Aaron & Philan and our 5 kids from Rockford, Illinois. In the fall, we purchased a 1999 International Amtran IS3009 flat nose front engine 27-passenger 30' handicapped accessible bus. The bus was originally from a county school district in Tennessee. Cummings DT466 with 197,000 miles. Runs like a champ. We’ve been busting our butts and are planning on hitting the road at the beginning of July. Follow us on Instagram @simplyusandabus.
That is a nice short 11 window bus. I really like the length. Our Bluebird TC2000 has 11 windows, but is much longer. About 34’ long. Strangly, some of the windows on our bus are short and some long.
It’s the perfect length for us. We didn’t want a full size and our city ordinances restrict the length of a motor home ton30’ to allow it to be in our driveway so for ease we were searching for a bus that was exactly 30’. Super stoked about our build.
Definitely jumping into learning all about Diesel engines. My next door neighbor happens to work on International school busses at a local truck service station. He’s giving it a complete service so we know when everything was done. Gonna be watching over his shoulder for some good hands on learning.
Besides the length, one of our “musts” in looking for a bus was that it was from a southern state so there would be no rust. At least no major underbelly rust like we regularly see here in Illinois.