| Author | Message | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Registered Member Username: Rjlong Post Number: 1406 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 67.181.166.160  Rating: N/A |
Spotted in Fresno CA recently, let's see how sharp you MCI gurus are. What's interesting about this particular coach, eh? I'll let it run for a week or so, then I'll share what I found out about it. Enjoy!  | ||
| Luvrbus (Luvrbus)
Registered Member Username: Luvrbus Post Number: 488 Registered: 8-2006 Posted From: 67.142.130.31 Rating: N/A |
I don't know if it is the same bus but we rode one with the sight seeing windows in the roof at a national park in Utah | ||
| David Lower (Dave_l)
Registered Member Username: Dave_l Post Number: 36 Registered: 11-2007 Posted From: 206.248.158.23  Rating: N/A |
Luvrbus you beat me to it, it's a MC8 sight seeing bus. My MC7 is one, if you look at my profile picture the p.o painted them over but are still visable. Brewster bus lines in Canada had them also in the rockies. Dave L May the flys of a thousand camels infest my gotch I stand corrected :-) (Message edited by dave l on August 04, 2008) | ||
| joe padberg (Joemc7ab)
Registered Member Username: Joemc7ab Post Number: 285 Registered: 6-2004 Posted From: 66.38.159.33 Rating: N/A |
David I believe you might have been thinking of Brewster bus lines. Sightseeing busses as used in the Rockies originating from Banff Alberta. Joe. | ||
| JC Alacoque (Jc_alacoque)
Registered Member Username: Jc_alacoque Post Number: 69 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 72.45.68.242 Rating: N/A |
I drove for Brewster's in the Seventies. Most of our buses had "Skyviews". They were installed at MCI in Winnipeg in used buses from Greyhound (we were a subsidiary at that time and got their hand-me-downs), as well as in new coaches as a factory option, (MC 5Cs and 8s as an example). As far as I remember, MC 8s were the last ones with skyviews. The 9s had bigger windows, and loosing the overhead racks was too much of a compromise. Of course they were hot in the summer. I have solid "Sun Blocker" covers for mine that velcro on the inside, as well as outside covers. They are great in cool weather! | ||
| Mark Renner (Boomer)
Registered Member Username: Boomer Post Number: 104 Registered: 11-2006 Posted From: 168.103.180.138  Rating: N/A |
The square windows (no Z bar) indicate that this is a 1978 '8. As far as I know, that was the only year for the "square window" '8's. It's possible that this one went new to Gray Line San Diego, as they had several glass top '8's in their fleet. I bought a cherry MC8 out of their fleet in the mid '90's. They bought it new and about all it had done it's whole life was tours to TJ, Mexico. I got my pick of several in the yard, which is how I know about their glass tops. | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong)
Registered Member Username: Rjlong Post Number: 1414 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 67.181.166.160 Rating: N/A |
Ooops. . . I completely forgot about this thread! Anyway, many of you were darned close. Besides the skyview windows and the lack of the "Z bar", notice, too, that this coach has an MC-9 front cap. Anyway, it was originally built as a demonstrator coach in late 1977, and sent to MCI's west coast sales office (Hausman at the time). A company based in Anaheim, IIRC, called Co-Ordinators purchased it, and used it for sight-seeing around the Southern California area. When Co-Ordinators went defunct, a large church in the San Diego area purchased three of their fleet, but they spent most of their time sitting. From the church, two were purchased by a couple of guys in Burlingame (just S of San Francisco on the peninsula), this one sat while the other was converted. Recently, one of the two partners passed away, and this coach was part of his estate, which went to his only relative, his sister. The coach is actually in excellent shape, has an 8V71/HT-740 powertrain, obviously the skyview windows, and NO restroom. The sister really doesn't know what to do with it, which means that if somebody offered her a reasonable offer, she just might take it. If anybody's interested, send me a message off-board and I'll pass on the owner's contact information. Click on my name to the left for my email address. Interesting coach, with an interesting history - and most likely, pretty darned corrosion free!! FWIW & HTH. . .  |