SEPTEMBER

September 6

Lots of folks in attendance. We worked on the school bus engine and Ed found us yellow paint to work on the school bus to get it ready for the VMT. Talked about shelving for the parts room, Ben got some OSB board for the back wall donated and we welcomed Bert who has been a big help.

Had some power help from Josh Baker and the BT boys. We all talked a  lot moved some stuff around and did some routine maintenance. We are needing some pallet racks for parts storage in the new room in the back and if you know of any sources we need them. Bert worked on the Gathering Room and Freddy did some good weedeating. We talked about the need to have a bunch of folks in for the next Saturday workday on the 26th. The back wall needs to be finished and we have lots of work to do on the shed wall.

This week, the 9th, BT and Mel will be in charge as Bev is out of town on VMT Business. WE have several big runs coming up so we need to get all public buses ready and clean. First up is the 13th, then the Zoo Doo on the 18th and then the Advance JDRF Golf Tournament on the 22nd. We will need the Pentran(017), the BT bus(021), the Richmond bus(005), the Gillig(023), the Williamsburg bus(032) and the Grumman(019) all cleaned and fluids checked and fueled before the Zoo Doo and the Advance JDRF Tournament. The Williamsburg bus (032) and the Gillig(023) are to be used on the Chateau Morrisette trip so make sure they are ready sooner! All of the above buses have now have insurance for public passengers. And, I might add, these are the only ones currently insured for that purpose.

We have talked to Woods Towing and they are going to get the other Silversides soon.  We need to get the Pentran and the Pumpkin inspected and may take them to a new place closer to the museum.

Good news that our grant has been okayed and we should have some repayment funds soon. We are not sure when so I did get a loan for $20,000 this week and we have paid off MW Fire and most of Va Truck Center. I am afraid of what the interest will be if we do not get money quickly.

AUGUST

August 25

The Buseum crowd goes to dinner! Kudos go to Jon Barnes who had the idea. Red Palace was great and we even had energy when we got to the Buseum to get some work done.

Got the Alternator off the 30 ft Metro along with the regulator thanks to Erik. Bev took it to Metro Heavy Duty the next day and they will be testing both pieces. We got the Mack started, moved the School bus, put the Grumman inside along with the Richmond Metro, the Pentran and the AB&W.

We had a great group there and we hope all of them will be back on Saturday for our Workday. We need to finish the wall, work on the parts rooms, get all buses and cars off the lot to mow and clean up the building so we can be ready for cooler weather! No news on the grant yet but we still remain hopeful since we are hanging out to dry at the moment!

August 12

Lots of folks this week at the Buseum. On hand were Austin, Bev, Ben, BT, Ed, Freddy, Harry, James, and Mel. We worked on the RTS to get it ready for a trip on Saturday morning, got the Pumpkin ready for the VW Car Show and also made ready the Pentran to go to the First Baptist Car Show. We started the Richmond Flxible, the Roanoke City Lines 102 and the Citizens Rapid Transit Mack. Freddy did a great job on mowing and the place looks good on the outside. We need to mow on the inside so if any of you have a weedeater you can bring we need it badly!

All went well this weekend. We have a workday on Saturday and  current weather is for low 80's which will be good for working on the shed, the parts room and cleaning out the Buseum. It needs an organizational effort. We hope the BT boys will come and bring all the help they can offer.

 We need to arrange for at least one more driver for the JDRF Golf outing sponsored by Advance Auto. So far it looks like Kenny, Joe, and Bev can drive and we need one more! That is on Tuesday, Sept 22 early in the morning.

August 5

Well, Only the few, the strong and the proud showed up Wednesday night. It was raining and we had Ben, BT, Bev, Ed and Freddy. We got the Pentran running. BT and Bev got the 66 back from the CTAV civic center event, BT took the Orion from Abbott (Johnny and Wayne have the new transmission in, thanks so much guys) to ThermoKing so we can get AC working and then it was time to go home.

Looking to the future we just were asked by the MOTOR BUS SOCIETY, a national group, if they can visit us on October 9th in the afternoon. They have their annual convention in Richmond this year and want to come out here to visit Lynchburg, Valley Metro, and the CC&T. We are on the radar screen now! It will be important to have a good crowd there on that afternoon so Josh, you need to take vacation and bring the BT crew down with you!

Missed the BT Boys, lot of them are on vacation and we hope they are having a good time. 

JULY

July 8

Had a great  night with Bev, Erik, Harry, Joe, Kenny and Lewis. We did not see one BT Boy at all and know they were probably partying last night! Kenny mowed and since Freddy had already done some weedeating for us on Tuesday, the Buseum looks great. We worked on putting more transmission fluid in the AB&W and the 66 Richmond to see if that would make a difference in the solenoid shifting. Not working yet! We worked on getting the clearance lights on the AB&W working and Erik has found a way to make that happen. Checked fluids on the buses Joe and Bev will use on Friday and Saturday for the Norfolk and Western Historical Society Convention here at the Hotel Roanoke. Lewis and Bev got checks made out for the folks we owe with grant funding.

JUNE

June 24

A great night at the Buseum last night with a wonderful crew on hand. Aaron, Darren, Jon and Stephen were there from Blacksburg. They  worked on cleaning the Gillig and the 2616, continued the efforts on the hatches on Richmond 309( Darren has that leak figured out big time) and the Roanoke crew was in full force with Ben, Bev, BT, Ed, Freddy, Kenny, Mel,  and Raymond. This crew concentated on Motor Madness for Friday and Saturday. We are taking the Richmond 309 and the AB&W to the party! We got the AB&W lettered and Raymond had some laminated posters done to place in the buses that are just fantastic. They look wonderful and are an enlargement of what BT did for the Hershey trip.

We will have a funny Saturday situation with buses going to one wedding and Mel and Bev having to be at Motor Madness all day with the AB&W.

We are thinking about having a rescheduled workday on July 11th to make up for this Saturday. We still need to finish the fence project and get on the shed repairs. We need to take the 032 back to ThermoKing due to the freon line breaking.