Recent Posts

Thank You Gene ! I had a great time and plan to come down again next year. Regarding traffic, on Friday morning, I left a campground 20 miles north of Baltimore. Once I was midway through Baltimore and DC, I hit stop and go traffic all the way to Richmond, VA !!!
I was loosing my mind !!

That stretch of I-95 between Baltimore and Richmond is no joke !! I will avoid that at all costs next time I am traveling south.

Anyway, thanks again Gene for a very nice time !

The reason they moved the wet tank up front is actually so the air has more chance to cool and so gets more condensation - gets drier, in other words.  Combined with an air dryer in later models, the wet tank should never see much water at all.  There is a recommendation somewhere for the minimum length of pipe between compressor and air dryer, something like 15 feet or so.  They put the dry tank in the back of the driver's side luggage bay so it's not in the rear axle space at all.

Brian

I've decided to have a joint bus rally with the Texas Roadrunners this year. It will be held at the KOA in Durant, OK. We held a rally there a couple of years ago and had a great time.

October 17-19, 2013 That is arrival on Thursday, break camp on Sunday.

I know it's in OK, but it's close to Texas! 

It is listed in the Calendar Section here http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=25677.0

Please refer to it for more information and I'll add to it as it comes available.

Mark your calendars! It's going to be a fun time!

[do not]

For those that are planning to attend, I'll need your contact information so it can be forwarded to the Wagon Masters. They will add your name to the list of attendees, you do not have to contact the KOA to register.

There will be two dinners, Thursday and Friday. Along with two breakfasts, Friday and Saturday. The food costs will divided among the attendees as the rally cost. We will eat dinner on Saturday night at the Casino.

The Wagon Masters are Jere and Ronnie Brannon, along with Troyce and Lisa Henderson.

I'll do whatever I can to help coordinate the event.

It will be a fun time, so don't miss out!

Dave,
The 5A (sn5401) had the wet tank horizontally mounted on the rear bulkhead near the drive axle. No dryer on my bus; none shown on the MCI schematics. I've read that the wet tank got moved up front in later years because the air had a chance to cool off on the up there? Less condensation maybe?

Anyway, I'm going to take that check valve apart this weekend. I could replace it I suppose, but the mechanics told me they would just clean it. I'll let you know what I find.
Fred

If I was to do another bus it would be a tandem Crown. That is a neat bus. It will never happen. It would be the most expensive bus west of the Mississippi as the boss has told me what would happen if I buy the third bus.

Wayne

Never in my life seen a tandem axle school bus. Whatever fer? Kids getting obese these days or something? Does it look like this:

Sort of.   The tandem Thomases are rare.   The tandem Crowns and Gilligs were not uncommon, but they were mid-engined, not pushers like that Thomas.   They had a locking inter-axle differential, so in snow or sand they could power through with all eight rear wheels driving, but once on the road the third diff had to be turned off, otherwise bad (expensive) things would happen.   My friend in the high desert has one of each  -  it's interesting to see the differences:  Gillig used a simple rocking arm for the two rear axles, but Crown used an upside-down spring and several locating arms instead.   They both ride about the same, quite well really.   Fun!

John

Thread drift!  We lived in Startup for 2 years before we moved to Az. 

Main reason-the 35ft Crown was rated at 79 passengers (three to a seat and 7 on the rear bench). The 40ft tandem was rated at 99 passengers. Now with the seatbelt laws, the seating is much lower. The typical school bus seating is now 2 seater with 3 seater on the other side. Weight wise you no longer need a tandem 40ft'r. And do you think the present day Thomas, Blue Bird, International buses are built anywhere as heavy duty as the old Crowns or Gilligs? Good Luck, TomC

FYI, the RED plug is part number 359-5915  For those that have weathered plugs.