Help With Bus Spotting in DC Area

[Orion 1200]

Hi everyone - I'm hoping you all may be able to help me with bus spotting again as you did a couple of years ago as I will be in the DC area for a week or so and want to update my WMATA and area photo collection. My apologies if some of these questions are answered in other threads; I've found a lot of answers already but not to these questions.

First, I'm looking to find some different vehicle types and I'm looking for route suggestions as I do not know WMATA's garage allocation or route assignments. Based on photos I've seen, it looks like a lot of the Orion VIIs have been repainted in to the Metro Local scheme - are these repainted units (both the 30' and 40' versions) plentiful around the area or should I check specific routes for them? I've also been seeing photos of the finished new 30' Orion VII NGs on some sites but I don't believe that they've been delivered yet.

Also, the Metro Express buses have eluded me in two previous trips - other than the B30, what other routes use these buses?

Finally, the last time I was there, the LFA buses had overtaken the fleet, but the DE62LFAs were hard to find - I'm looking for suggestions on where to find them. I'm also curious about where the Xcelsiors are used, as I have never seen them in person.

I also have a couple of questions about some of the suburban systems. First, Ride-On has proven to be a very difficult system for me to shoot due to their large service area and fleet variety. Any recommendations for where I could find frequent service, preferably with variety? Also, I know it's been asked before but I want to check if it's still accurate - is West Falls Church station the best place to find Fairfax RTS buses, and is it safe to assume they only run in rush hours? I'm also looking for yellow Orion Vs from Fairfax - last time I was there I shot their system near Springfield-Franconia and didn't see RTS buses or yellow Vs.

My last question is about MTA - I'm considering a day in Baltimore but I'm not sure of where to look for some of the buses that eluded me last time I went. I never got any shots of their MCIs, but I know they run in DC and I know where to get them there. Their Opus and DE60LFR buses were nowhere to be found in 2010 and now I see that they have DE60LFs and Xcelsiors. Any help spotting these bus types is appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

First, I'm looking to find some different vehicle types and I'm looking for route suggestions as I do not know WMATA's garage allocation or route assignments. Based on photos I've seen, it looks like a lot of the Orion VIIs have been repainted in to the Metro Local scheme - are these repainted units (both the 30' and 40' versions) plentiful around the area or should I check specific routes for them? I've also been seeing photos of the finished new 30' Orion VII NGs on some sites but I don't believe that they've been delivered yet.

The repainted Orion VIIs can be found anywhere in VA, it's a hit or miss on that one, but by now I think the majority of them are repainted. As for the new 30' Orions, they are not in service yet.

Also, the Metro Express buses have eluded me in two previous trips - other than the B30, what other routes use these buses?

Metro Express as in the buses in the blue paint? If that's the case, they can also be found on routes 37, 39, 79, J4, and X9, and occasionally other routes but that's what they're on mostly

Finally, the last time I was there, the LFA buses had overtaken the fleet, but the DE62LFAs were hard to find - I'm looking for suggestions on where to find them. I'm also curious about where the Xcelsiors are used, as I have never seen them in person.

DE62LFAs: you'll easily find them on the Y line, I mean EASILY. Go to Silver Spring, if they're not on the Y line, you'll also see them on the Q, Z, and sometimes J lines. Otherwise you can try Wheaton Station, where the Q and Y lines also go, as well as the C2/C4 which also uses them sometimes.

Xcelsiors: Your best shot is downtown DC, where you will see the Western BAE Xcelsiors on routes 32, 36, 42, 63, 64, etc. As well as the Bladensburg Xcelsiors on various Bburg routes that run through there (such as the 80, D6, P6, G8, etc), and you may even see some on the Annex routes that pass by (34, P17, P19, W13). Now that WMATA has Xcelsiors in the MetroExtra scheme, you will find some on the 79 for sure (and sometimes local Xcelsiors end up on the 79 as well). If you're gonna be at Silver Spring to look for the DE62LFAs, you will most likely also find several Xcelsiors on Montgomery routes, and maybe even a couple of the Landover Xcelsiors on the F4/F6.

I also have a couple of questions about some of the suburban systems. First, Ride-On has proven to be a very difficult system for me to shoot due to their large service area and fleet variety. Any recommendations for where I could find frequent service, preferably with variety? Also, I know it's been asked before but I want to check if it's still accurate - is West Falls Church station the best place to find Fairfax RTS buses, and is it safe to assume they only run in rush hours? I'm also looking for yellow Orion Vs from Fairfax - last time I was there I shot their system near Springfield-Franconia and didn't see RTS buses or yellow Vs.

Ride On: I recommend Shady Grove Station during rush hour, the thing about Gaithersburg division is that the majority of their buses are Orion VIIs, so you will definitely see a lot of those, but I know for a fact (since there's more routes running during rush hour) that you will see other buses such as the 1999 Orion Vs (both CNG and diesel), New Flyers, and Gillig Advantages. For the most part, it's pretty hard to say what kind of buses will run on what route, they could end up anywhere. If you're looking for New Flyers, for example, your best bet is gonna be the routes 55 and 70, but going back to Shady Grove, if you don't see any on the 55 there, you'll most likely see some on the other side of the station. Silver Spring side now, most likely Silver Spring Station. Like I said before, it's hard to track down what buses end up most on what route, but Silver Spring has tons of routes and a very decent variety compared to other hubs with Silver Spring buses.

Fairfax Connector: you will definitely find RTS's at West Falls Church Station, rush hour is your best bet too since most routes there are rush hour only. From what I heard, there's only a handful of RTS's left but I can almost guarantee you'll find some during Rush Hour at WFC. As for the repainted Orion Vs, I could be wrong but all of the repainted ones were older and have retired by now. The Orion Vs that remain have not been repainted. Again, I could be wrong, I'm just basing it through my observations since I have not seen any repainted Orion Vs in a long time.

My last question is about MTA - I'm considering a day in Baltimore but I'm not sure of where to look for some of the buses that eluded me last time I went. I never got any shots of their MCIs, but I know they run in DC and I know where to get them there. Their Opus and DE60LFR buses were nowhere to be found in 2010 and now I see that they have DE60LFs and Xcelsiors. Any help spotting these bus types is appreciated.

Hmm...I'm not the best person to ask about the local buses in Baltimore city, but I can tell you that along Pennsylvania Ave NW in DC, you can find some MCIs running there during rush hour. Let me tell you though that if you do decide to go to Shady Grove Station for Ride On pictures, you should also take the opportunity to get shots of some of the MTA routes that run by (201, 202, 205, 991). The 991 uses either buses 141-143, 169-186, or Eyre buses. The 201-205 uses 169-186. FYI, 141-143 are the older model (2003-04 I think) MCIs, and 169-186 are the new 2010 MCIs (the lower part of that order was originally wrapped with the ICC theme, but now they are all (except 175) in the regular scheme.


Hope this helps, good luck and have a fun and safe trip!

[WayneNYC]

Hi everyone - I'm hoping you all may be able to help me with bus spotting again as you did a couple of years ago as I will be in the DC area for a week or so and want to update my WMATA and area photo collection. My apologies if some of these questions are answered in other threads; I've found a lot of answers already but not to these questions.

First, I'm looking to find some different vehicle types and I'm looking for route suggestions as I do not know WMATA's garage allocation or route assignments. Based on photos I've seen, it looks like a lot of the Orion VIIs have been repainted in to the Metro Local scheme - are these repainted units (both the 30' and 40' versions) plentiful around the area or should I check specific routes for them? I've also been seeing photos of the finished new 30' Orion VII NGs on some sites but I don't believe that they've been delivered yet.

Also, the Metro Express buses have eluded me in two previous trips - other than the B30, what other routes use these buses?

Finally, the last time I was there, the LFA buses had overtaken the fleet, but the DE62LFAs were hard to find - I'm looking for suggestions on where to find them. I'm also curious about where the Xcelsiors are used, as I have never seen them in person.

I also have a couple of questions about some of the suburban systems. First, Ride-On has proven to be a very difficult system for me to shoot due to their large service area and fleet variety. Any recommendations for where I could find frequent service, preferably with variety? Also, I know it's been asked before but I want to check if it's still accurate - is West Falls Church station the best place to find Fairfax RTS buses, and is it safe to assume they only run in rush hours? I'm also looking for yellow Orion Vs from Fairfax - last time I was there I shot their system near Springfield-Franconia and didn't see RTS buses or yellow Vs.

My last question is about MTA - I'm considering a day in Baltimore but I'm not sure of where to look for some of the buses that eluded me last time I went. I never got any shots of their MCIs, but I know they run in DC and I know where to get them there. Their Opus and DE60LFR buses were nowhere to be found in 2010 and now I see that they have DE60LFs and Xcelsiors. Any help spotting these bus types is appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

In your travels, I think you'd do well to hang out at Silver Spring for a bit (especially during rush hour).  If you do this, you're very likely to find the DE62LFA.  You'll also see blue "MetroExtra" C40LFR and XDE40 and "Express"  C40LFR on the 79.  Also, you'll likely spot some "Express" DE42LFAs on the J4, J5 or even one of the Z lines.

Enjoy!

[C40LF_2464]

My last question is about MTA - I'm considering a day in Baltimore but I'm not sure of where to look for some of the buses that eluded me last time I went. I never got any shots of their MCIs, but I know they run in DC and I know where to get them there. Their Opus and DE60LFR buses were nowhere to be found in 2010 and now I see that they have DE60LFs and Xcelsiors. Any help spotting these bus types is appreciated.

Well George seemed to answer everything for me lol, But on the Bmore part the Opus buses been retired, but for the LFR Tics they will always be on the 8 same for the LF Tics. You can also check the 77 route to and the 91 anytime of day, but rush hour is still always the best for more buses! Have fun!

[Orion 1200]

Thanks for the info folks - now I remember why I went to Springfield for Fairfax buses - the sun angles and lack of places to take photos at West Falls Church are a definite problem. I'll see what I can do - are there any other Metro stations or areas connected to Metro where they run a lot of service (other than Franconia-Springfield)?

Shady Grove looks similarly challenging but there appears to be some street sidewalk to stand on - I have no interest in being interrogated by WMATA or other authorities for loitering on their properties and much prefer shooting photos from the street. There are lots of sun angles in that area so I should be able to get something done there. Still not sure if I'm going to Baltimore yet or not; the weather for most of my trip has some threat of rain, but if so, this information should be quite useful.

[Transport]

I also have a couple of questions about some of the suburban systems. First, Ride-On has proven to be a very difficult system for me to shoot due to their large service area and fleet variety. Any recommendations for where I could find frequent service, preferably with variety? Also, I know it's been asked before but I want to check if it's still accurate - is West Falls Church station the best place to find Fairfax RTS buses, and is it safe to assume they only run in rush hours? I'm also looking for yellow Orion Vs from Fairfax - last time I was there I shot their system near Springfield-Franconia and didn't see RTS buses or yellow Vs.

Fairfax Connector: you will definitely find RTS's at West Falls Church Station, rush hour is your best bet too since most routes there are rush hour only. From what I heard, there's only a handful of RTS's left but I can almost guarantee you'll find some during Rush Hour at WFC. As for the repainted Orion Vs, I could be wrong but all of the repainted ones were older and have retired by now. The Orion Vs that remain have not been repainted. Again, I could be wrong, I'm just basing it through my observations since I have not seen any repainted Orion Vs in a long time.

= = = = = = = = = =

11 Fairfax Connector 1994 TMC RTS buses remain in service.  There are two terminals where you can photograph these buses: West Falls Church (north side) or the bus terminal at Herndon-Monroe Park & Ride.  The RTS's are mostly found on the 55x-series routes and routes 585 and 980, all of which are rush period only services.  Routes 551 and 980 serve Herndon-Monroe so if you do not like the light/sun glare at West Falls Church, try Herndon-Monroe.  See the 950/980 schedule to get between WFC and Herndon-Monroe in the reverse rush direction.  There were only supposed to be 10 RTS's in service but an Orion V transferred from Huntington to Herndon lost its transmission as soon as it pulled onto the lot at Reston/Herndon Division so that Orion V was scrapped and one of the better RTS's was saved.  Long live the RTS tanks!

As for the repainted Orion V's (the "yellow" Orion V's), I wish I could help you.  A few are in the grave yard line at West Ox Division, visible clearly from Alliance Drive off West Ox Road.  Huntington only has about ten Orion V's (including 30', 35', and 40'); not sure how many Herndon still has in service but I still see an occasional white Orion V at WFC.

I hope I attached four pics from West Ox properly somewhere in this post.

[uncle_shawn]

My last question is about MTA - I'm considering a day in Baltimore but I'm not sure of where to look for some of the buses that eluded me last time I went. I never got any shots of their MCIs, but I know they run in DC and I know where to get them there. Their Opus and DE60LFR buses were nowhere to be found in 2010 and now I see that they have DE60LFs and Xcelsiors. Any help spotting these bus types is appreciated.

In Baltimore, the MCI's can be found on the 300s/400s commuter routes mostly between Johns Hopkins Hospital or the State Office Complex and downtown. Dillon's Bus Service runs these routes and they use a mix of their buses and MTA buses. They can also be found around Annapolis for the routes coming to/from DC.

The DE60LFRs can always be found on the 8, 91 and the 77 as well as on scattered other routes. The MTA no longer runs the Opus buses but some can be found in Annapolis. The Xcelsiors are at all four bases. The Kirk Division has about half of them and you can always find them on the 120 express bus (during rush hours) as well as the 19, 3 and 9.

[Orion 1200]

Gentlemen, thank you for your spotting assistance - with the exception of the Metro Express D42LFAs and the repainted 30' Orion VIIs, and Ride-On's 2008 Gilligs, I was able to find everything I was looking for Metro, Fairfax Connector and Ride-On.

As was mentioned, many RTS buses served West Falls Church during the peak; it wasn't the best location for photography and a few of my shots will need a bit of repair because of accidentally getting small parts of shadows in them, but the supervisors there were nice and let me take shots of whatever I wanted and none of the drivers complained about it. I got most of my Ride-On action in the vicinities of Rockville and Silver Spring stations, and I was able to find the newest 30' Orion VII BRTs running from Anacostia thanks to the NextBus XML data. I was also able to get shots of buses from ART at Pentagon City and LCT both at West Falls Church and on 7th Ave NW, which I had never bothered with in past trips in addition to the MTA commuter coaches. I never made it to Baltimore, unfortunately...maybe next time.

I also checked out King Street and Eisenhower Ave stations for the newest DASH Gillig hybrids but didn't see any. I was able to get shots of the King Street Trolleys though.