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Maneuverability, reliability, mechanical performance are the major concerns of the developing concepts on the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses today, the idea of being low floor in these buses even complicates the matter. Signs are indicating that these innovating technologies are still not mature enough. Here is a brief comparision between the Diesel and CNG buses.
Top photos: 9392 and 9388 were seen in Oct and June 1998, these buses have been taking more tough duties recently after receiving the first 6 year rebuild by the TTC. Much few breakdowns have been observed compared with their younger siblings- 9200 and 9400 series CNG buses.
| 9361(1989) | TTC 9361 (BD 3738) was a 1989 Orion I CNG demo bus. The same bus (now BJ 8410) which now carries the GO Transit livery was seen at the parking lot of "Master Mechanic" on May 1 2002. Here is the front view of the bus, the back of the bus, the rear door, ,the gas tank. This bus can sometimes be found at Markham Miller yard. |
| 9370(1997) | The TTC was looking for the possibility to do the 12-year rebuild on these 1991 CNG buses, 9370 (BJ1171, BK7370) was the prototype and the bus was repainted. It was the final decision not to rebuild these buses and 9370 was retired in Nov 2004. |
| 9372 | The Orion V CNGs are not going to get the 12-year rebuild. 9372 was out of service since late 2003 and the bus returned to active service in Aug 2004. |
| 9374 9374 (front) |
1991 Orion V CNG bus 9374 received a new front end in late 2002 probably because of an accident, a closer look indicated that the front end was coming from Orion V 6679. Here is another photo showing the mark of 6679 on the driver side. Note: The height of the larger photos were set at 570 pixels, you may need to click on the photo on the new page again to see have a better view. |
| 9375 / 1000 9375 front 9375 back |
Orion V CNG 9375 was seen together with demo RTS 1000 in 1997, 7 years later in Nov 2004, it was the same bus again with the illegible "Easier Access" decal. 9375 was offically retired in Feb 2005. |
| 9376 | Orion V CNG 9376 used to be a frequent guest at York University. The bus in behind was Orion VII 7541, which was in its first day(s) of active service with the TTC. This photo was taken on Dec 18 2004. |
| 9386 (1) 9386 (2) |
Wilson has been wrapping these buses for many years. Here 9378 had the Jack FM ad while 9386 had the Bell Solo ad. |
| 9382/9392 9392/9382 |
All 25 Orion V CNG buses were moved outdoor one by one after 5:45pm on Jun 29 2002. There was nothing wrong on these buses and these buses went back to the garage the next day. Here is another view on these buses. |
| 9374/9394 | The rear view of 9374 and 9394,the first generation of Orion5 CNG bus built in 1991. The TTC only bought 25 and no further example was ordered. The photo was taken in Jan 98 at Wilson station. |
| 9387 | 9387 just received the new painting scheme in April 1997. |
| 9392 / YT1 | Two Orion CNG buses are picking up students outside York Lanes. YT1 (BL2290, ex. TTC 9361 with VIN 2B1169K76X5001956) and TTC 9392 (BL 2696) were new to the TTC in 1989 and 1991 as 93xx series buses and their fates are totally diiferent. |
| 9393 | 9393 replaced the 9200 Orion 6 CNG buses for a full day shift on 29 in Nov 1998. |
| 9402 (2002) | 9402 is a pilot bus that was converted from a CNG to a diesel bus for testing if diesel repowering can improve the reliability of the 9400 series bus. The gas tank on top was removed. This is a photo showing the back of 9402 (without gas tank) and 9419 (with gas tank). 9402 received bike rack in summer 2005. |
| 9403 | An April 1997 view on 9403 taken at Ossington Station. |
| 9410 | 9410 was a standby bus at Downsview for the World Youth Day on July 27 2002. |
| 9412 / 9234 | Compressed Natural Gas CNG buses 9412 and 9234 were seen on the 196 York University duties on March 22 2006. The whole fleet of 1991, 1996 and 1998 CNG buses in the TTC were either retired or withdrawn for convertng to diesel buses by Mar 2005, Sept 2006 and Nov 2006 respectively. |
| 9414 | 9414 returned to active service in spring 1998 after receiving a new gas tank. 9414 was running on Bathrust #7C, the photo was taken in Apr 98. |
| 9422 (2005) 9422 (2006) |
9422 (BH8932) was converted to a diesel bus, received the bike rack and a new TTC logo on the side. These photos were taken in Apr 2005 and Apr 2006. |
| 9435 | The CNG tank on Orion 9435 has been removed. judging from the PSP ad at the back the conversion should be done recently and there was still no body rebuild on the bus yet. This photo was taken on Feb 3 2006. |
| 9444 | 9444 was on layer over at York University in a November 1998 afternoon. In April 1998, 9444 had mechanical problems with smoke coming out from the engine area at Finch station, fire trucks and police cars were at the scene briefly, the wood ashes on the ground is the result of some leakings from 9444. |
Bottom Photos: Left is 9437 in a makeshift platform at Ossington station in Sept 98. Right is the July 98 view of the rear of 9439 and the recently rebuilt 1981 GM 8583, 8583 is much more sturdier and reliable than 9439 even she is 15 years older.
Bottom Photos: show the 9215 and 9226 parked together at the unused Wilson North platform. These buses were withdrawn in Sept 98 for the safety concern. See another photo on 9244 taken at the same place. Right: The rear of 9212 ( photo taken on Apr 13 98). Click for larger size photo.
| 2000 | The first Orion 6 CNG bus arrived in Toronto in the summer 1997 and the fleet # was 2000, the 2000 series later became the 9200 series such that the 2000 series was for the rebuilt GM buses in Sept 1997 as GM 8571 became the current 2000 later. Here, Orion 6 CNG 2000 was seen on a trial run on 7C. (Toronto Star photo) |
| 9202 | 9202 was just 3 weeks old when she was on Dufferin 29. Here is another Dec 28 2001 photo. |
| 9207 | Recently retired Orion VI 9207 (BJ 5398) was on the way to Eglinton yard for storage, this photo was taken eastbound on HWY 401 approaching the Avenue Road exit on Oct 23 2006. |
| 9210 | After about 3 months of storage, the 7-year old 9210 (BJ5437) was seen back in service on July 30. |
| 9218 | 9218 was still assigned to lighter route 98 on April 30 1999 after receiving the new wheel rims. |
| 9229 | Apr 13 98 view on 9229. There are only 27 seats and the legroom of these buses are also smaller than the regular buses. |
| 9233 | 9233 was seen at Wilson Station on Mar 25 98, the first day 9233 entered service and worked on Dufferin #29. These buses are the first batch of low floor bus in the TTC fleet. |
| 9239 | 9239 returned to active service in late February 1999 after being out of service for 5 months. She now has new silver color wheel rims. |
| 9246 | 9246 attended the bus roadeo at Arrow Road on May 2 1999. This is the rear view of the one and a half year old bus, but at least 6 months of her life was spent on the storage yard. |
