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Old Bus Photos > GMC Buffalo Deck After Losing Its Wheels (Night Express Drum and Bugle Corps- Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

GMC Buffalo Deck After Losing Its Wheels (Night Express Drum and Bugle Corps- Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

March 29, 1997

Tom Krejci of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA

The following photo(s) are © copyrighted byTom Krejci and are shown here with his kind permission.

Night Express is a Drum and Bugle Corps from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We travel 10-12,000 mile each summer and have 4 busses and 2 tractor-trailers.

One summer night in July of 1995 we were on our way to Madison, WI. We were all in line doing a little more than the posted speed limit. I was the the last bus in line and Artie a truck driver from NJ was in the semi behind me. All of the sudden the whole bus began to vibrate. Everyone in the bus woke-up. The wheels came off and we hit the pavement as hard as you would hit a wall. One tire flew up and almost went through the side window. The other tire shot right past us on the left. We skidded over 400 feet down the interstate. Artie was on the radio and was yelling that sparks where shooting up higher than the bus. All the corps members were crying and thinking we were all going to die. At first the bus wanted to go into the median and I knew it would roll over on it's side and end up in the opposite lane into on comming traffic. I almost broke my arm doing it but I fought the wheel and somehow got the bus over to the right and to a stop.

Just as the bus stopped and we knew we were all safe I looked to the right and saw one of the tires going down into a ditch. The tire came out of the ditch, jumped a farm fence and was headed right toward a farm house. I could see a family watching tv in the living room and the tire was headed right for them. Well it hit something in their front yard and missed the house. One of the tires had hit a small minibus behind us. I ran back to the driver and all he could say was That was one hell of a driving job you did.

Someone took these pictures and gave them to me later. I can't believe how the bus came to such a nice parked position. That Christmas I made cards out of one of the photos and added HO, HO, HO. All the people that were on the bus really liked the card. There must have been someone on the bus that will someday make a differance in the world because I think I had help getting the bus to a safe stop.

Here are some of our other buses:

-Tom Krejci

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA

Thanks Tom for the adventure story and photos. I'm glad everyone was alright.

Bus photos submitted by: Classic Bus

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