The Ohio Museum of Transportation |
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Museum Roster |
The Ohio Museum of Transportation |
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Museum Roster |
Coach 800 - Details
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Queen City Metro (Cincinnati) coach 800 before remanufacture into an ABR (Photo from Bus World Vol. 6 No. 2) |
Coach 800 as our Museum received it in the Cincinnati Metro colors. | Coach 800 in Baltimore as a demo and renumbered as 8381 by the MTA (Photo:Thomas E. Dorsey photo from the Baltimore Transit Archives collection) |
| Make | : | Flxible |
| Year | : | 1974 |
| Model | : | 53102-8-1 |
| Serial Number | : | 58799 |
| Length | : | 40' |
| Width | : | 102" |
| Height | : | 118" |
| Destination Sign | : | Full Size Electronic |
| Seating | : | - |
| Engine | : | Detroit Diesel 8V-71N |
| Transmission | : | Allison Super VH |
| Air Conditioning | : | Yes |
| Center Doors | : | Air type |
| Acquired From | : | Southwestern Ohio Regional Transit Authority |
| Condition | : | Operational - Needs some minor mechanical, electrical and body work. Overall in good condition. |
| Period | : | Painted in 80's era SORTA livery |
Notes:
Coach 800, as it is now, resulted from an experimental program done by Flxible to remanufacture older coaches to extend the life span. Instead of the normal rebuilding, Flxible chose to remanufacture the bus with a body resembling the then currently produced Flxible Metros. There were very few of these buses manufactured and our coach 800 is the only survivor of the ABR program in a Museum. SunBus in California just recently released a few of the ones they had ordered and are currently looking for a buyer.
Essentially still a Flxible New Look coach, 800 has several tell tale signs that it isn't a Flxible Metro. The most major spotting point is the gap between the head lights and the bumper. Secondly is that the center door is more forward than on the Metro. In addition, part of the original Flxible chassis, which many mistakenly thought was a rub rail, is visible.
Used as a demonstrator coach for a few years, coach 800 ran under the Baltimore MTA as coach 8381 in 1984 until it's return to Cincinnati. It is not confirmed officially by us, however it is said coach 800 also ran for the Denver RTD for a short time in demo service.
One of the most unique buses in our collection, coach 800 will eventually be restored to the condition it was in as it left the Flxible plant after being remanufactured.
Page updated on August 13, 2004
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