Bus Pushing

[Tansea]

Good times

Going down one way streets, the wrong way, finding bus drivers asleep at the wheel....ah the memories that wake me from a sound sleep to this day

[IntheMood]

What great stories. Thank you all for posting. Back in the day there was no internet. So one did not really know what kind of troubles a Corps was having or who won what Show. Except word to mouth. I say this because when I was a 13 year old marching in a Class A Drum and Bugle Corps back in the day, I always thought that the Open Class Drum and Bugle Corps had no money problems, no bus problems, no one marching under the age of 17, and all the members were feed by their Corps. After reading all the stories and looking at all the pictures on this site. I can only say that I am sorry for thinking that way. (remember 13 year old thinking lol) The only difference between an Open Class Corps and a Class A Corps back in the day was the fact that you all had more talented kids in your hood then we did. LOL LOL. On the Field when the Gun went off you all without question were better then us. Off the field I now know that everything else was the same.

I hope one day the young people of today realize that the only difference between Open Class and World Class Corps of today is the same as it was back in the day.

I always liked breaking down in Canada. The people were nice and we always ended up with some kind of food. Compared to many of you all we had it easy. We only had to push Yellow School Busses.

Dean

[Martybucs]

Good times

Going down one way streets, the wrong way, finding bus drivers asleep at the wheel....ah the memories that wake me from a sound sleep to this day

On the way from Dallas to New Orleans to do a pre season Saints halftime show in 1971, we traveled all night. We had one bus driver that was probably not the brightest bulb in the box. As we rode down whatever highway it was, a trailer began to pass us that had a large yacht on it. Just to be funny the other relief bus driver yelled, "Hey Jimmy, we're headed for the water watch out for the boat!"

Bad idea! There were some anxious moments as we swerved from lane to lane, while Jimmy tried to get us back to shore.

Some very nervous laughter followed and it was very quiet for a long time.

First rest stop, the other drivers came running up yelling, "What the hell was that all about? What happened?"

Come to think of it, that was pretty scary

On the same trip on the way home, one of the drivers fell asleep and ran off the road into a ditch in Alabama. A tow truck came but was too small. (Holmes 440 for those in the know).

With the winch and all available hands pushing we actually got the bus out of the ditch and without tipping it over.

[BD2Rings]

27 had a bus they called the Oh Four? So did the Blue Devils.

It was a model 4104, hence the name. The air conditioning was always questionable, but those 4104s had those huge slide windows that made you feel you were in a hurricane while traveling at highway speeds.

I know we pushed busses on more than one occasion.

[A27Lancer]

27 had a bus they called the Oh Four? So did the Blue Devils.

It was a model 4104, hence the name. The air conditioning was always questionable, but those 4104s had those huge slide windows that made you feel you were in a hurricane while traveling at highway speeds.

I know we pushed busses on more than one occasion.

Ah yes, the 0-4. Probably the same model. No A/C (at least it didn't work). Most of the seats didn't recline, the bathroom didn't work, by mid-tour, the floor looked like the remains of a Malaysian squat-hole.

[MsBusDriver]

What great stories. Thank you all for posting. Back in the day there was no internet. So one did not really know what kind of troubles a Corps was having or who won what Show. Except word to mouth. I say this because when I was a 13 year old marching in a Class A Drum and Bugle Corps back in the day, I always thought that the Open Class Drum and Bugle Corps had no money problems, no bus problems, no one marching under the age of 17, and all the members were feed by their Corps. After reading all the stories and looking at all the pictures on this site. I can only say that I am sorry for thinking that way. (remember 13 year old thinking lol) The only difference between an Open Class Corps and a Class A Corps back in the day was the fact that you all had more talented kids in your hood then we did. LOL LOL. On the Field when the Gun went off you all without question were better then us. Off the field I now know that everything else was the same.

I hope one day the young people of today realize that the only difference between Open Class and World Class Corps of today is the same as it was back in the day.

I always liked breaking down in Canada. The people were nice and we always ended up with some kind of food. Compared to many of you all we had it easy. We only had to push Yellow School Busses.

Dean

Yes, and I remember riding on one of those Yellow School Buses to Toledo OH the morning after finals in '75 when one of our buses broke down. Gail gave us the option to fly out of O'Hare or squish onto two buses. Those of us who were able to get up VERY EARLY the next morning shared those oh so uncomfortable seats with you guys. I couldn't even imagine going a whole tour in those things.

Anyway, it was very gracious of the Glassmen to offer to share their seats with us and we got to get home early for once. Thanks again!

[LancerLegend]

Ah yes, the 0-4. Probably the same model. No A/C (at least it didn't work). Most of the seats didn't recline, the bathroom didn't work, by mid-tour, the floor looked like the remains of a Malaysian squat-hole.

James - what busses are you dreaming of? NONE of our 4 busses had bathrooms. The 04 did have AC - but - it was a compressor located on the outside of the bus. If DiSab put it on - it stayed on all night long - and we'd be freezing.

If we had bathrooms, we would have never stopped.

I distinctly remember it was broken in 76 when we crosses the Rockies. Travelling thru New Mexico and Arizona - we had the windows open, but the air outside was hotter than the stagnant air inside the bus.

The original busses were the 314 (George B's bus - aka the Revere bus), the 308 (aka the Norwood bus), and 304 (aka Roslindale) and when we got the staff bus......I forget the number of that one.

[LancerLegend]

Actually, I remember it being a baby blue Cadillac, which got a pretty black stripe down the passenger’s side of the car, courtesy of the 27th Lancers. I also remember looking out the window of the bus and seeing one of the wheels flatten a roadside tree.

To this day, I thank Jimmy DeSab for saving our lives that day. I think they literally had to pry his hands off the wheel when we came to a stop.

I have a pic of DiSab in the 76 yearbook - the pic titled "Brain Salad Surgery." Imagine what could have happened? How close were we on the edge of being seriously hurt.

I remember "posting guard" at night to help keep the bus drivers awake. I had Mr. Ambrogne (RIP) one night. I would take a cloth, dampen it with cold water, and put it on his neck to help keep him awake. Of course - it was "pulling an all nighter" and we'd have practice and a show the next day.

Talk about DiSab, Arthur helped more kids than anyone. He loved his "kids" and we loved him.

[MikeD]

I remember "posting guard" at night to help keep the bus drivers awake.

Yup...we did the same...one member would sit on one of those water coolers in the front of the bus and talk to the driver all night long, in shifts. One time the driver still started to drift off and we ran off the road until he jerked back to a state of awake-ness and steered us back onto the road. Looking back, it was an extremely dangerous thing to do.

[Tansea]

See what I mean....good times, GOOD TIMES!!!!

On the way from Dallas to New Orleans to do a pre season Saints halftime show in 1971, we traveled all night. We had one bus driver that was probably not the brightest bulb in the box. As we rode down whatever highway it was, a trailer began to pass us that had a large yacht on it. Just to be funny the other relief bus driver yelled, "Hey Jimmy, we're headed for the water watch out for the boat!"

Bad idea! There were some anxious moments as we swerved from lane to lane, while Jimmy tried to get us back to shore.

Some very nervous laughter followed and it was very quiet for a long time.

First rest stop, the other drivers came running up yelling, "What the hell was that all about? What happened?"

Come to think of it, that was pretty scary

On the same trip on the way home, one of the drivers fell asleep and ran off the road into a ditch in Alabama. A tow truck came but was too small. (Holmes 440 for those in the know).

With the winch and all available hands pushing we actually got the bus out of the ditch and without tipping it over.