| Author |
 Topic  |
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
 Posted - 05/19/2008 : 5:41:59 PM
|
| Virginia Beach also has activity buses, but they are small buses, with one seat removed to make them carry few enough passengers that the driver does not need a CDL |
= |
 |
|
|
2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2008 : 8:09:47 PM
|
| Newport News city still has some late like 89-90 Blue Birds Activity van buses but most were replaced with 2008 IC BE's last year , they hardly use them, I think one only has like 3500 miles on them. think they will never see 100,000 in there life time. |
|
|
|
2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2008 : 8:12:22 PM
|
| Newport News city still has some late like 89-90 Blue Birds Activity van buses but most were replaced with 2008 IC BE's last year , they hardly use them, I think one only has like 3500 miles on them. think they will never see 100,000 in there life time. |
|
|
|
poor_driver
Senior Member
162 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2008 : 11:48:28 AM
|
Did some checking Petersburg has some type "A" activity buses also. I'm glad everybody chippin in with the info!
|
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2008 : 6:31:04 PM
|
| Brian, Where are all of those AWESOME pictures taken? One looks like the guard show at Western Branch! I'd love to know if any of those "rural" C2s are equipt with the manual transmission deduct option, such as the Nelson County or the Matthews County ones. |
= |
|
|
|
poor_driver
Senior Member
162 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2008 : 8:17:06 PM
|
| Looks like some of them were taken at a rodeo and the others at Kings Dominion amusement park |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
|
|
IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5085 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2008 : 08:35:26 AM
|
| That is a former Loudoun bus. I have a photo of that bus when it was in service back in October of 2007. |
|
|
|
2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 07:45:48 AM
|
| Why did they retire this bus so soon? It is only a 1999, very odd for a VA bus. |
|
|
|
2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 08:08:34 AM
|
WOW I must say I did not know Chesterfield county had such a large Varity of buses in their fleet. Does anyone know the history of their fleet.
|
|
|
|
pbfreak30
Senior Member
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2008 : 2:44:26 PM
|
| well i am by no means a C'field expert, but from what i've seen, they have like 2 million Vistas, thomas FE's, Thomas C2's among others |
ARROW transportation RP..the best out there! |
|
|
|
poor_driver
Senior Member
162 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2008 : 6:08:01 PM
|
Yea chesterfield (from my experience) During the 90's up to about last year ran a mixed fleet from special needs Ford Wards to regular route Thomas GMCs to Vistas for example. Now they're beginning to phase out their vistas with the Thomas efs. Most of their special need buses are either thomas freightliners (not c2s) and the remaining "shorty" vistas. Their gmcs are gone now but they still have alot of vistas. They have been replacing the 64 passengers with either Ic CEs or Bluebird Visions which are very long so i'm thinking it's of the 78 pass variety. I too am not the chesterfield expert, just want to share what i know from my travels
|
|
|
|
2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2008 : 04:14:34 AM
|
Well Thank you for all the info! I do like the way there fleet is really mixed!
New Kent county has some old 1990 Thomas GMC'S on Publuic surplus for sale. |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
poor_driver
Senior Member
162 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2008 : 5:07:35 PM
|
| i like that black grill on that chesepeake bus 185 |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2008 : 5:38:09 PM
|
| hey yeah i thought that was bit odd makes you think maybe they were covering something up. This has been a sad day here in va. beach we lost our second driver to a heart attack he was a sped driver and was only 5 days from what would have been his retirement date. It seems this year in all the years I have been with the school divison we lost more active and retired drivers then I can remember but we honor their memory by continuing the job that I know most if not all loved and cared about very much. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
Gini
Top Member
USA
1243 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2008 : 9:02:28 PM
|
| sorry to hear your news Brian. what a terrible way to end the year, on such a sad note. it's hard having a year like that. |
1Peter 1:3 |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/12/2008 : 6:23:55 PM
|
| well, not to sound down in the mouth but we had a transportation supervisor pass away today we had hoped he was beating the battle what a last week of school this has been. he was a well liked supervisor and showed much interest in his drivers he will be missed. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
Gini
Top Member
USA
1243 Posts |
Posted - 06/13/2008 : 02:35:49 AM
|
again Brian, i am sorry to hear about this latest loss that your system is going through. i can't imagine losing so many people from work like that, so close together. i hope this summer will be a time of healing for you.
on a lighter note (hope you don't mind Brian), i was reading about the elementary school down the street from me. they only have 6 bus runs out of the school, most of the kids are walkers, there's even a walkway under the road so the kids across the street can walk safely. yesterday (or the day before), the principal sent all the kids home on buses- due to a bear roaming through the neighborhood! a couple of days ago i received an e-mail notice from the manager of our condos about 3 bear sightings about half a mile from here. |
1Peter 1:3 |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2008 : 1:19:57 PM
|
| hey, they VAPT conference wrapped up today I got to drive some shuttles and meet some really nice folks from across the state of Virginia. I did get some pics of the demo buses hope to post soon. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
722
Senior Member
United States
129 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2008 : 5:31:30 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by bsaund09
hey, they VAPT conference wrapped up today I got to drive some shuttles and meet some really nice folks from across the state of Virginia. I did get some pics of the demo buses hope to post soon.
Hi Brian,
Were you one of the drivers on Tuesday night?, As I rode with several different drivers in both the FS 65's and the C2's. The driver's were very polite and professional. The whole Virginia Beach crew was top notch. You all have a very nice fleet of buses. What does the number 2 mean on the lower panel behind the door ?
Great Job Virginia Beach Drivers......
From one the RED ribbons
722
|
Edited by - 722 on 06/20/2008 5:32:46 PM |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2008 : 1:24:54 PM
|
| thank you , i was driving Bus 560 the first two days and by wednesday night I was back in my regular 546 the bluebird vision. The number by the door is the team number at the Oceana Garage where all buses are processed when they are new. It does help having the same guys working on the bus they remember it better. Our garage really does a job considering they only have just around 20 stalls to service the entire fleet of school autos. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5085 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2008 : 4:11:33 PM
|
| The HDX and PWCPS C2 were at Sonny Merryman's Open House at their new Bristow location. I have more photos of those buses. |
|
|
|
IC-RE
Top Member
USA
4117 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2008 : 1:16:39 PM
|
| I believe old Williams Bus 2 is at the bottom of the florida church bus page http://floridachurchbus.com/ |
 bus 1980, a 2008 IC RE 300 for Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, Virginia. |
|
|
|
IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5085 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2008 : 2:22:25 PM
|
| Looks like it. I see old Loudoun 340 on there along with what looks like some old Fauquier Thomas Internationals. |
|
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2008 : 11:46:05 PM
|
| Man. All of those Virginia Conventionals, some even from the last 90s, make you realize how behind the times Virginia was in some parts with those stick/hydraulic buses out there. As far as I know, Virginia Beach was among the first districts to spec the diesel/auto/air combo in 1981 with Ford Blue Birds. Fairfax was probably right there with them, but the rest of the state really did fall behind. I'm sure one too many workers comp claims brought them to the modern day of the Allison. |
= |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 04:08:27 AM
|
| Getting automatics were a huge move for some districts not knowing exactly what to expect. We had a garage supervisor who would not mix a lift and automatic transmission for some reason it wasnt till he was gone Va. Beach bought auto lift buses.I think some just did not think the bus would have power to climb hills/mountains without a manual transmission. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
Gini
Top Member
USA
1243 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 3:28:00 PM
|
| bsaund09- we were told that SpEd didn't get automatics right away cos they were concerned about the E brake & hills, w/ the driver being out of the seat working the lift. |
1Peter 1:3 |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 5:53:52 PM
|
| Gini yeah that makes sense we purchased the last stick bus in 1993 which was the last year for hydraulic brakes in Va. Beach. I remember seeing other cities around here with automatic sped buses long before the beach switched to them if I remember correctly the garage boss said it would cause to much strain on the motor{?} not sure why those motors were huge. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
Gini
Top Member
USA
1243 Posts |
Posted - 06/23/2008 : 8:41:50 PM
|
SpEd usually got great motors in our buses, if they ordered one powerful enough for the big (3/4) lifts, the same engines went into the half buses as well. my 86 Ford half lift could really take off! surprised a few guys in their trucks when the light would turn green  |
1Peter 1:3 |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2008 : 08:21:56 AM
|
| I drove a short Ford Bluebird like 252 pictured on my flicker site and the thing would just zoom off when you gave it the gas that was the first short bus I ever drove . I dont think I ever drove a short gas bus just diesel unless it was at the garage the summer I worked there. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
Gini
Top Member
USA
1243 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2008 : 4:41:35 PM
|
| Brian, that sounds like # 1200, my half lift. i drove a Chevette back then, & it was so funny to be driving a school bus that could zoom from a stop when my car couldn't. the half lift gas bus i had before 1200 was fast compared to bigger buses. |
1Peter 1:3 |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Official Virginia School Bus Thread
