Hi guys I am posting this for Jay McKnight. Some of you know Jay and his dad Mike Hill, some of you don't.
Jay is a great young man with some major challenges in his life, but he carries on like all the rest of us one day @ time.
Jay & Mike have a interesting bus collection that are mostly kept @ the Choo Choo Express Garage.
However do to personal/family issues Jay an Mike are not working/co-operating together as they used too. (I don't know the hows, whys, or whats an it's none of my business!)
Anyway back to the main issue. Jay has paid for storage @ Choo Choo for years and happily kept his buses there.
However some how a tree fell on some of his buses and now Choo Choo Garage wants them GONE and has told Jay to just let them have them for scrap!
He's been told that ALL 5 of them sitting on the Choo Choo lot are locked up and will never run again. (water in oil, oil in water yada yada yada)
Jay feels the property owner is pressuring Choo Choo to get rid of the buses in order to limit their liability of the tree falling on them. (again I have no clue)
He has access to a warehouse to store them in but the problem is he is legally blind, and has Cerebral palsy (CP).
And again the stories that they are locked up and will never run again.
I am going to try an get down to Choo Choo SOON to have a look myself. But a busy scedule prevents me for doing so immediately!
So I'm looking to see if anyone closer can go see what's up and maybe even get some pictures of the damage.
JAY DOESN'T WANT TO SCRAP THESE BUSES IF HE CAN HELP IT HE'D LIKE TO FIND THEM GOOD HOMES!
But until he can he needs to get them moved.
Here is a list of his buses!
1982 and 83 MCI nine,6v92 with Allison automatic
1950 Flxible visicoach 471 with manual transmission
1966 Flxible Flxliner, V8 diesel
1973 GMC transit fishbowl, 6v71 with two speed automatic
Not at Choo Choo Garage
1967 Flxible Flxliner 6V92 Turbo with four-speed Allison auto
:( BK :(
Dont know how old this google street view is..
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9769374,-85.2157934,3a,75y,289.21h,75.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sB4a_jG5o8HleDNeWYTMRQg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664 (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9769374,-85.2157934,3a,75y,289.21h,75.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sB4a_jG5o8HleDNeWYTMRQg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664)
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9780059,-85.2158626,3a,37.5y,214.71h,86.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLoHkDWsdovIv-1JYX6jPZw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9780059,-85.2158626,3a,37.5y,214.71h,86.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLoHkDWsdovIv-1JYX6jPZw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656)
BK,
I've seen the buses there (about 2 years ago) and they were all in pretty bad shape. It would be a chore to move them.
Best thing to do would be to part out what could be used and scrap the rest.
They are a pretty neat collection of buses and it's sad to see them sitting there in that shape. Someone would have to really be in love to rebuild them as they would have to go from the ground up to get em back in shape.
Let us know what you find out.
I'm not really sure from your post what Jay is looking for except maybe a place to store and a way to get them there. Might be more trouble than its worth unless there is a budget to move them or if someone has a lowboy trailer and willing to spend a weekend trying to load them up.
Wish him the best and hope it works out for him.
-Sean
I can tell you the 9's aren't worth anything if they are in bad shape as sean indicated. Part out or scrap. But maybe the older buses might be worth saving to a collector?
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Jay has a warehouse to store them in. He just needs help getting them moved.
Mr. Bowen & Joel are only interested in scrapping them and not willing to give Jay any of the $ for the buses or the scrap.
I can't believe that all 5 buses he has there are not able to start and drive across town to wherever the warehouse is. I know that all 5 drove in there under their own power.
:( BK :(
Quote from: B_K on August 31, 2015, 03:21:10 PM
Jay has a warehouse to store them in. He just needs help getting them moved.
Mr. Bowen & Joel are only interested in scrapping them and not willing to give Jay any of the $ for the buses or the scrap.
I can't believe that all 5 buses he has there are not able to start and drive across town to wherever the warehouse is. I know that all 5 drove in there under their own power.
:( BK :(
Go follow up on your BusNut's post, there is someone nearby who might clarify... how long ago were these buses driven under their own power ? was the storage fee a token ? or true value ? was it ever implied that the shop would realize future labor fees ?
There is always two sides to every story. Be nice to know both sides :(
The last time I asked about those buses I was told "they all run put tires on with new batteries and drive one any where " they are in rough shape though, the 50 model Flex with the 4-71 fired with a group 24 battery
I saw everyone of these buses 4 months ago all n need of a lot people stealing stuff off them didn't help but there was no tree on them then either sorry to hear all this
Again I don't know what the whole story is. But I do know Jay and Mike have been loyal customers at Choo Choo Garage for many years.
I don't know the story between Mike & Jay not getting along anymore. I do know if Mike were still involved with these buses they either would not be having to move or if they did he'd have it taken care of right away.
Jay did tell me he's been paying storage for the buses and it's paid up, but I have no clue how much, or how often it gets paid.
I do know Jay is a great young man that has had many challenges in life but he keeps on plugging along best he can.
He really would like to find someone in need of parts off these buses as he hates the idea of them just being scrapped and hard to find parts being destroyed forever.
He is legally blind so it's not like he could jump in one and drive it if they were running.
BK