HRT Bus #939

This is a treat from Hampton Roads Transit....bus #939 on Route 23.

Powertrain: Detroit Diesel 6v92 engine/Allison B400 transmission

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• HRT
• OrionV
• 939
• audio

[Artessnow]

HRT has some marathon routes, I rode the 20 from Downtown Norfolk to the Oceanfront once, the trip was like two hours, whewww love it though!!!

[MetroLinerXLZ]

@Artessnow

The 1, 15, and 23 would be the other marathon routes. They are nice now, but they were quite interesting when the Orions and Flxibles were running.

[CoolBreeze250]

I'm from Norfolk, VA originally but haven't lived there in awhile. My dad used to drive for HRT which was TRT (1973-1989, 1990-2000) back then. I really liked the Flexibles and the Orions and am so sorry that HRT's retired them. Now they have low-floor Gilligs. I liked the standard-floor buses better. Does anyone remember the Grummins buses of the 1980s? I'm sorry, guys, but I'm old-school. :-)

[MetroLinerXLZ]

@CoolBreeze250

Actually, HRT is a consolidation of both Tidewater Regional Transit (Norfolk) and PenTran (Hampton) that occurred in 1999.

I don't recall TRT having any Grummans, but they did have a few RTS's back in the 80's (like PenTran did). Niether transit switched over to Flxible until the late 80s (or 1991 in TRT's case).

I REALLY do miss those Orions. Those were the last 6V92-powered Orions to run anywhere in the U.S. and were retired around 2008.

[panamcunard]

When I first moveto the 7 cities area back in 2005, HRT had a lot of these buses runing on the Norfolk side of their operation. On the Hampton side they a small number of TMC RTS-06 (6v92/ V-730 or V-731) and a good amout of Flixble Metros (6-71/6v92/ V-730 or V-731). Now HRT believe, is an all Gillig opration, because the HRT buses I see on the road are Gilligs.

[MetroLinerXLZ]

@panamcunard

You're actually correct on that. When the Orions were about to be retired, they moved them from 18th Street garage (in Norfolk) to Victoria Blvd. garage (in Hampton) and put them on school tripper service as they did with the Flxibles and (I think) the RTS's. I hear that the 500-series Gillig Phantoms are currently running on the school tripper service routes now....guess where they're headed for next???

[s88Limitedbus]

HRT,these will no longer be used,they are currently used on school bus routes only and they will be replaced by school bus. ;)

[s88Limitedbus]

I heard these buses are retring very soon. ;)

[CoolBreeze250]

@keonta81 Yes, you're correct. They were my favorite fleet of buses.  My father worked for HRT (known as TRT then) from 1973-1989 and from 1990-2000.

[keonta81]

@CoolBreeze250 i remember them when i was a kid .they where in the 400s series.i think they where actually delivered in 79

[CoolBreeze250]

@MetroLinerXLZ

Yes, HRT is a consolidation of Tidewater Regional Transit and PenTran, which became official back in October of 1999. I liked TRT better. I liked the colors better. It's not really the same to me now. TRT actually did have Grummans from the late 1970s to the early 90s. They looked like the Flexibles. They were the 400s. The Orions (the 900s) replaced the Grummans around 1993. The Flexibles (the 700s) replaced the original Flexibles which were the 300s back in 1990.

[keonta81]

@MetroLinerXLZ yea they actually been around since 93.they had got another order in 95