Yesterday was another very successful Vintage Transport Extravaganza. The weather was perfect and we seemed to have a great crowd. I was busy with other things and didn't make it out until late in the day, and I didn't have time to go around and take pictures of all the antique cars and trucks. So a few train pictures will have to do. As always, we welcome submissions of pictures that you took!
The 1630 was pulling a five-car heavyweight train.
Streetcar service was provided by the 1374 and 3142.
People and others looking at the 1630 watch the Zephyr go by.
The Shay was pulling the caboose train again, always a crowd pleaser.
Finally, the CA&E cars were the only main-line electric train. I'm pretty sure the oldest operating vehicle of all was the 36.
Finally, you can drive up to Wisconsin to see rocks and dirt, if our rocks and dirt aren't good enough for you.
And the Midwest Bus Museum is a recently-formed group in Richmond, concentrating on school buses. I hadn't heard of it before. This is actually a rebuilt school bus. Somewhere, there's a museum for just about anything you can think of.
4 comments:
I'm not joking when I say this, but I've often thought to myself, "why aren't there more preserved school buses? They usually just end up being destroyed in demo derbies or left to rot in junkyards." Nice to see there's a museum that's focusing on them. I'd love to see if they've got a Bluebird cabover bus like one I took to school in High School.
They have a good website with a complete roster and pictures of the collection at midwestbusmuseum.org. I must admit I'm not particularly interested in school buses, perhaps because I always had to walk to school. And it was uphill both ways.
I love vintage road transport of all kinds. Transit busses, semis, RVs, and cars all get plenty of love, but I noticed that school busses seemed to get neglected. Having vintage school buses helps to complete that vintage feel of yesterday, as they were just as prominent as any other vehicle on the road, if not just a little less common do to their somewhat seasonal usage.
Just as a thought, though I know it would take a lot of work, what if the display barns had their sides done up to look like brick and mortar buildings, making them look like brick car barns? The siding on the buildings would still be metal or aluminum panels, but they would be designed and painted to look like bricks, and make the buildings look older than they actually are. They'd blend in a little better in photos once "Main Street" is finished; they could look more like factory buildings or warehouses "down and across the street".
-Matt Maloy
(forgot to put my name on the first comment)
Matt: While that sounds nice, I can think of a couple of problems. First of all, our buildings have ribbed side panels, and no paint scheme can possibly make them look like a brick wall. And then there's maintenance. Maintenance of the barns is a major part of the B&G work load to begin with. And a complicated paint scheme might look OK at first, but the paint will start to fade and peel, and soon it will look very shabby. So I don't need a crystal ball to tell you what Dave Diamond would say to a proposal like this. Sorry.
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