MOTOR BUS SOCIETY

FALL 2001 CONVENTION

MONTREAL, QUEBEC

October 5-6-7


 

The Fall 2001 convention of the Motor Bus Society took place over the weekend of October 5-7 in Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Headquarters hotel for the occasion was the Holiday Inn/Montreal Airport (Dorval).

Co-chair for the event were Dino Mandros and Andrew Grahl, who were responsible for the arrangements for the garage tours in Montreal. Pat Scrimgeour made the arrangements for the Ottawa and Hull visits. The occasion for the special three day itinerary was a tour of the Nova Bus Corp. factory in Saint Eustache, Quebec, which was arranged for by Nova Vice President of Sales, Joseph Gibson. Buses on Friday and Saturday were provided by the Quebec Transport Heritage Foundation. The bus for the Sunday tour of Ottawa was provided by OC Transpo, and transportation from Montreal to Ottawa and return was provided by Voyageur.

Friday: The highlight of Friday was a tour of the Saint Eustache bus manufacturing plant of the Nova Bus Corp. Currently, the sole output of this facility is the Nova LFS (Low Floor Series) bus; At the time of the visit, the production line was occupied by a large order of buses for the STCUM of Montreal. But also seen were parts of orders for the Chicago Transit Authority and Walt Disney World. Nova and the Saint Eustache plant are both descendants of the former General Motors Diesel Division and Motor Coach Industries operations. Nearly all of the Quebec bus operations visited currently operated coaches produced at the GMDD-MCI-Nova plant, and typically include New Look (T6H-5307N), Classic (TC-40102N) and LFS (TL-40102N) buses almost exclusively. This was the case in Laval, which was visited prior to the Nova plant tour. Both Laval and Montreal are actually islands formed by forks of the Saint Lawrence River, Laval being the northern most of the two. The Societe de Transport de la Ville de Laval (Laval Transit Corp.) operates local service on the Laval island, with routes to STCUM Metro subway station in northern Montreal. The Societe de Transport de la Communaute Urbaine de Montreal (Montreal Urban Community Transit Corp.) operates an extensive bus and rubber-tired subway system on the Montreal island. Their bus fleet consists entirely of GMDD, MCI and Nova buses; its Cremazie maintenance shops, the home of both bus and subway maintenance, were visited after the Nova plant tour. The bus used for Friday was the QTHF's restored Montreal Gray Line No. 33-008, a one-door GMDD T6H-5307 with suburban seats.

Saturday: QTHF's 33-008 was joined by its former Montreal Transit Commission No. 14-008, a standard GMDD T6H-5307N transit bus. Stops were made at STCUM's LaSalle Garage and Angringnon Metro Station. The LaSalle Garage houses all of its buses under cover, as is the case with most of STCUM's garages. The next stop was at Autocar Connaisseur, which also operates the Gray Line franchise. Both are owned by Coach Canada (Coach USA). The mainstay of the Connaisseur fleet is a fleet of MCI highway coaches, but there are a number of buses that were modified to resemble trolley cars. The communities South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River (now amalgamated into the city of Longueil) are served primarily by the Societe de Transport de la Rive Sud de Montreal (Montreal South Shore Transit Corp.). STRSM also operates the standard GMDD-MCI-Nova fleet mix, but in addition, it runs a number of Van Hool articulated buses. Stops were made at the Brossard and Longueuil terminals, the latter of which is also the terminal of an STCUM Metro subway line, as well as intercity, suburban and local bus service. After lunch, the group headed south to Saint Jean sur Richelieu to visit the a garage of Groupe Viens. Viens operates school, charter and contract service with a diverse fleet of highway, transit and conventional yellow school buses. The final stop for the day was at the Canadian Railway Museum, where a fine collection of Montreal streetcars was viewed under cover.



Business Meeting: The Saturday night business meeting was presided over by MBS President Charlie Sullivan and Vice President/Conventions Jerry Squier. It was announced that the two 2002 conventions would be held in Dallas, TX (April 27-28) and Chicago, IL (October 12-13). Chicago convention chairman, Dino Mandros, suggested that an optional third day, including a trip to Milwaukee) be added to the itinerary on Friday, October 11th. Meeting attendees approved the suggestion. The meeting was concluded after a presentation of slides of the Montreal area in the early 1970's.

Sunday: The group was picked-up at the hotel and transported to STCUM's Saint Laurent Garage, located at the west end of the Montreal island. This location has the greatest amount of outdoor storage, and this enabled better lighted photography. Saturday had been rainy and overcast, but Sunday began bright and sunny, with scattered clouds. The group then re-boarded the Voyageur MCI and proceeded to Voyaguer's Ottawa garage where it was met by OC Transpo Orion-Ikarus articulated bus No. 8501, the oldest arctic in the fleet. The group was taken on a tour of the Ottawa busway system and then a stop at their Saint Laurent Garage, the largest of three garage locations, and the home of OC Transpo's administration and maintenance facilities. OCT's fleet also consists of the standard Canadian collection of GMDD, MCI and Nova buses (but only 20 LFS's). But it also has a fleet of Orion V, VI and New Flyer D60LF (high floor, low floor and low floor artics) and New Flyer D-40's. The New Flyer artics will replace the aging fleet of Orion-Ikarus articulated buses. The final stop of the day was in Hull, Quebec, at the offices, garage and shops of the Societe de Transport de l'Outaouais (Ottawa Valley Transit Corp). STO has a fleet of GMDD New Look and Classic, MCI and Nova Classics, but instead of the usual Nova LFS buses, STO's latest acquisition was a dozen Nova RTS buses, of the RT802W model, a modification of the former TMC RTS 08 model, which features a front door wheelchair lift. The group was met at the STO garage by the Voyageur MCI for the return trip to the Montreal hotel.


Photos

ACI 118.jpg (77217 bytes)

Autocar Connaisseur Inc. 118, Orion I at Montreal Garage 10-6-01

 ACI 10107.jpg (66802 bytes)

Autocar Connaisseur Inc. 10107, MCI 102-E3 at Montreal garage 10-6-01

 ACI 24107.jpg (63818 bytes)

Autocar Connaisseur Inc. 24107 in Coach Canada colors at Montreal garage 10-6-01

 Bouicgeuis 929.jpg (49350 bytes)

Autobus Bourgeois  Inc 929 at the Longueuil (South Shore) Transit Center and Metro station 10-6-01

 CIT d H-R 881.jpg (47921 bytes)

CIT du Haut-Richelieu 881 at the Brossard (South Shore) Transit Center 10-6-01

 Hull 0002.jpg (53117 bytes)

Societe de Transport de l'Outaouais 0002, Nova RTS RT802W at the Hull QC garage 10-7-01.
Hull 8103.jpg (57069 bytes)

Societe de Transport de l'Outaouais 8103, GMDD T6H-5307N at the Hull QC garage 10-7-01

 Hull 9603.jpg (57952 bytes)

Societe de Transport de l'Outaouais 9603, Nova Classic at the Hull QC garage 10-7-01

 Laval 425.jpg (82357 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Ville de Laval 425 GMDD T6H-5307N at the Laval QC garage 10-5-01

 Laval 5816.jpg (80543 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Ville de Laval 5816 MCI Classic inside the Laval QC garage 10-5-01

 Laval 9708.jpg (70629 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Ville de Laval 9708 Nova LFS inside the Laval QC garage 10-5-01

 Limocar 661301.jpg (61835 bytes)

Limocar 661301 at the Longueuil (South Shore) Transit Center and Metro station 10-6-01
MTC Gray Line 33-008.jpg (67489 bytes) 

Quebec Transport Heritage Foundation restored Montreal Gray Line 33-008 at the Societe de Transport de la Ville de Laval garage in Laval QC 10-5-01

 Nova LFS Demo.jpg (67957 bytes)

Nova Bus Corp LFS demonstrator bus at the Saint Eustache QC factory 10-5-01

 OC Transpo 2337.jpg (55061 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 2337, restored Ottawa Transit Commission Twin Coach 38-S at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01

 OC Transpo 4003.jpg (52025 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 4003 Orion VI at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01

 OC Transpo 5931.jpg (53125 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission restored Ottawa Transit Commission 5931, GMC TDH-5105 at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01

 OC Transpo 6002.jpg (57170 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 6002, New Flyer D60LF at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01.
OC Transpo 8105.jpg (84807 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 8105, GMDD T6H-5307N at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01

 OC Transpo 8899.jpg (77269 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 8899, Orion-Ikarus artic at the Hurdin Busway Station, Ottawa 10-7-01

 OC Transpo 9016.jpg (65739 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 9016, New Flyer D-40 at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01

 OC Transpo 9160.jpg (66867 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 9150, Orion V at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01

 OC Transpo 9329.jpg (67345 bytes)

Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission 9329, Nova Bus Classic at the St. Laurent garage, Ottawa 10-7-01

 Orleans Express 4863.jpg (70155 bytes)

Orleans Express Inc., 4863 at the Longueuil (South Shore) Transit Center and Metro station 10-6-01
STCUM 14-008.jpg (61867 bytes)

Quebec Transport Heritage Foundation restored Montreal Transit Commission 14-008, GMDD T6H-5307N at the Angrignon Metro Station, Montreal 10-6-01

 STCUM 14-029.jpg (69150 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Communaute Urbaine de Montreal 14-029, MCI Classic laying over behind the Saint Laurent Garage, Montreal 10-7-01

 STCUM 16-044.jpg (56046 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Communaute Urbaine de Montreal 16-044, Nova LFS at the Angrignon Metro Station, Montreal 10-6-01

 STCUM 24-004.jpg (71684 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Communaute Urbaine de Montreal 24-004, GMDD T6H-5307N at the LaSalle Garage, Montreal 10-6-01

 STRSM C8-903.jpg (50998 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Rive Sud de Montreal C8-903, Van Hool artic at the Brossard (South Shore) Transit Center 10-6-01

 STRSM 9-504.jpg (60114 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Rive Sud de Montreal 9-504, Nova Classic at the Brossard (South Shore) Transit Center, 10-6-01
STRSM C9-911.jpg (65456 bytes)

Societe de Transport de la Rive Sud de Montreal C9-911 at the Longueil (South Shore) Transit Center and Metro station 10-6-01

 Viens 565.jpg (64519 bytes)

Groupe Viens Inc. 565, MCI 102-D3 at the Saint Jean-sur-Richelieu QC garage 10-6-01

 Viens 870.jpg (80463 bytes)

Groupe Viens Inc. 870, GMC RTS at the Saint Jean-sur-Richelieu QC garage 10-6-01

 Viens 3001.jpg (62793 bytes)

Groupe Viens  Inc. 3001, MCI Mc-5C at the Saint Jean-sur-Richelieu QC garage 10-6-01

 Viens Classic.jpg (61281 bytes)

Groupe Viens Inc. 800-series MCI Classic at the Saint Jean-sur-Richelieu QC garage 10-6-01