Visiting the Pacific Bus Museum

We visited the Pacific Bus Museum today. And we had a blast.

It's a collection of old buses maintained by a group of old timers/volunteers. Many are retired bus drivers. It's in a rented yard owned by Alameda County.

Once we parked, I had to climb into this Crown school bus. I was so excited, I did not even bother to take a photo of the exterior first. This was the bus I took regularly in Orange County in the 1980s when I moved to America. Apparently, these were popular on the West Coast because Crowns were built in Los Angeles.

Even when I was a kid, I realized these buses had very little legroom. The lack of legroom was confirmed today.

I have not ridden in one in around 30 years, but I still vividly recall those big pedals and the instrument cluster. I studied those every time I got on and off the bus.

Here it is from the outside. That's our docent Richard. He became a bus driver straight out of high school.

The museum's office is stuffed with bus memorabilia and shop manuals. Whenever a local bus company is throwing out manuals and literature, they just give them to the museum.

This bus regularly ran the Las Vegas--Tonopah--Reno route in Nevada.

This bus belonged to the Bay Area's Key System. The other gentleman was the only other visitor to the museum. He had also been a bus driver since high school. Between the two of them, they knew A LOT about buses.

This Flxible was my favorite bus at the museum. It's beautiful and futuristic looking and had a luxurious interior. It was last used by Glacier National Park. That open door leads to the luggage compartment.

Here's one in an old timey movie:

This bus was used down in Monterey.

This beautiful Muni bus had livery from the 1960s.

This Flxible supposedly has a very comfortable ride for highway cruising.

I did not get a chance to sit inside the AC Transit Gillig on the left. It was purchased in 1992, which was the year I moved up here for college. My friend and I rode in a bus like that to find a liquor store that supposedly did not check ID.

Aside from the Greyhound Scenicruiser (which was being serviced off-site at the time of our visit), this 1945 Greyhound bus was also very much coveted by the staff.

And look what was stored next to the old Greyhound!