Trolley Bus Department

Two new acquisitions arrived this past week.  The first is Bee Line 512.  Historically, the focus of the Motor Bus Department has been exclusively transit buses.  This is our first intercity bus.  It is a Yellow Coach Model 743 (Our first Yellow Coach), built in 1939 and just oozes 30's inside and out.  Photos simply don't do it justice.  There are so many little details, you could look at this coach 10 times and find something interesting every time.  Yellow made 1,256 of these and ours coincidentally is serial number 1256.  It will be stored in the Hoffman Garage so visitors will be able to see it.

Bee Line 512 - 1939 Yellow Coach Model 743 - Front View - Photo by Richard Schauer (10/22/2015).

Bee Line 512 - 1939 Yellow Coach Model 743 - Rear View - Photo by Richard Schauer (10/22/2015).

Bee Line 512 - 1939 Yellow Coach Model 743 - Interior View - Photo by Richard Schauer (10/22/2015).

The second is a Twin Coach Model 40 from St. Louis Public Service, coach number 3529 (x529).  This one was built in 1932 and seated 40, which was an unheard of number back then.  Over 1,000 of these were built but only 4 survive and only 2 of those are complete.  Ours and one beautifully restored at a museum in Tucson, AZ.  For both coaches, we do have the parts that appear to be missing such as bumpers and headlights.

St. Louis Public Service 3529 (x529) - 1932 Twin Coach Model 40 - Front View - Photo by Ray Piesciuk (10/24/2015).

St. Louis Public Service 3529 (x529) - 1932 Twin Coach Model 40 - Rear View - Photo by Ray Piesciuk (10/24/2015).

As you can see from the photos, both these coaches need work.  However, we feel they are significant enough to be saved and added to our collection.

With these new arrivals, it is necessary to maximize the indoor storage that we have in the Andersen and Hoffman Garages.  We came up with a plan to put more buses than ever under cover.  For the first time we are mixing motor buses and trolley buses in both garages for the simple reason of fitting them into the garages more economically (space-wise).  Of course this means moving virtually every single vehicle in our collection.  Yesterday's moves completed our reorganization of the Andersen Garage and we started on the Hoffman Garage.  We hope to complete the moves within the next couple weeks.

I would be remiss if I didn't thank Richard Schauer, who assisted in unloading the two new coaches and was the driving force in the planning and executing of the garage rearrangement.  He also supplied the historical and technical information on the coaches.  I don't know what we would do without him!!  Thanks also to Greg Kepka, Vince Allen, Fred McGullam, Thomas Slater, and Joel Ahrendt.  They were a HUGE help in getting so much accomplished yesterday.  Also a shout-out to the track guys who finished using the big forklift and bought it over for us and to the Steam guys who lent us their small forklift for working in the Andersen Garage (the big forklift won't fit through the doors there).

Since our last update, we sucessfully ended our operating season.  Our final operations for the year were Labor Day Saturday and Member's Day/ATTRM Convention on Saturday, September 19.  The 19th was a 12 hour operating day with service starting at about 10:00am and ending at around 10:00pm.  Bob Bourne, Richard Schauer and I operated the Chicago Marmon 9553 and the Seattle MAN artic 4020.  That same weekend, we operated "The Bus Stop Shop" for the first time.  This fundraising effort consisted of selling surplus items in the Museum's collection.  Thanks to the tireless efforts of Julie Piesciuk, we raised over $2,000 throughout the weekend.

Julie organizing the Bus Stop Shop stock (09/19/2015).

The ultimate goal is to build an additional bus garage, as we currently have more buses than can fit inside the current buildings - with more on the way.

Bob Bourne does a little shopping at The Bus Stop Shop prior to going into service (09/19/2015).

To that end, over the past few weekends, we have started a huge switch move in both bus departments.  Richard Schauer has calculated the layout of both the Andersen Garage and the Hoffman Garage to maximize the number of coaches we will be able to fit indoors in order to protect as many as possible from the harsh winter weather.  The planning and preparation took place over the past few weekends and Saturday the switching began.

Dayton Flyer 925, CSL Brill-American 84 and Milwaukee Marmon 441 await their turn to go back int the Andersen Garage during switching (10/10/2015).

With help from Nick Espevik, Thomas (sorry I don't remember your last name), Fred McGullam, John LeBeau, Vince Allen and others, we worked the entire day Saturday, moving all but two buses in the Andersen Garage, and putting four in their final locations.  This will continue for the next few weeks until they are all where they need to be.

Seattle Twin 633, Dayton Pullman 435 and Des Moines Brill 239 sit in front of the Andersen Garage during switching (10/10/2015).

After a multi year absence, Trolley Bus service WILL be on the calendar for 2016.  We will operate on the Saturday of major holiday weekends as well as during the Trolley Pageant, Member's Day and during a new event for 2016, "Bus Day"!!!  Bus Day will be on Saturday, October 01, 2016 and will of course feature trolley bus service.  We will also open as many of the motor buses and trolley buses as we possibly can for your inspection.  Finally, the Bus Stop Shop will return, once again giving you the opportunity to acquire rare, historic or just plain fun artifacts, which are duplications in the museum's collection.  At the same time you will help support the continuing efforts of the Trolley Bus and Motor Bus Departments.

Heres a sight you dont often see - the Andersen Garage mostly empty. Visible are (L-R) the CSL Brill-American 84, Edmonton BBC 181, Toronto Flyer 9339, and Vancouver Brill 2340 (10/10/2015).

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who has shown their support over the past several years as we have struggled through some difficult times.  At this point, the future could not look brighter.  We have raised about 60% of what is needed to build a new garage, we will have regular trolley bus service again in 2016, and the ranks of volunteers and those interested in volunteering in our two departments has never been greater.  So once again, I can't stress this enough, we TRULY appreciate all the support and words of encouragement (and of course donations) from everyone - it really helps!!!