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jclick
Active Member
United States
33 Posts |
 Posted - 09/14/2007 : 11:16:31 AM
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| Not sure if it's been mentioned yet but did anyone notice that VA School Buses are allowed to go 60mph on the interstate now as long as the speed limit is 60 or above? |
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vabuslover
Advanced Member
United States
246 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2007 : 11:27:58 AM
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| Wow, that is a great improvement from doing 55 and everyone else was going much faster than you. When did that take effect? |
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jclick
Active Member
United States
33 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2007 : 11:33:56 AM
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| Noticed it in July while studying the CDL manual for one of the roadeo's. |
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IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2007 : 1:06:50 PM
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| Hmm thats a good idea, but most all of the buses are already governed at 55 or less. Hopefully they fix that! |
 bus 1980, a 2008 IC RE 300 for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2007 : 1:32:50 PM
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| Yes they did approve 60 mph for school buses on Virginia interstates and from what I understand the Virginia Beach buses coming in during the school year might very well be governed at 60. I hope drivers are able to use this to their advantage especially up in the counties where they travel interstates everyday. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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B. Busguy33
Top Member
USA
3444 Posts |
Posted - 09/14/2007 : 1:57:05 PM
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quote:
I do have a question: What was the former CE's DT466 governed at? I think our RPM gauge goes all the way to 4000 RPM. I'm not sure what the former CE's gauge went to, but I'm certainly not used to looking at it while my driver's driving and watching it climb those big diesel RPM numbers like that, all my former Thomas' RPM gauges only went to 3,000 RPM.
The tach on the former International/ICs went up to 3500 RPMs. The RPMs should be governed between 2,800 and 3,000 RPMs -- or less depending on your district's bus specs. |
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Bus 801
Advanced Member
USA
410 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2007 : 1:44:55 PM
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| Lena, Could you give us a roster of the school buses in Stafford? I know of the 1990 GMC Thomas's, early 90s Ford BBs and 1997 Navistar Blue Birds. |
Rob
Floater 421
http://community.webshots.com/user/bus801
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2007 : 5:54:09 PM
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| I was at a band show this past weekend, and saw some King George buses up there. They looked to be among the newest FS-65s around, and must have been among the last made. At any rate, I was shocked to see they are still ordering buses with Hydraulic brakes! These buses had white roofs/window tints, however their buses had manual doors and hydro brakes. I always thought that all of the full sized automatic buses in Virginia operated with air brakes. Boy, was I wrong. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2007 : 6:26:34 PM
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| I had heard of that either in the modern era BusFreak. Manuals door dont shock me so much but the hydraulic brakes do I thought most everyone was using air brakes now. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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jclick
Active Member
United States
33 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 04:48:38 AM
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| Our fleet is all hyrdaulic other than the handicap units and a few buses we have taken off the vendor's hands instead of ordering. |
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vabuslover
Advanced Member
United States
246 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 2:45:16 PM
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| I think York County still gets hydro brakes on their IC CEs. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 3:42:10 PM
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| York county has not purchased HYDRO brakes since the early 90's, Newport New has only 2 Buses in the fleet now that is have HYDRO brakes. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 4:38:10 PM
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| Does anyone remember the electric brakes on the 1980 Fords? they were a huge problem from what i remember I hated driving them or a least what i remember they called them electric brakes. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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pbfreak30
Senior Member
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 5:30:13 PM
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| bedford county has been gettin air brakes since we've been getting FS-65's in 1999 |
ARROW transportation RP..the best out there! |
Edited by - pbfreak30 on 09/17/2007 7:19:24 PM |
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LBDboater
Advanced Member
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 6:54:43 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by pbfreak30
bedford county has been gettin air brakes since we've been getting FS-65's in 1999
We've been getting air brakes since the Vista's. I know all the 95 and above Vista's have air brakes. |
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pbfreak30
Senior Member
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 7:18:52 PM
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| oh ok, see i've only ridden on 2 vistas, it was so loud and i was in the back that i couldnt have told you |
ARROW transportation RP..the best out there! |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 7:31:52 PM
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Brian, are you speaking of the light switch parking brakes? I diddn't realize that Virginia beach's 80 fords had that system...I thought they had the stick coming out of the floor like the older fords. It wasnt long after that when Virginia Beach switched over to air.
Fairfax County had some SE hydro ford buses up through last year, and I dont know if they are still around. From what I understand, the county has been all air for regular ed since the early 80s, much like virginia beach. |
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Gini
Top Member
USA
1249 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2007 : 10:54:45 PM
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disneynuts- after consulting w/ my orthopedic about my shoulder, was told i had to be realistic about it. any driving for work would have to be in a car/van type vehicle, no more real school buses  |
1Peter 1:3 |
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Bus 801
Advanced Member
USA
410 Posts |
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2007 : 4:13:08 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bus 801
Fairfax still has 7 Ford with hydro brakes. 300, 340, 356, 358, 363, 368, and 382.
Are these the notorious Lucas-Girling (sp?) brake systems that mechanics complain so much about? |
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vabuslover
Advanced Member
United States
246 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2007 : 3:40:10 PM
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| 2006bbvision, I have seen many of York County's newer ICs and from what I could tell, their CEs did not have air brakes. I didn't hear the air parking brake when they parked, nor did I hear the characteristic sounds when the driver lets off the brake. |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2007 : 8:38:23 PM
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HMMMM? maybe they have gone back to HYDRO not to for sure, I really don't follow York County's bused , but I can give them this, they really spec there travel buses nice. They have like a 2006-2007 IC re that has the extended skirting and the IC logo on that back bumper. They retire there buses early to...if you go by there main lot off of dare road behind york high school you will see all the Thomas int, and early 90's safti-liners in the field. I guess with smaller operations like them, they are able to afford new buses every year. I think there fleet size is around 140-150 .
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2007 : 11:38:59 PM
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| Arlington County has a small fleet as well, and still keeps buses for the duration of their projected life cycle. They are still running early 90s Thomas ERs in Arlington, and I still even see the random early 90s random Blue Bird Chevy they use for training purposes. I think that the smaller districts in Virginia are simply more exposed to the newer fleet. The average age bus I see around here in Arlington is about 6 years old. In places like Fairfax and Virginia Beach, it is not uncommon to see buses built in the 90s, or even the 80s. York County has been known to spec some simple buses in the past, but they do keep their trip buses nice! They can't afford to be spending the kind of money that Fairfax County does on long distance trips (using motorcoaches and Loudoun style activity buse), so they keep a few nicely spected highway school buses around. Ultimately, that saves the district plenty of money for their couple high schools. As for their route buses, I'm old, and remember seeing their newly purchased 99 Thomas Internationals with stick shifts and hydro brakes. Just another day in country Virginia! |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2007 : 1:27:57 PM
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| i saw some Spots County buses with stick shift one International and one Freightliner both had hydro brakes to very nice looking bus. They were bus 18 and 267. The garage has finally sent three of the four last remaining stick buses to the graveyard I guess they are not far from being replaced. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2007 : 6:54:36 PM
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| Bsaund : do you have any pics of the new buses Virgina Beach has? |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2007 : 7:19:14 PM
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| yes i have a couple pics of my bus. some of the new buses (C2s) have not arrived yet.the last of fords are waiting to be moved to the auction site across town it is hard to believe the fords are that close to THE END. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 3:14:45 PM
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This morning I saw an interesting bus. It was a Blue Bird Freightliner conventional. It was Bus #51 for a private company. I believe the company name printed on the side of the bus was "Eschels" or something very similar. The bus was at a construction site in the Sully area of Fairfax County. Anyone know of a company by that name or a similar name?
P.S. I wish I could have gotten pics! |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 3:54:28 PM
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| I've never heard of that bus company, but there are SO many around here (especially with MD contracting so much), that we get to see plenty of unique buses. There are actually a few districts in Virginia sporting the Blue Bird Freightliner. I believe that Colonial Heights City has a few, as well as some other smaller districts. It's such a shame that combination didn't last but so long. It wouldn't suprise me to see some districts in Virginia with manual transmission BB Freights. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2007 : 6:32:15 PM
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| There is a web site from knoxville TN with school bus sales just had a truck load of BB Freights for sale it might be one of them. I like my Vision finally had the first servicing done today. They had to put in in a stall in stead of on the regular grease rack because the chassis is so different from the normal regular buses. The only thing i am noticing is that it doesnt make it last shift until you are between 40- 45 mph which i think is a bit odd. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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disneynuts
Advanced Member
USA
220 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 01:49:15 AM
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1629
that bus belongs to a construction company. there are others around that use them to bus employees to the sites. some are off 123 just inside the beltway on the left as you head north.
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2007 : 06:15:40 AM
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| Thanks disneynuts! I saw the bus again today. The lettering on the side says "Eschelman's" not "Eschels" as previously reported. The bus appears to be in great shape, and should still be in school service if you ask me. |
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vabuslover
Advanced Member
United States
246 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2007 : 2:55:46 PM
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| 2006bbvision, could the buses you were thinking about from York County that had air brakes be their Rear Engine buses? I was talking about the type C IC CE buses they have that are equipped with hydro brakes. What other buses would they have with air brakes that you know of? |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2007 : 5:53:49 PM
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I was looking at used buses on Sonny Merryman's website. What does "M5" mean? Look at the second listing in the chart (1994 AmTran International), it says "M5" in the column "Transmission". What does that mean? Is that an automatic tranny or manual?
http://www.sonnymerryman.com/html/used_buses.htm |
Edited by - IC RE 1629 on 09/29/2007 5:54:06 PM |
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IC
Top Member
USA
3413 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2007 : 5:56:12 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by IC RE 1629
I was looking at used buses on Sonny Merryman's website. What does "M5" mean? Look at the second listing in the chart (1994 AmTran International), it says "M5" in the column "Transmission". What does that mean? Is that an automatic tranny or manual?
http://www.sonnymerryman.com/html/used_buses.htm
I would think it means 5 speed manual. |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/29/2007 : 11:23:04 PM
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| I saw a TON of Prince William County's newest C2 buses on the road today heading up 395 into the city, and they are pretty sharp! They too have started specing AC on all of their buses starting this year. Also, unlike their first batch of C2s, these do not have the extended skirting package. The shorter skirting makes those large C2s look SUPER long, and it doesnt help that they left the area around the last window yellow. It's cool to see Prince William County stick with Thomas over all these years. I believe that their fleet is 100% Thomas at this point. |
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Official Virginia School Bus Thread
