doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Remember back when high school kids drove school buses? This is one of the ones I drove when I was in high school. Old #28. I think this was from my junior year. Might've been me in there...I can't tell. I did have that route for a while. V-8 powered, with a 5-speed manual (4 + a granny gear). Those old I-H V-8s had a different sound to them. I believe it was a 345" motor. Does that sound right? I guess this is the same nose sheet metal as a Loadstar. I believe this was just before we replaced that bus with a new International with an Allison automatic in it. Things were never the same after that! We had 2 of these (#7 & #28), along with a variety of Fords and Chevys. The Internationals had a shorter wheelbase and more rear overhang. They also steered tighter than the others. Made them much easier to maneuver on some of the tighter back roads we had to travel. This particular one's route had a turn-around at the end of a dirt road. Pretty tight. Several little branches ran across that road. Was a real mess when it rained! We had another one (a 1968 activity bus) that only had a rev limiter...no road governor. My neighbor was the football coach and he kept it at his house. They got it the year I started school. Drove that one many a time...many years later. Good times... 1 Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 In fact, here we were! 1 Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
Freightrain 2,540 Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 (edited) Never had kids driving buses when I was in school, but remember the old stick shift buses and this one small hill that a new driver couldn't get the bus started on. Oh, the fun days. 345 CI was it. They made 304, 345, 392's for most applications(at least for light/med duty). My '72 1210 pickup had a 345/4 spd in it. Ex township road dept truck. Beat to pieces, got it at auction for $150 but was my first truck so I thought it was cool. I have a couple pictures of me working on it(did that a LOT). It would pass everything but a gas station. I think just starting it took 1/8 tank of fuel!!! Good friend in school had a few Internationals, his last was a '72 1210 4wd stepside, 392/4bbl, 4 spd. His dad had a few Travelalls growing up. Edited September 17, 2020 by Freightrain 1 Quote Larry 1959 B61 Liv'n Large...................... Charter member of the "MACK PACK" Link to post Share on other sites
70mackMB 575 Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 2 hours ago, doubleclutchinweasel said: Good times... That looks like it would be about a '68 +/-. My first driving job was plowing for a contractor for the state of NH. lt was a six wheel dump with a gas motor. l remember it said "Much l do" across the hood. Lived in Mass but had to have a NH license to work for the state. So.....l had two, one from Mass (Class 3?) and the second from NH (Light commercial) with a Mass address on it! Try that today! .....Hippy 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alex g 746 Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 Hard to believe high school kids drove buses at one time. Wouldn't happen today Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted September 18, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 18, 2020 1 hour ago, alex g said: Hard to believe high school kids drove buses at one time. Wouldn't happen today It was a LONG time ago! I remember very clearly going through the training program. One of the first things they told us was that our state had one of the highest percentages of student-drivers, and also had one of the best safety records in the country. They were very selective about who they certified, and they had NO tolerance for anything out of line. Of course, this all ended once the state adopted the newer license requirements, which required a bus driver to have a class C CDL. It was a great time in my life. The drivers were all pretty awesome folks. As I recall, we only had 2 drivers who were not students. Those 2 did other jobs at the school as well as drive their buses. On the last day of class for a school year, most of the kids would stop on their way out and tell the driver "thanks", and say how much they would miss you over the summer. Some of the cute girls, who normally wouldn't even speak to me, gave a little peck on the cheek for appreciation! Not a bad way to end a year! Of course, people were different back then. Most of those kids showed a lot of respect for their driver, and understood that behaving on the bus was necessary for the safety of everybody. 3 Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted September 18, 2020 Author Share Posted September 18, 2020 15 hours ago, 70mackMB said: That looks like it would be about a '68 +/-. My first driving job was plowing for a contractor for the state of NH. lt was a six wheel dump with a gas motor. l remember it said "Much l do" across the hood. Lived in Mass but had to have a NH license to work for the state. So.....l had two, one from Mass (Class 3?) and the second from NH (Light commercial) with a Mass address on it! Try that today! .....Hippy I think they bought those 2 buses in my 1st or 2nd grade year. So, yes, they should be about '68 models, give or take a year. I always thought it was funny that I drove buses that were new when I first started school. Of course, when you are that age, 10-12 years seems like a LOOOONNNG time. I mean, that IS a major percentage of your entire life! Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted September 18, 2020 Author Share Posted September 18, 2020 Finally found 1 picture of the red & black activity bus. These folks were a couple of years older than I was. 2 Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
Brocky 1,250 Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 Weasel you are a bit younger than me. Our school had contract buses with adult drivers, some of them women,farm girls.. Our fleet was mid 50's R and S model IH's with a couple of Brockways thrown in. Quote Brocky Link to post Share on other sites
mowerman 2,248 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 Sorry,,,, missed this one somehow busses always catch my attention always thought they were way cool..... not sure if this is why,,, but my mom drove a school bus 1965-1970 .... her first one was a 63 GMC sorry no still photos but I do have movies of her in it ... bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carlotpilot 1,494 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 who on here is old enough to remember seeing school bus chassis being driven on the highway from the mfg. to the body installers place of business? no cab only a temp seat and half a windshield Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hayseed 573 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 1 hour ago, carlotpilot said: who on here is old enough to remember seeing school bus chassis being driven on the highway from the mfg. to the body installers place of business? no cab only a temp seat and half a windshield Yep, remember them Well. & in the Winter time All rugged up & wearing a raincoat. No half Windscreen down here.. Most of 'em wore a Motor bike Helmut to keep the bugs out of their eyes.. Quote "Be who you are and say what you feel...Because those that matter...don't mind...And those that mind....don't matter." - Link to post Share on other sites
doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 7 hours ago, carlotpilot said: who on here is old enough to remember seeing school bus chassis being driven on the highway from the mfg. to the body installers place of business? no cab only a temp seat and half a windshield Yep. Remember it well. Thomas Built Buses had facilities in High Point, NC. Blue Bird had facilities somewhere in GA. So, we saw a lot of chassis and new finished buses in this area. Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
mowerman 2,248 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 On 9/17/2020 at 2:39 PM, 70mackMB said: That looks like it would be about a '68 +/-. My first driving job was plowing for a contractor for the state of NH. lt was a six wheel dump with a gas motor. l remember it said "Much l do" across the hood. Lived in Mass but had to have a NH license to work for the state. So.....l had two, one from Mass (Class 3?) and the second from NH (Light commercial) with a Mass address on it! Try that today! .....Hippy My first trucking job... nissens bakery,,they never even asked me for my license till I was already hired and working.... as you mentioned,, try that these days ... bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mowerman 2,248 Posted October 22, 2020 Share Posted October 22, 2020 I never heard of students driving busses either... but like someone mentioned..... people weren’t such idiots years ago... bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 23 minutes ago, mowerman said: I never heard of students driving busses either... but like someone mentioned..... people weren’t such idiots years ago... bob Probably did not happen in every state. Where I grew up, it was a normal thing. 1 Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
Brocky 1,250 Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 I think it was more of a southern thing.. I remember the late Leroy Gurganus, of Jasper ALA, telling of driving school buses while in high school. Quote Brocky Link to post Share on other sites
doubleclutchinweasel 602 Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 You may be correct. Quote "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." Link to post Share on other sites
other dog 9,167 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 On 10/22/2020 at 1:16 PM, doubleclutchinweasel said: Probably did not happen in every state. Where I grew up, it was a normal thing. A lot of students drove the busses when I was in school too. And most of them were Internationals, a good many of them were anyway, including old number 8 that I rode. It looked kind of like this one. Quote Producer of poorly photo-chopped pictures since 1999. Link to post Share on other sites
Miami Cossack 23 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Those old gas engines timed off number 8 instead number one. Was fun watching new guys get them running if they didn't know Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1965 412 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Miami Cossack said: Those old gas engines timed off number 8 instead number one. Was fun watching new guys get them running if they didn't know As long as you have firing order, I don’t see the problem. Edited January 1 by 1965 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mowerman 2,248 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Lol..... I am not quite sure what he means either....: bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h67st 1,284 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 He may mean #1 cylinder is in the back...I've seen some strange ways to number the cylinders before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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