Burned out Ride-On cutaway?

[SchuminWeb]

In riding the Capitol Limited to and from Chicago recently, I spotted a Ride-On cutaway in their Gaithersburg facility that appeared to have been involved in a fire.  The entire top half of the bus appeared to have been burned out, and was parked in a row next to other cutaways.  Does anyone have any idea what happened here?

[rideonrulez]

What kind of cutaway? If you know the type, I can probably tell you...

[SchuminWeb]

Here's the image I got of Ride-On's facility from the Capitol Limited:



I snapped a split second too soon, and therefore the cutaway in question is only halfway in frame (far right, to the right of a row of five normal cutaways), but this sets up the context about where it is and hopefully indicates what it is.  Hope that helps...

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

looks like a helldorado if you ask me. and I wonder what 5997-5999 are doing sitting there, I haven't seem them in service in a while, have they retired? (as well as 5550-5566?)

[WayneNYC]

looks like a helldorado if you ask me. and I wonder what 5997-5999 are doing sitting there, I haven't seem them in service in a while, have they retired? (as well as 5550-5566?)

I don't know that all 10 of these buses are definitely still active, but I know at least some of them are still going strong.  Last Summer 9 Advantages (5726-5734) were transferred to Gaithersburg from Silver Spring.  I imagine they were replacements for the Flxibles and some Orion Is. 

[RideOn5905]

It does look like a Helldorado... come to think of it, I remember seeing photos on Flickr of 5178 being on fire at Germantown; so maybe that's the remains of 5178?

[rideonrulez]

It can also be the remains of the one that burned at Montgomery General Hospital a few years back, either way there all junk! Let them burn! LOL

[SchuminWeb]

It does look like a Helldorado... come to think of it, I remember seeing photos on Flickr of 5178 being on fire at Germantown; so maybe that's the remains of 5178?

Do you have the link to the Flickr image?  I did some looking around, and came up empty.

[Tritransit Area]

Wow, what are cutaways doing at Gaithersburg?  I even see a VanGo bus there!

[Scrabbleship]

Wow, what are cutaways doing at Gaithersburg?  I even see a VanGo bus there!

They all look like Champions. Might they have taken their very long vacation at Gaithersburg for storage room purposes?

[Tritransit Area]

Hmm...they still didn't make it back to service?    I really wonder what is so wrong with these buses. 

[Scrabbleship]

Hmm...they still didn't make it back to service?    I really wonder what is so wrong with these buses. 

Some have made it back to service per accounts in the Monthly Observations thread. They all seem to be doing upcounty service though.

[RideOn5905]

Hmm...they still didn't make it back to service?    I really wonder what is so wrong with these buses. 

Some have made it back to service per accounts in the Monthly Observations thread. They all seem to be doing upcounty service though.

Not necessarily; I saw a couple of them poking around Rockville today.

[Tritransit Area]

Hmm...they still didn't make it back to service?    I really wonder what is so wrong with these buses. 

Some have made it back to service per accounts in the Monthly Observations thread. They all seem to be doing upcounty service though.

Not necessarily; I saw a couple of them poking around Rockville today.

Isn't Rockville considered upcounty, though?

[Scrabbleship]

Hmm...they still didn't make it back to service?    I really wonder what is so wrong with these buses. 

Some have made it back to service per accounts in the Monthly Observations thread. They all seem to be doing upcounty service though.

Not necessarily; I saw a couple of them poking around Rockville today.

Isn't Rockville considered upcounty, though?

I would think so. It also goes to show how huge (for the Mid-Atlantic region) Montgomery County is. Someone living inside the Beltway for cheaper rent/congressional representation is going to have a much different attitude than someone up in Damascus.

Fun facts: A good chunk of western MoCo is closer to West Virginia than it is to DC as the crow flies, while the northern extreme is not much farther (again, as the crow flies) from Pennsylvania as it is to the district line.