Trolley Bus Department

According to the calendar, the Bus Stop Shop is scheduled to open on Bus Day, September 29.  To say "thank you" to everyone for their patience over Labor Day weekend, the Bus Stop Shop will be open throughout Showcase Weekend, September 15-16!!!  This will be the largest Bus Stop Shop ever, giving you the opportunity to purchase surplus items from the Museum's collection.  Stop by the Andersen Trolley Bus Garage from 10:00am - 4:00pm on Saturday 09/15 and Sunday 09/16.  The Andersen Garage is conveniently located at the Electric Park stop on the streetcar line.  On Saturday you will also be able to ride the trolley bus right to the front door.  Of course we will also be open on Bus Day as scheduled, Saturday 09/29.

We are scheduled to run 6 trolley coaches and 2 motor buses on Saturday for Bus Day.  Depending on mechanical condition and operator availability, here is what we envision.  We will start with Chicago Marmon-Herrington 9553 at 10:00am.  It will be joined by Seattle Gillig 4123 at 11:00.  Both will run until 11:45.  At that time 9553 will be parked.  At 12:00, Milwaukee Marmon-Herrington 441 joins 4123.  At 12:45, 4123 is parked and at 1:00 Seattle M-A-N 4020 joins 441.  At 1:45, 441 is parked and at 2:00 Dayton Flyer 925 joins 4020.  At 2:45, 4020 is parked and at 3:00 Seattle Twin 633 joins 925.  Finally at 4:00, 9553 goes solo again until 5:00pm.  Throughout the day motor buses CMC GMC 605 and Janesville RTS 412 will supplement trolley bus service but will not run on a specific schedule (again subject to condition).  The Bus Stop Shop will be open for business again this year, selling surplus items from the Museum's collection to raise funds for a new bus garage.  We appreciate the tremendous support and feedback we received after last year's inaugural event.  We hope this year will be even better!!!

Excellent progress is being made on the construction on Central & Railroad.  We are anticipating being able to provide service on Bus Day!!!  Our plan is to run 6 different trolley buses throughout the day, with 2 motor buses supplementing that service.  All trips will originate and end at the Andersen Garage - home of the Bus Stop Shop.  Trolley buses will depart Andersen at :00, :15, :30 and :45 past the hour.  If able, motor buses will run trips between those times, so vehicles will alternate between trolley and motor buses with every trip.  Here is our tentative schedule (as always, subject to change due to equipment/road conditions or other factors):  First 4 trips (11:00am - 11:45am) will be Seattle MAN 4020.  The next 4 (12:00pm - 12:45pm) will be Dayton Flyer 925.  1:00pm - 1:45pm will feature Seattle Twin 633.  2:00pm - 2:45pm will be Milwaukee Marmon-Herrington 441.  3:00pm - 3:45pm will see Seattle Gillig 4123, and finally 4:00pm - 4:45pm CTA Marmon-Herrington 9553 will be in service.  The two motor buses providing supplemental service will be Janesville RTS 412 and CMC GM 605.  We will not have set times for them due to condition and other factors.

We also invite private owners of former transit buses to bring them out and display them.  There is no registration required.  If you would like to display your bus, come into the main parking lot and go all the way to the gate at the east end of the entrance drive.  There will be someone near the Wagner loop to assist you to enter and park you bus on the grass just south of the Wagner loop.  These privately owned buses may not be driven around the property nor give rides, but it does give you the opportunity to "show it" to all our Bus Day visitors!!!

Should anything change, an update will be posted on this blog.  Don't forget, no matter what the road conditions, the Bus Stop Shop will be open all day in the Andersen Garage, where you can browse through and buy excess items from our collection.  We hope to see you out on Saturday!!!