BUS HISTORY ASSOCIATION 2014 CONVENTION

BUS HISTORY ASSOCIATION 2014 CONVENTION
Minneapolis, MN – Thursday, June 12th to Saturday, June 14th
All photos by Kevin Nicol, unless otherwise indicated
The Bus History Association scheduled their 2014 annual convention for Minneapolis, MN from June 12th to
June 14th. In addition, two pre-convention days were offered for BHA members who arrived in town early. The
BHA convention was last held in Minneapolis in June 1987 and there has been quite a bit of change in the
transit and intercity operations since that time.
The dates of the convention were chosen almost a year in advance. Luck was on the side of the BHA though
as it turned out to be the same weekend as the official opening of the Green Line (LRT) running between
downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul via the University of Minnesota.
The Minneapolis BHA convention set a record for attendance with 64 people registered and a maximum of 62
on any particular day. We even had 30-35 for the two pre-convention days, also a record. The attendance
broke the record set last year in Montreal (62 people registered but with a maximum of 58 on any given day).
The convention was one of the most, if not the most successful convention ever. Stan Holter and Richfield Bus
Company were a significant factor in the success of this convention.
PRE-CONVENTION DAY ONE – Tuesday, June 10th
For this year, there were two pre-convention
days. On the Tuesday, 31 people travelled
to Hibbing, MN to visit the Greyhound
Museum. Our charter bus for the day was
Richfield Bus Company 5604 (MCI J4500)
which is lettered for Heartland Tours. It was
a long three hour drive to the museum and
made for a long day, but it was definitely
worth the trip. Prior to arriving at the
museum, a quick lunch stop was held in
Hibbing.
in their collection of which 7 are displayed inside the
display and not for photography. Wide angle lenses
displayed inside included a 1931 White 54-A (front
above), 1947 GMC PDA 3703, 1967 GMC PD 4107,
(Silversides) and a 1982 MCI MC9.
The Museum has a very good collection of
buses and memorabilia. There are 19 buses
building. As with any museum, the buses are set up for
were definitely an advantage during this stop. Vehicles
engine), 1936 Yellow Coach 719 (Super Coach, photo
1956 GM PD 4501 (Scenicruiser), 1948 GMC PD 3751
The rest of the collection is in a storage facility behind the museum. The gates were opened for the BHA
members and we were able to photograph the various vehicles. The rest of the fleet includes a 1955 MCI
Courier 96, 1964 PD 4106, 1977 MCI MC8 (ex-Grey Goose Bus Lines), an MCI MC12, a 1979 MCI MC5C
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(restored for the Greyhound Saudi Arabia service, photo below), 1948 ACF Brill IC-41, an MCI MC5B, a front
engine Diamond T bus (year of manufacture unknown) and a Silver Eagle Model 15. Other vehicles include a
GM PD 4903, another Silversides, and a Flxible Clipper undergoing restoration.
It was a very impressive collection.
Hopefully, the Museum is able to expand at
some point to store more vehicles inside as
the vehicles could deteriorate quickly during
the harsh Minnesota winters.
It should be noted that shortly after the BHA
visit, the museum was officially renamed to
the Gene Nicolelli Bus Origin Center in midJuly in honour of the man who was the
driving force in building and operating the
facility. Mr. Nicolelli passed away in January
2014 so the renaming is a tribute to the
legacy of his work.
After a few hours at the museum, we proceeded to Duluth where we stopped by the garage of Duluth Transit.
Their fleet consists entirely of Gillig Advantage buses, in 30', 35' and 40' lengths. They also have some GMC
Arboc minibuses. A few buses were pulled outside for better photography.
Duluth Transit has an old bus on their property. It is a Twin Coach 23-R and the number inside the vehicle is #
111. The bus definitely requires a lot of work but Duluth Transit does hope to get to the project someday. The
number 111 is an amazing coincidence as one of the only 23-R buses that exist today is the beautifully
restored example by the Manitoba Transit Heritage Association, also numbered # 111.
We were running a little late so we were not able to make our stop at the downtown transit terminal as
planned so we just headed straight back to the hotel.
PRE-CONVENTION DAY TWO – Wednesday, June 11th
On the Wednesday, the day before the start of the official start of the BHA convention, a group of about 35
people spent a day riding Metro Transit. From the hotel, the group walked over to the Mall of America Transit
station and boarded a Red Line Nova LFS bus destined south to Apple Valley. The Red Line, operated by
Minnesota Valley Transit (note the logo on the front of the bus) is definitely one of the most unique BRT lines
currently operating. The line is set up for platform loading so that the floor of the bus is level with the stations,
to provide a light rail feel. The politicians in the Eagan and Apple Valley area wanted the light rail feel, once it
became apparent that an extension of the Blue Line southerly past the Mall of America was not warranted. In
the photo on the next page, taken by Paul Bateson, you can see the raised platform which provides level
boarding with the floor of the bus. This photo was taken at the Cedar Grove Transit Station in Eagan. Drivers
do have to be careful pulling in and pulling out of stops, although an extended rubber inset closer to the road
minimizes the amount of scraping the side of the bus that could take place.
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The Red Line operates 15 minute headway all day long, with 40' Nova LFS buses. The stations are very
extensive (and expensive) for a line that only carries less than 300 people per hour, even with capacity loads.
Hopefully, decent ridership will develop
allowing more frequent service or bigger
buses in the future to justify the amount of
money spent on the line.
After a round trip on the Red Line, we
boarded the Blue Line LRT for a ride down
to Target Field Station. From there, a short
walk to the Ramp B/5th Street Transit
Center allowed us to board a route 16 bus
(New Flyer D60LFR) destined to the
University. The lunch stop at Oak and
Washington allowed us to view the non-stop
bus action (commuter buses, Metro Transit
vehicles, test Green Line trains and
University campus shuttle buses). On this
day, First Transit was operating two Van Hool artics (with 4 doors, photo below right) on Campus Shuttle route
121. The BHA had warned them that a large group was going to board one of the shuttle buses after 1 PM so
First arranged for the articulated buses to help with the passenger load.
After lunch, we boarded one of the articulated Van Hool buses for the ride to the St. Paul campus. The two
campuses are connected by a 3.1 mile transitway that results in a very quick ride between the two campuses.
It is a non-stop ride as the transit priority always make sure that the two intersection lights along the
transitway are green for the buses, and
therefore, they do not stop. After a short
layover at Buford and Eckles at the St. Paul
campus, BHA members boarded the same
bus to return to the Minneapolis campus. At
this point, there were three options for the
rest of the day. Most of the people chose
the option to head to downtown
Minneapolis for the 3:57 PM departure of
the Northstar commuter train to Big Lake or
to take route 16 to downtown Minneapolis.
Route 16 was one of the busiest bus lines
for Metro Transit. Linking St. Paul with
Minneapolis via the University of Minnesota,
it had frequent service utilizing low floor articulated buses. The U of M is approximately 1/4 of the way from
downtown Minneapolis so the ride to St. Paul took close to an hour. It was good to ride this line the complete
way though prior to the Green Line light rail opening.
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In St. Paul, a group of us went to the recently restored Union Depot. Test trains were operating which allowed
a few photos to be taken, including one with the proper destination sign, even though the route was not in
operation at that time. The restoration of the Union Depot is very impressive. For those who have seen it, in
includes a very classy restaurant (Christos Greek restaurant) in the grand foyer.
The bus terminal at the St. Paul Union Depot services Metro Transit along with some intercity carriers. While
we were there, one of the D4505 buses from Jefferson Lines pulled in. The Rocket Rider is a premium express
service between Minneapolis and Fargo/Duluth, similar to Megabus and Bolt that offers Wi-Fi, satellite radio,
movies and increased leg room.
From Union Depot, we then took a route 54 bus back to the Mall of America. We arrived in plenty of time to
get ready for the barbecue at Richfield Bus Company that evening.
BLOOMINGTON BARBECUE – Wednesday evening, June 11th
Stan Holter of Richfield Bus Company had been involved in the planning of the Minneapolis convention since
last October. At that time, it became apparent that Stan would go way above and beyond anything expected in
making this one of the most memorable conventions ever. One of the first ideas that Stan mentioned was that
he wanted to hold a welcome barbecue at the Richfield Bus garage in Bloomington for BHA members on the
Wednesday evening before the convention.
First, Stan offered to provide free transportation to and from the event. Waiting at the hotel, we were
wondering what would show up to transport the group to the BBQ. Stan's collection (as well as his brother
Dan and father George), as we would see over the next few days is huge and there were a variety of vehicles
to choose from. A 1970 Gillig school bus, formerly owned by Yosemite Community College showed up. It
provided a very interesting ride with its manual transmission and approximately 10 speeds.
Upon arrival at the Bloomington garage of Richfield Bus Company, BHA member were overwhelmed with the
coaches on display. With the daylight diminishing, photography was the first priority. Buses on display included
# 51 (MC9, ex-Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines), # 61 (MC7 which we would get to ride the next few days),
# 1303 (TDH-5105 owned by the Minnesota Museum of Transportation and operated by RBC), # 142 (1951
Aerocoach P373, painted for Trailways,
photo at left), a 1952 Mack C50DT (exTwin City Lines), Greyhound Lines P-5195
(1951 PD 4103), # 179 (GMC P8M-4905A,
ex-Audubon Trails) and a 1968 Flxible
Flxliner (ex-Gongaware Bus Lines). Newer
buses displayed included # 4703 (102D3)
and # 5608 (a brand new J4500 only
delivered five days previous and not yet
licenced for the road). By the way, this was
only a small part of the Richfield Bus
collection. We would visit their Cannon Falls
and Rochester garages to see more on the
Friday of the convention.
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A few private coaches were also present. Greyhound 0807, a restored "combo" Scenicruiser and an exGreyhound Silversides (PD 3751, converted to a motor home but still maintaining the bus appearance outside)
were displayed for BHA members. The Scenicruiser was owned by John Hotvet who would join the BHA for
two of the convention days as well.
The food consisted of barbecued pulled pork, many different salads and desserts and everybody had a great
time. For the ride back to the hotel later in the evening, Stan provided # 1303. For many of the BHA
members, it had been quite a while since they had ridden at TDH-5105 and it was a treat to do so again.
DAY ONE – Thursday, June 12th
The first official day of the BHA convention was spent travelling north and west to St. Cloud. Our charter buses
for the day were an MCI MC7 and a Flxible Flxliner from Richfield Bus Company. For some of us, it was nice to
ride on the Flxible Flxliner again. In June 1991, the BHA convention was held in Pittsburgh, PA. One of our
buses for half a day back then was the Flxliner which at the time was owned and operated by Gongaware Bus
Lines. Stan Holter purchased the bus from Gongaware Bus Lines only a few years ago as it was still used in
charter service up until that point. Both buses, despite being over 40 years old performed flawlessly on the
ride to and from St. Cloud (approximately 70 miles away).
Our first stop for the day was at the New Flyer factory in St. Cloud. We had a two hour tour of the plant, but
unfortunately photos were not allowed either of buses on the production line or buses outside the plant. The
plant is the sole NFI facility making the new Midi, the 30' or 35' bus that is based on the Alexander Dennis
Enviro 200. Our tour guide said that they had received firm orders for 40 of the buses already so I would
imagine we would start to see them at systems across the country at some point in the near future. Other
Xcelsior buses on the production line were XN40 buses for Los Angeles, XD40 buses for Calgary, XD60 buses
for Denver and a sole XD40 for New York City.
From New Flyer, it was only a short ten minute drive to the Voigt's Bus Service garage. Voigt's had their
impressive historical fleet on display for us. In addition to a 1952 Chevrolet School bus (lettered for St.
Augusta, the small town outside of St.
Cloud that is home to Voigt's), their fleet
also includes an MC7, MC8, MC9, PD 4104
and Flxible Clipper (photo at left). The
MC8, still lettered for Specht & Sons, is a
former Voigt's bus that was bought back by
Voigt's as an MC8 was needed for their
fleet. It will be repainted back into Voigt's
colors at some point in the future.
After lunch at the Crossroads Mall in St.
Cloud, our next stop was at the downtown
transit terminal for Metro Bus. We timed
our arrival at the terminal almost perfect in
time for the 2:15 PM pulse. Their terminal
is actually pretty small and they do manage to pack quite a few buses around it, a lot more than you would
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expect for a terminal of that size. We saw many of the new XN35 buses but also a few of the older D35LF and
D35LFR buses.
The Metro Bus garage was our next stop where we were able to get a shot of a Northstar Link bus (D4500,
ex-Southwest Transit). The Northstar Link buses connect to the Northstar Train in Big Lake and bring
commuters to St. Cloud.
The final stop of the day would be at Marquette and 4th in downtown Minneapolis to view the commuter bus
action. When developing the itinerary for this convention, we had to pick and choose which commuter
companies to visit. There was no way to visit them all during a three day convention so the stop at Marquette
and 4th would allow BHA members to get shots of Maple Grove Transit, Blue Xpress (Shakopee Transit and
Laker Lines), First Transit and Plymouth Metrolink, all companies which we would not visit. Other commuter
buses seen downtown were for Southwest Transit and the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority.
It was then back to the hotel aboard the MC7 as the Flxliner developed a slight problem and headed straight
back to the Richfield garage.
DAY TWO – Friday, June 13th
The Friday of the BHA convention was planned as a long day with the arrival time back at the hotel around
8:00 PM. Our charter buses for the day were from Richfield Bus Company. The MC7 # 61 was used for a
second straight day and was joined by MC9 # 51 (ex-Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines). Bus # 51 would be
changed off with bus # 78 (MC9) at the Cannon Falls garage during the mid-afternoon.
From the hotel, we headed west to Eden Prairie, a suburb of Minneapolis. It is more of an upscale suburb with
the transit service in the area being provided by SouthWest Transit. With most of the residents of the suburb
having access to at least one or two cars, SouthWest has had to be very innovative in their efforts to attract
customers. Their motto "expect the best" is on all of their coaches and refers to the premium type service that
they try to offer. All of their buses have Wi-Fi and they have a number of park and ride terminals throughout
Eden Prairie. Our first stop was at the SouthWest Transit station, their main terminal. Although the morning
peak was mostly over by the time of our arrival, a few buses did arrive and leave during our time there. They
also provided coffee and cookies for the BHA crowd and had numerous historical photos inside their terminal.
While inside the terminal, we were able to see one of their latest innovations to attract customers. They have
bikes, owned by SouthWest Transit, painted in the official colors. They even have a fleet number and are
available for rent from $ 75 or less for a biking season (May to October). Obviously, the bikes are intended to
get people the extra distance between their home and the SouthWest Terminal.
After the terminal, it was on to the garage where some vehicles were displayed outside for us. The highlight of
the garage tour though was the opportunity to see the immaculately restored historic bus of Southwest
Transit. Southwest acquired a Silversides in 1999 and totally restored it (photo on next page, taken at the
garage). Even the air conditioning still works. They do occasionally use this bus in regular service as a surprise
to some of their regular customers. It had been in service for one morning the week prior to the BHA
convention.
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Our next stop was at the Eagan garage of Minnesota Valley Transit Authority. MVTA posed a number of buses
outside for us, including one of the Nova LFS buses used on the Red Line for Metro Transit. One of the Gillig
BRT buses with the full roof cowling was also posed outside in the sunshine.
After a quick lunch stop, it was onto
Cannon Falls and the storage facility of
Richfield Bus Company and Rochester City
Lines. Most of the equipment at this facility
is stored and does not run. Hopefully all
vehicles will be restored at some point in
the future, but at least they have indoor
storage (for the most part) to protect them
from the elements.
It was really nice to see Beaver Bus Lines
# 29, a 1960 GMC TDH-4517. Also seen at
the garage were a MAN Articulated, a
Yellow Coach 743, numerous fishbowls
from Rochester City Lines, a few TDH-5105
(ex-Twin City Lines) old looks, a Portland Maine fishbowl and a GM PD4905 from Richfield Bus Company. A
very rare bus in the collection of Richfield bus is a Kenworth (photo below) that was formerly operated by
Northwest Greyhound. This bus was taken out of the woods a few years ago and Stan Holter does hope to do
a complete restoration someday.
Our next stop was in Rochester at the
garage of Rochester City Lines, a
subsidiary of Richfield Bus Company, run
by Dan Holter, the brother of Stan. At the
RCL garage, we saw even more buses
from the historical collection of the
Holters. Included was a TDM-5108 (serial
038) that was new to the Atomic Energy
Commission (Richland, WA). Numerous
old looks were also at the RCL garage,
along with three Fitzjohns. The Holters
also recently picked up some of the
Madison WI historical bus collection. A
TDH-4519 was painted in MBC (Madison
Bus Company) colors while a TDH-5303 (fleet # 400) was painted in the newer colors of Madison Metro. The
Madison fleet recently appeared for sale on various internet auction sites. A TDH-3207 that was in the
collection is now owned by a private collector in Montebello, CA. Obviously a change in management occurred
recently and the new management decided the historical collection was not needed. At least, it appears that
all of the buses ended up in good homes.
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Rochester City Lines also maintains a highway coach fleet. They have the commuter contract for the Mayo
Clinic and use a fleet of MCI 102EL3, 102DL3, D4500, 102D3 and even one 102A3. Bus # 67 is the only one of
the ex-Dallas (DART) coaches that is still active although it was in the garage on the day we visited. From the
RCL garage, we headed to downtown Rochester. The Mayo Clinic is one of the larger (if not the largest)
employer in the Rochester area. Numerous commuter runs depart between 4:00 PM and 5:15 PM each day.
The BHA was downtown for the peak of the departures which occurs between 5:10 and 5:12 PM. In the photo
at left, MCI 102DL3 # 4503 is seen
departing the Mayo Clinic on one of the
commuter shuttle routes.
While downtown, we managed to get a
few shots of Rochester Public Transit
Gillig buses. Rochester City Lines had
provided the city service in Rochester
since their inception (probably back to
the 1950s and 1960s), however they
recently lost the contract when the City
retendered the contract. It seems odd
that the company that started the
service was outbid on their own work
and now no longer provides the service.
While the Gilligs did initially operate in the yellow/red/white scheme of Richfield Bus, they have all been
repainted into the new scheme for Rochester Public Transit.
We then made a quick stop at the Bloomfield garage of Richfield Bus Company on the way back to the hotel.
The BHA group photo (on the next page) was taken in front of a number of Stan's historic buses. As you can
see, it was quite a large group and made for a good photo.
Some of the group went back to the hotel after the group photo, but some people waited for the second trip.
For those who waited, Stan pulled out the Mack C50 for better photos. He even gave us a short ride around
the block in it. The C50 (photo at right)
is the pride and joy of the Richfield
historic fleet. The Holter kids had
arranged for the bus to be totally
restored in 2009 in celebration of the
50th anniversary of Richfield Bus
Company. The restoration work was
done by Voigt's Bus Service (and we
have seen the quality of their work) and
was presented to their father George
and his wife. This C50 has double width
centre doors and is a former Twin City
Lines bus.
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DAY THREE – Saturday, June 14th
Our two charter buses on the Saturday of the convention were a GMC T8H-5307A from Richfield Bus Company
and a TDH-5105 from the Minnesota Transportation Museum. With mainly city driving scheduled for this day,
these two buses were ideal for this day. However, the weather was not ideal. It held off for the first stop of
the day which was the Jefferson Lines
garage.
Jefferson operates a varied fleet of
Prevost and MCI highway coaches,
along with some Temsa buses and
cutaways. Some of the cutaways are
wrapped for a shuttle service operated
for the zoo. Also at the garage were
numerous
Greyhound
Lines
and
Megabus Van Hool double deckers so it
made for a very interesting stop.
From Jefferson, it was onto the
Heywood garage of Metro Transit. The
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Heywood garage is one of the older Metro Transit garages and the GMC old looks definitely operated out of
the garage for a number of years. The rain started to come down during this stop and thus most of our time
was spent inside the garage getting a quick tour. We did manage to pose one of the new hybrid Xcelsiors with
our two charter buses but you can clearly see the rain in the photo on the previous page. Unfortunately, while
leaving the Jefferson garage, the TDH-5105 started to experience problems with the battery and would have
to be changed off to a Gillig Phantom when we were at the Metro Transit garage.
Our next stop was at the Como-Harriet Line of the Minnesota Streetcar Museum. The BHA had chartered two
cars, PCC # 322 (originally Twin City Lines, then to New Jersey Transit, photo at bottom of page) and # 1300,
a home built car by Twin City Lines. The rain was coming down hard while we were there and it even resulted
in a short power outage. As a result, they were not able to take the cars all the way to the east end of the
line. However, we did get a short ride on both cars so all was not lost. Even though it was a rainy day, I am
sure it was one of the best days for the gift shop at the Streetcar Museum as BHA members spent quite a bit
of money inside in support of the museum.
After lunch at Southdale Center, our next
It rained during the first part of our visit
photograph some of the buses in their
operated by Richfield Bus Company), the
Mack LD-3G (ex-Twin City Lines).
stop would be at the Minnesota Transportation Museum in St. Paul.
but it did eventually stop which would allow use to go outside and
collection. In addition to the old looks (owned by the museum,
museum owns a PD 4103 (ex-Duluth Transit Authority) and a 1943
After the museum, a quick stop was made at Union Depot in St. Paul where a number of BHA members
decided to ride the new Green Line LRT on the first day of service. Despite the weather, there were large
crowds waiting to ride the Green Line for most of the day. Metro Transit even had additional buses operating
to bring people to and from the Green Line station.
The rest of the group headed back to
the hotel where the convention ended,
after five great days. The 2014
Minneapolis convention was truly one
of a kind with the wide variety of buses
and historic vehicles seen. Thanks
really go out to Stan Holter of Richfield
Bus Company as well as the entire
Holter family who went above and
beyond what any company had ever
done for the BHA.
The BHA convention in 2015 will be in
Quebec City on Friday, June 12 and
Saturday, June 13. There is also the
possibility of a pre-convention day chartering a Nova LFS from Société de transport de Lévis that operates the
transit service on the south side of the St. Lawrence river. Further details will be provided early in 2015.
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A final footnote for the convention was courtesy of Stan Holter, who really went all out for this BHA
convention. He arranged to have a special print (drawing) made to hand out to everybody who attended. A
photo of the print is attached and is courtesy of Paul Bateson. When designing the print, Stan provided the
artist with the proposed itinerary and some of the logos of the companies we would be visiting. The artist then
combined them with some of the different types of vehicles operated or seen and the result in very impressive.
One of the buses depicted in the print is a Jefferson Lines White 65-A front engined bus from the 1930s.
Jefferson operated these up until the early 1950s. The bus in the print still exists, but we did not see it. Even
though we visited the Jefferson garage first thing Saturday morning, the White is no longer kept on their
property. For the last 3-4 years, the bus has been located at a body shop in Big Lake, MN underneath a tarp.
It has a number of vehicles parked in front of it. The canvas roof has deteriorated to the point where it needs
some pretty major work. The BHA had initially thought about stopping at the body shop in Big Lake (we drove
through Big Lake on the way from St. Cloud back to Minneapolis) but decided against it due to time
constraints and the rearranging of vehicles at the body shop that would have been necessary to view and
photograph the bus. Hopefully at some point in the future, this bus will make its way back into the Jefferson
fleet.
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