1912

The sun sets behind 1912 while she's parked at the Golden Glades Terminal at 8:03 PM on June 14th, 2000

        This particular Blue Bird is the most infamous bus in the minibus fleet. Out of the 20 Blue Birds, 1912 is the bump on the log - this one has had more breakdowns and roadcalls in it's short life than any other Blue Bird. It used to be assigned to Kendall KAT in the evenings, where it's problems slowly began to surface. On Christmas Eve 1999, it broke down on the Snapper Creek Expressway while on a Westbound Kendall trip - at 6 in the evening, no less. In January and February she was having a series of bizzarre mechanical problems - several times she'd just be moseying along Kendall Drive and the engine would just cut off for no reason, and several times it wouldn't re-start. Other times it wouldn't go faster than 20 miles per hour. Still another time she put out smoke when the transmission would shift. I myself did not have this bus during this period of time, however when I had Kendall on Thursdays I had 1911 and I was 1912's leader. Eventually the bus smoothed out as we entered Daylight Savings Time. She has since been reassigned to the North Dade Connection. Here is where I first drove her, and what a first day I had! The following is a picture diary of my experiences with this bus on Wednesday May 10, 2000. (I first drove the route on Wednesday May 3rd, but I had 6046 that day.  At the time I had the same run every Wednesday.)

Oh, goodnes!! On my first trip, I only got 2 blocks from the east End Of the Line when she first cut off. This was taken at about 1:50 PM, she's facing east on NE 191 Street. I was going around a truck that was parked at a warehouse there when 1912 stalled, explaining the crooked position of the bus. I let the engine cool off for 5 minutes, then I cranked it up and kept going. The paper on the headsign reads: 'RIDE THE NORTH DADE CONNECTION'.  An additional problem is that the gague keeps indicating a hot engine, constantly triggering the hot engine alarm.

     All went fine until 4:30 PM. The bus cut off while going northbound on NW 47th Ave., I was just around the cornerer from the west EOL when it happened. I stopped and gave it the standard 5 minutes. Shortly after the upper left pic was taken, at 4:40 PM, a whino pushing a shopping cart collided head-on with the stopped bus. I swear I'm not making this up. Later, around 8 PM, while I was going through Golden Glades, The bus put ouyt smoke. Then the engine cut off again while I was on the ramp on US 441. I had to coast off the ramp and onto NW 176 Street - the most harrowing event of the day. I actually went down the busy northbound ramp, which became NW 2 Avenue, and made a right turn onto eastbound 176 St, all without engine power. The westbound trip was troubled. And when I left the west EOL on my last trip (I'm the last eastbound bus.), the bus stalled 3 times!! When I finished I went to Northeast, which is near the east EOL. The mechanics checked her out, gassed her up, and sent me home to Coral Way. In the upper right shot, taken after 10 PM, shows 1912 next to 1069, which is now a Community Action Agency bus. Since then the bus only stalled one more time on me. Twice, though, the bus got mired in sand at the western EOL and had to be yanked out by a tow truck- on Tuesday May 23 with the regular Tuesday operator, and the very next day with me. I got stuck at 7 PM. While I waited for the truck the mechanic who came to check it out told me his personal nickname for 1912: 'That little turdball.' (A week laer 1916 got stuck in the same spot.) I've named it my little mischief, after a crooked Mexican soap opera that was on Univision in 1998.  With all the wierdness, though, I have grown attaxch I have grown attached to her, and is now one of my five favorite Blue Birds- the others are 1905, 1906, 1907, and 1911.