School's Out

 Old school buses re-purposed for recreational vehicles - often referred to as "hippy buses" or "skoolies"- are still sighted occasionally - usually in summer. So it was quite a surprise to see three of them - likely travelling together - all in the same place in Halifax on January 25.

The big Freightliner was the only full sized unit of the three. Its grey paint (peeling in places) was touched off with a red stripe on the hood, but despite the awning and few other touches it appeared to be in fairly rough shape.

I'm not expert enough to know with certainty which manufacturer built the "Toukie Skoolie", but I am leaning toward Thomas Built Buses Inc (a Freightliner, Daimler subsidiary).

The other two skoolies were small scale types, one of which still displayed the Shool Bus sign board, "cheese" coloured paint, and the Girardin name. Girardin is a Blue Bird dealer, and also manufactures Blue Bird's Micro Bird line at their Drummondville, QC, factory.

The hard case unit - despite a roof rack and skylight - displays fewof the niceties of a manufactured RV.

The third and last skoolie, also built on a cutaway van chassis, but this time a GMC, is named "Le Chalet Bus". Perhaps tney are seeking snow for skiing, but that will be hard to find this year.

This one was probably never a school bus, but was more likely a shuttle van or similar. The rear doors suggest a baggage compartment or it may have been in special needs service.  Oddly it has a pair of D-rings mounted up front (I hope they are secured to the frame), so it might have served a remote or northern area.

Fortunately temperatures are on the warm side right now, but if it turns cold I cannot imagine these skoolies being comfortable accommodation.

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Bookmobiles (and such)

The Halifax Regional Municipality still operates this bookmobile - at least for the current financial year. Threatened with the budgetary axe in April, it was saved for one more year, but by the looks of it, it will need some work to stay on the road for much longer.
Built on a Bluebird bus body the rolling library was still rolling this morning, but it was coming out of the repair shop when I caught it.

Speaking of book mobiles, the Gerstenslager Corp of Wooster, OH was the premier US bookmobile builder. They built thousands between 1956 and 1986, along with delivery bodies and fire rescue bodies on commercial chassis. The company was founded in 1860 as a carriage maker and became part of Worthington Industries in 1997, but still maintains its identity. Its plants now turn out car parts, like doors, for current models, but also have an inventory of molds to produce body panels for older vehicles.

Despite their bus like appearance, the Gerstenslager bookmobiles were developed independently (Gerstenslager never built buses.)

The unit shown was spotted in Malone, NY, September 16, 1986.

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Battle of the School Buses continued

As previously posted, the two big school bus makers are Thomas and Bluebird. Thomas has been owned by Daimler for many years, but Blue Bird remains independent. [See June 2 for more]

Blue Bird will build your bus on any chassis you specify, even the competitor's Freightliner. But just to avoid free advertising, I see they now insert their own badge on the grille - nice moooove!

Photos taken Cap-à-l'Aigle, QC, 2010-08-31.

Going Head to Head for the School Bus Market

Yes there is intense competition in the school bus business, and from this photo it might seem it is between Freightliner and International for bus chassis. But you would only be partly correct. The two biggest players in the bus body business are Thomas, of High Point, NC and Blue Bird of Fort Valley, GA.
Both body builders have been around a long time. Thomas was founded in 1916 and has been building buses since 1936. Blue Bird was founded in 1927. For a long time they were independents and bought chassis to suit their customers needs. However all that has changed.
Thomas is now part of (wait for it) Daimler Trucks North America LLC. So no surprise that Thomas uses Freightliner chassis for its type C (conventional) and D (transit style) school buses. Thomas claims that fully one third of the school buses on the road today are Thomas Built. (They are no longer built in Canada, just in the US.)

Blue Bird, no slouches themselves are part of North American Bus Industries. NABI produces Optima and NABI transit buses, and is owned by the Dutch company Traxis Group BV. Blue Bird will build buses on most chassis presumably, but International seems to have the lead by my casual observation. Blue Bird has two factories, both in Georgia, and no longer builds buses in Canada.

So the next time you see a school bus, be aware that there is more going on than meets the eye.

see: http://www.thomasbus.com/

and http://www.nabusind.com/ from there you can find out more about Blue Bird and the other brands.

Daimler and Traxis also have their own web sites.