DE42LFAs on the 5A?

[Chargerdodge9]

Does anyone know why there are no longer Orion VII OG CNGs on the 5A? I noticed on bustime that there are several New Flyer DE42LFAs on the 5A. And for that matter, now that Royal is gone, are there only two depots servicing NOVA lines or are there a couple of D.C. depots here too now?

[RideOn5905]

Yeah, now that Royal's closed, some of the southern routes (18s, 5A, REX, among others) are now operated out of Shepherd Parkway.

And guess what? They're not the only routes to change divisions. The 3A, 15K, and I believe the 38B as well are now operated out of West Ox; the 28A, 10A/B are now operated by Four Mile Run; the V7 is operated by Annex, the 70 is operated by Montgomery, the 79 is operated out of either Montgomery or Northern (it's tough to tell; we just underwent another Bussian Roulette), and maybe others as well.

[Chargerdodge9]

Damn, that explains the sudden return of Orion Vs on the 70. Haven't seen that since 2011 or so. I guess no more Neoplan AN460s for the 70?

[Chargerdodge9]

Yeah, now that Royal's closed, some of the southern routes (18s, 5A, REX, among others) are now operated out of Shepherd Parkway.

And guess what? They're not the only routes to change divisions. The 3A, 15K, and I believe the 38B as well are now operated out of West Ox; the 28A, 10A/B are now operated by Four Mile Run; the V7 is operated by Annex, the 70 is operated by Montgomery, the 79 is operated out of either Montgomery or Northern (it's tough to tell; we just underwent another Bussian Roulette), and maybe others as well.

5A is now out of Parkway? That's pretty dang far. Sucks that VA lines will presumably never see another Orion V again though. I thought they'd stay until at least next summer.

[Chargerdodge9]

Yeah, now that Royal's closed, some of the southern routes (18s, 5A, REX, among others) are now operated out of Shepherd Parkway.

And guess what? They're not the only routes to change divisions. The 3A, 15K, and I believe the 38B as well are now operated out of West Ox; the 28A, 10A/B are now operated by Four Mile Run; the V7 is operated by Annex, the 70 is operated by Montgomery, the 79 is operated out of either Montgomery or Northern (it's tough to tell; we just underwent another Bussian Roulette), and maybe others as well.

And now West Ox gave away their 6400s and 7000s for 7100s and 7200s. Besides the Metroways buses, any other 8000 series NABI BRT 42s out and about yet?

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

The 70 is split with Northern I think during rush hour only, so you will still find Neos on that route, just not as much. The K6 is also split with Northern and Montgomery, so you might see Neos on that route too. R1 and R2 are split as well with Northern and Bladensburg.

[rideonrulez]

George, The 70 is all Montgomery Weekdays except the late night blocks. Northern has only 3 PM blocks on the K6. Northern has 5 PM blocks on the R1,2.

[BigPimpinSlimDB]

I noticed Bladensburg operating the U lines again (U4 yesterday). And Northern operating  30N (N310) last night. Any more shakeups?

[Chargerdodge9]

Probably a whole lot since Royal closed a few days ago. Anyone know when they transferred out the Orion Vs? I remember when they sent buses to West Ox from Arlington depot a few years ago. I think it was on a Saturday. At least things will get interesting in Northern Va on weekends again.

[Chargerdodge9]

BTW, does any DE42LFA have luggage racks for the 5A?

[rideonrulez]

Actually Northern does not operate any of the 30N. What you saw was probably the Northern Strategic covering a trip which should be Block W310.

Some of the Orions from Royal were moved Friday evening the others were moved on Saturday.

and no luggage racks on the DE42LFA's

[RideOn5905]

If it was a 6400 he saw, then it's probably a new arrival at Western (I saw several of them from 6462 to 6484); I know this 'cause I saw some other 6400s on the N2, 42, and maybe other routes.

Several other divisions got new buses; the 21-2200s went to Northern, Montgomery and Landover; the D40LFRs up to 6175 went to Annex, while 6199-6211 went to Landover; Landover's 7100s went mostly to West Ox, with some of the lower-numbered ones (up to at least 7163) going to Western; Northern's Xcelsiors went to West Ox and Montgomery; West Ox and Shepherd's express-branded 6400s went to Northern; and the higher-numbered 6500s (starting with 6570 iirc) went back to West Ox from Shepherd. This major shake-up will be especially rough on Montgomery, now that they have two big routes (70 and Y7/8) that need a lot of artics.

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

2100-2158 Northern
2159
2160-2165 Bladensburg
2166-2198 Montgomery
2199-2231 Landover
3036-3046 Landover
3047-3074 Shepherd
6101-6176 Annex
6177-6190 and 6199-6217 Landover
6191-6198 Montgomery
6301-6394 Shepherd
6395-6412 Montgomery
6413-6424 Shepherd
6425-6455 Northern
6456-6461 Montgomery
6462-6485 Western
6486-6514 Northern
6515-6569 Shepherd
6570-6609 West Ox
7001-7080 Landover
7081-7100 Montgomery
7101-7167 Western
7168-7208 West Ox
7209-7228 Northern
7229-7272 Montgomery

[Chargerdodge9]

Damn, Parkway sure did get tons of DE42s (nearly 200). Once the rest of the 8000s arrive, I suspect that more LFAs will be transferred out to other depots and this should then spell the end to the last of the 1997 Orion V diesels. Seems that almost everything got moved except for the CNGs, the 1997s, and the Neos and DE40LF/Rs.

[Chargerdodge9]

Yeah, now that Royal's closed, some of the southern routes (18s, 5A, REX, among others) are now operated out of Shepherd Parkway.

And guess what? They're not the only routes to change divisions. The 3A, 15K, and I believe the 38B as well are now operated out of West Ox; the 28A, 10A/B are now operated by Four Mile Run; the V7 is operated by Annex, the 70 is operated by Montgomery, the 79 is operated out of either Montgomery or Northern (it's tough to tell; we just underwent another Bussian Roulette), and maybe others as well.

Yes, that's true about the 3A. I saw both an XDE40 and a DE37LFA on it yesterday. As for the 38B, every now and then, they'll still occasional use an Orion VII OG CNG. I was on one just yesterday.