| Author |
 Topic  |
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
 Posted - 05/15/2011 : 12:51:36 PM
|
| I stumbled across an interesting find the other day. I was on a field trip and two buses from Matthews County rolled up. One was a fairly new Freightliner and the other a very shiny International. I got to talking to the driver and he said it was a 1991 model. School board said no new buses last year so they decided to repaint the oldest buses. This thing looked brand new. It was repainted profressionally and had a white roof that looked factory. He didnt know who painted it but it looked great. Thats the first county bus I've ever seen re-done like that. They must plan on keeping it a while. |
"Hardybusman" |
 |
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2011 : 4:48:17 PM
|
| Wonder why they arent decked out with chrome like ours? |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
Jake
Top Member
USA
3503 Posts |
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2011 : 1:20:16 PM
|
| I like the description of the exterior color. "Brown"!!! LOL LOL |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
old_school
Active Member
United States
29 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2011 : 5:29:29 PM
|
| Gosh! When did that happen? |
|
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2011 : 5:25:25 PM
|
| Well.....I see Va. Beach made the cover of SBF magazine. Interesting article on their new facility. I have a roof top garden on my shop but its moss growing in the gutters...lol |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 09:31:53 AM
|
| Yes it is a charming place. I just enjoy being totally restricted on where we can walk when we are there. You never see the bus once it goes through the automated black iron rod fencing so I guess we trust them to keep us safe. The transportation office now you have to sign in to visit the people you need to see they hired someone for that job yet they have no money. It is nice green building but someone really needs to cut the weeds looks snakey. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2011 : 5:26:04 PM
|
| Yeah you dont see any of that in the article..... |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 06/11/2011 : 08:51:21 AM
|
| I noticed that it was a great pic of Bus 26 . I mean I know it was well deserved and some rules were required under new guidelines but it just doesnt feel very friendly. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2011 : 7:02:56 PM
|
| I've got a question for the northern Va. guys. Did Loudon County have Fords with Thomas bodies in 1986 and 87? I believe they were automatic transmissions. Also were there some 1987 Internationals with both Thomas and Carpenter bodies? They had 5 speed transmissions. I seem to recall these but not 100% sure about the Carpenters. |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
Tatum
Top Member
United States
600 Posts |
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2011 : 11:15:51 AM
|
| Brian. It looks like that new BIG church on Great Neck road bought up those All American REs you used to drive. I saw them lined up in their parking lot the other day. Looks like they are painting them white, and they really do look pretty good! Those will be good for their highway driving they likely do. |
= |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2011 : 1:19:53 PM
|
| yes, they bought 73 and 78 both were running when sold I hope they like them. we still have the 4 CNG buses not sure what is happening with them. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2011 : 2:27:37 PM
|
| I wouldn't be surprised if they shipped them up here to Arlington. They LOVE CNG up here. They have at least one CNG school bus, but the whole Arlington transit system runs on CNG, and most Metrobuses (DC's Transit System) that run through ARlington are CNG. |
= |
|
|
|
pwcsken
New Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2011 : 09:58:49 AM
|
Here is a link to a former Prince William County school bus # 488. This is a 1991 Thomas ER This bus was part of the second batch of the first transit buses used in Prince William (#'s 488-501).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3hiiFHVTW8
|
|
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 6:15:13 PM
|
| nice find! I'd assume they retired that a few years ago. In the video, the bus looked and sounded pretty darn good....It's a shame a perfectly good bus has been retired. I hope a private school gets some good use out of it... |
= |
|
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2011 : 10:18:24 PM
|
| Saw on the news that the earthquake damaged Louisa County H.S. so bad they are holding classes in the middle school. They are alternating days. Mon Wed and Fri. they hold high school classes and the middle school kids attend tues. thurs. and sat. from 8 to 5 I believe. I think they said this will go on through January. Louisa is about 50 miles from me and we didnt have any damage around here. |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 08/27/2011 : 06:36:48 AM
|
| I'm not surprised. That sounds like a great solution to the mess that has been caused there. That'll cut driver hours down for sure though. Mineral, where the epicenter was, isn't too far from Louisa high school... |
= |
|
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2011 : 08:04:02 AM
|
| Yeah I would say mineral is maybe 10-20miles from the high school?? A lot closer if you drew a straight line. I hope Brian is doing ok with the hurricane. Its been a busy week here in Virginia. |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
Jake
Top Member
USA
3503 Posts |
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2011 : 5:29:12 PM
|
| wow, where did summer 2011 go ? I think every school system around here has gotten new C2s in over the last couple of weeks I know Va. Beach has a bunch starting out on Tuesday. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2011 : 08:42:54 AM
|
| C-2s are the stnadard around here as well. I guess Thomas must be building a good bus. I do know that offering the trade ins helps them to win the bid. Dont see any new IC buses around here and really new buses are kinda rare. Thanks for the directions the other day Brian. I rolled right up with no problem. We won our game 28 to 16 and it was a good game. It took me 2 hrs. and 50 min. to get there with just a little traffic at the high rise bridge. |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2011 : 5:36:36 PM
|
http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=607604 <BR>
Does anyone else think that was originally a VA bus? The Emergency Door label in the back, the cage on the lower glass of the E door, the holes where the VA standard (what was standard) warning light activation box is, etc. No roof branding.. Looks like it was bought by a place in AZ, and turned into an AZ bus with the aftermarket black paint around the tail lights and window tints. |
= |
|
|
|
Tatum
Top Member
United States
600 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2011 : 7:51:19 PM
|
It doesn't look like an old VA bus to me. The roof doesn't look like it is white, but rather off white, and it looks like it was painted like that.
Don't VA buses have another set of rub rails above the tail lights? They're absent on that All-American. |
|
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2011 : 5:22:18 PM
|
| Oh, you're totally right about the rub rail....GOOD call... |
= |
|
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2011 : 07:34:30 AM
|
| I just saw one of the first Prince William C2s they got a few years ago (Their ones with the long skirting)...Looks like they've been retrofitted with A/C to match the newer C2s they have! Are many districts going with A/C in the states? The few I know of are Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, Albemarle County, and Harrisonburg City. I'm surprised that Arlington County (relatively affluent) doesn't even have A/C on their Special Ed buses! |
= |
|
|
|
bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2011 : 4:01:05 PM
|
Does anyone else hear of other districts having a diffcult time getting spare bluebird bus parts. We have buses waiting on parts and it seems to take weeks even monthes to receive them?
|
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
|
|
|
C.HARDY
Advanced Member
260 Posts |
Posted - 09/17/2011 : 7:21:50 PM
|
| Cumberland County which is a fairly poor county has been ordering A/C for quite a few years now. I have heard that Brian from the guys here at the county shop. They are not at all pleased with their Bluebirds or the parts and service. At least with the Visions. |
"Hardybusman" |
|
|
|
BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
|
|
Tatum
Top Member
United States
600 Posts |
|
|
bjkhokie
New Member
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2011 : 8:22:54 PM
|
I saw some messages posted earlier about PWCS school buses. At some point, I'll try to upload a bunch of photos I took in the mid 1990s that has a good collection dating back to the 1980s back when Prince William was predominantly a Blue Bird county! Also, does anybody know what happens to old PWCS buses? I would really like to have one that retired several years ago (one of the Blue Birds) from 1990.
-Bryan
|
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Official Virginia School Bus Thread
