The West Virginia School Bus Enthusiast: Visiting an Old Friend in Ohio and his Collection of School Buses

This past weekend, January 16th and 17th, 2021, I visited my good friend Noah in Lebanon, Ohio. He and I have been great friends since about July of 2015 due to our shared interest in school transportation. He also has a YouTube channel where you can check out his buses in more detail if you are interested, linked below.

https://www.youtube.com/c/BusBoy501Productions

This trip started like most others that I take when I come up and visit him. Get up early, take the easy (though somewhat longer) way of WV Route 2 and US 35 until I hit Interstate 71 and get off at Lebanon where he lives. Everything went normal aside from having to sit in traffic for an hour about 10 miles outside of Chillicothe for some unknown reason. I also got behind countless salt trucks and a couple of pretty intense snow flurries on my trip. As someone who is trying to preserve their truck and keep it for historical use after its daily driving days are over, this much salt and snow isn't very ideal.

I had never visited Noah in the winter time before, so this was mostly a similar experience as usual but with a different twist. Due to the policies of my employer, I had to put my request for time off two weeks in advance. This meant that weather predictions probably wouldn't be the most accurate. It ended up being somewhat snowy with a high of 36 degrees for the duration of the trip. For a person who despises cold weather, this was not ideal at all. But this did not stop us from having fun.

Noah had just purchased a 1995 Wayne International 3800 from his home district, Lebanon City Schools. This was the last of the Waynes that Lebanon had. It was approved for use this school year but officially put out of service on September 24th, 2020 and replaced by a 2021 Thomas C2. Lebanon had a rich history of Waynes throughout the years, so for someone with a lot of love for the school district to purchase one of the last three that remained, this bus means a lot.

Although bus 45 is a 1995, it was built in July of 1994. I'm not sure when the Federal Specification for the side emergency exit door was put into effect for the 1995 school year, but this bus must have missed the cut. Bus 45 is equipped with a T444E and an Allison AT545. It also has a hood replacement from an older International 3700/3800, because it has no place for the side mounted 3800 badges.

Noah in the driver's seat of his newest aquisition

Bus 45 and my 1994 Ford Ranger, which were both built in July of 1994.

Bus 59 in July 2019

Noah also owns three other buses. Bus 59, a 1999 Crown by Carpenter 3800 (DT466E+Allison AT545, pictured above) originally owned by the Warren County Board of MR/DD, is a bus bought with the intention of pulling parts from it. It wasn't anywhere close to being in good shape when he bought it and he is looking to get rid of it soon. There will be a picture of the other three buses together closer to the end.

Bus 3 as seen in June 2020

Next up is bus 3, a 1986 Wayne S-1700 which Noah bought from Lebanon City Schools in March of 2017 along with bus 66 (coming up next). This bus was retired in the 1999-2000 school year and used for parts. Presumably, this was the decision of Laidlaw (whom Lebanon hired to operate their transportation department around that time). Noah intended to restore this one but eventually found out the hard way that these projects are a lot more difficult than they look. He still intends to keep this one as a storage bus, as the cost to store it is still less than a storage unit on the same property and he has more space this way.

Bus 66 as seen in June 2020

Lastly is bus 66, which Noah also bought in March 2017. Bus 66 is a 2000 AmTran RE (T444E+AT545) that was brough to Lebanon by Laidlaw and sold to Lebanon when Lebanon regained control of their fleet once First Student (who bought Laidlaw) was kicked out. This bus sat for about a year and a half before Noah bought it and it has been the bus that he has used to learn in.

All three buses together

As an added binus, here is a Wisconsin spec early model Blue Bird 3800 that was turned into an RV, which also resides at the same storage lot as Noah's buses.

Not only did Noah and I mess around with his buses, but we were also invited along with a mutual friend of ours to visit the lot of Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local Schools in Bellbrook, Ohio. Their fleet is somewhat small, but I thought it was pretty neat. We got a ride on bus 37, a 2016 IC CE200 with the mostly hated Maxxforce 7.