1978 Flxible 45096 City Transit Bus Rockford Illinois Transit System

I have driven 1972-1976 Flxible buses like the one pictured for about six years from when I started driving public transit in Orange County, California in January 1986 until they were retired around 1992. By the time they were retired, they were pretty much rusting out every where.

I did love the power steering on the newer models, although I have driven a 35 foot 1972 Flxible without it and it was challenging. That bus also did not have a fast idle switch.

As for the power steering, it was too sensitive at times, sometimes there was around 4 inches of play in the steering wheel. I am not sure if that was due to age and wear or if Flxible buses came that way from the factory. Every bus that I remember driving all handled that way.

An oddity I recall, at least on one bus that I drove, was a gap that measured about 1/4 inch in the floor behind the wheel well of the right front tire on a 1976 40 foot Flxible transit bus. When I drove through standing water on a raining day, water was forced through that gap and inside of the bus gushing in as a wall that rose about 18 inches above the floor. Once inside, the water went toward the rear of the bus and then it all flowed like a river down the aisle and down the steps and out the front door when the bus slowed to a stop.

I used to get annoyed at the 3 position transmission toggle switch on the dash board. Up was forward, the middle was nuetral, and down was reverse. It was okay on flat roads, but it didn't allow for gearing down when driving the bus down a hill, causing me to have to ride the brakes. Also as the toggle switch wore out, it might take several (sometimes as many as 10) attempts of flipping the switch before the bus finally got out of nuetral and went into gear.

The "bug panel" or "fly strip" that ran up and down just forward of the driver's window was quirky looking, but a fond memory for me as to strange places to put warning lights.

The low oil light would often come on when the bus went around the corner. It was real sensitive, but the is not a bad safety feature.

There is also a pull up button in the middle of the dash board that is unmarked as to what it is for. As I recall if you pulled up on it, the heater came on for the driver.

About the ventalation system, I was always told to never turn on the air conditioner when the bus was in motion. That is because there is a nylon gear that drives the air conditioning unit that would have gotten it's teeth ground up if it were inserted into the female end while it was turning (meaning while the bus was in motion as opposed to being at a complete stop).

The buses I drove had the old curtain headsign powered by an electric motor operated by an up and down toggle switch. To change the headsign required peering through a small hole and holding the switch up or down until the proper destination came into view behind a flourescent tube light that illuminated the sign from behind.

There was no wheel chair lift on the old busses. My employer tried to retrofit a few of the old buses with wheel chair lifts after the American with Disabilities Act became law in 1990. It did not work well. The front door was hinged together rather than the old configuration of two separate halves of the front door opening apart and meeting closed in the middle. This was done to make room for the wheen chair lift, but it slowed the operation of the front door as it was not designed to open that way. The weight of the wheel chair lift shifted more weight to the front of the bus affecting braking and steering, and not for the better. Rather than to try again with another wheel chair lift, my employer simpily retired the old Flxibles as they were pretty much ready to be retired anyway by that time.

These days I no longer work for the Orange County Transit District (now called Orange County Transportaion Authority or OCTA for short). I work for Intercity Transit in Olympia, Washington who also used to run those Flxibles many years ago. An Intercity Transit bus driver once ran one of those Flxibles up a telephone pole guide (or support) wire and got the bus stuck up there suspended in the air (around 1988). That photo is in Intercity Transit's personal archives and I remember reading about it at the time in my local newspaper. Possibly there is a picture of that on-line somewhere. The bus had to be lowered with a crane, and it had no damage.

I personally saw a car run in to the back of a Flxible bus stopped at a bus stop to pick up a passenger at about 30 miles per hour. The car was destroyed. The bus had very minor body damage and was back on the road in service within a few days. It is a very well built bus.

I feel nostalgic about that bus, like someone would feel about a 1957 Chevy. It is a classic to me. I started driving transit just before my 22nd birthday, I am now 44, and I hope to retire doing the same. I look forward to driving transit buses of the future.

Take care of your bus, it is a treasure.

I have a1972 "new look" how much does one weigh?