An Afternoon Ride With 33-003

[@busrailfan]

Hah! Very interesting! Would love to hear a recording of that bus starting from a stop to high speed and then coming back to a stop with recording device at the rear of the bus!! Nice video BTW!

[@Matsuto77]

Man, you gotta call me next time you and Max takes this baby out for a spin. That'd be some serious Ehlalalalala action right there ;)... Awesome video, by the way :). I'm not used to hearing an 8V71N in a Fishbowl, but based on what you've been saying, it's a very powerful engine.

[@MysticMTL]

Very Powerful, Very Fast and Very Strong!

[@gadicion]

Damn a privately owned ex-STCUM with a 8V71N. I wish I got to ride this when I was in Montreal.... oh well maybe someday...

[@MysticMTL]

@retroolschool It was a most amazing day. We had so much fun! So many heads turning, and we talked to a bunch of drivers along the way. Strangely enough there were a lot of people waiting for the 209, but this was a weekend and there is no 209 service.

[@MrZackattack2010]

ah this is the one you told me about nice i wish i could have seen it

[@retroolschool]

Nice job, and hopefully look forward to long ride on this beauty... i ve been traking the 209 to Sources from Dorval Term for a while now, and always look forward to it, as theres usualy a Classic running this line. As a matter of fact, there were even two or three i saw running just yesterday! Now I know there are always Classics on this route becasue its not a wheelchair accessible route, but is it also because there so few turns on this route?

[@busrailfan]

Totally sounds like an 8V71N engine as well which is interesting.

[@AntoDamicoShow]

damn that bus is nice, one day i wanna buy a gm classic.

[@busrailfan]

Wait a minute! There are comments mentioning this bus has an 8V71N engine in it. That is not original to the bus as I am sure it was originally the 6V71N engine.

[@MysticMTL]

@MrZackattack2010 I cut the video at Roxboro, we stopped for a good 10 minutes while they were chatting with us and they walked all around the bus. The same thing happened at Angrignon as well. All the drivers left the break room and started taking photos with their cell phones and got pictures of themselves infront of the bus. And that old lady was waiting for a 209 bus that wasn't even in service on weekends!

[@MysticMTL]

@MrZackattack2010 Everyone was turning around and staring at us everywhere we went. And an old lady threw her cane at us when we passed by the bus stop and didn't pick her up. We weren't in service afterall. Then we had somebody on Lakeshore park behind us and refuse to go around us when we were parked at the bus stop with the hazard lights on and they honked the horn revved their engine and just wouldn't pass us for some reason. I guess either buses are not very welcomed in that area.

[@MysticMTL]

It wasn't original, but it really makes people turn their heads. And it's one of the only New Looks that's able to keep up and pass traffic on the freeway!

[@MysticMTL]

You're right there. It's not original to the bus. It was added in when the STCUM sold the bus, and the bus was used for more interurban travel, so it needed more horsepower and speed. The owner right now is considering putting a 6V71 back into the bus, but it runs so well with the 8V71, why mess with something that works.

[@MysticMTL]

Yeah, I cut out some of the worst parts from the video, all you could hear was rattling and the camera shaking. At one point on the bridge one of the clamps that held the roll sign compartment in place unlocked and I had to flip it back closed again. I sure hope they finish work on the bridge soon. It's not good for cars or buses!

[@MrZackattack2010]

old lady must still think the new looks are in the fleet lmao the stm drivers on their smoking brake didnt say anything at roxboro

[@GMC6523]

That bus has been scrapped since Feb 2012 due to engine failure and nobody saved any of the parts for the other bus. Why?

[@MysticMTL]

This bus was privately owned, and not part of any organization. The owner felt that it would cost him too much to repair it. I was so sad when I found this out. The owner spent so much of his time and money into restoring this bus back to like-new condition. When I first saw this bus retired from Levis back in 2007, it was in very poor condition, and he brought it back. Unfortunately the engine was tired and the owner had no outside financial support. I suppose he could have kept it as a museum piece, but storage fees, inspections and permits were also expensive, and he was offered quite a bit of money to sell it. I assume someone must have saved some of the parts on this bus, and the last I heard it's still for sale, but the guy wants a ridiculous amount of money for it. He apparently also has (or had) a Gatineau STO bus that was bought by someone in Montreal, but also had engine problems, and the same guy bought that one too.

[@GMC6523]

The owner had an poor Excuse reason to go on eBay to find another used 6v71 Detroit diesel engine to keep this old bus running was the reason problem.

[@MysticMTL]

Yeah, it's one thing to keep a piece of history like this in a museum, but it's a totally different experience to have one that actually runs and is in great shape! If you want you can check my Montreal transit gallery where you'll see all sorts of buses in Montreal, perhaps if you have a chance to visit Montreal you might be lucky enough to ride one of these! transitfan com