More Roster Catchup

Time for a bathroom break....

• 8558 and 8559 (no lavatories) to NJT from Trans-Bridge Lines
  
• 8451 (lavatory) to Trans-Bridge Lines from Carefree Bus Lines
  
• 8703 (lavatory) to Trans-Bridge Lines from Nate's Transportation

Thanx to Charlie for the dope... saw 8559 in NJT paint on the NJ Turnpike the other day and frankly did a double take

Playing Roster Catchup

Thanks as ever to eagle-eyed bus guys like Jim Bowman, Murray Kramer and Charlie Bailey, we now bring you in our Roster the latest information on the 20 buses NJT leased from MCI, all the Neoplans from 2004 and the red hot news about the delivery of the first of the new group of MCI D4500's which are going to be numbered from 9001-9053.

WE'RE BACK

The New Jersey Transit Bus Fan page is back after quite some absence. Your humble webmaster needed some fresh air after fifteen years of sucking diesel fumes. But I'm back, digital camera at the ready, and we'll be back snapping those NJT buses again.

What's changed since we've taken our hiatus?

• The 3000's are hanging on by a thread. Bus 3000 is now NJT's oldest bus (though some subcontractors still have some MC-9's hanging around) and it's soon to be headed to the scrapper. NJT will soon be purchasing a new brace of RTS suburban buses from the company that's taken over from Nova Bus, which I believe is called Milennium Transit.
  
• The new MCI cruisers have been a big hit, so much so that NJT has leased 20 older 102DL3 units from MCI and has ordered another 68 new buses. The leased cruisers, numbered 7101-7120, have gone into service as of last Saturday. I myself saw 7120 this morning running the 559. Trevor Logan sent me some snaps of one of the lease units which I'll share with you in a day or so.
  
• NJT has taken delivery of all the Neoplan artics. We will have serials soon as I can get them from Charlie Bailey or someone.
  
• NJT has rehabbed some of the 1000 and 2500 series Nova Buses with updated destination signs and a new paint job similar to that of the MCI cruisers, with the arcing tri-color that has replaced the angled tri-stripe as NJT's logo.

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to devote some time to this enterprise again and we hope to be able to bring you what you, the NJT bus maven, truly crave!

Bob Redden 1938-2004

The bus fan community has lost one of its leading lights. Transporation photographer Bob Redden, who had been in poor health for a number of years, has died at the age of 66.

Redden was editor and publisher of International Bus Collector, and his photographs of buses from all eras have appeared in virtually every major bus publication. He is survived by his wife Donna and seven children.

Bus Camp is a web site that is advertising for the 2004 "Jersey Roundup", seeking owners of former NJ Transit MC-9's. The Roundup is in early October, in Sarcoxie, MO.

Not every one of the 1,115 "Jersey Cruisers" made it into private hands; some were junked, some were sold to other charter companies, but the attractively low purchase prices (which I believe were from $13,000 and up) made this a steal for people who love to tinker with old buses and turn them into relatively cheap motorhomes. Drop Dell and/or JR a line and tell 'em you're coming to the Roundup!

VIVE LE DIFFERENCE!

So which do you prefer?

Me too.

We will be working on upgrading many of our slide scans, thanks to a newer and better slide scanner, and we'll have some new pix on the site too as a result.

Getting NJT Pictures Now Like Pulling Teeth

I had a visit yesterday with Charlie Sullivan, president of the Motor Bus Society. One of the documents he showed me was an official NJT letter of permission for him and his traveling companion to do photography in and around the River Line, the relatively new light rail system that runs along the Delaware River waterfront from Trenton to Camden. Apparently, you have to ask NJT for permission to do photography of their equipment now. Guess I'll be hanging my camera up for a while. But the good news is that very soon, we will be opening up our archives and featuring many more pictures of older bus equipment. Watch for them soon.

Transitalk Back Up

Trevor Logan's fine website, Transitalk, has been missing in action for quite some time. We are pleased to report he's back up at www.transitalk.info. Just don't ask him about 8462.

Yes, Virginia, MC-9's are still out there!

But you have to know where to look.

Carefree Bus Lines, an operator who's had a long history of running the oldest buses in the NJT fleet, has the only two surviving units of the 700 bus MC-9 order of 1982-1984, which are 6728 and 6757.

Trans-Hudson Express, which needed replacements for the dying 1989 Flxible Suburbans in the 3200 series, has turned to the slightly older MC-9's from the 1987 batch of 415. There are 15 buses in all. Beginning in 2002, NJT began systematically retiring some of the '89 Flxs.

As of January 2004, these buses were the only MC-9's left anywhere in NJT-land.

Update On The Nates Item Below

The bus owned by NJT was not the one that was smashed into the casino facade. Thanks for asking!

AFTERLIFE

Jetway Bus, on behalf of the New York Racing Association, purchased these ex-NJT Grumman 870's for use at Aqueduct Race Track, and both clearly show their age. The top bus was 1607; the bottom was 2027. Thanx to Jason Davis for sending these along!

NJT's MCI Order Is Done!

And we've got all the serials for you in the Roster!

Nate's Bus Gets Busted At Mohegan Sun

A bus belonging to Nate's Transportation was involved in a crash over the weekend where it crashed into a parking garage facade that was too low for the bus at Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. The driver was scheduled to take his passengers to Connecticut's other casino, Foxwoods.

It is not confirmed if the bus involved in the crash was NJT-owned 8703. which is the only NJT bus Nate's operates. I haven't seen any news tape of the incident.

Got a note from Jason Davis who sez that 8961-8969 were never built as D4000N's and the bus will not be made in a 96-inch width.

Revisions to the D4000/D4500 roster are ongoing. We have learned that Wayne Garage has taken delivery of D4500's numbered 8961-8969. These numbers were originally to be designated for the D4000N's. We are trying to find out if the four D4000N's that had been built have been renumbered or what.

Thanks to Trevor Logan, a fleet number and a pic of bus 8840, a new MCI D4000 that went up in an unfortunate accident earlier this week. The driver had parked the coach on top of a pile of mulch, and within minutes the heat from the engine ignited the mulch pile and set the bus on fire.

Also, check out this shot of bus 8880 taken by Trevor on Friday night. No one takes pictures of buses at night like Trevor!

Latest MCI sighting: 8900, a D4500 for Suburban Trails, in plain white with no Coach logos. Also, we are trying to get the fleet number of the relatively new MCI that burned up in service to Red & Tan.

Initial assignments of the demo Neoplan artics: 9601, Hilton, and 9503, Big Tree.

Impossible Legalese Explained!

K.C. Jackson, longtime fan/contributor to this page, offers this explanation of the NJT-2002-A Statutory Trust.

NJT2002 is a trust created by investors (usually overseas) who front the
money for the buses. KV Bank manages the trust for these investors.
NJT2002 then leases the buses to NJT (NJ Transit Corporation) who can
then do what they wish with the buses (send them to NJTBus or a private
operator).

From what I understand, the Feds only paid for the base order of 1244
MCIs at $500 million. The "option" buses fall under this lease arrangement.

The benefits of the arrangement are:
- No FTA purchase funds involved, just the lease payments from NJT
- The investors write off the depreciation against their taxes, which is
even more beneficial if the investor is not in the USA
- NJT gets more buses

This is exactly what was done with the 1994 Flxs as you mentioned on the
site - I beleive the investoir trusts were NBB-Linden for the transits,
and Sparta-something for the suburbans.

Trevor Logan sent along this pic of 9601. His site is still at sea but we are all hoping it comes back Real Soon Now!