The whistling buses of Forest Hills
By adamg - Sat, 08/16/2008 - 9:02am.
A few years ago, the MBTA replaced all the stinky diesel buses running out of the Forest Hill yard with clean CNG buses. Yay! Only now a lot of them have developed this interesting characteristic: They whistle as they go. Really loudly. You can often tell when a bus is a few blocks away because you hear something that sounds like a tea kettle or an elephant, or maybe an elephant holding a tea kettle.
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I'm a little ...
T pot with a snout
People come in and people come out ...
That's the sound ...
of the turbo charger winding up when the driver hits the gas
But did they always sound like that?
I don't recall it when they first came out.
The whistle is typical of the Cummins engine
The NABI buses, series 2001-2299, all have Cummins-Westport C8.3G engines, which tend to have that whistle effect when the engine accelerates.
It's happening now more often than not because it looks like the NABI buses are undergoing warranty repairs. You may notice the loud whistle more loudly now if they tuned up the engine, replaced the exhaust stack on the left side of the bus, or cleaned up the transmission (for all of the MBTA 40 foot CNG and diesel buses, an Allison B400R5).
They may also have added this elephant-tea kettle whistle noise to let the blind know that these buses are coming.
The NABI buses, series
The NABI buses, series 2001-2299, all have Cummins-Westport C8.3G engines, which tend to have that whistle effect when the engine accelerates.
We're talking about the bendy-busses, not the regular ones.
They recently all have been developing leaks- they used to just roar, now they roar *and* let out a deafening "whoosh" noise.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention in my previous post that the air conditioning has stopped working on several of 39 busses.
What sucks even more is the
What sucks even more is the manufacturer Neoplan USA went out of business two years ago.
Bendy buses = articulated buses
The "bendy buses" are Neoplans, series 1001-1044, with Detroit Diesel Series 60G engines and Allison B500R6 transmissions. They are quite powerful and often are used on Route 39, and during the rush hours on Route 32.
I just read your post about the leaks in the turbo acceleration, which also contributes to the loud "everyone in the neighborhood can hear it" noise. With the more-powerful engines on the 60 foot buses, the noise is much louder.
Acceleration leaks happen on nearly all the buses, but this noise is also evident on the shorter 40 foot buses I was talking about in my previous post.
No bendi-buses on Washington Street
And those are the ones that I hear - along with some of the buses on route 50, which now whistle their way along West Street/Poplar Street.
And down Summer/Austin Streets...
You know the Route 50 has arrived at Parrott St when you can hear that loud whistle of the bus taking off.
Parrott Street!
The one that's for abuttres only!
I was going to take a snap of that street sign...
...but once they built the new houses on Parrott St, they took that sign down.
The previous owner of 2 Parrott was Haitian, and didn't realize the spelling of "abutters" wasn't "abuttres."
I think it's still up
On the other end of the "street." Austin?
yep
...and it's indicative of a leak, hence the whooshing noise. It's a noise any owner of an older turbochared car knows well...usually accompanied by bad running. Also, any old-turbocharged-car owner knows how to fix it: you plug the intake and use an air compressor to pump in air, and then listen/feel around for leaks.
In general, they're noisy as hell...after one has dropped you off, the roar past is painfully loud.
Then there was the screeching belts a couple months ago- every time one pulled away, there would be an ear-piercing scream you could hear for blocks...and when the busses came to a stop, there's be a shorter, but equally loud "squack" noise as the engine downshifted.
There's also a bus on the 39 route that starts beeping from the driver's area every time it stops at a bus stop...and another one that has such bad engine vibration, it hurts to sit in the back half of the rear section of the bus.
I was in Newton/Watertown last night and I saw the trackless trolleys...and it reminded me of my months old question: why the hell can't we get trackless trolleys in JP? The poles for the old green line are still up- probably would speed up re-stringing the lines. Nevermind that they're more enviornmentally friendly, since electric motors are much more efficient than internal combustion engines, and they solve some complaints about LRVs, like getting stuck behind double-parkers and such.
The bendy-busses also dangerous to bicyclists since they have poor visibility and can't get fully into the bus stops, even when they're not blocked by idiots using them as parking (and not getting ticketed by MBTA or Boston police.) They're also uselessly long when 3 of them come at a time during rushhour, and the drivers can't/won't pass each other. Ugh!
Trackless trolleys in JP
Some, very vocal people really hate the wires and don't want to see them. This is why for example, the Silver Line wires end at Silver Line Way instead of going further into the neighborhood.
The existing trolley poles in JP have been neglected for 23 years, so it's likely that many would need to be replaced. The money to do it has been sitting in an account since 1995. I'm not sure if it could be used for trackless trolleys though.
The buses would have to be hybrids though. There is no way you're going to get trackless wires in downtown Boston. Maybe as far as Symphony Hall. I suppose the T could somehow route them from Symphony to the Silver Line portal at Eliot Norton Park sometime in 2016, but I'm not sure if that would really work from a logistical point of view. Furthermore, I don't think the T would be able to get away with selling the #39 as a branch of the SL.
Well bicyclists can ride somewhere else. While I've had a love affair with biking my entire life, I'm really tired of the "LOOK HOW MASS TRANSIT IN JP IS SCREWING OVER THE POOR BICYCLISTS!" line over and over again. Light rail is too dangerous, buses are too dangerous...etc. Listening to stories from JP, I'm constantly amazed that bike riders aren't dying en masse in other cities with light rail and articulated buses.
The passenger loads on the #39 demand 60' buses run frequently. When the T randomly throws 40' ones out instead during peak times, the result is usually a service meltdown. The articulated buses frequently reach standing-room only before they make it to South Huntington on the inbound run. It's just as bad outbound. As it is, the T often jumps the gun on withdrawing 60' buses - frequently pulling them just before 9pm. Tons of fun when your outbound bus runs out of room for passengers just after Prudential.
As for the "not able to pull over" problem, I've noticed that the 40' buses don't fare much better. Because of this, and the ADA issues involved, the EOT is planning on building stations and bump-outs along the route. If the buses can't come to the curb, the curb will come to the buses. What cracks me up is that it's essentially the plan that was rejected for Green Line restoration.
And yes...bicyclists are already complaining that it's a threat to them.
annoying background noise
Try living within earshot of the Forrest Hills yard.
Tuvan throat singing
To me it sounds like Tuvan throat singers in the distance. For a while I thought some neighbor of mine had interesting tastes in ethnic music, but I finally figured out it was just the buses on Hyde Park Av.
Tuvans!
I have nothing cogent to add to this thread (like I ever do, with any thread...) but I just had to chime in because I love Tuvan throat singing and this is the first time I've ever heard it mentioned in some forum not devoted to it.
If someone else references Wheeler & Woolsey, I could die happy today.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Tuvan throat singing
Do you have this CD set:
http://www.amazon.com/Silk-Road-Musical-Caravan/dp/B000063NDQ
Really a must have album.
Thanks For The Tip
I don't have that one, yet.
My turn: Do you have Fly, Fly My Sadness? It is by Huun-Huur-Tu, with Angelite (a female Bulgarian vocal ensemble) and it is a hauntingly beautiful combination of styles.
From their official website:
http://www.huunhuurtu.com/music1.html
I saw both groups in concert at Sanders Theater, a few years back, and it was wonderful. I bought the CD immediately afterwards.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Huun-Huur-Tu
I don't have the album -- but do think our family saw this group perform (in Lowell, maybe?)
Our children have been practicing throat singing ever since (especially when in the shower).
The Silk Road set has music covering the whole route from West Asia to Japan -- and provides a lot of background information -- as to the music and the instruments, etc.
Throat-singing buses in Hyde Park
You are so right!
I'm sitting on our back porch this morning (working, natch), and two 50 buses have gone by down the hill and, yes, they sound like Tuvan throat singers, in part because you've got two sounds going on at once - the normal bus-y thing and that whistle.
Jeff Lorber - "Tuva" (from the album West Side Stories)
You can probably pick up this off iTunes or Napster, or buy the CD, but this features legendary Mongolian singer Kandar-Ol doing his throat-singing thing. Lorber very nicely donated the use of his studio after West Side Stories was completed.