This past weekend, a friend and I explored most of Southern West Virginia, including Boone, Logan, Mingo, McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, and Fayette counties, as well as Tazewell County, VA.
Southern West Virginia, despite most of it being pretty poor, is a beautiful portion of the state. I didn't get very many scenic shots, as I was the one driving, but my copilot did. I don't have any of those available, but I do have pictures of my truck at some of the various locations as well as some pictures from the famous New River Gorge.
The pictures loaded in reverse order by location (mostly). In order, we went to Chapmanville (Logan County), Madison (Boone Co.), the city of Logan, Man (Logan Co.), Mingo Central High School (Mingo Co.), Advanced Learning Center (Delbarton, WV; Mingo Co.), Welch (McDowell Co.), Tazewell, VA (Tazewell Co.), Princeton High School (Mercer Co.), spent the night in Princeton and reshot some buses the next morning due to lighting issues with the setting sun, then we went to Beckley (Raleigh Co.), The New River Gorge Bridge (Fayette Co.), saw some rafting buses (ACE Rafting), went towards the bus garage (Fayette Co.), then we set our sights on some other local rafting companies (Cantrell and River Expeditions), went to the Appalachian Bible College (not pictured), then closed our day at Winfield (Putnam Co.) since it was relatively close to home.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures, I enjoy taking them.
Putnam County Schools 1901, a 2020 IC RE.
Putnam County Schools 2306, a now retired 2004 IC CE 300.
From left to right, 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2006 IC FEs.
A couple of examples of Putnam County's IC REs.
An example of Putnam County's lineup, aside from the few first generation CEs still clinging on.
Bus 2201, a 2003 IC CE 300 that is now retired.
River Expeditions 24, a Wayne S-1800 with the hood and front bumper from a 3700/3800.
Ex-Wayne County Schools 2036, a 2001 AmTran FE.
A neat surprise from Cantrell Ultimate Rafting.
Cantrell's lineup that was available at the time of photography.
An old WV Blue Bird International (Ex-Fayette?) at Adventure WV
A neat little Ward/AmTran attatched to a rafting trailer.
An Ex-WV 2001 International CE 300 serving for ACE Rafting. Note the hood from a 2004 CE.
A 1992 Ward 3800 (DT466 with a 6 speed manual) with an Ex-WV Blue Bird 3800, from ACE Rafting.
My 1994 Ford Ranger with the New River Gorge Bridge.
The New River Gorge Bridge just outside of Fayetteville, WV.
A Gasoline powered Blue Bird Vision from Fayette County.
Fayette County's Bus lot behind Fayetteville High School.
Fayette County 1851, Ex-Wood County 159.
This 2013 Blue Bird Vision is suffering horribly from Blue Bird's infamous hood paint issues.
Raleigh County's lot in Beckley, WV.
Raleigh County is one of three counties that I know of with Blue Bird All-American D3s. I have not seen any REs of this body style yet in the state of West Virginia.
Some of Raleigh's buses stuffed outside of the fence.
More of Raleigh's buses stuffed outside of the fence. Their retirees were in the back row. Mostly 2004 IC CEs with some older second generation CEs, a C2, an older Thomas EF, and a Blue Bird 3800.
Tazewell County, VA ordered their new Thomas C2s with black grilles. Looks sharp.
One of Tazewell's Activitiy Buses.
The Majority of Tazewell County's fleet.
Some buses stuffed in a fence at Mercer County in Princeton, WV.
Three of Mercer County's newest buses. They pulled the same thing Cabell County did when they were in the same numbering area and (thankfully) avoided numbering a bus 666 from what I saw.
Mercer Co. in Princeton.
Mercer Co. in Princeton.
Mercer's one and only Blue Bird All-American D3 FE.
Mercer's Retirees, 2002 and 2003 Blue Bird 3800s.
McDowell County in Welch.
The only IC BE that I know of in this state that is in service. We later found three more from the same head start sitting in a field rusting away outside of Kimball.
A neat little 2004 IC CE 200.
McDowell Co. in Welch.
Some of Mingo's retirees at the Advanced Learning Center in Delbarton, WV.
Some of Mingo's current lineup at the Advanced Learning Center.
Buses lined up at Mingo Central High School.
Many of Mingo's older buses, most of which were retired, at Mingo Central.
Many of Mingo's older buses, most of which were retired, at Mingo Central.
Logan County Schools 19-4, a 2019 Thomas HDX as seen at the Man, WV bus lot. This is the first bus in the state of West Virginia that I have seen with an air foil on the rear roofcap to prevent dust/salt accumulation.
Logan County 2021 is the only high headroom first generation IC CE that I have seen in WV.
Logan County 20-3, a 2020 C2 with the new Detroit DD5.
This little dog greeted us at the Logan bus garage.
A view from the small Boone County lot in Madison, WV.
Logan County bus 2045 Damage.
Logan County Schools bus 2045 was in an accident a few years ago when it slammed into a cliffside and was totalled due to the structural damage in the rear.
My truck at the Chapmanville bus garage in Logan County. We were in and out because there was a house on the property and did not feel like dealing with any sort of encounters.
School bus license plate collector here....Does WV have specific plates for public school transportation? What would any prefix or suffix be if you do have one. rfernald1023@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the late response, I don't check or update this as much as I should. West Virginia buses have the same plates used with all other county owned vehicles, so they are not specific to school buses unfortunately. I have noticed in recent years that the first couple of digits in the plate number can be used to identify the year of the bus, such as a plate reading 72-XXX would be a plate issued around the 2003 model year.
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