MARCH

MARCH 1

We had a wonderful workday last weekend and accomplished a great deal. The entire inside of the garage area was swept and sprayed down and looks quite clean. Ben, BT, Ed, Freddy, Harry, Karen and Mel were all there and we cleaned up a lot of the stuff laying around, organized, put fuel filters on the White truck, got the low tire filled on the Richmond bus, and washed it. We then went to see what we believe to be a 1941 Mack near Lansdowne Park and did lunch at CiCi’s and Firehouse Subs.

Ben got his dozer going and cleaned the entire area along the NS tracks. He also moved all the cut brush done for AEP out of the way. Dozer Man Ben is a real asset and that’s a fact. He and Harry also worked on the Dodge and got it started but it needs some help. Ben will be bringing some tools to work on it Wednesday night. Freddy and BT worked hard to get the BT bus started and it will just not do a thing. We also need a new battery for the 30ft Metro and the Chiquita. We cleaned up a lot of trash and the general buseum area looks good.

Found out that the radiator on Frankenstein is really bad and they are attempting to patch it to keep our costs down. We are looking forward to our trip to Lynchburg and perhaps Henry County to look at buses—this the fun part of the job. It is a chance for us to get together, and just have a good time.

FEBRUARY

February 23

We are having a tough time on the 4905 Buffalo and the flywheel. Nothing seems to work and it would be great to find out sooner than later that we might get this bus running.

Freddy and his friend Tristan from DC were in and we took a short ride on the Orion. We went by Robert Young's to see FRANKENSTEIN and it was outside in the lot. It needs some major radiator work, thermostats, headlights that are grounded and probably lots of other things as well. We hope to get it back in the next 30 days.

I appreciate the fact that Joe Kennedy is taking on the responsibility of checking oil, water etc. Upcoming events include one for the Jamestown Celebration local Committee with tours on the 25th of March and the 15th of April and a possible shuttle service for the anniversary of the Grandin Theatre on March 31st.

Robert Young called this week to tell me that some old Macks have just been located nearby. He wants us to go see them to see if we can get any parts from them. We also have found that 35ft. GMC newlook in Lynchburg ( if it is still there) and want to take a trip down there to see it. There is an old look in Goshen that Mel and I have seen and thought it unlikely it would be transportable like the Lynchburg bus.

The Building is a mess and we really need to clean it up. Our floor cleaner seems to be unfit for service at the moment. Lewis is the only one who knows how to fix ours and we may need a pump motor before it will run again. We need to pick up the parts, tools, etc. around to make it more presentable.

Thanks to Freddy, we have been able to send some thank you gifts to GRTC, and two to WMATA for their help in getting us buses.

I continue to work with the DMV on the title and tags for the Chiquita. I would like to get it running and maybe take it to Hershey for the MOBT annual deal in May or June. Talking about buses, we have battery issues on the 30ft. Metro, the BT, the Chiquita and the White truck. Ben is helping see what is causing that truck not to run and we need to get it going. We also need to get the 3714 on a lift to fix the fuel leak.

JANUARY

January 27th

January 27th brought another great, beautiful, but not particularly warm workday. Harry cleaned up around the Mack and we got it started later in the day. It sounded good and everyone is anxious for it to be finished so we can go all over town showing off! Ben tried to work on the clutch on the 4901 and it turns out that the flywheel is not the correct one. It fits but the bolts do not line up correctly. Instead we took the Gillig to be looked at after it failed on Friday night while Karen was driving it to Hotel Roanoke for the Episcopal Diocese trips. All of a sudden, it just stopped dead in its tracks.

We started the 1962 GMC WMATA with the help of BT and Harry while Freddy took on the project of getting the 30 foot Metro from WMATA started. We were able to get both of them going and drove the 30 foot bus for our lunch trip.

Brett came and took photos of the collection to update the Web page and show off all our buses and trolleys! Brett has done an increasingly good job on the Website. I hope at some point he can create a bus paint scheme for the 4905 in the official gold and green.

We took the wrecker to Robert Young's to get the thermostats fixed, oil changed, lubed and filter changed. We also have a bad headlight they will try to correct. It is a great truck otherwise and we’re lucky to have it in the collection.

Ben, Harry and BT spent time getting the battery on the pickup charged again. We also worked on the White Cab and Ben will be getting us some fuel filters for the truck to see if that will fix its problem. Ed helped clean up the building and keep us organized as usual.

To recap, we had Ben, Bev, BT, Brett, Ed, Freddy, Kennie, Harry, and Harry Messimer all there during part of the day. We went to get lunch at the Roanoke Weiner Stand and then went to Abbott Trailways to see Johnny and Wayne. All in all it was a great day because of all you folks that continue to make us a success.

An additional thanks to BT, Joe, Karen, Bev and Kenny for your help in our recent (and all) shuttle trips. We couldn’t do them without your generosity and patience.

Finally, and most importantly, we’re extremely pleased to say that Mel is doing great and would love to have your continued prayers. We hope to see him back in action as soon as he is able to join us.