SEPTEMBER

Saturday the 24th was another great workday. Lewis had us in the office for a little "organizational time" to make sure we keep things in shape. Then it was onto work in the shop.

We have found a major oil leak on the Metro and will not be able to use it until it is fixed. It appears to be where the generator attaches to the engine assembly. We need assistance from someone in the engine repair business so if you know of anyone (or are someone) who can help, please let us know. It is a great bus, but is losing lots of oil when it is running.

Joe ran the RTS, BT the Gillig and I did the Grumman to keep batteries up and in good shape. Brett, Russ, Freddy, BT and I all did various chores. Russ got more done on the 102 and has the accelerator linkage working! We hope to try it out on Wednesday night. Russ also painted the Greyhound sign and I have gotten a new ballast for it.

Lots of activities coming up! As always, we are looking for volunteers that like to lend a hand. And on a final note, I’d like to mention that it’s a lot harder to get the last window out of the 102 then you might think!

On our previous workday:

Who says you have to wait for Spring to do spring-cleaning? All the tools are now organized in the tool room—you can find what you're looking for, plus there's now a path to get to it as well. Also, our newly aquired Coachette has had its "add-ons" removed, and now looks more like it was intended. AND, the seats of the 102 have all been removed for restoration as that project continues in full-force.

AUGUST

We have received a former AB&W TDH5302 40ft, 96 inch wide GMC coach. We do not have the title yet but it was number 319 originally and currently has Metrobus markings and is number 1319. It runs and was rebuilt by Blitz in 1983. We trucked it to Roanoke.Thanks to Charlie Brown and Jeff. We appreciate Charlie and Jeff's help moving the bus to Roanoke. And, our appreciation goes to Laddie Vitek of Chicago for the donation of the 5302. We await his sending us the title so we can get new airbags and put antique tags on the coach.

Kenny got us a Coachette and the 102 is really getting some attention.

JULY

July began, and ends with a bang. Mel Ayers, Jeff Kingery and his friend William, Charlie Gardner SR and Jr and folks from Richmond here for the roadeo (see below) came down to the Buseum on our most recent Worknight.They jumped right in and help us remove most of the windows from the 102. 102’s progress continues.
On Sunday the 31st, Roanoke was host to the state bus roadeo which took place at the Roanoke Civic Center. Many hands were able to stop by, help, and watch some exciting competition.

The CC&T hit the road July 2nd for the Williamson Road Cruise. We took the night off from working to eat picnic style on the "Pumpkin"—our 1973 GMC Staunton Transit Bus. Fully decorated (with a huge thanks to Ed) for the holiday weekend, we were on our (almost) best behavior as we checked out everybody else rides. It's amazing the number of beautifully restored classic cars, trucks and hot rods that reside here in the valley. I guess we fit right in!

Some of you may have seen the feature story about CC&T on WBRA 's Blue Ridge Excursions a few months back. Well, we've in the news again! The wonderful folks over at WDBJ-7 did a great story on us that aired July 6th.

The host Steve Pardon, along with cameraman Steve Claris interviewed the crew, poked around the barn, and filmed anything that didn't move fast enough to get out the way. Thanks to everyone involved.

JUNE

Thanks to the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the original signage from the Roanoke Trailways Bus Station is now in our collection. Our President had gotten the ROANOKE TIMES to donate these fantastic bits of transit history to the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) long before the VMT asked us to consider forming the CC&T. It had been stored by them for over 20 years and now is in our shop. The oval CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS  sign is working and can be seen in the shop on worknights.

Work on the GMC 3714 continues with the initial start up of the engine at the Barn. It runs well and is even trying to move forward as it is revved. It is a project of major proportion and we need volunteers now.

If you'd like to spend some of your time around some fun folks while working on our collection, we meet on Wednesday nights from 7-9, and usually the third Saturday of each month. We'd be happy to have you here. Download application pdf