About Bus #5073

1991-2024

Ex-Calgary Transit #5073, the second former Calgary Transit bus to be featured on this website, is a Motor Coach Industries (MCI) TC40-102N “Classic” 40 foot transit bus, built in 1991 and delivered to Calgary Transit as part of the 51-unit “1992 Order” numbered 5057-5107. This was Calgary Transit’s second order of the “Classic” bus model and features cushioned seats, Vultron III destination signs, the Detroit Diesel 6V92TA engine and Allison VR731 transmission. Calgary Transit would end up operating a total of 117 examples of this model before phasing it out by 2014, including a second-hand order of ten TC40-102A units original to Connecticut Transit added to the fleet as 5108-5117 in 2005.

The “Classic” was a model of transit bus originally produced by General Motors beginning in 1982 and designed off of their existing and well known “New Look” platform. The Classic is mechanically very similar to the New Look apart from design changes to improve user friendliness on the maintenance side of things, as well as a complete cosmetic facelift externally.

Bus #5073 was refurbished in 2007 and remained in service with Calgary Transit until the late summer-early fall of 2014, when it was retired concurrently with the remaining Classic fleet as part of Calgary Transit’s campaign to have a 100% “accessible low-floor fleet” by 2015. As the Classics had been reliable buses that still had a good amount of life left in them at the time, many units were sold off second-hand to other transit properties rather than being scrapped. These included Saskatoon Transit, Société de transport de l'Outaouais (STO) of Gatineau, QC, and the startup Cold Lake Transit in Alberta. 5073 would be sold to Cold Lake Transit.

After well over a year of sitting unused on Calgary Transit property after retirement, 5073 was finally transported to Cold Lake in early 2016 where it soon became Cold Lake Transit #5012, running alongside several other ex-Calgary Classics for the next few years. 5012/ex-5073 was given an annual Alberta CVIP inspection and was used mostly for special and charter work for the city.

Cold Lake Transit de facto retired the Classic fleet in 2018 upon delivery of two new buses however kept a few units mothballed as spares for several more years. Then, in the summer of 2024, the city of Cold Lake finally auctioned off their units #5007 (ex-Calgary Transit #5083), and #5012 (ex-Calgary Transit #5073). The latter of which would be acquired by me and transported back to its old home - Calgary - that September.