It's all down hill from here and other Vantastic tales

In hopes of atoning for neglecting this site for the past several months, here is a bit of catch up.

Euro RVS
Yes they are rolling again in large numbers. Those European RVs keep arriving in Halifax by ship but I only get to see very few of them. Here is a sampling:

Swiss Dude (who may have a web site - his name is Demian) drives this VW van. Tight quarters inside no matter the raised roof, but being Swiss I guess he has no problem parking on hills.

This Merc from Germany has a very durable looking Wochner RV body. Over the front windshield it says "Xantaro 470 B4 4X4".

Vantastic Conversions
This array of ambulance / van conversions is largely self-explanatory:

 

Malley Industries Inc of Moncton, NB produced this Dodge conversion for Ambulance New Brunswick.

 Tri-Star Industries of Yarmouth, NS produces ambulances for Nova Scotia EHS on Ford chassis.

 

Niagara Region runs Mercs with Demers bodies, built in Saskatchewan.

 

 Crestline, also based in Saskatchewan built this unit on a Ford chassis.

 

 Looks like an ambulance but isn't. Ferno uses this Ford to demonstrate ambulance equipment and patient handling devices.

 Stryker also produces patient handling equipment. They use this van to promote their product.


Best Looking Truck of the Week
This rig takes the prize this week - in part because of its matching trailer. Also because the driver is still waiting after three days for his load. Likely a piece of farm machinery from a shipment that arrived some time ago - maybe hung up in customs.

Wheeler Trucking of New Lothrop, MI runs this handsome low-rise Volvo.
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Bus a gut
No matter where I was, I could not get a clear shot . Two layers of chain link fence forms a  fairly effective filter, but I did see that number 8147 is one of at least three new OC Transpo buses to arrive in the past week.

It appears to be an Alexander Dennis Enviro 500 model, an add on to the 43 similar units in the OC Transpo fleet. Two more are virtually invisible within the confines of the Fairview Cove container terminal.

Globetrotter hitches a ride
A Volvo Globetrotter arrived in port early in the week and waited outside the compound for a time until it was lashed down on its trailer.

Although it looked to be set up as a tractor for a semi-unit, it was fitted with an odd little scissor lift type dump body and was marked "Test Vehicle" in the rear. The contents of the non-IMO container will have to remain a mystery.

Watson keeps on rollin'
There are Watson trucks nearly every week now, hauling Bombardier airplane components.

 KW number W3895 sports a non-standard Watson paint job. Watson runs their own escort fleet.

 KW 3901 has the traditional mint green name on the cab door.

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GO Transit - now (not) extended to Halifax

The ever expanding Government of Ontario Transit system (GO Transit) has been adding buses at a fast rate to serve more distant suburban areas - but not quite as far as Halifax.  The latest model, introduced last year, with an order of 25 (numbers 8101-8125), are built by Alexander Dennis in the UK and imported through Halifax by ships of the Atlantic Container Line. The buses are then driven on to Toronto.

It appears that an additional 25 buses have now been ordered (based on numbers) with at least three arriving Christmas week in Halifax.

Go Transit bus numbers 8140 and 8146 wait to be driven away from the Fairview Cove container terminal. A third bus can be seen in the terminal, but in an unphotographable location and its number isn't visible.

The double deckers of this new Enviro 500 series are longer and lower than the pre-2013 models, allowing them to serve more suburban areas in the GTA, along the Highway 407 corridor. With a capacity of 81, they are really coaches, as opposed to transit buses. This new order is also painted in GO's revised darker forest green colour scheme introduced in 2013.

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