44 replies to this topic

[TTC H series subway]

Do you have any regrets in transit fanning? Something that you did or didn't do? You can talk about those here.

I, unfortunately, have quite a few:

1. Not being aware of the TTS H4 subway charter until a week after it had happened. It was out of my control so I suppose I can't really blame myself, but it still really sucks and if given a time machine and a chance to attend the charter, I most gladly would. Curse you, fate. Though, my luck has been crap for the better part of this year, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised.

Thankfully, I managed to prevent a future regret by attending their Fishbowl charter.

2. Not being more into transit fanning when I was younger. From 2005 to 2007 (I began transit fanning in 2008), several interesting TTC vehicles were retired that I did not get to get any pictures and videos of:

2005 - 1990 Orion V CNG / New Flyer D40-90 / Missisauga Transit D60
2006 - Orion VI CNG / ex-Montreal 26xx New Looks
2007 - Flyer D901 / GM New Look 2153

3. Not taking any pictures of the Classics with the full bus in the shot. Twice I rode a Classic before they were retired, and twice I had an opportunity to do so (especially when they were on the crushloaded 68 Warden and loads of passengers were waiting, giving me plenty of time to take the picture) but I didn't do it. I only took front and rear shots. Later, 6223 was on display at Mount Dennis garage and I STILL hadn't learnt my lesson, as again I only took front and rear shots!!! That was the last time I saw a Classic and I probably won't be able to undo it.

4. Being largely inactive in transit fanning from late 2009-mid 2011. I missed out on getting photos of the 91 Vs before they were scrapped, and it was because of me not transit fanning for some time that I missed out on the H4 subway charter. I probably would've been able to get more shots of the Fishbowls then I currently do if I hadn't done this aswell. Plus, I might've gotten a picture of one of the Classics at Mount Dennis garage parked alongside the fence with the rest of the garage's fleet before they moved them behind the wall where buses await retirement.

5. Not making more of an effort to try and find GM Classic 6221 in service or on the street.

Well, that's my story done and over with Feel free to share yours now.

[zzw]

Great topic!

My regret is not getting enough shots of the H1's and M1's as well as GM's in the old colours. Film and dev was expensive...

[0987654321]

The same, not getting into it sooner. I started in mid 2009, but I wish I started in 2006 so I could have gotten more rides and pics of the D40s, 91' Orion Vs, and Classics.

[JCL]

Not getting an interior video of OC Transpo's Nova LFS, even though I've never liked those buses....

[Nabinut]

One of my regrets was not exploring the country until 2005 (Los Angeles was my first) though I have been in the hobby since 1997.

[captaintrolley]

A similar topic exists somewhere on the board, or it could be on the 'old' board.

I wish I had appreciated the Brills and Pullmans more when they were around in full force. My deep appreciation for trolleys began around 1977-78.

[AlexLy]

1. I was not mature enough when the STCUM New Looks got retired in 2002 and GM Classics in 2005.
2. I never took any videos of any STM Classic ride, but I may try before the end of this year / before they're gone.

That's pretty it.

[Tom1122]

Not going out to ride DRT fishbowl 2048 before it got into an accident. I kept procrastinating until it was involved in a collision and suffered frame damage.

[MVTArider]

A regret for me, and probably a lot of of us, is not getting a camera earlier than I did. I really started to have an interest in buses in 2006 but I didn't get a camera until mid-2008. If I did have one a bit earlier I could've gotten some photos of the older units before they retired. Probably wouldn't have been great photos, but at least it would've been something.

Another regret, that is sort of funny actually, is not realizing early on that setting my camera to the 4:3 image size just increased the height of the photo without decreasing the width. Because I left it on 16:9, thinking that it was the best frame to capture buses with, there were quite a few off center shots that didn't quite cover the whole bus top-to-bottom the way the 4:3 size would've.

A little off topic, but I do have one thing I don't regret now that felt sort of crazy doing a year ago. Being somewhat aggressive in taking as many photos as possible of the Metro Transit 1998 D60s. Now they are mostly gone, but at least I have some decent shots of them.

[Bus_Medic]

Being born 30 years too late so I could've been a mechanic
In the TTC when 2 stroke detroits were the rule and mechanical skill actually meant something.

[OC Transpo 8238]

Bus_Medic, on Nov 12 2011, 01:00 AM, said:

Being born 30 years too late so I could've been a mechanic
In the TTC when 2 stroke detroits were the rule and mechanical skill actually meant something.

+1.

Except I need to go a few years farther back.

[tomsbuspage]

I think we all wish we could have started sooner. I didn't start taking photos until 1997, so I missed the OC Flyers, Orion Is, the GM artics, along with any Fishbowl from before 1974. If I had started in 1990, the year I started high school, I could have had shots of the following:

- Ex-STO Fishbowls when they were still in the blue livery but running for OC Transpo;
- STO buses from 74xx to 78xx;
- OTC 6101 in service during a bus shortage in the fall of 1990, in the preserved green scheme;
- Ex-GO Transit 1003 in service in Ottawa during the same bus shortage, though not in the green livery;
- The Orion VI demos, one from the factory and the other from London Transit, in 1996;
- Kitchener Transit 9201 operating in Ottawa as 92011.

Had I started even earlier, I could have had shots of two Orion I demos in the late 1980s, along with the last TDH-5303 I ever rode, a 1967 bus running in the fall of 1988.

Other regrets:

- Never getting an OC Communibus photo, even though they were still running in the late 1990s;
- Not visiting other cities more before 2000, though a tight student budget was a big factor there;
- Never getting a shot of a TTC Orion III artic. I had the chance when one stopped right in front of me in 2002, but my camera ran out of film;
- Not getting out to more OC Transpo/Ottawa publicity events, such as when a New York hybrid was being demoed;
- Not taking a few more bus pics when I was in France this past May--I didn't get a single shot of buses in Marseille.

Probably the biggest: not getting more Fishbowls pics when I could.

[vivablue5215]

Not collecting all the Transit City pins before Rob Ford stepped in.

[Cleveland RTA Flxible 9204]

My major regret would be having been too young to really absorb all the times I rode on both the Flxible New Look & GMC Fishbowl not realizing that someday they would be retired. The same could be said as well regarding the MCI MC-7 and MC-8 inter-city coaches.

[translink fan]

Cleveland RTA Flxible 9204, on Nov 16 2011, 07:12 AM, said:

My major regret would be having been too young to really absorb all the times I rode on both the Flxible New Look & GMC Fishbowl not realizing that someday they would be retired. The same could be said as well regarding the MCI MC-7 and MC-8 inter-city coaches.

I totally agree with this. With me i would've enjoyed the Classics, D60's, and D40's! but i only got a chance to see a D60 doing olympic specials with the D40's at UBC!

[Tom1122]

I also regret not riding a trolleybus in Toronto. I saw them in service in Toronto (both Flyer and leased Edmonton BBCs) but never rode them. By the time my dad and I were to ride a trolleybus on 6 Bay, they were all gone and we had to ride a Diesel. (Either a D901 or D40HF IIRC).

[zzw]

Tom1122, on Nov 17 2011, 06:02 PM, said:

I also regret not riding a trolleybus in Toronto. I saw them in service in Toronto (both Flyer and leased Edmonton BBCs) but never rode them. By the time my dad and I were to ride a trolleybus on 6 Bay, they were all gone and we had to ride a Diesel. (Either a D901 or D40HF IIRC).

Bummer .
I wish I rode the Gloucesters more. Last time I was on one was 3 years before they retired them.

[Tom1122]

At least I can say I rode the Gloucesters a lot even though they were retired when I was 7. I even rode two PCCs in the A-6, A-7, or A-8 classes.

ZigZagWanderer, on Nov 17 2011, 09:35 PM, said:

Bummer .
I wish I rode the Gloucesters more. Last time I was on one was 3 years before they retired them.

[zzw]

Tom1122, on Nov 17 2011, 09:53 PM, said:

At least I can say I rode the Gloucesters a lot even though they were retired when I was 7. I even rode two PCCs in the A-6, A-7, or A-8 classes.

Nice! I saw a bunch of those about 20 years ago but never got to ride one until a charter 7 years later. Another regret.

[George L.]

Like everybody else, not becoming a fully fledged fanner before 2009. I missed the opportunity to record and photograph many diesel buses in their final glorious years down here in So Cal...