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Re: Fuel Gauges
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Q65A



Age: 66
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 1764
Location: Central NJ

PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Fuel Gauges Reply with quote

Which NYCT buses had fuel gauges mounted on their front instrument panels?
I know that some orders of TMC RTS's had them, as did early Orion V diesels and early artics; when did they start to appear, and when did they disappear?
What about MTAB buses?
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now, there's a luxury that we never had back when but, then again, I don't remember any of us ever running out of fuel!

Actually, all we had on the GM 'Old Look' dashboards were gauges for speed, oil, generator, water temperature and air pressure along with various buzzers and alarms to monitor other vital sensors.

I guess it was either that a fuel guage wasn't a necessity in local transit operation because the buses were refueled on a daily basis or that the company, for some covert reason, didn't want us to know how much was in the tank (maybe they thought we might sell some off to a bootlegger!).

It's a sure thing though that the OTR jobs had fuel indicators because, in most cases, the driver's were responsible for refueling in remote places.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY
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The Don of All Buses



Age: 36
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 113
Location: Yonkers, NY

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How did the drivers know how much gas they had in their tank, and how did the person refilling the bus know how much to put in the tank?
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bus317




Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many didn't work, so why have them. I know of many buses running out of fuel, especially ENY. Embarassed
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Mr. Linsky
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Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Don of All Buses wrote:
How did the drivers know how much gas they had in their tank, and how did the person refilling the bus know how much to put in the tank?


As far as I was concerned if the bus I was driving ever ran out of fuel it would merely have been a call for a service car but that never happened to my knowledge.

I would have to imagine that fuel distribution was well calculated by the company and no route at Green Line was of such mileage that a bus could not make it through an entire day on one filling.

As far as the refuelers at the garage, I would have to say that they just filled the tanks to the maximum each evening.

The fact that they knew the capacity of the various model tanks gave them insight into exactly how much fuel was used on any given shift on any given line.

I think the longest line in our system was the Q60 (Queens Boulevard) which stretched from south Jamaica all the way to 2nd. Avenue in Manhattan and a lot of miles were put on in four to six round trips over the course of two shifts and they never ran low.

What can I tell you? that's the way they used to operate!

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY
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GBL Rebel
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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Location: Long Island, N.Y.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

All buses returning to the garage are fueled until the tank is full. Oil, anti freeze, transmission fluid and power steering fluid is also checked and filled. Buses coming off the lift are normally put in to be fueled as well even if they did not go out that day, just to make sure its full.

Of the buses from the PBL's the only one's I know that had a fuel gauge were the Orion V 05.503-- One-Door Express buses-- that started at NYBS and then went to GBL. However, don't look for the fuel gauge on the dash, they were mounted in the engine compartment above the rear engine control switches. All CNG buses had the psi gauge to tell how much pressure were in the tanks, again mounted in the rear.

First buses at MTAB with fuel gauges were the MCI D4500's.
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bus317




Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, a road truck carries some fuel to get the bus in the house, but CNG's get towed in. If a bus has gone to maintenance with a defect and not brought back out to the fuel station it will run out of gas, or if it has a leak it will run out. In ENY some get fueled in the day and some at night and some get missedl. D'oh!
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Q65A



Age: 66
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

GBL Rebel wrote:
Of the buses from the PBL's the only one's I know that had a fuel gauge were the Orion V 05.503-- One-Door Express buses-- that started at NYBS and then went to GBL. However, don't look for the fuel gauge on the dash, they were mounted in the engine compartment above the rear engine control switches. All CNG buses had the psi gauge to tell how much pressure were in the tanks, again mounted in the rear.

Thanks for the info!
I remember that some of the old QTC Fishbowls I used to ride had fuel gauges installed at the fuel filler door.
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shortlineMCI



Age: 54
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PostPosted: Sun May 04, 2008 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well with us at Shortline, if you have to pick up your bus at one of our remote locations, then the pay is built into your bid or tripper that you must adhere strictly to your serivce times in Manhatten as to when to service your bus.

And when you service your bus, you must fill out your fuel log as to how many gallons of diesel your tank took. Our buses get serviced every day which include dumping the bathroom, refueling, washing, mopping and sweeping, topping off of fluids, blah blah blah.

Now, if you choose not to service your bus, and the next driver who takes that bus (probably down from Binghamton, or Ithaca runs out of fuel, you and the driver ahead of you will be given a week, unpaid vacation. Just enough time to think about what you did. Not only is it extremely embarrasing to have a breakdown which is the most preventable, but it can cause the bus to be down for a very long time. Once the fuel pump starts sucking air, a whole lot of ugly comes after that!

Yep! a week should give the driver enough time.
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Mr Mabstoa



Age: 55
Joined: 10 May 2008
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Location: Orange County New York

PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:29 am    Post subject: fuel gauges Reply with quote

The first RTS's to have the fuel gauges were the 8600's.
The gauge never worked properly from the get go.
At MTV we fuel our buses daily and at the end of the night a fuel report is done to show what buses haven't been fueled. The list is then checked for buses not on the property or being repaired, etc.
If the bus is in service and has just missed fueling we get it ASAP either by fueling it in the morning before it goes out or getting the bus in off the road.
The Hyrbrids are very good on fuel usage and even in several days of not getting fueled sometimes only will take a few gallons and certainly less than 10 gallons.
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Q65A



Age: 66
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PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks guys!
From my visits to NYCT and MTAB Roadeos, it seems as if very few current NYCT/MTAB buses have fuel gauges.
I believe that the cruisers have them, but I didn't see them on most other buses that normally are exhibited there.
One exception was former CBC 4904 (MTAB 682), a '94 TMC RTS-06 CNG: it appeared to have a dash mounted fuel gauge.
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shortlineMCI



Age: 54
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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2008 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Q65A wrote:
Thanks guys!
From my visits to NYCT and MTAB Roadeos, it seems as if very few current NYCT/MTAB buses have fuel gauges.
I believe that the cruisers have them, but I didn't see them on most other buses that normally are exhibited there.
One exception was former CBC 4904 (MTAB 682), a '94 TMC RTS-06 CNG: it appeared to have a dash mounted fuel gauge.


Very easy question. The MTA buses are set up to be just basic transit buses, do not need fuel guages as they are fueled every night before they are parked.

The MCI cruisers that I drive have fuel guages. they typically are driven nearly 500 miles a day. And we have multiple models of MCI cruisers and all have fuel gauges. They are not transit buses.
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Q65A



Age: 66
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 1764
Location: Central NJ

PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2008 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shortlineMCI wrote:
Very easy question. The MTA buses are set up to be just basic transit buses, do not need fuel guages as they are fueled every night before they are parked.

The MCI cruisers that I drive have fuel guages. they typically are driven nearly 500 miles a day. And we have multiple models of MCI cruisers and all have fuel gauges. They are not transit buses.
Makes sense to me; thanks shortline MCI!!!
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Mr. Linsky
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Joined: 16 Apr 2007
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PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2008 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="Mr. Linsky"]

A point that I had made earlier in this forum!

"It's a sure thing though that the OTR jobs had fuel indicators because, in most cases, the driver's were responsible for refueling in remote places".

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY
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TCC Senior Man



Age: 67
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PostPosted: Fri May 23, 2008 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's been a long time since we had the last of them at Triboro but if memory serves me correctly, I think that the Grummans that we had back then, some 20 years ago, had fuel gauges on them. Now I'm going to have to check out the one Grumman that I usually see at the New York City Transit Bus Roadeo to check if this might be the case.

BTW as stated before, all buses are supposed to be fueled every night but occasionally not all get fueled as scheduled. I ran out of fuel one day on the Q-39 some 14 years ago. When I made the call to Dispatch, the Shop already knew the cause for my bus having shut down suddenly. When the replacement bus arrived, the shopman who brought it had about 5 very large containers on the same bus filled with diesel. I refused that bus for passenger service because the fumes were something awful as you might imagine.
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