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What
is so special about the fleet of historic Red Buses? In
the 1930's the National Park Service developed a program with the
White Motor Company of Cleveland,
OH, for the production of canvas-topped touring coaches to provide
transportation for visitors within national parks. More than 500
vehicles were manufactured in the mid-1930's and were purchased
for use in various western national parks including Bryce Canyon,
Glacier, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Mt. Rainier, Yellowstone,
Yosemite, and Zion National Parks. While the canvas-topped tour
bus experience was replaced elsewhere, the fleet of (red) buses
was maintained at Glacier
National Park. The buses were ideal for trips across the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The open-air touring coaches afforded visitors a multi-sensory
experience. The drivers known as 'Gear Jammers' rolled the
Reds across the Continental
Divide.
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Why
were the buses removed from visitor use during the summer in 1999?
The
fleet was pulled from service in 1999 for reasons of safety. The
decision to remove these icons from the roads was not taken lightly,
but once the problems with structural and metal fatigue were
identified, there was no choice but to remove them from use - at
least temporarily - until an economically feasible solution could be
found. The
fully renovated Red Buses returned to touring services in Glacier
National Park
in 2002!
Did all of the Red Buses have identical rehabilitation needs?
The buses were found to have varying degrees of structural and
safety problems. Many of the structural concerns were associated
with the drive train, brakes, steering mechanisms, and chassis. As
an operating fleet, the buses had undergone routine maintenance over
the years, so individual vehicles varied in condition. In 1989, the
manual transmission and steering mechanisms were replaced with
automatic transmissions and power steering.
What
type of inspection originally took place in 1999?
After Glacier Park, Inc. (GPI) had conducted it's internal
inspection, the park concessioner consulted with the National Park
Service (NPS) about structural integrity and safety issues. NPS
management concurred with GPI and the fleet was removed from use. At
that time, an independent interdisciplinary team was brought to East
Glacier in September to inspect, evaluate, and consult with GPI
and the NPS regarding their results. This team included a White
Motor Company expert, Ford Motor Company, The Federal Transit
Administration (represented by the Denver RTD, GPI, and the NPS).
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Who has been involved
in this project?
After the fleet was removed from service, both GPI and NPS
committed subject matter personnel to serve on an
interdisciplinary team. They worked towards finding an economically
feasible solution to returning this fleet of historic buses to
service in Glacier National Park. This team brought together
an ad-hoc who group consisted
of mechanics, concession specialists, engineers and
consultants from Ford Motor Company, National Trust for
Historic Preservation, White Motor Co., Federal Transit
Administration (U.S. Department of Transportation), Montana
Department of Transportation, Department of the Interior,
National Park Foundation, Glacier Fund, Clean Fuels U.S.A. (Amerigas),
National Park Service, members of the Glacier Park Foundation
(former Gear Jammers), and numerous others concerned about
seeing that the buses return to the roadways of Glacier
National Park.
Who
owns the fleet of historic Red Buses?
The fleet of 33 historic vehicles were privately owned by park
concessioner Glacier Park, Inc. and have been operated under
concession contract within
Glacier
National Park
by Glacier Park, Inc. since they were purchased from the
Glacier Park Transportation Company (Howard Hays, Owner) in
the 1950s. In 2001, Glacier Park, Inc. donated the fleet (33
Red Buses) to the not-for-profit National Park Foundation so
that Ford Motor Company could fund the rehabilitation of the
buses. Upon completion of the renovation and restoration work
by Ford Motor Company and their contractor,
Transportation Design and Manufacturing (TDM), of Levonia,
Michigan, title of the
buses was transferred to Glacier
National Park. One of the coaches has been kept in as original condition as
possible for historical purposes. All partners agreed that
upon completion of all rehabilitation work (2003), Glacier
Park, Inc. would continue to operate the buses in Glacier
National Park under an amended contract for as long as the contract's terms
allow.
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Important Reservation
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Reservation,
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