Need Storage for 70 Buses near Fontana, CA

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Fontana, CA just recently created a new ordinance where they no longer want trucks and buses stored in their city limits.  A bus collector with 29 antique cars and at least 40 antique buses now needs to find a new location to store his cars and buses and is looking for a new location in the Fontana area lest he has to pay the city of Fontana $1000/day in fines.  If anyone knows of a place he can store all (or some) of his buses please call or email him asap.  His name is Ralph Cantos (310) 497-5840 or email him at trolley525@msn.com.  Thanks for anything you may be able to do.

[scanzel]

Couple questions. Can he be grandfathered in since they just created this ordinance ? Are these cars and buses fit for a museum so he could apply and get a museum status or is he just a hoarder ? If everything is in one place can he just put up a high fence to block from public view. Get a lawyer, trying to move that many vehicles and they want $1000 a day. If he is truly legit get all the local antique car clubs etc to have a day at town hall and everyone show up in support maybe they will back down or give some leeway.

A friend of ours was restoring/rebuilding a turbine helicopter in his garage in a residential neighborhood, he then did a tested hover in his back yard. The town came along and said he could not have a helicopter in his garage. He said what about people with antique cars/trucks/hot rods/ motor cycles, they said that was different he said how. They gave him a hard time and set up a town meeting. He got the pilot association to get all local pilots/collectors to attend the meeting. With over 100 people attending the meeting in support the town backed down but did put a restriction about test hovering in his back yard. Sometimes you need to fight town hall.

[GilligCrown]

One wouldn't want to ruin Fontana, the garden spot of the USA! That's got to be the same yard I visited some months back. Lots of very cool machinery . . . "Need a little TLC". I'm already pushing the envelope here, or I'd store them for half of the daily $1000 fine.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Yes, beautiful Fontana. I know what you mean. 

[Geoff]

Fontana, CA just recently created a new ordinance where they no longer want trucks and buses stored in their city limits.  A bus collector with 29 antique cars and at least 40 antique buses now needs to find a new location to store his cars and buses and is looking for a new location in the Fontana area lest he has to pay the city of Fontana $1000/day in fines.  If anyone knows of a place he can store all (or some) of his buses please call or email him asap.  His name is Ralph Cantos (310) 497-5840 or email him at trolley525@msn.com.  Thanks for anything you may be able to do.

Sorry, but if the owner of the lot is waiting this long to fight the ordinance or move his stuff it is all over but the crying.  The original post asked for a place to move his stuff to.  That is what has to be done now.

--Geoff

[pd4501-771]

I received the following email from Larry Plachno of National Bus Trader magazine about Ralph's collection. This may add some perspective:


I was on the phone with Ralph Cantos and Egon Kafka on Saturday regarding their antique bus collection. I am sending you this e-mail to let you know what is going on in case you can help the situation. Please feel free to pass this e-mail along to anyone you think may be able to help in some way.

Over the years, Ralph Cantos put together a collection of antique buses. As near as I can tell, this includes something like 29 cars and at least 40 buses. Some of the buses are pre-war (see photo of 1929 Indiana), many are rare (a Kenworth trolley bus) and some are simply precious (a Scenicruiser). Some had been used in movies (a Clipper from Warner Brothers).

Unfortunately, instead of creating a real museum, this collection was simply stored in a lot. Recently, that lot was annexed by the City of Fontana, California is now part of an industrial development program. They want the buses out or they might be sold for scrap.

If you are in a position to help in some way, contact Ralph Cantos (310) 497-5840 trolley523@msn.com or Egon Kafka (858) 952-6039 egonkafka@gmail.com.

We here at National Bus Trader are willing to provide publicity and editorial support for any effort to restore and display these antique buses.

Larry

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Larry Plachno - National Bus Trader, Bus Tours Magazine
9698 W. Judson Road, Polo, Illinois 61064
Phone: (815) 946-2341, Fax: (815) 946-2347
Web sites: <http://www.busmag.com> <http://www.bustoursmagazine.com>
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[B_K]

This is a crying shame! The area was annexed recently and so someone that has owned property there for YEARS has follow their NEW rules!
That just "F'ing" SUCKS!
From what I remember about Fontana it wasn't that great of an area anyway!
I remember that the Truckstop on Cherry Street was a real dump and at night the lot lizards were everywhere.
But worse than that I remember in the middle of the day their were prostitutes walking up and down the roads all around the truck stop in broad daylight!

Why don't they do something to get rid of that trash and leave an old man that has surely paid bucu bucks in property taxes for who knows how long! I'll tell ya why, putting the riff raff trash in jail costs $, but going after some poor old man that has $ is an easier target!
  BK   

[Iceni John]

Just don't ask Deacon Ray in Riverside to store them!   I visited his yard on Agua Mansa Road a few years ago, ostensibly to look at his old Crowns (every one of which was missing its Hall-Scott distributor cap!), but really to see if the rumors are true.   Yes, they are, he's "very strange", but I fear that all his buses and other vehicles will be scrapped unless a miracle happens, and happens very soon.   Too bad that it's becoming so difficult to indulge in a harmless passion these days.

How about Jay Leno?   If he doesn't want them, maybe he knows who could provide a home for them?

John

[chessie4905]

Hall Scott distributor caps.....12 plug wire ports and two coil wire inputs?

[Iceni John]

Hall Scott distributor caps.....12 plug wire ports and two coil wire inputs?

Yes, I think so.   Apparently the Crown Firecoach crowd hoard them for their H-S engines!

John

[Lin]

I emailed the guy with some questions several days ago and never heard back.  Maybe he already has a plan.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I talked to him about 2 days ago and he has a meeting with someone this weekend that may have space for him.  So he may be waiting to see if that pans out before looking at other options.  I wish I had a few open acres as I would let him store them at my place for free.

[pd4501-771]

I really hope that this works out for him. Yet more evidence that when you own any "old" vehicles, you need to own the property, not lease. And also everything needs to be stored indoors, not only to prevent deterioration, reduce vandalism, but most importantly keep city/county do-gooders from putting their noses where they don't belong. (Clunker laws etc) Nothing irritates me more than city dwellers moving to the country to build their Mc-mansions, and discover they don't like the smell of pig $#!% or the sight of old vehicles, buildings, etc. So all in the name of protecting their God-given, recently acquired property value, they inflict their non-sense rules on people that have lived together in peace for years. If you like home owner associations, and lots of ordnances do us all a favor, and stay in the city where you belong! Rant concluded.   

[dtcerrato]

That's why it's so nice to own & travel in a bus...

[edvanland]

And this sort of thing is what so many of us signed on the dotted line when we enlisted with the stipulation payable whit your life is need be. Fontana when I used to go by it was a chess pool then can not imagine what it is like now.