By James Bow
See Also
- A Brief History of New Flyer Industries
- The Western Flyer D700 Series Bus
- The Flyer Industries D901 Series Bus
- The New Flyer Industries D40 Series Bus
- The New Flyer Industries Xcelsior Series Bus
Charters
Improving the Original
After finding some success with the D700A series bus, Flyer Industries (so named after the purchase of Western Flyer Industries by the Manitoban government in 1971) set about to improve the design and fix earlier mechanical and structural issues. They worked with AM General of the United States to produce the D-800 design. The deal also allowed Flyer Industries to expand across the border, by licensing AM General to produce the model for transit agencies in the United States. The D-800 series bus offered larger windows than the D-700, as well as re-styled front. They had (non-standard) longitudinally-mounted engines and transmissions similar to those of their D-700 cousins.
In 1974, the TTC took delivery of 50 of these vehicles, again initially basing them out of Queensway Garage, although in 1991 some were shifted to Lansdowne Garage to serve as replacements for the retiring trolley buses. These vehicles operated into the early 1990s, and were only retired when shipments of the 6700 series of the Orion V bus arrived. Bus #8000 managed to survive the scrapper’s torch, however, as it was bought up by a film company for use in movies, television shows and commercials. It maintained its TTC paint scheme and TTC interior into the late 1990s, and was spotted helping to sell Trident gum as late as 1999.
One bus, #7972, also survived the scrappers torch and was spotted near Caledon.
The D800B vs the D800A
In 1977, TTC took delivery of thirteen more D800 buses. These, however, were labelled D800B, retroactively relabelling the earlier models D800A. These buses used a standard transverse-mounted engine configuration, produced by General Motors Diesel Division, which improved the vehicle’s reliability compared to the D800A. A further 31 D800Bs were purchased and delivered in 1979.
The D800B buses were also assigned to Queensway Garage, and operated on such routes as 32 EGLINTON WEST, 110 ISLINGTON SOUTH, 73 ROYAL YORK and 76 ROYAL YORK SOUTH. Some of these vehicles remained in service until 1997, 21 years later.
In 1997 and 1998, every last D800B Flyer bus was retired and scrapped, except for #8257. This bus was retained and lovingly restored by the maintenance workers at Queensway Garage. It continued to run in regular service, and was popular on charters for its historic nature. It lasted until the summer of 1999 before it too was retired. It has been preserved by the Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation for its historic collection. By 2013, it was spotted in the New Flyer plant in Winnipeg and presumably scrapped by then.
Condensed D-800 Roster:
- 7560 - 7569 - FIL D-800-A - Delivered 1974/75; retired early 1990s
- 7965 - 8004 - FIL D-800-A - Delivered 1974/75; retired early 1990s
- 8210 - 8223 - FIL D-800-B - Delivered 1977; retired 1998;
- 8230 - 8260 - FIL D-800-B - Delivered 1978; retired 1999;
Flyer Industries D800 Series Image Archive
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TTC Flyer D-800 Bus #7983 poses at York Mills station in service on 96 WILSON in the late 1970s. Bob Hussey snapped this photograph, which was donated from the Pete Coulman Collection. |
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TTC Flyer Industries D800 bus #7563 heads eastbound on Eglinton, rising up from Keele Street in this circa 1975 shot courtesy the Toronto Archives and the Rob Pineault collection. |
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TTC Flyer D-800A bus #7968, seen here at Islington Station in the early 1980s. Photo by Brad O'Brien. |
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"Lovable" New Flyer D800 diesel coach #7968 cruises westbound along Eglinton Avenue West at Oakwood Avenue in June 1986. The bus is operating along the 32B EGLINTON WEST "via Carlingview" route. Photo: Mitchell Libby. |
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A shot of the rear of Flyer D800A bus #7978, taken at York Mills station in 1976 by Anthony Holt. Photo courtesy the Pete Coulman collection. |
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TTC Flyer D-800 bus #7986 departs Islington Station on route 50 BURNHAMTHORPE in the 1980s. Photo by Bob Hussey. |
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TTC Flyer D-800-A bus #7996 pulls out of Eglinton station, in service on the 32 EGLINTON WEST route. This photograph was taken on September 29, 1976 by Korusek and is courtesy the T. Helwell collection. |
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TTC D-800-A Flyer bus #7998 pulls out of Islington station's bus terminal, in service on 46 MARTIN GROVE in this March 1978 shot. The photographer is unknown and the image is courtesy the John Knight collection. |
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TTC Flyer D800B bus #8214 lays over at Long Branch loop in service on 80 QUEENSWAY on October 9, 1982. Photo by Arthur H. Peterson. |
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TTC bus 8221 (Flyer Industries FIL D-800-B) poses at Long Branch loop in this 1979 shot. Photo by Peter Cox, courtesy BARP.ca. |
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TTC Flyer D-800B bus #8221 heads westbound in 52 LAWRENCE service, approaching Dufferin, passing the Craven Foundation Automobile Museum at 760 Lawrence Avenue West, in this July 1978 shot. The photographer is unknown. |
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TTC Flyer D-800-B bus 8223 pulls into Eglinton West station in service on the 32 EGLINTON WEST route (32E "Martin Grove" branch). This photo, donated by Peter Coulman, was taken on September 7, 1978. |
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TTC New Flyer D800B bus #8238 waits to pick up passengers at Humber loop, in service on 80 QUEENSWAY in this early-to-mid 1980s shot taken by John Calnan. |
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TTC Flyer D-800B bus #8251 towards the end of her career, operating on 76 ROYAL YORK SOUTH. Photo by Brad O'Brien. |
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TTC Flyer D-800-B bus #8252 pulls into Kipling station in service on 44 KIPLING SOUTH in this early 1980s shot. This photograph is by John Calnan. |
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TTC Flyer D-800-B bus #8254 lays over at Kipling station in service on the 45A branch of 45 KIPLING. This late 1980s shot (Robert Lubinski notes "radio station 1050 CHUM switched from top 40 to oldies on June 6, 1986 using the slogan on the ad card during that time"), was taken by John Calnan. |
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TTC Flyer D-800 bus #8254 waits to pick up passengers at Humber Loop on July 7, 1980, in service on 80 QUEENWAY. The photographer is unknown (user name TRANSIT103); image donated by Pete Coulman. |
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During the charter in October 1998, Flyer D800B bus #8257 has been signed on the now-vanished 69A QUEENSWAY branch. This photo was taken by Felix Tse, donated by Jelo Gutierrez Cantos. |
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TTC Flyer Industries D-800-B bus #8257 heads eastbound on Eglinton Avenue, approaching Scarlett, in service on the 32B branch of EGLINTON WEST. This photograph is by Ted Wickson and is courtesy the John Knight collection. |
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TTC Flyer D-800-B bus 8257 poses alongside a Brampton Transit counterpart (7856) at Queensway garage. Photo taken in the year 1999 by Brad O'Brien. |
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A shot of the interior of TTC Flyer D-800B bus #8257. Photo by Brad O'Brien. |
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TTC Flyer D-800B bus #8257, seen here after being restored by Queensway garage, on a bus fan charter. |
