Museum Boasts Variety of Vintage Buses

HERSHEY, Pa. — Hershey is famous for chocolate, but visitors to the Pennsylvania town can also indulge in the history of buses.

The Museum of Bus Transportation, which opened to the public in 2003, showcases a variety of vintage passenger vehicles, including school buses, motorcoaches, and transit buses.

The museum aims to educate the public on the development of the bus industry and its vital role in the lives of Americans.

“Surprisingly, until now there was no national showplace for this industry to show and tell its story,” according to the museum’s website. “Unlike other modes of passenger transportation — car, air or rail — the motorbus, perhaps taken too much for granted in its pervasive everyday services, goes unrecognized and under credited in the museum halls of our nation.”

The museum’s exhibits rotate through a roster of dozens of restored buses that range in age from early to late 20th century. One example is a 1951 school bus built by ACF-Brill (see photo above).

Along with the antique buses, the museum displays such memorabilia as bus station and bus stop signs, historical photographs, and toy and model buses.

On June 3, the Museum of Bus Transportation will host its annual Spring Fling. Mark Szyperski, board vice chair, said that all of the museum's equipment will be on display during the event, which he described as a type of “homecoming day” for bus enthusiasts.

For more information on the museum, go to www.busmuseum.org.