chose not to. I walked by the bus terminal which was a couple blocks away. I photographed a couple highway coaches.

 

 

 

            I used the passage from the terminal to the Northgate mall. I had lunch at the McDonald’s in a Wal-Mart. I did a bit of shopping before I found a coin operated massage chair. I decided to have a massage since I couldn’t have one at Union three days earlier.

 

            I then caught a bus back to the terminal. I walked over to where I had seen the equipment from the museum including a steam engine and two cars from the ex Ontario Northland ex Trans European Express trainset. I photographed them.

 

 

 

 

 

            The train sets were built in 1957 in Switzerland while the original diesel locomotives for the sets were built by Werkspoor in Holland. They were used until 1974. Four of the five train sets were then overhauled by SIG (who built the coaches) for use on the Ontario Northland. This overhaul was going on when the first six CLRVs for Toronto were being built; also by SIG. The fifth train set was wrecked.

 

            The train sets consisted of a locomotive and three coaches. The last coach was intended for use as a cab car, but Ontario Northland was concerned about using push-pull on snow covered rails so they were wyed at the ends of the route. They entered service on the Northlander in 1987.

 

            The original Werkspoor locomotives were problematic and were often called “works poor” units! As a result, Ontario Northland replaced them with rebuilt FP7s which were known as FP-7Ams. One of the train sets was lost in an accident with Ontario Northland and the other train sets were retired in 1992 when they were replaced with the ex GO Transit single level coaches used on the Northlander today.

 

            The Werkspoor units were scrapped. Two of the other train sets (minus the FP-7Ams) returned to Europe while one was put on display at a railway museum in North Bay. However, there was a fire at the museum which damaged the train set.

 

            I then walked about a block further and photographed ex Ontario Northland repowered FP7 #2002 and CEFX unit 2011.

 

 

 

 

            I walked back to my hotel and worked on this trip report some more. I also tried logging into the internet in my room, but found it to work sporadically. I tried calling the front desk for help, but I barely got it working altogether.

 

            I decided to walk to the beach. I walked over, but first, I decided to visit the miniature railway. I paid $2 for a ticket. This miniature railway has an ex CP caboose for an office. They have partially repainted it. I took some photos before I got on the train.

 

 

            I got on the train and we headed off. As the train passed the loading area, I photographed the caboose again.

 

 

 

            The train then went by the yard where they keep other miniature trains. I photographed the yard from the train.

 

 

 

            We got back to the station. I took one more photo of the CP caboose then photographed the train when it departed on its next run.

 

 

 

            I filmed the train passing me then walked to the beach. At first, I thought it looked a little rough for swimming, but other people were swimming. I decided to wade in. The water wasn’t as cold as I thought, so I changed into my bathing suit and went for a swim. It certainly cooled me off.

 

            After I got changed and took one last photo of the beach.

 

 

            I decided it was time for dinner. I decided to walk to a Subway restaurant near my hotel. On the way I saw some dark clouds. About a block away, I heard thunder. I got to Subway and bought dinner to go. It still wasn’t raining when I left. I made my way back to my hotel. I saw lightning go from cloud to cloud, but not hit anything on the ground. I made it back safely to my hotel and watched TV for awhile. I also worked on this report when I thought it was safe. The internet worked for a little while, but it stopped after awhile.

 

            I walked to where the charter had a photo stop a few blocks away and bought some milk at a Mac’s store. I walked back to my hotel. After awhile, I called it a night.

 

Click here for the end:          End of trip