By James Bow

See Also

• A Brief History of New Flyer Industries
• The Flyer Industries D800 Series Bus
• The Flyer Industries D901 Series Bus
• The New Flyer Industries D40 Series Bus
• The New Flyer Industries Xcelsior Series Bus

A New Look

For the first thirty-five years of its life, Western Flyer built a successful business in the design of intercity motor coaches, but the company was looking to expand its reach. The market for city buses looked lucrative indeed but, at the time, this market was dominated by General Motors with its iconic “New Look” design. With that in mind, Western Flyer’s designers put their heads together, and brought forward a bus that could compete with GM’s “New Look” in terms of modern appearance, utility and passenger comfort. In 1967, their efforts resulted in the D700A series bus model, which has been nicknamed by bus enthusiasts as “the Canadian Fishbowl”. Apparently their attempt to compete with the New Look “Fishbowls” was successful.

The D-700 design was equipped with a 6V71 GM diesel engine mounted longitudinally (instead of the standard transverse style). Large windows flooded in the interior with light. Padded seats offered comfort to passengers.

A West End Bus

The TTC came shopping in 1969, and placed an initial order for ten D700A buses, which arrived later that year. A second order, this time for another 13 units, was placed in 1972 and delivered that year. All 23 buses were based out of Queensway Garage and were rarely seen east of Yonge Street.

Unfortunately, Western Flyer’s entry into the bus market was not without problems. Mechanical and structural issues plagued these buses, and most did not last the expected 18 years of service, and were thus retired early. The class was retired and hauled to the scrapheap by the latter half of the 1980s.

Western Flyer was more successful with the electric version of this model. In 1968, the TTC had shipped some of its aging trolley coaches to the company to rebuild. This led to a contract for a complete retrofit of the TTC trolley bus fleet, essentially rebuilding the buses into 151 electric equivalents of the D-700A series. For more information on this, please view this history of the Western Flyer trolley bus rebuilds.

Western Flyer would address the mechanical and structural issues of this class for its next model, the D800A series.

D-700-A Condensed Roster:

• 7500-7509 - D700A - Delivered 1969; retired late 1980s;
• 7510-7522 - D700A - Delivered 1972; retired late 1980s;

Western Flyer D700 Series Image Archive

	TTC Flyer D700 bus #7510 poses with a 93 WOODBRIDGE exposure (even though WOODBRIDGE had been abandoned by this point) in this September 1977 shot. The photographer is unknown.
	The maintenance crew at Queensway Garage gather for a group photo in front of a Flyer D-700 bearing a 37 ISLINGTON exposure, circa 1973. Photo donated by Pete Coulman.
	TTC Western Flyer D700 bus #7502 waits at Islington station for another run to the RACES on August 28, 1982. This photograph is by Bob Hussey.
	TTC Western Flyer D700-class bus #7505 heads westbound on Lawrence Avenue West, crossing Weston Road in 79 SCARLETT ROAD service. This shot was taken circa June 1971 by Richard Glaze.
	TTC Western Flyer D700 bus #7506 lays over at Glen Echo terminal in service on 96 WILSON in this 1971 shot. This photo is courtesy Chris Prentice and the Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation.
	TTC Western Flyer D-700-A bus #7507 lays over at Kipling station while in service on a shuttle to Woodbine Racetrack in this early 1980s shot by John Calnan.
	TTC New Flyer D700 bus #7508 poses at Evans Avenue loop at the south end of the 37 ISLINGTON route in this 1972 shot by Anthony Holt. Image courtesy the Pete Coulman collection.
	TTC Flyer D-700 bus #7509 pulls into Islington subway station in service on 110 ISLINGTON SOUTH on April 2, 1986. Photo by Ted Wickson, from the John Knight collection.
	TTC driver Donald John Goodwin stands in front of TTC Western Flyer D700 bus #7514 showing a 35 JANE rollsign in the early 1970s. The photographer is unknown and the image is courtesy John McCarthy.
	TTC Western Flyer D700A bus #7517 poses at York Mills station, in service on 96 WILSON in this summer 1973 shot. The photographer is unknown and the image is courtesy the Scott Richards collection.
	Another view of TTC Flyer D700 bus #7521 at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. This photo was taken on July 4, 2009 by ck4049.
	TTC Flyer D-700 bus #7521 was recently rescued from a Philadelphia scrap yard and added to the collection of the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. Although in need of a new paint job, the bus is in pretty good condition. This photograph was taken on September 25, 2010 by ck4049.
	A rare photograph of a TTC Flyer D700 in operation -- in this case, TTC 7522 on a charter at Humber Loop. Photo donated by Jim Blair.