Look at the srtipe its a wrap??
(http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae145/Lonnie_blaine_2116_b/Transit%20Photos/GEDC0058.jpg)
The stripes are reflectorized adhesive. WMATA did the same with the stripes on it's previous two color schemes. I always thought it was a good idea.
I agree about the reflective stripes being a good thing. I guess the base of the schemeis silver and red or blue, and the stripes follow it. Pretty cool!
We actually have a couple of buses at RTC that are completely wrapped in our current paint scheme rather than painted. You can't tell the difference at all. It was just a test to see how it would hold up and how easy it was to do. All in all, it won't really save anything because the wrap will have to be re-done in a few years, but it was an interesting concept.
Perry - Does RTC ever reapint the buses? I wonder of the folks in NYC ever thought about this. NYCTA buses get a repaint every three years and I'm sure it will extend over to LIB and MTAB. When they started applying the MTA blue/white to LIB and MTAB buses many of them simlpy got blue adhesive placed over the old color. The blue stripe on NYCTA buses is still painted and I wonder if using a reflective blue stripe would save them a few dollars. I'm suprised they haven't moved to reflective decals as their safety paranoia is pretty high.
Actually we are repainting some of the 60 foot NABI's and taking away the Barbie colors and replacing with the gold and blue as well as doing an overhaul of the engines and the interiors. I think a few are back on the street, with several more awaiting their trip to Riverside, CA to go to Complete Coach Works. Before we went to that color paint, I don't think anything was ever repainted. I'm so glad that we're getting away from the pink and teal. Some of our newer NABI's are being repainted because they were getting chipped going through the bus wash...I can't remember the whole story with that, but I think it's being done on the manufacturer's dime and not ours.
Quote from: Perry on February 19, 2010, 06:44:12 PM
Actually we are repainting some of the 60 foot NABI's and taking away the Barbie colors and replacing with the gold and blue as well as doing an overhaul of the engines and the interiors. I think a few are back on the street, with several more awaiting their trip to Riverside, CA to go to Complete Coach Works. Before we went to that color paint, I don't think anything was ever repainted. I'm so glad that we're getting away from the pink and teal. Some of our newer NABI's are being repainted because they were getting chipped going through the bus wash...I can't remember the whole story with that, but I think it's being done on the manufacturer's dime and not ours.
I've never heard of paint chipping from washing a bus. Also, I think it was about time for the pink and green to go as well since its not CAT anymore. Also, will MAX keep its current color scheme or change into the RTC scheme?
The paint wasn't applied properly in the first place and when it was getting washed along the skirt, it was coming out chipped. There was back and forth as to what was at fault, the washer being too strong or the poor paint job. The Barbie colors were well passed their prime.
MAX will stay the same colors. When we get ready to change that line to the Blue Line sometime next year, the MAX will be taken off and replaced with ACE as that will be part of the ACE route network.
Our regular scheme is all paint with some decals, but our hybrid scheme is actually a wrap. The body of the bus is painted white (except for the blue along the roofline), with the rest of the graphics being wrapped. So far they've been lasting very well, even our very first "hybrid wrapped" units show no sign of wear and tear, you still cannot tell its a wrap unless you look up close.
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5747/pb230130.jpg)
(http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/9862/pb230121.jpg)
Our advertisement wrap buses though, do receive an complete new paint job for an advertisement. We paint the entire body of the bus into a new base color (whatever the ad calls for), and apply the graphics on top of that. After the advertisement contract is up, we give the bus a fresh paint job back into CityBus colors.
(http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/373/pa230053.jpg)
(http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3199/p2053939.jpg)
So prior to graphics being applied, that was an all-red and an all-yellow bus.
Ooh...shiny! Nicely done on the hybrid. It's still sad that the Flxes are going bye-bye. :( The big mystery is, how did they keep their 1983 Gilligs running so long?
I love the attention to detail on those paint jobs, right down to the windshield wipers and the Gillig wordmark.
Quote from: Flxible on February 20, 2010, 12:59:50 PM
Ooh...shiny! Nicely done on the hybrid. It's still sad that the Flxes are going bye-bye. :( The big mystery is, how did they keep their 1983 Gilligs running so long?
O/T, it probably helps that they just stopped making the Phantom a couple years ago and that Gillig is still in business, versus Flxible, where production stopped now 15 years ago along with the entire company. Whatever "spare parts inventory" there ever was for Flxes has been holding on for 12 years, whereas the Phantom inventory just got tapped into -- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Gillig is still making Phantom parts, and I bet there's a certain number of Advantage parts that are interchangeable.
Quote from: Tristan on February 23, 2010, 12:27:41 PM
Quote from: Flxible on February 20, 2010, 12:59:50 PM
Ooh...shiny! Nicely done on the hybrid. It's still sad that the Flxes are going bye-bye. :( The big mystery is, how did they keep their 1983 Gilligs running so long?
O/T, it probably helps that they just stopped making the Phantom a couple years ago and that Gillig is still in business, versus Flxible, where production stopped now 15 years ago along with the entire company. Whatever "spare parts inventory" there ever was for Flxes has been holding on for 12 years, whereas the Phantom inventory just got tapped into -- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Gillig is still making Phantom parts, and I bet there's a certain number of Advantage parts that are interchangeable.
I remember reading somewhere that MCI's support for Flxible parts runs out later this year. Is this true?
I know that when Neoplan USA went under, Neopart still survived and is still running from both its locations in Colorado and Pennsylvania. I'd think that if Gillig still exists, the Phantom will be supported well into the 2020's and if they by chance went under someone would support the parts.