Suprising find! Ex-WMATA Orion II

[C40LF_2464]

On the R3 to greenbelt we were waiting for a school bus to clear when my eyes stumble across this.

[Tristan]

I was just thinking "it would be funny if this became some dude's ice cream truck".  Then I scrolled down and saw an ice cream truck parked outside.  Now I'm worried.

[DCT S9Z4Z6]

That wasnt in the 66, or 6800 block of 23rd avenue, was it?
The brick houses, so close together give it away, as to the location.

if it is on 23rd   66, or 6800 block, I know who it is 
a former DC transit & WMATA rail yard super

[Perry]

Pretty funny that it fits in someone's driveway like an oversized minivan.

[OrionFlyer]

I wonder if the destination signs on it still work.

[C40LF_2464]

That wasnt in the 66, or 6800 block of 23rd avenue, was it?

if so, I know who it is 

Yeah it was around that area. In hyasstville, R3 bus goes by there. And you do? Thats great!

[Tristan]

I wonder what will become of it...

[Scrabbleship]

I wonder what will become of it...

WMATA should've given them to Ride On to replace the MIA Chumpions.

[Tristan]

I heard that this actually came up at one point but didn't make it too far.

[rideonrulez]

I heard that this actually came up at one point but didn't make it too far.

Yes Ride On did look into leasing about 20 of them but there was some issues regarding the owners of the Orion II's which is DDOT.

[Scrabbleship]

I heard that this actually came up at one point but didn't make it too far.

Yes Ride On did look into leasing about 20 of them but there was some issues regarding the owners of the Orion II's which is DDOT.

Wait a second. If the buses are retired, why does DDOT still own them? Might DDOT be sitting on the buses until they reach 12 years and WMATA was able to wash their hands of buses they didn't own?

[WayneNYC]

It's too bad, because it's probably nothing more than politics that killed any possible deal for Ride On to lease those buses.  They would've fit right in on those Nicholson routes.

[Scrabbleship]

It's too bad, because it's probably nothing more than politics that killed any possible deal for Ride On to lease those buses.  They would've fit right in on those Nicholson routes.

I wonder what Ride On is going to do in the long run with Nicholson. The remaining Helldorados can't last forever, the Chumpions might as well be retired at this point, the 1994-95 Gilligs that Silver Spring still has are in as bad of shape as the Helldorados, something is going to have to give and soon. Since DDOT is greedy and I fear CUE will do the wrong thing with their to-be-retired Phantoms, what should Ride On do?

I would not be shocked to see another order of 29' Gilligs to (finally) replace the Helldorados (and sadly the last O1's) and the next 40' batch replacing the 1996 and earlier Phantoms. At this point it might be easier to write the Chumpions off since I doubt they'll ever run again.

[Tritransit Area]

Does Ride On need so many 40 foot buses?  Can't we return to the 35 foot buses one day?

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

Does Ride On need so many 40 foot buses?  Can't we return to the 35 foot buses one day?

it seems like Ride On is going WMATA style...as in most of the fleet being 40-ft and the lighter routes using 30-footers. You have no idea how helpful the 40-footers are on the 55...sometimes the driver won't let anyone else in the bus because it's too crowded

also, since when does Nicholson operate the 47 on weekends?