BusTalk

MBTA67885 · Age: 45 Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Boston, Ma.

I drive for the MBTA in Boston. I am also a spare inspector. I have been there for 5 years now. I love it.. I have been into buses since I was 2 years old. I also work for Paul Revere Transportation as a bus instructor. I've been there for 11 years. It is in my blood.

timecruncher · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 9:25 pm Post subject:

Four years in Louisville, KY beginning with Louisville Transit Company and made it through public turnover, then 18.5 years for Queen City Metro up in Cincinnati, plus off and on maybe ten years part-time for various charter outfits, 10 years dispatching part-time and then two years driving part-time at TANK in northern Kentucky while working full-time as the scheduler back in Louisville.

Been back in Louisville timecrunching for 12.5 years now. If you do the math, I've been driving buses or telling people where and when to drive them now for 37 years as of December 3.

And if that isn't enough, after giving up the TANK gig on weekends thanks to $4.50/gallon gas, I've taken on some scheduling chores for LexTran in Lexington, KY in my spare time.

Yeah, I'm old and ornery.

1974 - next to one of the best buses a bus-lover could drive:

A couple of years later with a freshly-repainted T6H5307A on TARC route 15:

Cincinnati in 1991 next to 1981 Metro Grumman 870 #168:

I arranged for a little "wheel time" for myself and three other Metro bus whores up in Dayton, Ohio on a Marmon-Herrington TC44. Oh yeah-twin wires make it even better!

Doing the charter thing sometime in the early nineties with Nick Lang. He still works part time for Croswell... Loved that 5-speed 102C3!

There just isn't any place you might not find me messin' with buses. That's "son of timecruncher#2" behind the wheel. He drove for TANK for ten years before getting his dream job as a conductor for Amtrak. He likes playing with trains, but secretly he misses the bus...

And yes, I even got to drive a bus in Lexington this past October during the World Equestrian Games. We had every LexTran driver working, a few from TANK and one from Metro down in Lexington, a couple of road supervisors and moi. I started out midday straight run on Saturday on route 10 Hamburg until a regular driver was freed up from the shuttles to finish the run. 'Twernt no big thing (felt damn good to be behind the wheel again, though), except that since Lextran had leased some Gilligs from both TANK and TARC, I ended up driving one of our own TARC Gilligs on a Lextran route!

Here, then is TARC 2508, 2005 Gillig low floor, after my relief got on board at the Lexington Transit Center.

timecruncher

shortlineMCI · Age: 54 Joined: 07 May 2007 Posts: 241

Timecruncher...what a terrific illustration that takes us throught the years. It makes it very personal and nice that we can put a face to the different names as such.

thank you again..very nice job indeed

Ken

Steve Carras · Age: 63 Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 63

Neither here. Just a rider. Smile

traildriver · Joined: 26 Mar 2011 Posts: 2475 Location: South Florida

I have been a ticket agent, driver, and dispatcher. Been in the business since 1968.

JimmiB · Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:10 am Post subject:

Drove transit and charter buses for about 21 years. Drove for Reading(PA) Bus Co. (pre BARTA) in the late 60's when they were still running TDH 4510's and 12's.
Ten years later I started driving in Lebanon, PA, and you could have guessed, they were using 4512's !!! At that time I worked for Lebanon Bus Co. which supplied the drivers for County of Lebanon Transit.
Drove charter bus for a sister company, Lebanon Coach Co. They broke me in on a GM 4104.
Served as the last General Manager there until the directors sold off the rights and closed.
I may be a jinx Rolling Eyes

Reading Bus, Lebanon Bus and Lebanon Coach have all gone out of business, and even the transit authority is changing their name.
Can't stay away from transportation. Now that I'm retired, I have a part time job as a taxi dispatcher.