One day maybe this will be converted!

[prof.fate]

Arrived last thursday- a 2018 IC!

Save

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxjl...ature=youtu.be

[ol trunt]

Thanks for the post. That was fun to watch. Jack

[cadillackid]

2018? I didnt think a model year could be more than 12 months out.. or is that only for consumer vehicles that applies?

Nice lookin bus.. is that gonna be your route bus?
only thing its missing is Air-conditioning
-Christopher

[DoubleO7]

I am really surprised at how many employees have not been replaced by robotics.
i.e the "cage welding" and the painting process.

[prof.fate]

we don't get enough hot weather during the school year to need/use a/c. Kids are only the bus about 20 minutes and in teh Am you don't need it - so PM only..

so we have 13/40 a/c - open all 13 windows and rive 40 mph.

no white roof either, but all our buses are garage kept so they're only in the sun 4 hours a day give or take, and only 180 days a year..so even a 10 year old bus looks pretty new.

I see a lot of faded hoods on the buses that sit out here.

[cadillackid]

true I dont know where you are located so makes sense esp if a bus doesnt run summer school sessions A/C wouldnt be necessary..

one of the suburbs around columbus has one of those futuristic lookng Thomas safe-T-liners.. it has a dashboard like a regular FL truck..(with air vents) and has A/C in that dash mainly for defogging help .. no A/C on the rest of the bus.. but the #1 gets to stay cool... thast distreict only has that one of those busses.. they kustve bougth it as an Eval and didnt like it... IC bus is by far and above what is run in central ohio.. (lots of them down here in florida too).. Columbus city proper ditched first student a few years back all at once they bought like 300 new IC conventionals..

I always thought of IC as kinf od a budget / flimsy bus but seems like from your posts and the video that my perception of them is wrong..
-Christopher

[prof.fate]

thomas is apparently the cheaper brand.
We have BB and I see a lot of them around - one company here as a lot of FE type Ds and I saw a type b BB shorty today...i want that bus!
(i got to take a field trip run in the morning so got to see 2 other areas and the magnet school buses coming into town).

Our soon to be out of work competitor has a couple of safe-t-liners, I see one daily (it's the first in line at the HS, depending on which bus i'm second or fourth, but it comes in wtih vo tech kids so we're there and he passes us to get in front).

Lots of fun and interesting videos on youtube...

just watched 2 on IC bus construction from the tv show 'how it's made' and about to watch this one baout thomas buses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNnqDFu-JEU

guy talks about the build requirements - the roof must support 1.5X the weight of the bus..today the bus I drove had a GVWR of 31,000lbs..so that's one strong MF roof

A new bus can have 20,000 different options...typical car is 200!

[cadillackid]

oh I know about the options... when i started my bus projects i actually looked into Leasing with purchase-option a brand new IC shorty..

it was to have been a 6 window BE but the BE went away just before I really got going and the CE prices are considerably higher than the BE was.. but I had a good talk with the IH dealer and he basically said that anything you want you get as the bus wouldve been built to my spec.. we were going to piggy back it onto an Order that columbus schools was placing for some busses (my nextdoor neighbor is a school board member).. so I could get better pricing.. but the options list was incredible to say the least even on that light duty bus..

it couldve been ordered painted white with no school lights, stop signs, etc and no seats.. interestingly there was no option for a stick.. only the allison 1000s (in a BE).

the little windshield fans, the number and placement of heaters, tall or short ceiling, wheel chair door or not all was configurable.. many different types of wheels / tires, rear gears.. it was actually kind of fun looking at it all..


I would someday to have one of those cool Thomas's I just think they look kickass..

-Christopher

[prof.fate]

Well..i filled in for the competition and got to drive a 2013 ish safe-t-liner C2 today.
Much more basic bus than ours..no light monitor to know your ambers or reds are on.

No remote adjustable mirrors...very odd. ONly one window fan too. 70,043 miles on it.
And no power. but these are 220hp and don't know the gearing, mentioned it to my boss and our newer buses are 260hp, the older ones (i drove a 9 year old BB this morning) are 220hp but geared a bit steeper. I had trouble getting the thomas up to 35mph.

the biggest PITA was the placement of the driver side mirrors..I only had one left turn but damn, that mirror ass'y is right where i need to see!

And...we'll have a bus for sale come the end of the school year, a BB transit with 134,000 (as of today). New radiator, new air compressor, new auto drain on the air brake system...and soon perhaps a new transmission (allison 3000). It started acting up big time today.

And yes, our new bus is a 2018..no typo. They redid the power steering, boss has driven it and says it's great - much smoother, one hand operation is easy.

[cadillackid]

interesting.. I think all the newer busses with the over-head style mount mirrors are harder to see out of in a left turn... I notice my old carpenter has the old manually adjusted mirrors on the old metal 'booms' and I can see great to make left turns..

on my newer bluebird it has the mirrors that are mounted at the top corner of the driver window and then come over and down and that bus IS a PITA to see in a left turn.. now granted ive only used the power adjusters on that bus and havent actually manually moved the boom which might help me see better.. the reflection perspective is correct where the "boom" is.. as a bus parked along a road line straight shows up as a straight line down the bus body from the driver seat... at lease thats how i have my lower mirror set and looks good.. ive got some messing to do.. the old carpenter i seem not to have any issues seeing.. but it is also a much taller bus.. the windows are just bigger as its a high top..

-Christopher

[prof.fate]

i move the mirrors a couple of times a week...road signs are handy for that..or well, maybe handy is the wrong word LOL.

In town at the gradeschool they have a couple of signs that extend into the roadway..mirrors yes, but one of our drives has put 'racing stripes' down his bus with it.

Then we leave there and use an alley ... again, signs sticking out over the curb into the road.

Good planning to get them at JUST the right height to hit the mirrors!