December
Decmeber 12
Many thanks to all who participated in the Roanoke Bar Association's kids night at Center in the Square. Joe, Karen and Mark were there to drive with Dave Morgan, his son, Mel and Harry available to load and unload. You are all great folks and I know really helped make Christmas for the young people and the parents who attended. What a neat way for us to help. We used the Pentran and the Blacksburg buses as we anticipated a large crowd.
Work continues on the 53 Mack with very little paint left on the body. It is the hard places to get to now that we are focusing on for the moment. Ben, Ed, Harry and Mel continue to work on this great piece and we hope to have it ready for some sandblasting of our steel parts soon. After that we will look to painting it in the original colors of the Citizens Rapid Transit Company of Hampton Virginia.
Thanks to William and Scooter, we have the wrecker running. It needed a new brake pedal and value and they scavenged one from an old bus that seems to work fine. Ben and Kenny installed two batteries last Wednesday night and it starts! It will be a real asset to our efforts. I hope to have the title soon and will go to the DMV to get the licenses for the 4104, the 30ft Metro and the wrecker all at once if all goes well.
We have a Workday on the 23rd and it would help me to know if you all want to do that so close to the Holidays. We need to shut off the water and generally get the building ready for winter. Let me know soon if you want to cancel that day or if you can come assist.
Happy Holidays to each one of you and your families. We are thankful to know you all and appreciate so very much all you give to the Buseum. December 1
As we approach the Holidays things have been unusually busy for CC&T. We have received a couple of new pieces of equipment in the last month or so. One is a WMATA 30 ft Metro Coach that was towed by Robert Young from DC in October to the Buseum. William got it running that night and it sounds strong. We need a set of tires to get it on the road.
In addition, on November 29th, we received a donation from the City of Roanoke of a 1974 Diamond Reo wrecker that we had requested over 4 years ago. It is a great truck with a Detroit 671 and seems to have almost everything working. William was able to get that running as well, and replaced some brake parts immediately so we can use it to move coaches around on the lot. It has a Holmes 750 unit on it and will be a great asset to the Museum.
We also have received through a generous donation a 1934 Dodge Brothers school bus formerly used in Roanoke County. It is in amazing shape and is something very special to see. We have it inside where it is protected from the weather. All we need is a 4 ft driver to get in and take her for a spin!
We drove for the Salem Christmas Parade on Friday, December 1st. Mel and crew had decorated the "Great Pumpkin" with signs, garlands and big red bows. It looked great and they report that it went over very well. Even had TV coverage on Board!
We have been asked to do a Roanoke Bar Foundation trip on the 11th of December for over 100 kids and their parents. We will pick up at 5 shelters and take them to Center in the Square for dinner, a program and Santa before returning them to their respective locations. Many of our folks have already volunteered for this wonderful event and we hope more can participate in making this holiday great for these kids.
Work on the 53 Mack continues with almost all the metal exposed thanks to Mel, Harry, Ed and Ben. We have to do some sandblasting on the actual metal portions while Ben smoothes out the aluminum with ease! 9 coats of paint have been removed by these guys in a very meticulous way. To watch their dedication and steadfastness is just wonderful. It is going to be a real jewe when complete.
With a lot of assistance we have covered the 1917 St Louis Streetcar, Roanoke Railway and Electric Company used until the end of service in 1948. Thanks to a donation from Lamar Advertising, it is nicely protected with a large vinyl covering and tied down very well. It is a real masterpiece and someday will make an incredible piece for the Museum.
We wish everyone on the list a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please encourage someone you know to join us in 2007 so we can enhance our volunteer effort and continue our forward progress October
October 16
It always feels good when the CC&T can do its part in helping to support those dedicated to helping their community. Again this year, we had the pleasure of being able to supply buses for the American Heart Assoication's Heart Walk. Thanks to those who helped, drove, and of course, supplied these wonderful snapshots.
September
September 22
Lots going on as we enter the Fall season. We have gotten a lot more Metro parts from Blacksburg ( thanks Mike) as they have phased out all of their Flxible Metros in the fleet. We have bought a transmission from Don Robertson in Lafayette, Va that should fit the Buffalo once we find a flywheel and a pilot bearing to fit. William and BT are working on that. We have a new sign on the front of the Orion thanks to William and Scooter. What a difference that makes as you view the coach! Ed Stinson with an idea from William went to Lamar Advertising and they are donating large tarps (actually old vinyl signs) we can use to cover the buses with no windows. We already have the Scenicruiser done and it works great.
The batteries on the Hokie Express have died and we need to get two new ones so it can go back on the road soon. The WMATA 30 ft metro is to be picked up on Tuesday by Robert Young in Washington and towed back to Roanoke. We think it runs but it has been sitting for a long time and needs to be trucked all the way home to Roanoke.
Bruce Korusek continues to send us wonderful additions to the Archives and Freddy is working on a system of numbering our pieces so we will actually have a record of what we already have in the collection. We do have a report of two more Macks on Bent Mountain that are being offered to us and we will follow up on that to see if we can get any details.
