(Seattle, WA) Vintage Buses

I will be sharing some of my photos taken over this past weekend, during my "mini vacation" to Seattle!

Given the different opposing themes which my photos are based upon and the quantity, I decided it might perhaps be best to spread my photos over two different individual topics.

This post will be focused on "old buses", buses that are no longer used for daily revenue services. A fleet of historical transit buses in Seattle is preserved and maintained by the Metro Employee Historic Vehicle Association (MEHVA), a dedicated group of metro transit employees (mostly transit operators and supervisors) who volunteer their time and efforts to keep the history of transit in Seattle active and alive. MEHVA uses these magnificiently well-maintained vehicles for public events, held on several designated occasions every year. Anyone can join these events, just show up on time on the scheduled days with $5 USD ready, and you're qualified for a day of fun and entertainment! For more information, please visit their website HERE. I am not affiliated to MEHVA in any ways, nor am I trying to "advertise" for them.......but nevertheless, I decided to post just in case some of our fellow members in Vancouver, BC (like myself) or Seattle will find this information helpful!

Anyway, I'll save the speech for another day........and move on to the photos! I specifically listed the photos from top to bottom, according to chronological order.

1968 GM "New Look" T8H-5305, ex-Seattle Transit System #724



1976 AM General model 10240B



1979 Flyer D900



The following are by far the most interesting vehicles that once operated in Seattle..........European imports!

1979 MAN / AM General SG220.........100% German engineering: MAN diesel engine + Renk Transmission! I do have a video recorded onboard, for those who may be interested!



1987 MAN SL40102L "Americana".........once again, pure German product!



Finally, Breda Dual-Mode, "diesel trolleybuses". The pioneers of Seattle's "tunnel bus" system, before dual-mode hybrid buses began to exist!



Craving for more photos? Visit my website for more, the journey doesn't have to stop here.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Dave

Wow, this brings back alot of childhood memories...riding on the 11xx on school special from Mercer Island to my primary school at First hill, the take the 35ft Flyer back home on 202 or the 40ft Flyer to Bellevue Square on 226 (550). or visit school mate by taking the MAN Artic on 215.  Of course there are others memories such as going to college on Route 2/13's Flyer/ Gillig trolley, or 43/44 on MAN and Breda trolley, and recently 71/2/3/4 New Flyer Hybrid morning run to work before I moved back to Hong Kong after 20 years in Seattle and Vancouver/Portland.  Even thought I have a car, but nothing beats the great operators of King County Metro, C Tran and Tri-Met....whose friendly smile and great customer service will always be part of my memory for a place I call home.

I remembered that the first time I rode in those GM buses (pic 1) while i was in Vancouver in 1992, I didn't know how to get off the bus (it was a push-door) and was standing at the step waiting for the door to be opened. after a few second, a lady told me to push open the door .... and i was so amazed that i had to push open a bus door to get off.  
Now, i appreciate such design cuz this was the brightest idea of self-service

Did they preserved any  later SG-310, those are the once with dot matrix display and also wheelchair lift, and based out of Bellevue, and East based.

BTW, due to federal money was used to buy the MAN, the SG 220 was assembled @ AM General, and the rest were made in North Carolina.  

BTW, A/C Transit, Muni and CTA of Chicago also have similar buses, but their SL40-102 (Americana) has A/C at the back, and also, they have CTA has some shorter SG 220 with A/C....during early 2000, there were a bunch of SG 220, and 310 sold to CTA for temp. usage, some even ran in the KCM "Sunshine livery" for 1-2 years old because they were scapped.

Also, some interesting notes, some SL40-102 were assembled in house @ Atlantic base. and all of the Breda except the first one were assembly there too.  This is quite rare for Transit agency in US to assemble their vehicle in premise...