Thread: Need help on bus origins.

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Wow, Johnboy, I've made 2 phone calls and you've gotten more info than I could from "down under" - - - - way to go - - - perserverence (sp) is a great tool ! Did she give you any clue what the word Canada had reference to??


My Wiffy asked me what I did and I told her nothing and she said that was what I did yesterday and I told her "Yeah, I wasn't through!"

Originally Posted by MelloYello

Wow, Johnboy, I've made 2 phone calls and you've gotten more info than I could from "down under" - - - - way to go - - - perserverence (sp) is a great tool ! Did she give you any clue what the word Canada had reference to??

Hey, I tell ya Emmett I'm as happy as a dog with two tails and a hundred lamp-posts!

All she told me was what was in the post above; essentially that some of these 'kids' were still around, were cousins of hers, and she knew where they lived.

I just hope that a) she realises that this is important to me, and b) that some of those 'kids' still extant will agree to being contacted by me.

I'll give it a couple of days (jigging up and down with suppressed excitement and impatience) and if she hasn't responded I'll contact her again.

Did the link to the photos of the bus work?
I'll post it again so's others can look if they wish to. It's about the 8th post down...there's some more on the next couple of pages too.
(And one of me sitting behind the wheel and just about caught making 'brrmm brrmm' noises.)

http://www.hotrodrevue.co.nz/forum/v....php?f=10&t=81

All it took was that one lucky hit and the whole world opened up. I hope you get some neat information that will help in the style of build you are doing. NZ is not as far away as you think! Keep us posted.

Maybe all y'all (Texan Too) can hook up on Face Book. Look out!! I bet there are stories just waiting to be revealed.

Thanks for that RestoRod, yep; that's the wee beast!
As you can see the damage and rust is really quite superficial...and not a lot of it involves compound curves; so the restoration of the body is going to be pretty straightforward.
And even when you get 'down and dirty' crawling over/under/through it it's in surprisingly good condition.
There are no body mounts forward of the windscreen; it's bolted straight to the chassis so there are a few cracks in the panels in that area...but hey!...this steel's thick enough to arc weld!
The body is built by 'Superior', who, I am told, built a lot of bus bodies during this era.

It's gonna be a lot of fun...something different...and yet practical too!

(I hope Shirley Holt Self contacts me back soon...
I hope Shirley Holt Self contacts me back soon...
I hope Shirley Holt Self contacts me back soon...
I hope Shirley Holt Self contacts me back soon...
I hope Shirley Holt Self contacts me back soon...
I hope Shirley Holt Self contacts me back soon...)

Originally Posted by sfort

Maybe all y'all (Texan Too) can hook up on Face Book. Look out!! I bet there are stories just waiting to be revealed.

That would be about the ultimate...I'm just hoping to make contact at this stage...any sort of contact...

Ah, the Inspector Clouseau of Rahotu or would that beTaranake... Good job on the hunt!

Interesting that it was documented as a '53, though it's got '52 front sheetmetal. I would imagine those custom body manufacturers had the ability to do the MSO documents based on year of delivery rather than chassis manufacturers year of production.

Keep us dialed in on the refurbishment, and don't annoy Ms Rosey too much.

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Ah, the Inspector Clouseau of Rahotu or would that beTaranake... Good job on the hunt!

Interesting that it was documented as a '53, though it's got '52 front sheetmetal. I would imagine those custom body manufacturers had the ability to do the MSO documents based on year of delivery rather than chassis manufacturers year of production.

Keep us dialed in on the refurbishment, and don't annoy Ms Rosey too much.

Inspector Clouseau of Rahotu?...I like it...it has a nice ring to it!

And as for annoying Rosie...I tell ya mate; in the new house I've got to use GPS to find her!
Reckon I might have to put in some 'speed humps' in order to slow her down enough for me to catch her too!


(And besides...you-all think I'm in jest when I call her 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'...If I was to annoy her I'd be the one to suffer!)

I wonder if you could start a face book page with questions and updates and lure these people in to make comments. If they are internet savvy I bet they would take a look and be drawn in especially if you post pictures with sentimental value i.e. hand writing and any drawings in the buss (I bet the grandkids would help and get a kick out of it). Also see if anyone knows who the driver was and if he or any relatives are still around.

Howdy Mate,
I just wanted to let you know that I "AM" getting your emails but I don't think that you are getting my email replies and information Therefore, I am forced to PM you anything that I find out or need.
Be sure and check your PM's daily and hopefully I can help you with this.
Mello

Originally Posted by MelloYello

Howdy Mate,
I just wanted to let you know that I "AM" getting your emails but I don't think that you are getting my email replies and information Therefore, I am forced to PM you anything that I find out or need.
Be sure and check your PM's daily and hopefully I can help you with this.
Mello

Sweet!
Yeah; it's a bit of a b#%%^r not being able to receive your e-mails...but will check my PMs daily.
I don't know if the lady has replied to me or not...I might not be receiving her e-mail either.
Thanks mate!

Yee-ha!
Fan-b^**&%-tastic!
At the moment we're approaching the end of a tour of the U.S. of A.
We have about another five days in Perry Oklahoma until we fly back to New Zealand.
I'll quote from my diary.

Monday 20th September.

Headed off to Perry Oklahoma, the nearest place of any size to Billings, which is where our bus came from.
First stop was a motel, (Super 8,) then the Tourist Information run by the local Chamber of Commerce.
Our reception was overwhelming...pure magic.
Nothing was too much trouble; local people who knew the local people.
They got their phones working while everything else was put on 'hold'...other people coming in were shown the letter I had written and they too started getting involved..."Didn't she marry..." "No, she's married to..." and "He's dead; killed in a truck smash forty years back." and "Doesn't he live in..." "Yep, still there..." and so on and so forth.
Amazing.
Next thing we knew they had organised an after lunch appointment with Marilyn Sue Waltermire (nee Durkee) who works just around the corner at the Noble Tractor Co.
She promptly rang her brother Bruce who turned up too.
Then the reporter from the local paper...had to pose for a photo and everything.
Amazing...pure magic...just too much to assimilate...

Then out to Billings itself, where on an off-chance we called in at Kurt's Bits of This and That where we spoke with a Dick Smeltzer...once again our reception was just amazing.
If you want to meet genuinely fine people talk to small-town Americans.

Tuesday 21st September.

Back to Billings; Dick Smeltzer had arranged through a lady named Debby, who is the school secretary, for us to go to the school to check the Graduation photos...there we were able to verify what Mrs Marilyn (Durkee) Waltermire had told us yesterday...that which we had written down as 'Sid' Mason was actually 'Sue' Mason.
Not that we doubted her word!
Seems we're the talk of the town...we showed some kids at the school where we came from on a world globe...later, driving through town, She heard some kid yell "Hey! Those are the folks that bought a Billings School bus!"
Dick has also arranged for us to have a private tour of the local museum...hopefully to absorb something of what made the town what it is today.
Learned a lot too from just talking with locals...the nodding neddies are all pumping oil, not water, the crop I couldn't identify was beans, they call lucerne alfalfa, and to top it off we got invited to a barbeque at the local Baptist Church next Sunday!
Whew!

I thought that perhaps, the mention of Canada might have referred to the Blue Bird Corp. which made many similar school buses, but when I checked they did not open a Canadian plant until 1958 (in Brantford Ont.) Since the bus is a 1953, that would not apply.
Just so everyone knows what Johnboy is referring to, I have taken the liberty of copying the photos from the link he referred to.
It sounds like a great project and I would imagine the "kids" will be thrilled to hear about it.