Not really a d.o.m., just a wannabe.
You're telling me you have a bus? I did once. A customer found he couldn't pay his bill, so I ended up with a '74 Highway Twin Coach, 28'. In trying to get some info, I scrolled the sign with route destinations (it had been a city bus somewhere) up and down, and guessed at central California. Studied a Sacramento street map, did a little library research. Called up Santa Clara County Transit, maintenance dept., and asked for "any old-timer." Got a mechanic who had worked on them; naturally all the shop-manuals were long-gone, but he gave me some background. The Highway buses, powered by 440 Dodge industrial engines burning propane, were national news when they arrived, being some of the first eco-friendly city buses in the country.
Next, I wrote to Kent, Ohio (once home to the now-defunct Twin-Coach (later Highway) plant), city hall. They sent me names of a retired executive and a local amateur historian. I phoned the exec, first reaching his wife: "Hi, I'm calling from Seattle, Washington for Mr. John Doe." "Oh (very excited), just a minute, he'll be right here!" Voices in background, "It's from Seattle, Washington!" . . . "Oh! Seattle, Washington?!!" (getting excited, too) . . . "Yes!, Here!" (I tell my buddy from Indiana about this call later, and he's laughing his fanny off, saying, "That's the Midwest, all right!!"
Talked to several people in Kent, unfortunately without locating the wiring diagram or shop manual I'd hoped for. My name and my bus got talked about by all the city fathers in Kent, to the point where we even made the local paper!
This bus had particular interest for me because of its connection to boatracing. Twin Coach was originally a creation of the Fageol brothers of Ohio. They had gone out to California in the teens or '20's, and founded Fageol Motors, building buses and trucks of various kinds. Selling that company, they went back to Ohio and got back into the same business with Twin Coach (some of their early buses had an engine at both ends!). One of their sons was Lou Fageol, rich sportsman and hydroplane driver. He drove the Slo-Mo-Shun V, twice winning the Gold Cup race in Seattle in the early '50s. As an impressionable little boy (and unlimited hydroplanes used to make a tremendous impression in their piston-engine years!!), I fell in love with that boat and that sport. Therefore, this bus was something a little special to me, even though it was built after the Fageol family had sold the company to Highway.
But, it was a big project added to too many others. I wanted it for traveling, and would have replaced the propane 440 with a turboed 4-71. Plus, do all the camper conversion. So I sold it for $2000, tho' not without regrets (as I have every time I sell a project).
Okay, Bill, tell me about Your bus . . . .
