Heavy Lifting...
Today was fairly busy as I spent all morning at the bus garage. Our museum was supposed to provide a bus for a function last weekend and unfortunately had to back out of the commitment due to the failure of the starter motor on the bus (Warren Bisbee Lines No. 8). Unfortunately, we have no reserve bus available at present. That should change within the next month, as we restore Old Pueblo Transit Company No. 135 to roadworthy condition.
I spent the entire morning with another volunteer, doing a detailed inspection of the air brake lines, brake drums and suspension systems. We reviewed the list of items that need attention and identified all of the items that are safety critical or legally required to operate the bus. We worked up a cost estimate for the safety critical/legal requirement items and have devised task assignments to make best use of the skilled volunteers so that we can get the work done to meet our upcoming commitments. The bus may not be as nice as we'd like, but she'll be safe, reliable (as reliable as a fifty year old bus can be expected to be) and road legal.
For me, the biggest challenge was coming up with the funding to cover the costs. All of our labor is volunteer, but labor is worthless without the parts to work with. My parents had committed to make a donation towards the restoration of the 135, but had not specified any specific amount. I explained the situation and how we arrived at the amount that we had identified as necessary-just under $3,000. They gave it some thought and agreed to donate $3,000 for the work. I am quite happy and relieved that we finally have funding to get started. This is just the beginning, but it is the culmination of a bit of work that was necessary to persuade my folks to give as much as they did. That involved arranging a visit to the shop for my Dad, so that we could show him the work in progress on our 1928 Twin Coach and 1948 Ford bus and the completely restored No. 8 as well as the 135. Once 135 returns to the road, we should find it easier to attract donations to complete the remaining work.
I spent the entire morning with another volunteer, doing a detailed inspection of the air brake lines, brake drums and suspension systems. We reviewed the list of items that need attention and identified all of the items that are safety critical or legally required to operate the bus. We worked up a cost estimate for the safety critical/legal requirement items and have devised task assignments to make best use of the skilled volunteers so that we can get the work done to meet our upcoming commitments. The bus may not be as nice as we'd like, but she'll be safe, reliable (as reliable as a fifty year old bus can be expected to be) and road legal.
For me, the biggest challenge was coming up with the funding to cover the costs. All of our labor is volunteer, but labor is worthless without the parts to work with. My parents had committed to make a donation towards the restoration of the 135, but had not specified any specific amount. I explained the situation and how we arrived at the amount that we had identified as necessary-just under $3,000. They gave it some thought and agreed to donate $3,000 for the work. I am quite happy and relieved that we finally have funding to get started. This is just the beginning, but it is the culmination of a bit of work that was necessary to persuade my folks to give as much as they did. That involved arranging a visit to the shop for my Dad, so that we could show him the work in progress on our 1928 Twin Coach and 1948 Ford bus and the completely restored No. 8 as well as the 135. Once 135 returns to the road, we should find it easier to attract donations to complete the remaining work.