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news
Top Member
Canada
2951 Posts |
 Posted - 03/09/2006 : 07:29:35 AM
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Thu, Mar. 09, 2006 - San Jose Mercury News, CA - Nearly 37 years old, the oldest public school bus in the Bay Area has fading yellow paint and rusting wheels, no air conditioning and a deafening diesel engine that sounds like a Soviet-era tank. This spring, under a state program designed to reduce smog and health risks from diesel exhaust, Bus No. 3 is finally facing retirement.
click for story |
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mrbluebird
Advanced Member
USA
381 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 07:46:34 AM
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that bus had a great run for 37 years.
quote:
Originally posted by news
Thu, Mar. 09, 2006 - San Jose Mercury News, CA - Nearly 37 years old, the oldest public school bus in the Bay Area has fading yellow paint and rusting wheels, no air conditioning and a deafening diesel engine that sounds like a Soviet-era tank. This spring, under a state program designed to reduce smog and health risks from diesel exhaust, Bus No. 3 is finally facing retirement.
click for story
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YOUR CHILDREN'S SAFETY IS OUR BUSINESS |
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IC RE 1629
Top Member
United States
5097 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 08:23:38 AM
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| That's amazing that Bus 3 ran almost 40 years! That's one tough bus! |
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thomas86_a
Top Member
USA
4413 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 08:28:08 AM
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| Amazing to think California's oldest operating school bus, a 1951 model, went into service the same year I started kindergarten! |
If you have an International, you NEED customer service. |
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Bluebird62
Top Member
USA
530 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 10:39:53 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by thomas86_a
Amazing to think California's oldest operating school bus, a 1951 model, went into service the same year I started kindergarten!
It's even more scary to me cause that was thirty years before I was born |
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Buskid
Top Member
USA
3368 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 11:45:09 AM
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Oh, no. I was hoping this article wouldn't appear on here. Curious when the original Cummins 190 was replaced with the current Detroit Diesel 8.2L in Bus No. 3.
Yay for the "Methuselah" (a.k.a. Bus No. 1). |
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Bus9709
Top Member
USA
751 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2006 : 1:45:18 PM
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"...Armed with $12.5 million from the Legislature, the board will pay school districts to have the ramshackle rides crushed and replaced with brand new, much cleaner models..."
To bad they have to crush older buses.  I just wish they could do something else with them. Especialy Bus no. 3 after all it's been through and still able to run today. |
Edited by - Bus9709 on 03/09/2006 1:52:09 PM |
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CrownBus1
Top Member
USA
633 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2006 : 10:40:34 AM
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| I just wish they didn't have to crush the buses. I don't have much of a problem with them being retired, but I wish they could be preserved rather than broken apart. |
Bus 1
1985 Crown |
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2006 : 04:12:59 AM
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| I was shocked at the low miles listed for the 1972 and 73 buses. Only 350,000? Is that right? Man...the 7 1991 Int/Thomas' we have have more than that!! |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2006 : 08:37:25 AM
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Poor thing, lets start a protest, keep her in service-or put it in a school bus museum. Don't crush her!
When they say "busted" it sounds as if the bus was caught on the loose, trying to outlive "her" days.
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news
Top Member
Canada
2951 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2006 : 09:48:00 AM
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A fight to preserve the oldest bus
Click for Video
3/10/06 - KGET 17, CA - MOJAVE - Clean Air Watchdogs are systematically removing some of California’s oldest school buses from the road, but the oldest and still running, Bus Number One, is located in Mojave and folks say the last thing they want is to see their venerable bus reduced to scrap metal.
click for story |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2006 : 4:51:02 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by news
A fight to preserve the oldest bus
Click for Video
3/10/06 - KGET 17, CA - MOJAVE - Clean Air Watchdogs are systematically removing some of California’s oldest school buses from the road, but the oldest and still running, Bus Number One, is located in Mojave and folks say the last thing they want is to see their venerable bus reduced to scrap metal.
click for story
That's nice! I hope they preserve the history of the school bus #1 and #3. |
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Rich
Top Member
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2006 : 5:51:43 PM
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It's bull that the buses have to have their engines drilled and the bodies crushed. Those California air watchdogs are real dirtbags, and have no sympathy for any piece of equipment! I don't see why they can't just have filters put on the exhaust as an alternative - or heck - even REPOWER them with newer diesels that meet the standards.
If ya ask me, I think the Crown Supercoaches are safer than most new school buses. They're tanks, as everyone calls them. They just don't die.
I sure hope the Mojave Crown gets preserved. |
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Buskid
Top Member
USA
3368 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2006 : 7:38:44 PM
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Bus No. 1 is basically a non-issue, in my opinion. In recent years, it's been reduced to a parade/show bus, and even though it has an up-to-date CHP 292 allowing it to be in regular school service, it isn't. Mr. Phelps seems to be a reasonable person with a genuine interest in the history that the bus carries with it. I'm sure that with the backing of the community and school district, the Methuselah will continue to roam the desert that is Kern County.
(Tidbit: Bus No. 1 was the first Crown Supercoach to receive a re-power. The Detroit Diesel Engine in it was originally a marine engine that was retrofitted to fit the midship configuration.)
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Rich
Top Member
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2006 : 7:43:25 PM
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| Hopefully other districts will have the motivation to try to preserve some of their old Crowns as well... it would be a terrible loss for every one of the Crowns to be destroyed. So much history involved... |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2006 : 06:34:55 AM
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| That was the picture of the bus I saw in someone's profile ....Wish I could drive the bus but I would ruin it, I could never drive a stick shift. I think the bus would beg to be euthanized after I got behind it (unless I had an automatic one). It would be a waste for them to waste the money to crush it. 12 million can build a nice school bus museum. I hope Larry can save the bus. (I can not call him Mr Phelps because of the other Phelps and that would do him no justice) sorry. |
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rswboe
Top Member
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2006 : 10:05:09 AM
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| It's about time. What kind of idiot would put his (her) kids on a 40 year old junk like that? Sinlge brake system no doubt. The thing should have been retired 20 years ago. California, of all states, lets these smoke bombs roll around daily. It's unbelievable. People around the country a flippin' out over exhaust fumes, I can only imagine the toxic puke pouring out of that tailpipe. Hey kids, want to ride to school in a Studebaker? Seating regulations, compartmentalization, emmission regulations, emergency exits, who needs 'em? Anything that old should be donated to the Smithsonian, where it belongs. |
Live each like it's going to be your last, one day you'll be right! |
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Buskid
Top Member
USA
3368 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2006 : 10:27:49 AM
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What kind of idiot would put his (her) kids on a 40 year old junk like that?
I would. But then again, I was one of the children whose parents were idiots and put their kid on a "40-year-old piece of junk" like that. Being a School Bus Driver in California, I drive them now, too. I'm still here, in one piece.
quote:
Anything that old should be donated to the Smithsonian, where it belongs.
Although that was probably meant as a sarcastic comment, I do agree on the point that it's time for old No. 1 to become classified as a "Historical Vehicle."
You might be surprised; not all of the buses are dinosaurs out here. Most of the Crowns that remain on the road today aren't in the same age-group as old No. 1. My school district retired its last pre-1976 Crowns in 1999. The company I later started work for retired its last 1976 Crown in 2002 (sooner, actually, it just kicked around the bus yard for a while). Most of the Crowns that remain in my area are younger than some of the school buses still in-service in, where is it -- South Carolina?
I often wonder what the stereotype that follows Crowns around back East is. The way I hear them talked about sometimes, you'd think they were rusty, old tin cans with straight six gasoline engines the size of small cars. |
Edited by - Buskid on 03/13/2006 11:00:32 AM |
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rswboe
Top Member
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2006 : 10:20:16 AM
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| 40 years ago that's all you had, your parents were putting you on state of the art equippment (in it's day). How would you have felt if your parents put you in a covered wagon or a stage coach? By the way, it was a sarcastic comment, I'm more amazed at the fact that California is a state where you can't use a gas powered lawnmower, GM couldn't sell a 6.5 diesel, but they allow antiques to run kids to school every day. OH, and just for the record, I may prefer the stage coach to the 40 year old bus, at least THAT has a redundant brake system! |
Live each like it's going to be your last, one day you'll be right! |
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Buskid
Top Member
USA
3368 Posts |
Posted - 03/15/2006 : 12:21:23 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by rswboe
40 years ago that's all you had, your parents were putting you on state of the art equippment (in it's day). How would you have felt if your parents put you in a covered wagon or a stage coach?
A covered wagon or a stage coach certainly would've been an interesting experience. It was just six years ago that my parents continued to make the decision to place me on a Crown Supercoach to get me to school and back, though. I won't further the argument anymore than I have. |
Edited by - Buskid on 03/15/2006 12:21:40 PM |
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rswboe
Top Member
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2006 : 10:00:58 AM
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| I'm not trying to argue with you, far from it. I'm sure the horse-drawn transport would've been cool, as a novelty ride, like hay rides in the fall. The point I was trying to make is that modern buses offer so much more, more safety features, fire resistance, environmental concerns, crash protection etc... it seems ludicrous to me that a state like CA would allow buses that old to transport kids, just doesn't make sense. |
Live each like it's going to be your last, one day you'll be right! |
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Buskid
Top Member
USA
3368 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2006 : 10:39:24 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by rswboe
I'm not trying to argue with you, far from it. I'm sure the horse-drawn transport would've been cool, as a novelty ride, like hay rides in the fall. The point I was trying to make is that modern buses offer so much more, more safety features, fire resistance, environmental concerns, crash protection etc... it seems ludicrous to me that a state like CA would allow buses that old to transport kids, just doesn't make sense.
I know you aren't trying to argue, and I truly understand your standpoint. I felt like if I kept going on about the school bus situation out here, I might say something that could turn into an argument.
I'll end by saying that from the current looks of it, Bus No. 1 won't be destroyed but will be replaced with a new school bus; even though it isn't being currently used in school service. I guess a new bus here and there never hurt. |
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UncleNeal
Senior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 07:45:45 AM
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Here in California, and particularly in southern CA, we are subject to some of the strongest anti-pollution laws in the country. AND it is hurting us. Even though we all would like newer buses which are less polluting, the restrictions placed on the type of buses we can purchase are ridiculous. I wish we had more flexibility in the type of engines and fuel we must use, but it is an uphill battle. The AQMD has become too powerful of a bureaucracy and they keep making more rules only to justify their existence. Good luck to the rest of us when these laws begin to spill over into other states.
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rswboe
Top Member
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 10:27:58 AM
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| In NJ we're used to self-serving politcians & career bureacrats, I can sympathize. How is it though, in their infitesimal wisdom, that they allow antique smoggers to run, while at the same time preventing or restricting the choices for newer equipment so severely as to make it impossible to replace the old junk? I think I answered my own question, Legislators legislating technology. What was I thinking? Never mind.... |
Live each like it's going to be your last, one day you'll be right! |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2006 : 6:15:44 PM
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| why dont they just change the exhaust system and engine= problem solved |
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news
Top Member
Canada
2951 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2006 : 9:26:59 PM
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Old Mojave bus retired with ceremony
Video
12/8/06 - KGET 17, CA - BAKERSFIELD - A part of Mojave history was commemorated Friday in a ceremony by state and local officials.
The Mojave Unified School District’s historic Bus One, which is the oldest operating bus in California, was scheduled to be destroyed, but due to special legislation, school Bus One will be preserved and housed at the Mojave Unified School District Bus facility.
The bus is going to be replaced with a safer and cleaner vehicle for students.
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Thomasbus24
Administrator
USA
4547 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2006 : 04:03:07 AM
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| A happy ending...at least this bus won't be getting aquainted with the crusher! |
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Topic |
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CA bus No. 3 busted
