After years of living just an hour away, I finally took the plunge and visited Lynchburg for bus riding on a whim. My friend Cedric and I were at a Workday at CC&T and initially decided to go to Blacksburg on the Smart Way and ride the BT, but when advised by a fellow volunteer and Beta Tau alumnus that they were on Break Service ending at 7PM and running hourly with no new stuff on the road, we decided to check out GLTC instead. Earlier that day, I finally got to ride one of their 30-foot Phantoms- 9708, to be exact. This one was donated to GLTC per my request when they retired all of their Gillig Phantoms earlier this year (Thank you, Don Ritchie and Mike Carroll!!).
Looking over the GLTC schedules we had aboard 9708, we met at Campbell Court at 5:15 and headed east on 460. From what I saw on the schedules, it looked like the 7 was our best bet as its last run leaves The Plaza at 6:45 and returns at 7:40. When we got there, I was surprised to see a new piece of fleet variety- they now have 30-foot Gillig LF Hybrids, which were bought to replace the 97 Phantoms and 01 Thomas SLFs. I hopped on 1010, took a big whiff of new bus smell, and asked the driver where to get on the 7. I also grabbed some new schedules. From there, we got on 0802, a 35 ft Gillig LF hybrid that still smells new inside after 2 years of service! The 7 is a loop route that very much reminds me of the 5 at Ride On. (In fact, the last time I rode that route was on the very same type of bus.) The LF is quiet and seems to have adequate power. I also got the hang of their flip-in windows...something we don't have in Roanoke as our Phantoms have sliding sash.
As we rode, I discovered that the 4F actually runs an hour past mall closing time- a welcome change from Valley Metro shutting down 15 minutes before our malls close back home! Hungry and in need of restroom facilities, we hopped on 0804 and headed to River Ridge Mall. Feeling much better, we checked out the food court and got sweet teas, then I headed to my best Sbarro experience ever- friendly staff, and the Ziti and breadsticks were full of tasty. :) Once the mall started to close, we hopped back on the 4F, this time on no. 0805. By this point, Cedric's sudden back pain thankfully subsided, which is good...because the poor guy thought he'd have to hit the Emergency Room!
Overall, I'd say GLTC is a pleasant experience. Stay tuned for adventures in Blacksburg- hopefully I will finally get to check out their new 1900 and 6000-series LFRs. The latter are Hybrids, and two of those are artics- a BT first.
im went today to busfan out thier today but i didnt ride nothing check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbp2Q2FhrTg
Nice.....
Quote from: DCAreaTransitFan on January 09, 2011, 07:59:10 PM
im went today to busfan out thier today but i didnt ride nothing check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbp2Q2FhrTg
Really? Are you still in the area, and for how long? Let me know if you can make it out here to Roanoke and I'll see what my schedule is like...maybe I can squeeze in some busfanning and a 5-cent tour of Star City Customs.
naw im not i left the same day