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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
 Posted - 07/06/2007 : 1:35:03 PM
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| Loudoun has had atleast one BE for atleast a year now. They've always had quite a fleet of type A buses, so this should be a nice addition to the smaller class of their fleet. |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2007 : 4:07:37 PM
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| I've never noticed the BE until now. It looks like a nice bus though! |
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2007 : 4:52:30 PM
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| Yeah, I've seen a LCPS BE for quite a while. I chase LCPS buses on 7100 every morning (usually Type As). I think they are heading to TJ. |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2007 : 5:34:47 PM
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Cool. Like I said, I've noticed the bus until now. I like how Loudoun has alot of different buses in there fleet. From what I've seen over the past few years, they have all the following:
AmTran RE
Blue Bird TC/2000 RE
IC RE
IC CE
IC BE
Mid Bus Guide
Thomas International Conventional
Thomas Freightliner Conventional
Thomas Saf-T-Liner ER
Thomas Saf-T-Liner MVP ER
Thomas Saf-T-Liner HDX
Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2
Thomas Minotour
Am I missing anything?
Compare that to Prince William though:
Thomas Saf-T-Liner ER
Thomas Saf-T-Liner MVP ER (I forget if they have these or not)
Thomas Saf-T-Liner MVP EF
Thomas Saf-T-Liner HDX
Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2
Thomas Vista
I know in the past Prince William has owned:
Ward Volunteer's
Superior International's
Thomas International's
Blue Bird Chevy's
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
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Busdude3
Top Member
USA
1178 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2007 : 3:41:41 PM
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| I know I'm not from Virginia, but I'm thinking Virginia Beach. From the pictures I've seen of their retired buses on eSurplus - some of those shots look like their yard not to mention the number font they used are the same as the ones I've seen on sSurplus' site. |
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Bus 801
Advanced Member
USA
410 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2007 : 3:45:05 PM
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| I think it is VA beach too. It appears to be in the mid 80s because of the newer GMC and Ford cover in 2 of the pictures, also has an eight lamp GMC BB. It also has the old liscense plates that were around until 1990? |
Rob
Floater 421
http://community.webshots.com/user/bus801
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2007 : 6:09:27 PM
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Yessir, that is a Virginia Beach bus. Those fords were beasts too, and were among the last gas/manual/hydro buses the city purchased. The picture with ACT10 in it was taken in atleast 90, because it has one of the 1990 Thomas Fords in the background. Whats sad, is most if not all of those buses in those pictures have been retired by now. They are in the process of getting rid of the 1992s.
Some of those pictures were taken at the old Oceana High School lot right at the end of the master jet base runway. It's my understanding that the building still stands, and they are still parking buses there. That school hasn't been open during my lifetime. |
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Edited by - BusFreak on 07/08/2007 6:11:50 PM |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2007 : 6:17:11 PM
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| Someone actually notice my pics on flicker that is to cool. The Act 10 bus is the old 334. The others are all buses I had when I started back in 1985. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2007 : 6:24:22 PM
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| The pic of 127 in the bullpen next to the GMCs was taken in 1987 as well as 376 which was a '76 Ford on the spare line and then 421 was a 1979 Ford my last stick shift bus.All the photos but one was taken at the Oceana Garage that act 10 was parked at Independence Middle with bus 192 in the background. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2007 : 9:08:49 PM
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| Brian...were you driving 192 at the time of the picture? I know it was your bus for atleast a year before you got 400. What kind of bus is to the right of bus 127. It's awefully shiny, and looks brand new at the time. If it was taken in 1987, could it be one of the brand new GMC blue birds? That 86 GMC Thomas also looks pretty good in the same picture. Thomas buses look so naked with the 4 lamp system! |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2007 : 04:26:24 AM
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| yes I was driving 192 had it from '90 till '93 that was taken before starting my Governor's School run which back in the day started from the Jr. High with 9th graders.The bus next to 127 was the brand new 331 from 1987 not sure which GMC was in the background but at that point I was driving Bus 97 the '83 Ford BB.The '86 Thomas GMC is actually the old Bus 66 the handicap Ford in the background would have been either 405 or 406. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2007 : 4:25:36 PM
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| Dang Brian. It's kinda cool that you have pictures of two 331s when they were brand new. Any word on Virginia Beach's latest bid? |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 07/10/2007 : 04:52:54 AM
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| Yes I have some pics of three generations with the same number that is pretty cool.Every once in while I will make a good find. I am not sure about the bid exactly but they are getting more of the C2 and just a few Visions.The pics are just a result of these nice long summer days without much to do (hah,hah). |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 07/19/2007 : 11:22:57 PM
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| Awesome Brian! Do you have any pictures yet? you must send some to me when you do! I know you just got a new bus last year, but you seem to have some good pull...are you going to get one of these birdies? The last birds I know of at the beach are the 02(ish) GMCs. Kinda crazy they've gone mostly Thomas considering that all but two years out of all the 80s were Birds, as well as a good portion of the 90s. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 07/20/2007 : 07:08:57 AM
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| Actually the new bus last year was just upgrade to curve high mileage so the one this year will be more on my cycle of new buses('97,'03,'08). The bus from last actually is already in the 30k range for some reason I did more driving. I think those birds are really nice I think they look nicer then the C2 but then the C2 has some cool features to.It takes them about a month to get them rolling anymore with having to get bar codes and fuel cards from Papco and then these will have to be carried out and fitted with two way radios so we will see. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 11:11:56 AM
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| WOW That is goog to hear that VA BEACH is going back to the bird's!!!! I am from NEWPORT NEWS and they were buyig the visions for 2 years straight then swithed back to IC ce's *****, But this year I have herd they are down sizeing from the upper 400's to the lower 400's due the number of students that will be transported this year, and I dont think they are buying any new ones this because they had suck a large order last school year. |
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Busdude3
Top Member
USA
1178 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 1:38:22 PM
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| When I was there last week, I got some photos of one of their new '08 Visions. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
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Busdude3
Top Member
USA
1178 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 2:06:36 PM
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I sent all the photos (about 80-some total) to Atlantic School Bus Yard. I got a lot from Virginia Beach (ones I just found - I really wish SOMEONE would have given me directions to their actual bus yards like I asked...:)) along with some Williamsburg-James City buses and many private organizations and a head start's buses.
I took that photo of 551, the new Vision off of Witchduck Road at some auto place on Wednesday - near the Virginia Beach Digital Academy.
He said he'll be posting them in August and September updates. |
Edited by - Busdude3 on 07/24/2007 2:07:12 PM |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 2:44:10 PM
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| Yep. Those photos will be posted. Stay tuned! |
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Busdude3
Top Member
USA
1178 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 3:27:39 PM
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| I must say Virginia has some nice buses - very clean at least. I saw quite a few other buses (while I was sitting in rush hour traffic in D.C. area) from Fairfax, Prince William, and Williams Bus Lines - HDXs and IC FEs. |
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IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 9:24:23 PM
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| I know our (fairfax) buses are pretty clean for a CHANGE!! They must have power washed them all at the end of the school year because they are all so clean right now, especially because there is no salt on the roads at this time of the year!! |
 bus 1980, a 2008 IC RE 300 for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2007 : 08:49:05 AM
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| I WAS GOING PAST ONE OF THE MANY LOTS IN RESTON YESTERDAY, AND SAW ALL THE FAIRFAX COUNTY BUSES LOOKING REALLY CLEAN, I ALSO SAW BUS 593 A THOMAS ER WITH A FLORIDA TYPE BUMPER REFLECTOR TAPE ON THE BACK BUMPER? IS THIS SOMETHING NEW FAIR FAX IS DOING ? ARE JUST SOMETHING TO ADD TO A FEW BUSES AS PILOT PROGRAM? |
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IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2007 : 1:39:02 PM
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Its not something new, but when the black reflection tape on our buses begin peeling, the garage replaces it with whatever they have, and Im sure this "Florida Style" tape was sitting on the shelf. There are a bunch of oler buses with it that have it has replacement tape.
Oh and for some reason, I think 593 is an area II 99 AmTran RE, or it may be a 97 AmTran Genesis. |
bus 1980, a 2008 IC RE 300 for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. |
Edited by - IC-RE on 07/25/2007 1:39:58 PM |
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Bus 801
Advanced Member
USA
410 Posts |
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2007 : 3:50:03 PM
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| Yes, 593 is a '99 AmTran RE, currently in the Annandale pyramid. It parks at Holmes MS. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 12:26:43 PM
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HEY IC RE 1629, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT ARE THE AIR FOIL LOOKING THINGS ON TOP OF EVERY BUS YOU GUYS HAVE REALLY ARE USED FOR? ARE THEY ANTENNAS? ARE JUST A AIR FOIL?
AND IS FAIR FAX SWITCHING TO CONVENTUAL'S FOR REGULAR ED FOR NOW ON, ARE JUST STAYING WITH RE'S? |
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IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 12:57:55 PM
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2006bbvision; Those "air foil looking things" that also look like shark fins are brush covers for our emergency roof hatches. We dont have them on any buses newer than 2004, not sure why, they sure give the bus a unique look!
And we probably arent switching to Conventionals for reg ed for a little while, seeing as we only have 2 Types Cs and they are special ed buses. Im thinking the county may try one or 2 out for reg ed though in the future. |
bus 1980, a 2008 IC RE 300 for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 1:10:05 PM
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| 2006bbvision, can I offer some advice? Typing in ALL CAPS gives the impression that you are SCREAMING! Try typing with a mix of capital and lower case letters like normal. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 3:43:54 PM
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| Ic RE1629 Thank you for the advice, but I am well aware what typing in caps normally indicates, I just was at work and I was using a software system which operates off of a mainframe, which only responds to inputs in caps, so I tend to forget when responding to a email or writing a document to take them off! but once again thanks for the friendly advice. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 3:46:44 PM
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| IC-RE thank you for your the information on the brush covers! But may ask one thing what exactly purpose does it serve, I am having a hard time understanding that. |
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IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 4:01:50 PM
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| The brush guards protect the roof hatches from damage that could be caused by low-hanging trees etc.... |
bus 1980, a 2008 IC RE 300 for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. |
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2007 : 4:05:46 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by 2006bbvision
IC-RE thank you for your the information on the brush covers! But may ask one thing what exactly purpose does it serve, I am having a hard time understanding that.
Hey, 2006bb, are you talking about the single white plastic thing near the front of the roof? If so, those are the 2-way radio antennae.
edited to add: I've always heard that FCPS buys RE's for reg-ed for their better visibility (crossing students). SE doesn't cross students...hence the possible return to conventional buses. I don't see reg-ed returning to conventionals unless there is a SEVERE budget crisis that makes the significant extra cost of transits for reg-ed fiscally impossible (and that day may come given the real estate downturn!) |
Edited by - IC on 07/26/2007 4:10:39 PM |
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Official Virginia School Bus Thread
